 
The Other Side

_Book #1 in the_ _Sparkle_ _series_

By Ashlynn Elliott

Smashwords Edition

The Other Side

Copyright 2015 By Ashlynn Elliott

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Monday, April 14

Dear Diary,

Today was the day. Today was going to be the day that I would climb the fence, despite what Dad said. Today was the day that I would see what was on the other side. To see what was so horrible about it.

He has kept me closed up inside this yard since I was born. Eight years, to be exact. Never go back there, Barbara, He'd say, You'll regret it!

But today was the day. There's something back there that he's hiding from me. And today, I was going to see it.

I looked at the fence. There were three bars to climb. I placed my arms up on the third, and hoisted myself onto the second. Then I placed my legs on the second and sat on top of the fence.

That was easy! I thought.

But then, Mom and Dad came rushing out of the house. "Barbara! NO!" Dad screamed.

I took a glance at Dad and thought, He can't stop me this time! I turned myself around and flung my legs to the other side of the fence. Without looking down, I jumped off the edge, ready to hit the ground on the other side.

I waited a few seconds, but I kept falling. Falling, falling, falling, and falling. I made a huge mistake! On the other side of the fence was a bottomless pit!

Falling, falling, falling forever! I should have listened to Dad! Oh NO!!!

### Chapter 1:

"AAAAAH!!!!!" Barbara Wilson woke up on her bed at two o'clock in the morning, after having a terrible nightmare.

Barbara's dad, Thomas Wilson, quickly dashed to the room. "What's wrong, honey?!" He said as he plopped down on her bed.

Barbara saw her dad and sighed in relief. "Just nightmares again," She sighed, slightly laughing at herself.

Thomas picked up his daughter and put her in his lap. "Oh, more nightmares?" He asked as he tickled Barbara on the stomach. "What happened this time?"

Barbara sighed again. "Oh, Daddy. It's nothing important!"

Thomas scoffed. "Not important?!" He tickled her again. "How can my favorite daughter's dreams be not important?!"

"Favorite daughter?" Barbara asked. "I'm your only daughter!"

"That's why you're my favorite!" Thomas smiled. Barbara rolled her eyes. "Now, tell me about that dream of yours."

"Um," Barbara sighed, "I already forgot!"

"Bar-bear!" Thomas called Barbara by her nickname. "You didn't forget! You just don't want to tell me!"

"Daddy..." Barbara blushed, since she didn't exactly want to tell her father about her dream. The dream about disobeying him.

"Barbie..." He smiled in return, calling her by her other nickname.

"I just don't want to tell you!" Barbara finally blurted out.

"Why, Barbie?" Her dad asked.

"You'll be mad at me!"

Thomas sympathetically smiled. "Honey, how on Earth could I be mad at a dream?"

Barbara looked away. "You-you just would, Daddy."

"Please tell me!" Said Thomas.

"Fine," Barbara muttered. "I dreamed that I jumped over the fence,"

Thomas's smile withered away. "Oh." He simply said. "Then what happened?"

Barbara started crying as the fear from the dream returned. "It was a bottomless pit." She cried. "And I kept falling and falling and falling!"

Thomas smiled in relief. "Barbie, it's okay." He hugged his daughter.

"You're not mad?" Barbara asked.

"No, I just want you to listen to me. NEVER go over that fence." Thomas sternly replied.

"But why?" Barbara cried. "What's back there that you don't want me to see?"

Thomas sighed as memories flooded in. Exchange students...Maryrose....curse....Freddy...It was all too much. He couldn't bring himself to explain it to Barbara, and he has never explained to anyone else either.

"Barbara, go back to bed." He muttered.

"Daddy, what's wrong? Why won't you tell me?" Barbara cried.

"Go back to bed, Barbara." He replied even louder.

"Daddy, no! I want you to tell me!"

Thomas scowled, picked his daughter up, and put her in the bed. "Barbara, go to bed!" He yelled.

"Daddy, why?" Barbara cried. "What is it that you aren't telling me?!"

"GO TO BED!" He got up off the bed, and a tear rolled down his eye.

"NO!" Barbara screamed. "STAY, DAD!"

"JUST GO TO BED!!!!" He yelled and slammed the door. Barbara finally cried herself to sleep.

After Thomas walked out, his wife, Layla was at the door. "What was that all about, Tommy?" She asked in her soothing voice.

"Nothing," Thomas closed his eyes and hoped he wouldn't have to explain it. But the memories came flooding back in.

"Tommy?" Layla asked again, but Thomas was already lost in his memories.

### Chapter 2:

21 years ago, in 1994, Tommy sat in his sixth grade classroom, waiting for class to begin. Class should have started a few minutes ago, but the teacher was missing!

Finally, she walked in, with two new kids by her side. "Class? May I have your attention?"

Tommy and the rest of his classmates turned around to face the teacher.

"Today we have two new foreign exchange students." She pointed to the two kids. One was a tall, pretty girl with light, blonde, curly hair and green eyes, and the other was a very short tan boy with dark black hair and brown eyes.

She pointed to the boy and said, "This is Federico from Spain." Freddy waved and the class waved in return.

"I-I Freddy. Nice to meet." Freddy stammered. They could all tell that Freddy could not speak good English.

"And this is Maryrose from London." The teacher pointed to the girl, who smiled and flipped her hair.

"Greetings, friends. I'm Maryrose and I am delighted to join your class!" She said in a very extreme English accent.

"Hi, Maryrose!" The class responded.

After class that day, Thomas went to meet Freddy. "Hi, I'm Thomas, but you can call me Tommy." He said as they walked home from school.

"I Freddy. Want to come see family?" Freddy asked.

Thomas assumed that Freddy wanted him to go to his house. "Okay!" So the two boys went over to Freddy's house.

The boys soon became good friends. Thomas taught Freddy to talk English very well, and Freddy taught Thomas a little Spanish.

One day, Freddy told Tommy a huge secret on the way home from school. "I like Maryrose!" He whispered in Tommy's ear.

Tommy's heart sank. TOMMY liked Maryrose! "What's wrong?" Freddy asked.

"I-I-I like Maryrose, too." Tommy stuttered.

Freddy frowned. "Oh. Let's ask her who she likes!"

"Okay!" Tommy and Freddy rushed over to Maryrose, who was jumping rope.

"Maryrose, I like you." Tommy blurted out.

Maryrose looked shocked! "I like you too, maiden Maryrose!" Freddy exclaimed.

Maryrose's mouth hung open. "Um... Sorry, Tommy. I like Freddy, too."

Tommy's heart was destroyed. He started to cry and ran home.

"Tommy, wait!" Maryrose cried.

Thomas stopped. "What?" He asked.

"We can still be friends." Maryrose smiled.

And from that moment on, Maryrose, Freddy, and Thomas were all friends. But soon, they both realized that Maryrose wasn't as pretty and graceful as they thought she was. She tripped and fell and was always covered in bumps and bruises!

One day, Thomas asked Maryrose why she was always hurting herself. "I'm bad luck." Maryrose muttered.

"No, you're not!" Thomas replied.

Maryrose sighed. "Can you keep a secret? I'll tell you if you promise to not tell Freddy."

Thomas nervously looked around. How bad could this secret be? "Um.. okay."

"Alright." Maryrose sighed. "My family has magic." Tommy's eyes were ready to burst out of his head! "We each inherit a power or extreme talent on our eighth birthday, and mine happened to be bad luck."

"But-But-But that's not even a talent!" Thomas stuttered.

"I know. I'm just bad luck! I give other people bad luck, too." She moaned.

"Oh." Thomas sighed, trying to believe this incredibly unbelievable story.

"Promise you won't tell Freddy? He might not like me anymore." Maryrose nervously smiled.

"Okay." Thomas said and ran off. Of course, Thomas ran right to Freddy and told him about it.

"What?!" Freddy gasped. "That cannot be possible!"

Freddy ran over to Maryrose and asked if this was true. "Of course not!" Maryrose angrily glared at Thomas.

"Ok," Freddy ran off.

Angry Maryrose stormed away to Tommy. "I told you not to tell him!!!" She shrieked. Thomas had never seen Maryrose this angry before.

"I know," Thomas simply smiled. "I lied."

"LYING IS RUDE!" She screamed.

"I know,"

Maryrose's eyes flashed red and she levitated a few inches. Thomas knew he was in trouble now! Why had he made her mad?! She shrieked, "THOMAS WILSON I WILL CURSE YOU AND YOUR FAMILY FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE!!!!!"

Thomas paused for a second. Didn't she say she could give other people bad luck? "Please don't!" Thomas pleaded. "PLEASE!!!"

