Andlat's Story Spot

"Spencer! Hurry up, you're going to be late if you don't get moving." "I'm just finishing up, mom!" Spencer called through the closed door. He had been in the middle of psyching himself up, but he knew Mom would not understand that. He looked himself over in the mirror and nodded. Just like last time, he would keep focused all the way to class and then... "This time I'm going to do it." He said to himself, wishing his reflection looked more confident. He shouldered his bag, packed by himself to make sure Mom did not know what was inside, and headed downstairs. "Have fun, Spencer." Dad said from his spot at the table where he was working on a puzzle. "And feel free to take the scenic route home!" "Why?" "Cuz the later you get home, the more puzzle time I get before Mom makes me move it for dinner." He chuckled. “I got you that board for a reason.” “And I’m using it!” He winked at Spencer, but Spencer ...

"Em." Dad said, tapping the table to draw his son's attention. "Yeah?" "I asked you a question. Have you done anything with your first weekend of summer?" The boy's nose wrinkled. He had done a lot, but it was all in Capricorn, so of course Dad would not understand how important it was he had reached silver level. "Did you even put on pants before dinner?" Lucy asked.  "Yes!" "What about a shirt?" Dad asked. Emery fumed. Why did his sisters have to help Dad nag him? "Uh..." "I don't want you wasting your summer." Dad said sternly. "Tomorrow, I want you to leave the house." "Oh, he will." Violet murmured, just loudly enough for Lucy to hear. The girls smirked, but did not speak more about it until they returned to Lucy's room. Ever since school had gotten out for the summer on Friday, they had conspired. It had begun with a chat about how nice it was to be done earlier th...

"Can't believe I'm actually letting people see me in this." Abigail muttered as she turned slightly from side to side. She had refused to put on the tights. You didn't need to try those on and besides, the dress was bad enough as it was. The giant bows on the shoulders and these petticoats could not be right. The dress looked like it was too small for them! She slid on a pair of dressy strapped shoes and trudged out to show Mom, dress bouncing as if it was mocking her with every step. "No tights?" Mom asked, eyebrow raised. "You don't need to try those on." Abigail insisted. "And are you sure this is right?" "It looks just like the photo." Mom reassured her, but Abigail had other things on her mind, namely her brother Michael snickering. She glared at him. "Michael, stop." "His name is Mikey." Abigail said. That, at least, got him to stop laughing as he glared at her. "You look ridiculous....

Ba-ding! Kyle groaned and rolled over so that his back was to the phone. He pulled the blanket up to his chin. It was too early for this. Of course, he recognized Noah's text tone, but it couldn't be an emergency. He had noticed the freshly fallen snow outside and resolved it was a good day to stay in bed just a little longer. He would've bet twenty bucks Noah was just texting about the upcoming dance. As far as Kyle was concerned, the Snowball was no big deal. And what a stupid name! They were in middle school, it wasn't senior prom! To his surprise, everyone else at school was treating it like the hugest deal in the world, and no one more than Noah. Noah was obsessed with finding a date, but had failed to. Not that it was his fault. Every girl he asked was already going with someone, a fact that surprised Kyle almost as much as Noah. Kyle had shrugged it off. Noah had gone a bit crazy, to the point where he had even asked Kyle if he would have gone to the dance with...