Maryrose sighed. She wasn't going to be this mean. "Okay." She sighed and sunk down to the ground.. "Only on Thursdays you will be cursed." She flipped her hair, turned around, and stormed off.

And it was true, Thomas and his family were cursed on every Thursday, which he called, BLT, (Bad Luck Thursday). But little did he know, that it was going to get worse.

### Chapter 3:

"Tommm..... Tommmy...Tommmy! Tommy! TOMMY!"

Thomas immediately snapped back into reality to see Layla standing by his side. "Tommy! Are you okay?"

Thomas sighed. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Honey, what was that all about?" She asked.

Thomas sighed. "Barbara's asking about the fence again."

"Why can't she go see the neighbors?" Layla asked. Thomas glared at her. Layla sighed. "I know you don't like them, and I can't exactly trust that blonde woman, but why can't she play with that little girl they have?"

Thomas didn't exactly want to get in detail about everything, so he just said, "Can't we just go to bed now, Layla? I'm REALLY tired."

"Alright," Layla sighed, and the two walked back to bed.

As soon as they laid back down in the bed, the memories came flooding back into Thomas.....

Ten years later, Tommy graduated and moved as far away as he could away from Freddy and Maryrose. He met a wonderful girl named Layla and they soon got married.

Soon, they had a little girl named Barbara. She had reddish-brown hair and blue eyes.

But around the time Barbara was six months old, the neighbors behind them had moved. About a month later, new neighbors were trying to move in.

"I wonder who our neighbors are?" Thomas asked himself.

Finally came the day that the neighbors moved in for real. Barbara, Layla, and Thomas went to greet them.

When the moving truck pulled up into the house, three people got out. One was a little girl who looked like she was about 1 year old, her dad, and her mom.

But there was something odd about the dad's face. To Thomas, it looked VERY familiar. "Hi!" Tommy called out. "We're your new neighbors! I'm Thomas!"

The dad's face spun around. "TOMMY?! AMIGO?!" He shrieked.

Thomas recognized the voice immediately. "FREDDY?!"

The two men gasped in surprise and Thomas ran to Freddy's house. "Man, I haven't seen you in so long! How are you doing?"

"Great, amigo!" Freddy replied.

Thomas laughed and poked Freddy in the ribs. "Still with that old witch?" He joked.

"What do you mean?" Freddy asked.

"Maryrose!" Thomas laughed.

Freddy looked shocked. "Maryrose isn't a witch! She just has bad luck powers!"

"Yeah, she is." Thomas replied. "Besides, today's BLT."

"WHAT?!" Freddy laughed. "Today's Bacon Lettuce and Tomato?"

"No!" Thomas chuckled. "Bad luck Thursday! Maryrose cursed me! Anyways, when did you stop liking her?"

Freddy cocked his head. "Stop liking her? What do you mean? I married her!"

Thomas's jaw hung open. "Oh, no." He said in disbelief. "Maryrose lives here now? And-and-and you guys got married and had a daughter?! With magical powers of her own?! NO! YOU CANNOT LIVE HERE!"

"Thomas, we already paid for the house." Freddy sighed.Thomas muttered something. "What?" Freddy asked.

Thomas muttered something a little bit louder. Freddy told him to say it louder, so this time, he yelled it out as loud as he could,

"YOU AND YOUR EVIL WIFE, STAY AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!!!!" Thomas stormed off into his house.

That afternoon, Thomas and Layla hired a carpenter to put up a fence to keep Barbara away from Maryrose and Freddy. After the fence was put up, Thomas hoped he would never have to deal with Freddy, Maryrose, or their daughter ever again.

But they did. Thomas knew that one day, Barbara would question that fence.

And Today was the day.

Thomas groaned and fell asleep.

Tuesday, April 15

Dear Diary,

My teacher, Mr. Marcantel, gave us this diary assignment to work on yesterday. I have to write the diary and he will skim it to make sure I did the assignment. He won't actually read it. I am not all that good with writing, and yesterday, I didn't know what to write, so yesterday I just wrote down my dream I had last night.

These were the rules of the assignment:

#1: There must be a cover with a title on it.

#2: No illustrations.

#3: No foul language.

#4: Must be turned in by April 23.

#5: Have fun!

I can't draw and I don't say mean words, but I don't exactly know what title I will put. "Barbara's Diary" Maybe? No. "Barbara's awesome life"? No. Besides, my life isn't all that awesome. I only have one friend, and that's Laura.

Laura's pretty awesome, though. She loves coming over to my house and playing in my yard (The one with the fence around it), but my parents don't let me go to her house much. Laura's super-popular, so we don't talk much at school. The popular girls don't like me either, so I just ignore them.

### Chapter 4:

Barbara closed her diary as the bus screeched to a stop in the school parking lot. She put it into her pink and purple backpack and walked off the bus.

"Hi, Laura!" She waved to a girl with long black hair as she walked into the building.

Laura smiled and waved in return. Then, Laura turned to another girl and kept talking. Barbara sighed. Laura never talked to her at school, and besides Laura, no one else really liked her!

On the way to her third grade classroom, she felt a small tug on her backpack. Ziiiiip.....She felt it unzip and quickly spun around. Fifth graders! The three fifth grade boys snatched her diary.

"Give it back, Mason!" Barbara cried and reached for her diary.

"Dear Diary," Mason mocked, "Today was the-"

BRRIIIIINNNNNGGGG!

The school bell rang and Mason and his gang of boys moaned. Mason dropped Barbara's diary and walked to class. Barbara angrily picked it up. I wonder if EVERY day is BLT? She thought. It sure seems like it.

Barbara walked into Mr. Marcantel's class. She sat in the desk next to Laura and Laura's friend, Macy. "Laurie, why is that DORK sitting right here?" Macy sneered when she saw Barbara.

"She's not a dork." Laura replied.

Another girl sitting on the side of Macy said, "Sure.... Barbara's not a dork..." She winked at Macy.

Barbara sighed. "Stop it, Grace!"

"Stop it, Grace!" Grace mimicked. "Oh, please. The dork thinks she's the boss of me! Now move over and sit somewhere else. You're in Natalie's seat."

Barbara looked up to see Natalie looming over her head. "Hi, Natalie..." Barbara nervously smiled.

"Get out of my seat." Natalie growled.

"It's not YOUR seat." Barbara replied.

"I know, but I like sitting in it, so get out."

"You're not the boss of me!" Barbara cried.

"Mr. MARCANTEL!!!" Natalie shrieked. The teacher turned his attention to the girls. "BARBARA STOLE MY SEAT!!!!!"

Mr. Marcantel sighed. "Natalie, first of all, we don't have a seating arrangement, so you can sit wherever you want, and Barbara was sitting there first."

Natalie paused for a second. "No! I was there first! She pushed me out!"

"WHAT?!" Barbara cried. "No I didn't!"

"Yes, she did!" Grace lied.

"I saw it with my own eyes!" Macy added.

Mr. Marcantel turned to Laura. "Laura, is this true?"

Macy, Grace, and Natalie shot Laura a look. "Yes," Laura sighed softly, but she was upset because Barbara was going to get in trouble.

"Barbara, go to the office. No pushing in this class." Mr. Marcantel groaned.

Barbara sighed and walked out of the door. Why does everyone hate me? She thought.

Wednesday, April 16

Dear Diary,

Dad's never told me much about the curse. He's never told me much about WHY it's on Thursday's only. He's never even told me where or who he got the curse from!

But he tells me it's always on Thursday. Something ALWAYS goes wrong on Thursday. And it's never something small, like catching a cold or scraping my knee. It's something Terribly wrong. I can list some of the worst:

  * The house burning down last Christmas

  * The EF-5 tornado to hit my house a couple years ago

  * Termites invading the house on my 6th birthday

  * Having to get my tonsils out on the day of Laura's birthday party

  * A monkey escape from the zoo and terrorize my family during the reunion

Thursdays usually aren't THAT bad; that's only the worst of them. Like last Thursday, I got an F on my math test, and I lost all recess for a week. And then I got teased by Macy, Natalie, and Grace because everyone else had made an A.

Boy, I wish there were some way to reverse this curse!

### Chapter 5:

At school the next day, Barbara sat alone at lunch. Laura was, of course, off playing with Natalie, Macy, and Grace. Barbara glanced down at her lunch. Eating hamburgers aren't that fun without anyone to eat them with. Barbara thought to herself.

Barbara got up to throw her lunch away. The cafeteria food wasn't the best anyways. As she walked to the trash can, she heard Grace's laughter. She spun around just in time to see Grace's plate hurtling toward her. Ketchup, mustard, and milk splashed all over her brand new pink shirt.

"Grace!" Barbara cried.

Grace smiled and said, "Mr. Marcantel! Barbara had ANOTHER accident!!!"

Mr. Marcantel walked over and saw condiment-soaked Barbara. "Barbara, Barbara, Barbara," He sighed. "That's the third accident this month!"

"But it's not MY fault!" Barbara cried.

"Yeah!" Macy laughed from the table, "That's why it's called and ACCIDENT!!!"

Barbara went to the office to get new clothes. As she was going back to class, she heard Laura, Macy, Grace, and Natalie talking. She peered around the corner to see the girls coming down the hall.

"That was really mean, Grace," Laura sighed.

"But it was funny!" Natalie cackled.

"So? She was really embarrassed," Laura groaned.

Macy dramatically groaned. "So? She's a dork! She deserved it!"

"Guys, you have to be nicer to her! Besides, I was friends with her before I met any of you!" Laura shrieked. Barbara secretly smiled.

"Oh, fine," Grace moaned, "What do you want us to do for her, Laurie?"

"I don't know!" Laura replied. "Think of something!"

"I have an idea!" Natalie slyly smiled. "Let's have a party!"

Barbara was so excited! They were going to throw her a party! Barbara casually started walking down the hall, as if she had heard nothing.

"Oh, look! There she is now!" Grace squealed. The four ran over to Barbara.

"Barbara! Guess what?!" Macy gasped.

"WE'RE HAVING A PARTY!!!!" Grace and Natalie squealed at the same time.

"Really?" Barbara tried to look shocked. "Where?" She was anxious to find out if it would be at Laura's, Natalie's, Macy's, or Grace's house.

Natalie laughed as if Barbara had told her a joke. "Oh, Barbara! YOUR house, of course!!!"

Barbara really WAS shocked. They wanted HER to throw the party? "M-M-My house?" She stammered.

"Yes, Bar! Everyone knows you throw the best parties ever!" Grace smiled.

"Um, just last month you never showed up to my birthday party because you said I'm the WORST at throwing parties." Barbara replied.

Grace said, "Um..uh... That was a joke."

Barbara didn't think her parents would let her do this. "Um, my parents might not let me, but if they do, I'll set the theme and put up the decorations right away for this weekend."

"No way!" Macy shrieked. "I'm going to pick the theme, and it's NOT going to be this weekend!"

Barbara was confused. "Bu-But you said I was going to throw the party!"

"Yes, you are!" Grace smiled. "But we get to pick everything. Because it is our party."

Barbara gave in. "Fine. You buy everything, and I'll set it up at my house."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, We never said anything about BUYING things. You can do that." Natalie laughed.

"Oh. Okay." Barbara sighed. Natalie, Laura, Macy, and Grace walked away.

Once they were away from Barbara, Laura frowned. "I thought you guys were going to INVITE her to a party!"

"We did!" Macy smiled. "A party at her house!"

Thursday, April 17

Dear Diary,

Guess what day it is? That's right, Thursday. I wonder what will go wrong today? Nothing terrible has happened yet, so I'm guessing it will happen tonight.

Actually, something awesome happened today! Mr. Marcantel announced the annual kick-ball competition for next... Thursday. Oh, poop.

I'm really good at kick-ball, though! I'm the class champion, so hopefully I won't have any problems next Thursday.

I have to practice a lot, though. I don't want to slip up (Like every Thursday) and make my class lose. That would be horrible, and I'd let the whole class down.

I still haven't decided on a name for my diary yet. Maybe "Barbara's Bullies" since I get bullied by the fifth graders? No, "Barbara's Bullies" sounds like I have a gang of bullies, and who wants a teacher to see that?!

Maybe "Cursed Life"? No, I don't exactly want the WHOLE world knowing I'm cursed. Well, my dad is at least.

### Chapter 6

Barbara kicked the rubber ball as hard as she could. It rolled only a few inches. She just couldn't seem to get that ball moving today. She kicked the ball so hard, it should have sent it flying. It didn't budge.

"ARGH!!!" She screamed. She had to kick the ball. Next Thursday, she had a kickball tournament! She couldn't let her class down! She had to practice.

She kicked it again. It didn't go far, and it rolled into a mud puddle made from melted winter snow. The water hadn't dried up yet from the last snow.

"Eww...." She moaned as she disgustedly rolled it out. She hosed it off. She tried once more to kick the ball. This time, she completely missed the ball!

"UGH!!!" She shrieked and stomped on the ball and tried to pop it.

But the ball slipped out under her feet and went flying. Up, up, up, into the air. Barbara couldn't believe it. All this time she was trying to kick it-

Her thoughts were interrupted when she lost sight of the ball. Uh, oh! She thought. Where'd it go?!

Over the fence. It had landed on the other side. The forbidden side of the fence. The place where Tommy's sworn enemies and their daughter lived.

Oh no! Barbara thought. What do I do?!

Barbara couldn't decide whether to go ask her dad to get it, go get it herself, or just forget about. If she just forgot about it, she'd have to get a new kickball, and she really liked her other one. It'd be embarrassing to ask her dad to go get the ball. But she would also be haunted by the guilt if she went on the other side to grab the ball.

Barbara decided to go get it. What's the worst that could happen? She thought. But then she remembered her dream from the other night. She definitely wasn't going to climb over it. There was a small hole under the fence. Maybe she could try to reach it from under it?

Today's the day... Barbara thought in her mind, After eight years, I'm finally crossing the fence.

She slowly reached her hand into the hole. She was nervous. If her dad had kept her from whatever was back there for this long, it must be something horrible.

She finally felt her ball. She sighed in relief. Nothing terrible was going to happen. She was going to get her ball, and proceed along in her cursed day.

But she wasn't going to. She felt something warm. Someone else's hand!

"Eek!" Barbara jerked her hand back.

"Hello?" Asked a soft voice.

"Wh-who are you? Why are you here?" Barbara stammered.

The voice giggled. "Because I live here!"

Barbara thought this strange voice didn't sound dangerous at all! Why did her father keep her from this?

"But-But who are you?"

The voice sighed. "I'm Bella. Nice to meet you. What's your name?"

"I-I-I don't think I'm supposed to tell you. I shouldn't even be talking to you. Daddy won't let me."

Bella sighed. "I'm not supposed to either. My mommy says someone who lives here is evil."

Barbara laughed. "There's no one evil here! It's just me, Daddy, and Mommy! But Daddy tells me there's something very bad at your house, something that I won't understand."

Bella hesitated. "Um...yeah. Please tell me your name!"

Barbara sighed. "I'm Barbara."

But then, Barbara heard the back door to her house open. "Barbara!" Layla called.

"Uh, oh! Gotta go!" Barbara gasped. She ran off to meet her mom.

"What were you doing?" Layla asked.

"Um.... uh.... just playing around." Barbara nervously smiled.

Layla suspiciously smiled in return. "Okay... Supper's ready."

### Chapter 7:

Bella walked inside, wondering what her mom would say about this strange girl. Her mom didn't let her talk to many people at all, because of her family's secret. Bella was home-schooled, in fact, and she had never met another girl her age! She never got to leave the house, have friends over, or talk to anyone on the phone. All because of the dumb secret.

She couldn't go over the fence either. But she didn't exactly go over the fence. She just met Barbara next to it. Her mom couldn't punish her for that. She found a friend without disobeying her mom.

But then she remembered. She was forbidden by her mom to have any friends. Her dad was okay with it, but her mom said that friends would lie and cheat her. She said that she should never trust anyone. They will give away secrets, lie, and be mean.

Barbara doesn't seem so bad, Bella thought. But would her mom agree ?

Bella walked into the living room. Maryrose was on the sofa, reading a fashion magazine. "Hey, mom." Bella smiled.

"Hey, Bellie." Maryrose sighed and flipped a page in her magazine.

"Are we doing anything for my eighth birthday on Tuesday?" Bella softly asked.

"Of course! We'll be having cake and ice-cream!" Maryrose replied.

"But Mom!" Bella groaned. "Can't we go anywhere? Or have a REAL birthday party with REAL people over?"

Maryrose sighed. "Bella, you know you aren't old enough to leave the house. And you will have people over. Me, Daddy, and Eric!"

Bella glanced over at her six year old younger brother. He was no fun at a party. Bella wanted real friends over, not just have a small party in her room. "Mom, look." Bella said. Maryrose, annoyed, looked over at her daughter. "I have a friend. All I want for my birthday is to have her over."

Maryrose thought for a second. How had Bella met a friend? She never let her leave the house. It must be an imaginary friend. "Of course she can come over. But when you get your Sparkle, be sure not to show her!"

Bella smiled. "Okay, mom!" Bella went to her room to think about what her Sparkle might be. A Sparkle was a special power or talent someone in her family got when they turned eight. Bella was sure hers had to be better than her mom's, which was bad luck.

Hopefully, she would get something awesome, like her aunt's power, fashion. She could make stylish dresses in a blink of the eye. Or her cousin Andy's power, controlling the elements. But she also hoped that she wouldn't be powerless, like her dad. Her dad didn't have a Sparkle. Bella hoped she wouldn't inherit that!

Bella skipped happily to her room. A friend and (hopefully!) a Sparkle. How could her birthday get any better?!

Friday, April 18

Dear Diary,

I don't know what to think of Bella. She seemed pretty nice, and I don't see why Dad would keep me from her. Maybe it's her parents, or maybe they have a mean dog? I don't know. She sure seems nice. Well, she's a lot nicer than Macy, Grace, and Natalie.

Anyway, the kickball situation is back on track. I can kick the ball normally. But nothing horrible happened yesterday. I was really scared that talking to Bella would end bad, but it didn't. It's like the curse... skipped a day? I don't know. But it's really weird for this to happen.

And I'm still trying to figure out the party thing. Macy, Grace, and Natalie are having a party, but it's at my house. They get to pick out the theme and the things for the party, but I have to buy them. They also get to pick the date. I don't know if that's fair, but I guess it is. I've never been invited to a party, and I guess this is how people do it.

I still haven't picked a name for this diary. Maybe since I'm having the party, "Party Days?" No. No way. "The Other Side?" Maybe. I mean, I've always wanted to see the other side of the fence, and now I have. It's great, right? That's what I'm putting. "The Other Side" Is the title of this diary.

### Chapter 8:

Barbara scribbled on the name "The Other Side" on her diary. She slid it into the desk that was supposedly Natalie's as Natalie, Macy, Laura, and Grace approached.

Uh, oh. She thought. Here we go again!

But to her surprise, they looked happy! "Oh, Barbara!" Macy sang as she stood next to Barbara.

"What?" Barbara groaned. "I'm not getting out of the seat this time. I was here first and there's nothing you can do about it."

Grace grinned. "Bar, that's not what we're here to talk about!" Laura and Grace sat down in the desks next to Barbara, and Macy and Natalie sat next to them.

"Yeah!" Natalie smiled. "We're here to talk about the party!"

"Ok," Barbara sighed as she placed her pen back in her backpack.

"We picked the theme!" said Macy. "It's going to be, Fun in the Sun!"

"Okay. That sounds fun." Barbara smiled. "When is it?"

A wave of giggles sent over Macy, Natalie, and Grace. Finally, Grace made out a few words, "It's....next Thursday!!!" They all laughed up a storm.

"What's so funny?" Barbara asked, slightly offended. They all went quiet. "Are you sure about the date, though? We have school next Thursday. It's a school night. And Thursday's my bad luck day."

Macy snickered. "Don't worry!" She laughed. "It's going to snow Friday, so we won't have school the next day!" She laughed again.

Barbara sighed. "But Thursday's my bad luck day!"

"Oh well!" Macy giggled. "Just don't ruin the party!"

"Yeah." Natalie sneered. "Don't blow up the waterslides you're going to get!"

"Waterslides?" Barbara gasped. "I have to get waterslides?!"

"Yeah!" Grace smiled. "Five of them! And don't forget the giant pool, snack bar, and band you're gonna hire!"

Barbara grimaced. "I-I-I'd do it but-"

"Great!" Grace interrupted. "Now pass out these invitation to everyone in the school!" She handed Barbara a stack of green, sparkly, cards.

"Thanks! You're awesome!" Macy smiled as the four of them walked off.

As they walked off, Barbara thought, Wasn't it supposed to snow Thursday? Barbara also wondered how she was going to pull this party off with her parents. Mom and Dad wouldn't let her buy five water slides, a pool, a snack bar, and hire a band! Maybe she just wouldn't tell them. She'd buy them with her own money. But wait. She couldn't afford that many water slides. She'd have to use her parents money. But it would probably get her in a lot of trouble.

It'll work out. She told herself. Besides, having a party would get her very popular, even if it cost her no TV for a month. It'll will work out. She told herself again. She started passing out the invitations.

As she was passing them out, she looked closely at the invitations. Barbara's having a Party! said the headline.

Time: 9 AM

Date: Thursday, April 24

Place: Barbara Wilson's house

Theme: Winter

"What?" Barbara asked herself when she saw the theme. She walked over to Grace, who printed the invitations. "Grace, why does it say the theme is winter? You said the theme was Fun in the Sun!"

Grace dramatically gasped. "Oh, Bar! Whoops! Simple typo! I'm sure everyone will understand!"

Barbara cocked her head. "But-But how would they understand? Should I tell them?"

"No!" Grace shrieked. "They'll know! And if you do tell them, you'll never be popular like us!"

"Why?" Barbara asked.

"Just do it." Grace shrieked and kicked Barbara.

"Okay, okay!" Barbara cried.

Then, Mr. Marcantel walked in and said, "Okay, class! Settle down! It's time to start class!"

Barbara sighed and sat down. Boy, am I glad it's Friday! She thought.

Saturday, April 20

Dear Diary,

What am I going to do? Macy, Natalie, Grace, and Laura expect me to buy five water slides, a pool, a snack bar, and hire a band! I don't have that much money... not even close! I have ten dollars left of birthday money and that's it!

And I think Grace is a terrible party planner. That was a pretty bad typo, putting winter instead of summer. At least it'll be sunny, so people might understand.

I don't know whether to tell Mom and Dad about Bella. We met again by the fence earlier today, but all I had time to say was "Hi, gotta go!" and she said, "Come back at six o'clock. I want to talk to you!"

I wonder what she wants to talk about. But I came so close to getting caught talking to her last time, I'm scared. What if Dad catches me?

Should I invite Bella to the party? I mean, I haven't known her for a while, but she's pretty nice! Would Mom and Dad let me invite her to the party? Wait. Mom and Dad don't even know about the party.

### Chapter 9:

Bella anxiously glanced at the clock. 5:59. She looked down back at her book. She looked back up again. 6:00. Finally! She had been waiting all day to talk to Barbara.

She got up and said, "Mom? Can I go play in the sandbox outside?"

Maryrose sighed, "Sure, Bella, but be back in ten minutes! Supper will be ready!"

"Ok, Mommy!" Bella smiled and dashed to the back yard. She saw Barbara playing kickball through the slits in the fence.

"Psst...Barbara!" Bella whispered. Barbara looked over and walked up to her.

"What do you want? I'm not supposed to be talking to you and you know that!" Barbara groaned. "I don't want to get in trouble!"

"I want to ask you a question! I'm having my birthday party Tuesday, and my mom said you could come." Bella smiled.

Barbara didn't answer at first. "I'm not supposed to talk to you. I'm not supposed to be here. I wish I could go, but my parents won't let me!"

Bella sighed. "I'm sure they would. Just tell them, uh, you're going to a friend's house. I'll tell my mom you're my cousin."

Barbara hesitated again. "But-But I've never ever lied to Mom and Dad! I've never even seen you in person!"

"Then come to play at my house right now! Spend the night! My parents won't mind! As long as I tell them you're my cousin!" Bella replied.

Barbara groaned. "I don't even know who you are! You could be a person who kills people! You could be robbers! Burglars! Kidnappers! Why would my dad keep me from you for so long for no reason?!"

Bella sighed because deep down, she knew the reason. She knew. Barbara's dad must have somehow found out about the Sparkles and thought they were dangerous.

"We're not murderers. Or robbers, burglars, or kidnappers. You have absolutely nothing to worry about." Bella finally made out.

Barbara hesitated. "Fine." She said after a few seconds of silence. "But if I get in trouble, I'm blaming you." Barbara got up and dashed into her house.

"Meet me at the stop sign on the end of the road!" Bella called out. Bella ran inside to talk to her dad. She wouldn't ask her mom, though, who would definitely say no.

"Dad?" She asked her dad, who was cooking chicken parmesan in the kitchen.

"What, Bellie?" Freddy smiled as he put a wooden spoon into the dishwasher.

"Could I, uh, have one of my, er, cousins over to play?" Bella nervously asked.

"Sure!" Freddy smiled. "Which one?"

Bella nervously laughed. "Her name's, er, Barbara..."

"What's her Sparkle?" Freddy asked. "Or does she have one yet?"

Bella wasn't prepared for follow-up questions! "Uh...She...uh....Doesn't have one yet...." She stammered.

"Okay, then!" Freddy smiled. "Send her on over!"

Bella sighed in relief and dashed out the door and ran down the road. Barbara was already waiting there. "Hey." Bella smiled.

Barbara's eyes almost popped out of her head. Bella assumed this was because Barbara had never seen her in person before. In her opinion, she didn't look all that pretty for an eight year old, but her parents said she was beautiful.

Since both her parents were foreign, Bella didn't look like the average American kid. She had her mom's curly hair and accent, and her dad's carmel skin, black hair, and charming but shy personality.

Barbara, however, didn't really stand out in a crowd. She looked absolutely normal for an eight year old. She had brown hair with a reddish tint to it, pulled up in bouncy pigtails. She had grey-blue eyes and a cute smile.

"Wow." Barbara said at last. "You're pretty."

Bella blushed. "You're cute too! What did you tell your parents? I said you were my cousin coming over."

Barbara frowned. "I said I was going to my friend, Laura's house for a sleepover." Bella noticed that Barbara looked really upset when she said the name Laura.

"Who's Laura? Is she nice?" Bella asked, wondering why this Laura had made her so sad.

"Yes," Barbara smiled, but Bella could tell she was faking it.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked.

"I'll...uh...tell you later." Barbara said as they both began walking toward Bella's house.

### Chapter 10:

The night with Barbara didn't go as well as Bella thought.

As soon as they walked in, Bella and Barbara were sprayed with golden dust. "Pollen!" Barbara shrieked. "I'm allergic to pollen!" She cried and ran back outside.

"No, Barbara!" Bella cried after her. "It's not pollen!"

"Then what is it?" Barbara frowned. "It looks like pollen."

But Bella couldn't tell her. It was the magical dust that makes their Sparkles stronger. It made sure that their powers didn't malfunction. "It's nothing important. It won't hurt you at all."

"So I won't get all puffy and not be able to breathe?" Barbara asked.

"No," Bella replied. "Not at all." Bella made a note in her mind that next time Barbara comes, to turn off the dust-sprayer. Too much on a person without the Sparkle genes, could, well, give them one! And her mom would kill her if she let that happen. (Freddy found a way out of that.)

"Then what's it for?" Barbara asked.

Bella didn't know what to say. "It, um, makes us...stronger?"

Barbara smiled. "Am I stronger now?" Barbara ran inside and stood under the dust sprayer again. Golden dust showered over her.

Bella giggled. "Um, I guess!" The two girls ran off to play.

"So, what do you like to do?" Barbara asked.

Bella smiled. "I like playing dress up! And playing games, too. I'm really good."

"Then let's play a game!" Barbara smiled. Bella pulled out CandyLand and the girls played. Bella won every single time.

"Wow!" Barbara said at last. "You're impossible to beat!"

Bella thought about it for a second. She had never lost a game! Did she somehow get her Sparkle early? Was playing games her Sparkle? Bella sure hoped that wasn't it. She wanted a much better Sparkle. But it was better than her mom's!

Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard her mom shriek at her dad from across the house. "WHAT?!" Maryrose screamed. "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME?!"

Freddy stammered. "I-I thought it was okay! It's her cousin! She's in the family! She knows about the Sparkles!"

Barbara glanced over at Bella. "What?" She mouthed to her. Bella bit her lip. This wasn't going to end well!

The door to Bella's room burst open. Angry Maryrose, who was levitating a little, her eyes had a small hint of red it it, and her curly blonde hair poofed out, was standing next to Freddy, whose expression was a mix of false courage and straight up fear. Bella hoped Barbara wouldn't notice anything extremely weird about her mother (which to her was perfectly normal, believe me, she had these freak outs everyday), but she highly doubted it.

"See?" Freddy nervously smiled. "We don't have to worry about our mija and her amigo."

Freddy pointed to Barbara and Bella. Bella nervously smiled and waved.

Maryrose sneered. "What's your name?" She asked Barbara.

"B-Barbara..." Barbara stammered.

"And how old are you?"

"Eight," Barbara nervously replied.

Maryrose's anger seemed to subside a little. "And what's your Sparkle?"

Barbara wrinkled up her nose and cocked her head in confusion. "What?"

Uh, oh. Bella thought.

"Your Sparkle." Maryrose frowned.

"What's a Sparkle?" Barbara asked cluelessly.

Maryrose sneered. "You're not my niece, are you?"

Bella shot Barbara a looked that meant, Lie!

"Of course I am!" Barbara lied, but it wasn't very convincing. "Your sister's my mom, Aunt....." Barbara looked at Bella. Barbara didn't know Bella's mom's name!

Maryrose! Bella mouthed to Barbara.

"Maryrose!" Barbara nervously smiled.

Maryrose's lip curled in disgust. "I don't have any sisters." She sneered. "Who's your real parents?"

Barbara looked over at Bella again. Bella sighed. She shrugged her shoulders at Barbara in a way that meant, Oh well. Time to give up.

Barbara made a face in return that sort of meant, But I'm going to get in HUGE trouble!

Sorry! Bella mouthed to her.

Barbara sighed. "Thomas and Layla Wilson,"

Bella looked up at Maryrose. She had never seen her mom so angry in her life. "GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Maryrose's voice was so loud it shook the building. Bella watched Barbara start crying and run out of the room.

Bella hoped Barbara didn't get a good look at Maryrose. Her hair had floated up, turned bright red, her eyes the same color, and Maryrose floated to the ceiling.

Noticing that Barbara was gone, she screamed, "WHERE ARE YOU, YOU EVIL BRAT?!??! LET ME DESTROY YOU!!!!" Maryrose flew out the room, looking for Barbara. She was nowhere in sight.

"Mom, please!" Bella screamed. "Barbara's not evil! She's the nicest person I've ever met!"

Maryrose looked at her daughter and scowled. "SHE IS THE DAUGHTER OF AN EVIL MAN!"

Bella started sobbing. Now she understood why Barbara's parents kept her away from her house. They were keeping her from Maryrose. Why hadn't Bella seen it before? It was her mom that was the bad guy, not Barbara's parents.

"Mom," Bella began, "Barbara's not bad." She sneered. "You are."

Maryrose's expression changed immediately. She frowned, realizing that she was being the mean one, not Barbara. Her eyes turned back to the normal emerald green color, and her hair flushed back blonde. She sunk back to the ground. "Oh," Maryrose sighed in shame. "I'm so sorry, but Barbara cannot stay here, Bella. We have to sent her home."

"Okay," Bella replied. "Let's go find her."

### Chapter 11:

Maryrose and Bella didn't find Barbara.

Barbara knew she was in trouble. As soon as she heard Bella's mom shriek at her, she lost it. Barbara flew out the room and out of the house. She ran down the road, sobbing uncontrollably. Why did these people hate her parents so much? Why did her parents hate them? Wait, she knew that. Her parents hated them because that Maryrose woman was a complete psycho.

Barbara cried and ran down the road. Where would she go? She couldn't just go home. She had told her parents she was at Laura's house, and if she was at Laura's, Barbara wouldn't just run away! Her parents would be suspicious.

But she had only been there ten minutes! It was still only around 6:30. Maybe she could tell her mom and dad that on the way to Laura's house, she changed her mind. Yeah, that sounded believable! But why would she change her mind? She would tell them her head hurt, That would be good.

Barbara dried up her last tear as she began walking back toward her house. She vowed never to go over the fence again, never to talk to Bella, and never speak of the incident. This is what her dad had kept her from. She should have listened.

Why had she ever done it? Why didn't she listen to her parent's warnings? That Maryrose woman was terrible, and would hurt her if she ever went over it again.

She finally reached her doorstep. She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing! She thought. She knocked on the door.

"Hello....?" Thomas opened the door, looking startled. "Barbara?"

"Hey, Dad." Barbara nervously smiled.

"What-What's wrong? I thought you were going to Laura's house!" Tommy stammered.

Barbara bit her lip. "I-I decided not to go. My head started hurting, and I didn't want to make it worse by going play outside with Laura."

"Where's your suitcase?" Thomas asked.

Uh, oh. Barbara thought. I forgot it at Bella's! Barbara nervously laughed. "Um..." What would she say? "Good thing I came back!" She smiled. "I, uh, forgot my suitcase over here!"

Thomas gave her a skeptical look, and Barbara tried to smile convincingly. "Alright." Thomas sighed, still very unconvinced.

She must have had something go wrong at Laura's house that she doesn't want to talk about. Tommy thought.

Barbara went to her room and plopped down on her bed. That was the WORST sleepover EVER! She thought. Oh, well. Let's do something relaxing.

She took out a little notepad. It had all of her fashion designs in it: From pink dresses to green shirts and blue shorts to orange skirts; Barbara took inspiration from everything and everyone for her dresses.

She pulled out her colored pencils. First she drew a sketch of a small sleeveless hot pink dress. She drew purple ruffles on the sleeves and the bottom, and drew green polka dots on it. This dress would be for herself. She filled in the model's body by drawing her face on it and giving it brown pigtails.

Then, she decided to make an outfit for Bella, even though she would never talk to her again. She drew a turquoise tank top with diamonds across the collar. Then she drew a poofy dark blue skirt to go with it. That looked like Bella's style. She filled in the model by coloring the skin caramel brown, drawing rich brown eyes, and long, wavy black hair.

Bella was really nice, Barbara thought. It's really sad that I can't talk to her anymore. Maybe I should give her a second chance. She didn't really do anything wrong. It's just her mom that scared me. Maybe I should let her over to my house and say she was a friend from school. Besides, everyone deserves a second chance!

Barbara smiled to herself. Everything's gonna be fine. She thought.

Sunday, April 21

Dear Diary,

Today will be better. I won't think about the Bella incident today. Today my family's having a barbeque together outside. I'll have a good time no matter what I have to do.

We have family barbeques every year. We invite my cousins, aunts, uncles, and our grandparents over to grill steaks and play games.

I'm really excited for this year's BBQ. My uncle Randy is bringing a volleyball net to set up in our yard, Cousin Jill is bringing a stereo system, and Grandpa Ed is bringing the meat. Mom and Dad have also bought kites, board games, and a lot of snacks.

We have a total 29 of relatives coming over: My four grandparents, five aunts and five uncles, and fifteen cousins. I'm excited to see my cousins because we haven't gotten together in a few years. A lot of them are older than me, so I play with the few that are my age.

I'm so excited!

### Chapter 12

Ding Dong! The doorbell rang at 8:00 AM in the morning. Barbara woke up, surprised, wondering why people were here so early to the barbeque! She threw on her jean shorts and pink t-shirt and ran to the door. She opened it. Grandpa Ed was waiting by the door with a ice cooler full of meat. Tommy walked over.

"Dad!" He smiled. "I'm so glad you're here! Let's fire up the grill!"

"Yeah!" Ed smiled. "Hey, Barbie!" He smiled and pinched Barbara's cheeks.

"Grandpa! Stop it!" Barbara giggled and swatted him away.

After that, family came flooding into the house. By ten o'clock, the house was full of people. Barbara called all of the young girl cousins into her room to play a game.

Barbara knew she should have five of them. Rachel and Emily, the eight year old twins, Marissa, the six year old, Carmen, who was also six, and Callie, who was three.

Barbara counted her cousins' heads because she couldn't see all of them at once. "One...Two...Three....Four...Five...SIX?!" Barbara couldn't believe it! SIX cousins?! She should only have five in her room!

It had to be one of the boys that had sneaked in. She decided to move her cousins somewhere else to see who the imposter was. "Let's start the game. Rachel and Emily, go into the living room. Carmen, go to the kitchen. Callie, go into the basement. Marissa, go outside. When I say go, you will run to that room and find something blue. Then, as fast as you can, come back here. Whoever gets back first wins. GO!" Barbara said. The five girls ran off, and they revealed the imposter.

But it wasn't a boy. It was a girl that looked about her age, with wavy black hair, rich brown eyes, and caramel skin.

"Bella?!" Barbara gasped in surprise.

"Hey, Barbara," Bella smiled.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Barbara whisper-screamed.

Bella replied, "I heard you were having a barbeque, and I decided to come. And I came to apologize for last night. My mom has, uh, anger issues...."

"No duh." Barbara snorted. "I guess that incident is supposed to make up for last BLT," She muttered.

Bella flinched in surprise. "WHAT?!" She laughed. "My mom fussing at you was supposed to make up for your last bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich?!"

"No!" Barbara bit her lip, wondering why she had even said that next to Bella. Could she trust Bella with the secret? The words, Second Chances, flashed through her mind. Of course she could trust Bella!

"Well," Barbara began, "When Daddy was little, he got cursed by this person for every Thursday, and we call it BLT, or Bad Luck Thursday."

Barbara expected Bella to laugh and say she was crazy, but she didn't. "Oh," Bella's face went pale white as if she'd seen a ghost. "I-I," Bella stammered so softy, Barbara could barely hear it.

"You what?" Barbara asked. Then Barbara frowned, "You're not going to laugh at me, are you?"

Bella hesitated and started breathing heavily, almost like she was hyperventilating. "I-I-I got to go!" She cried. Bella dashed out the door as she saw a tear roll down Bella's eyes.

Barbara was about to stop her, but then she heard Carmen yell, "Barbara, here I come!" Barbara decided just to let Bella go. Bella looked like she needed to go anyway.

Carmen burst open the door. "I FOUND SOMETHING BLUE!!!!!" The six year old screamed and held up Tommy's old blue sock.

Marissa, Callie, Rachel, and Emily showed up behind her, each with another blue object. When they saw Carmen with the blue sock, they all groaned.

"Carmen's the winner!" Barbara smiled.

### Chapter 13

Bella dashed out of Barbara's house with despair. "No, no, no, no, no no, no, no, no!" She muttered as she twisted through Barbara's crowded house. "This can't be happening!"

She finally opened the door to Barbara's house. She slowly closed it, hoping that no one would notice her.

It all came together now, Bella realized. Everything made sense. Why Barbara's parents did not like her, and why her parents did not like Barbara all made sense.

Bella had always wondered why Bella was forbidden to go to the other side of the fence. Just a few days ago, she thought that it was just because her mom not wanting the neighbors to find out about the Sparkle. Maybe Barbara's parents found out and said that if they cross the fence they would call the police because of their some-what dangerous Sparkles. And Bella had been really careful around Barbara, not to reveal the secret.

But this wasn't about the secret!

Maryrose had told her the story a million times. When Maryrose was 12 years old, there was this boy that liked her. But she liked another boy, who was her father. One day, Maryrose, out of kindness, tells the other boy about her family's powers, and entrusts him with the secret. But the boy right away told her father.

Although her father didn't believe him, he went to ask Maryrose if this was true. Maryrose, who now knew of the boy's betrayal, kindly told her father it was a lie, and walked over to the boy. She cursed the boy and his family for the rest of his life.

But the boy, now regretting his actions, begged and pleaded for mercy. Maryrose, being the usually-kind girl she was, made his curse only on Thursdays. The boy never toyed with Maryrose again.

But now, Bella knew. Bella knew that the evil, betraying, boy was actually Barbara's dad. Which meant that Barbara was probably tricking her! Her dad had probably told Barbara about the Sparkles, and now, Barbara was trying to get information on Bella's powers.

Yes, it all made sense now! Barbara had only befriended Bella because she wanted to find more about the powers and get revenge! Why else would Barbara become friends with her only days before her eighth birthday, the day she gets her powers?

Anger bubbled inside of her. Barbara was never her friend! She was just using her!

Bella ran down the street to her house. She opened the door and ran down the hallway. Freddy was on the sofa. "Hey, honey! Had fun outside?"

"Yeah, I guess." She mumbled. She ran into her room and jumped onto the bed. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" She screamed and kicked and flailed her arms around.

What had she done? She would never talk to Barbara again. She would never look at her again. She would never think about Barbara again. She would never even walk onto or even look at Barbara's property ever again in her whole life, because all Barbara ever was to her was a dirty, evil, little spy, following in her parent's footsteps.

Monday, April 22

Dear Diary,

I had the best time ever at the family barbeque yesterday! Nothing went wrong, no problems with Bella, (Except once), and my cousins and I had an awesome time!!!

Uncle Randy's steaks were the best, and Callie, who is a picky eater, actually ate them!

But guess what? Today's Monday. There's only one day that's worse than Monday. Thursday. But I hate Monday anyway. No more weekend days off.

Anyway, back to the Bella problem. I've been thinking, and I've decided to give Bella (but not her mom) a second chance. Besides, she never did anything wrong. It's just her mom that's a crazy woman. I'm going to invite her over today.

But I do wonder what was wrong yesterday. She was acting really weird when I told her about the curse. I don't know why at all. Maybe she's cursed too? I don't know.

### Chapter 14:

Bella had tried to make it a normal day. She really did. She had tried not to think about Barbara at all. Bella tried not to think about how that Barbara might know about the Sparkles. She tried not to think about how Barbara was probably only friends with her so she could get information on the Sparkles. Bella tried not to think about how Barbara might have told everyone she knew about the Sparkles. It just made her sick to her stomach.

But she couldn't stop thinking about it. She tried to think happy thoughts, like what kind of Sparkle she would get.

Sparkle! That was it! She would get her Sparkle tomorrow! Tomorrow! She could get a Sparkle that would change everything! She could get time travel and she could go back in time to make sure she never met Barbara! Or she could get a Sparkle and mess with Barbara's memory! Perfect!

Bella smiled and walked outside. Everything would be fine. It would...um...sparkle!

"Psst... Bella!"

Bella spun around to see where the voice was coming from. It was from behind the fence. Ugh. Barbara.

"I don't want to talk to you." Bella sneered.

Barbara gasped. "What?! Why?!"

She's playing dumb. Bella thought. "You know why." She replied.

Barbara didn't answer immediately. "No-No I don't! Please tell me why you won't talk to me!"

Bella was getting mad. She knew Barbara's plan. "You're a spy! Don't deny it!"

"What?" Barbara choked back a tear. "I don't know what you're talking about! I thought you were my friend!"

Bella scowled. "Well, I'm not! And you were never my friend either!" She yelled as loud as she could.

Barbara started crying. "I knew it!" She sobbed. "You aren't nice! And to think that I thought you were going to be better than Laura and her friends! And to think I was going to invite you over today! I'm glad Dad kept me from you! You are the worst friend ever! You're even WORSE than your mom!"

The words hit Bella like a wrecking ball. "Barbara," She whispered. Barbara wasn't a spy. Barbara didn't know about the Sparkles. Barbara didn't tell everybody about the Sparkles. Barbara was completely innocent.

Just like Barbara's dad.

The words crushed Bella like a ton of bricks. Barbara's dad was just being a kid when he went to tell Freddy about Maryrose's powers. He was just being a kid, and Maryrose had ruined him and his family's life for it.

And Bella was doing the same exact thing. Being mean to an innocent kid. Fear creeped up Bella's throat. She didn't want to be like her mom, grouchy and mean. She didn't want to have a Sparkle that cursed people and hurt them. No. Bella didn't have many fears, but this was one of them.

There was only one thing that Bella could do now.

"Barbara, you have to believe me. I'm so sorry."

### Chapter 15

Barbara didn't know what to think. What just happened?! First, Bella just called her a spy, yelled at her, and then destroyed their friendship. Barbara didn't know what had gotten into Bella! What had she said or done to make Bella mad?

Now Bella randomly begs for forgiveness! Barbara was still trying to process why Bella had screamed at her in the first place, and now she's saying sorry?!

"I-I-I-what?!" Barbara stammered. "What is up with you?!"

"I'm sorry." Bella replied. "There was a huge misunderstanding, and I thought you had done something really bad-"

"What did I do?" Barbara interrupted. "I don't know what I did to make you this mean," Barbara frowned.

"You didn't do anything. Like I said, it was a misunderstanding, and now I see that you didn't do it," said Bella.

"What did you think I did, though?" Barbara demanded. Bella didn't answer. "Tell me," Barbara demanded even louder.

"I-I can't tell you," Bella nervously stammered.

Barbara scowled. Bella wasn't even going to tell her! "I knew I couldn't trust you! You're as bad as Macy, Grace, and Natalie!"

Bella stopped. "Who?"

Barbara couldn't tell Bella about them. She couldn't trust her. "I can't tell you." She sneered, mimicking Bella.

Barbara heard a thump and then she saw Bella sitting on top of the fence. "Look, Barbara! I'm sorry! I can't tell you! But could you please forgive me?" Bella asked.

Barbara just wanted to forget about this whole thing. "Fine."

"Thanks." Bella replied. She turned to jump to her side of the fence, but then Barbara remembered why she had came to talk to Bella in the first place.

"Bella, wait!" Barbara called. Bella stopped. "Do you want to come over to my house? That's what I had come to ask in the first place."

"Sure," Bella replied happily and she jumped over to Barbara's side of the fence. "But first, I want you to tell me about these girls, Laura, Macy, Grace, and Natalie."

Barbara didn't want to. "I'd rather not," She nervously sighed.

Eventually, Bella talked Barbara into talking about Macy, Grace, Laura and Natalie. Barbara talked about how she used to like playing with Laura, but she doesn't like it much anymore because she is always hanging out with Macy, Grace, and Natalie. She told Bella about all the mean things Macy, Grace and Natalie have done to her.

"You must hate them!" Bella laughed.

Barbara flinched. "No-No I don't! They're my friends!"

"But you just said they're mean to you! How are you friends with them?" Bella replied.

Barbara frowned. "You're mean to me. I'm still your friend."

Bella didn't reply. She just gave Barbara that Really? look. "For totally different reasons," Barbara heard Bella mutter.

Barbara finally answered. "They're Laura's friends. Laura loves them. If I hated her best friends, she'd hate me."

"But aren't you Laura's best friend?"

Barbara hadn't thought about that. If Barbara was Laura's best friend, shouldn't have Laura stood up for her? Barbara's heart sank. Did Laura like Macy, Grace, and Natalie better than Barbara? Barbara didn't want to think about that. She decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, Macy, Grace, and Natalie do do nice things for me. Actually this Thursday, they're throwing a-" Barbara's face went white, remembering the party.

"What's wrong?" Bella asked, worried.

"I completely. Forgot. About. The. Party." Barbara gasped.

### Chapter 16

Bella couldn't have imagined how rough Barbara's life was. Her best friend, (who apparently wasn't her best friend, in Bella's opinion) had more friends that were mean and cruel to her.

Now they're throwing her a party? Bella didn't understand any of this. And why would Barbara be freaking out if they were inviting her to a party? Maybe Barbara forgot to get a present?

"What's wrong?" Bella asked. "Did you forget to buy the present?"

Barbara started rambling on about those girls, waterslides, snow days, Thursday, and curses. "What?!" Bella asked. "I didn't understand any of that. Can you talk a little slower?"

Barbara took a deep breath. "Well, the other day, Macy, Grace, and Natalie were being really mean to me, so Laura made them do something nice. They invited me to a party, except it's at my house. They picked out the theme, which is Fun in the Sun, and they told me to buy lots of things for the party and the party's Thursday and I completely forgot to buy the stuff!"

Bella couldn't believe it! These girls were the meanest people she had ever heard of! But Barbara seemed really committed to this party, so Bella decided to help her out. "What do you need to buy for the party? I can help you!"

Barbara took another deep breath. "Five water slides, a pool, a snack bar, and hire a band."

Bella sighed. "Do your parents know about this?"

"NO!!!" Barbara wailed.

"Why didn't you tell them?!" Bella demanded.

"Because they'd say no! And Macy said that I'll never be popular if I didn't have this party, so I have to do it!" Barbara cried.

Bella took a deep breath. Barbara had bitten off more than she could chew. "Listen. I'll use some of my money and help you buy some stuff, but not all of it."

"But I have to get EVERYTHING!!!! I have to!" Barbara wailed.

Bella groaned. "But we can't afford all of that! Do you even know how much that stuff costs?!"

"A lot?" Barbara guessed.

"No duh." Bella replied. "Look, I'll make you a deal. I'll use some of my parent's money to get the stuff, although I'll get in trouble, if you invite me to the party."

"DEAL!!" Barbara screamed immediately.

"I've never been to a party," Bella whispered.

"Me either!" Barbara giggled. Both girls squealed in delight.

"Ok," Bella sighed, thinking up a plan, "I'm going to go into my house, and get my brother to cover for me. I'm going to get some of Mom and Dad's money, and then we'll go to the store."

Bella ran inside and found Eric sitting on the floor, reading. "Eric? I need a favor." She told him.

"What?" Eric moaned and closed his book. "Can't you see I'm trying to read 'Diary of a Crazy Kid?'"

"What?!" Bella gasped, "Did you take that book off my bookshelf?"

"Maybe..." Eric snickered.

"YOU LITTLE- Oh, never mind! What I need to ask is if you can cover for me. I'm going somewhere, and I don't want Dad and Mom to know." Bella said.

Eric thought for a second. "What's in it for me?" He snorted.

Bella sighed. Her brother was so difficult. "Whenever I get my Sparkle tomorrow, I'll do you any favor you want."

"Deal." Eric evilly smiled. "But what if you don't get a Sparkle?"

Bella didn't answer. She didn't want to. She didn't want to think about that. "Eric, I'm leaving. If you get me in trouble, I'll pulverize you."

"But you'll be in trouble already so you couldn't pulverize me!" Eric laughed as Bella slammed the door.

Tuesday April 23

Dear Diary,

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I FORGOT TO TURN IN MY DIARY!!!!!!

I showed up for class today, and Mr. Marcantel asked for the diaries, and I reached into my backpack, and it wasn't there!!!! I left it on my desk at home!

I begged Mr. Marcantel for another day, but he said no. Then he gave me an infraction! But then I told him he had to give me another day because I didn't have it, and I couldn't call home to get it because Mom and Dad were at work. So he said he'll give me an extra day, but if I don't turn it in by tomorrow, I'll get an F, a trip to the office, and he'll call my parents!! OH NO!!!!!!

Anyway, the party situation is back on track. Bella used her parent's money and we went to the store. We rented five waterslides, and they'll be delivered by Thursday morning. Then we bought a little kiddie pool instead of a giant one. Then we bribed the neighborhood band, The Smashers, into playing at the party. Then Bella and I bought lots of snacks.

I bet you're wondering how we pulled all of this off. Simple. We told people our parents were rich! I know that doesn't sound believable, but it worked.

But wait. I just thought about something. When they deliver everything tomorrow, won't Mom and Dad find out? Well, they were going to find out anyway.

This is probably my last entry in this diary. I had fun writing! Bye!

### Chapter 17:

"BELLA!!!! WAKE UP!!!! NOW!!!!" Bella opened her eyes to see Eric on top of her. Maryrose and Freddy were above her to, both with anxious, eager smiles.

"Whaaat?" She mumbled, half asleep.

"Did you forget what today is?" Freddy chuckled.

"Friday?" Bella mumbled.

Maryrose snorted. "No! It's Tuesday!"

"YOUR BIRTHDAY!!!!!" Eric screamed and started jumping on the bed.

"Yes," Bella muttered, "Happy birthday to me, now let me go back to sleep."

"If you say so," Freddy snickered, and the three walked out of the room.

Then something clicked in Bella's head. It's my birthday! The day I get my Sparkle!!!! Bella jumped out of bed, and then looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't look any different. She didn't feel any different. She ran out of the room. "IT'S MY BIRTHDAY!!!" She ran out of the room screaming like a maniac, to find that Freddy, Maryrose, and Eric were still waiting for her by the door. She bumped into Freddy and landed on her butt. "Sorry, Dad!"

"It's okay!" Freddy chuckled. "I knew you'd come running out in a second! Now are you ready to try out your Sparkle?"

"OF COURSE!!!!" Bella screamed.

"What can you do?" Eric eagerly asked. "Can you fly? Are you super-smart? Can you levitate things? Because that would be awesome because you could make me fly. Are you-" Eric rambled on and on.

"I'm not super smart. If I was, I'd know." Bella giggled.

"Try to fly!" Maryrose smiled.

Bella ran up to the sofa and jumped off. Bella landed flat on her face.

"Oooowwww!" Bella moaned. "I don't think I can fly. And does anyone have an ice pack?"

"Ooh! Ooh! Can you do stuff with your hands? Like make stuff? Or make stuff do stuff?" Eric smiled.

"I can try! And stop saying stuff!" Bella laughed as she got up off the floor. She waved her hand. Nothing happened.

I wonder if I even have a Sparkle?

The thought made Bella sick to her stomach. She pushed it away.

"Do you feel like you have a new talent? Like, is there something you suddenly love to do now?" Freddy asked.

"No," Bella replied, "I still feel like the same old me!"

Maryrose glanced at Freddy. Freddy sadly shook his head back. Seeing this formed a pit in Bella's stomach.

"Bella?" Freddy nervously squeaked.

Don't say it, don't say it, don't say it!

Bella felt like needles were sticking into her. Don't say it!

"Bella, honey, I hate to say it," Maryrose sighed sadly, "But you don't have a Sparkle."

The needles turned into knives as Bella collapsed on the ground. "I HAVE TO HAVE ONE!!!" She sobbed. She had gotten so excited, so worked up, so overwhelmed over what Sparkle she would get. But she didn't get one.

Bella felt like she had been punched in the gut. She felt like someone had given her a piece of candy, and took it from her right before she put it in her mouth. She felt crushed.

Maryrose sighed. "Bella, listen. It's okay. You know your dad doesn't have one, and you just inherited that! Eric is just going to get one instead of you! There's nothing bad about that!"

Bella couldn't believe her mom just said that! Easy for her to say! She had a bad Sparkle! "YES THERE IS!" Bella screamed, choking back tears.

She ran to her room. She had waited her whole life. Her whole life. She waited eight years...for nothing. She cried. She hid under her covers on her bed, trying to go back to sleep. Maybe she could wake up, and start the day over again. Maybe it was all just a dream.

Bella drifted off to sleep. About an hour, she woke up, feeling relived. It was all a dream! She'd get her Sparkle, and have a great life.

But then Freddy and Maryrose walked in with a cake. "Hey, I made you a cake," Maryrose nervously smiled.

"Thanks!" Bella happily smiled, convinced that her day had started over.

"I'm so sorry about the Sparkle, honey," Freddy gave her a hug.

So it wasn't all a dream. Bella felt like she had been punched again, this time, just harder. She put her head on her dad's shoulder and cried. She cried out all her sadness, all her anger, and all of her fear.

After her parents left, Bella looked at the cake her parents made her. Chocolate and caramel. Her favorite. She was about to take a bite, and a feeling of happiness washed over her. But then she remembered.

She would never be happy again.

She picked up the cake, and threw it on the floor.

She had hoped and prayed her whole life that she wouldn't get a bad Sparkle. But she didn't even get one at all.

Wednesday, April 24

Dear Diary,

I'm certain this will be my last diary entry. I'm in my classroom and I don't see how I won't get this diary turned in.

But I wish I could keep it another day, because I want to talk about the party tomorrow. But I have to turn it in today. I don't want to get sent to the office again. Mom and Dad will be mad.

I'm really excited about the party tomorrow! I've got waterslides, a pool, lots of snacks, and The Smashers will be playing!

But something will go wrong. It'll be Thursday. Something HAS to go wrong. Maybe a water slide will pop. Or the pool will overflow. Maybe The Smashers miss the date. The possibilities are endless!

But you know what I'm not looking forward to? The snow day Friday. We've had so much snow this winter, it's unbelievable. I'm so glad it's April and almost the end of winter! This should be our last snow of the year!

Anyway, since this is my last entry, I've had fun writing in you, diary, and you've help me keep my sanity. hat has been happening to me over the past week has almost drove me insane. Thanks for helping me not have a major freakout.

Bye!

### Chapter 18:

Macy walked into the classroom. Barbara was at her desk, writing in her diary. Macy wondered if her diary had gotten a good grade, so she walked over to Mr. Marcantel's desk.

"Mr. Marcantel, did I make a good grade on my diary?" Macy smiled.

Mr. Marcantel sighed and looked up from his work. "What was it titled?" He groaned.

"Macy Rules Third Grade," Macy smugly replied.

Mr. Marcantel, annoyed, sighed and pulled out a paper. "You got a D."

"WHAT?!" Macy shrieked. "WHY?!"

"Your title was inaccurate," Mr. Marcantel snorted. "You do not rule this class. I do." He smiled smugly at her, just as she had done.

Macy scoffed, offended. Mr. Marcantel knew very well that she ruled this classroom!

Macy noticed a stack of papers on Mr. Marcantel's desk that he planned to hand out. She skimmed the paper.

"I can't let Barbara see this!" She gasped. "It would ruin the party." She smiled evilly to herself, thinking about the party and what she planned to do there. She had to do something to make sure that Barbara didn't get it.

Macy slyly walked over to Barbara's desk and sat by her. "Hey, Barbara!" She smiled.

"Hey," Barbara replied and scribbled the words The Smashers will be playing! in her diary.

"The Smashers will be playing?!" Macy looked up to see Natalie looming over Barbara's seat. Barbara put her diary down. Good ol' Natalie. Macy thought.

"Yes, and I got-" While Barbara was talking, Macy snatched Barbara's diary. Barbara didn't even notice.

Macy walked over to Mr. Marcantel's desk again. "Mr. Marcantel, when are you going to pick up Barbara's diary?" She slyly asked.

Mr. Marcantel frowned. "And since when is that your business?" He asked. "Anyway, I'll go ask her for it right now, Macy, since you're so curious!"

Perfect.

"Barbara, I'll take your diary now." He said when he got to Barbara's desk.

"It's right here on my-" Barbara paused. "Hey, where'd it go?" Natalie looked over at Macy. Macy nodded, letting Natalie know that she took it.

"It wasn't just right there!" Natalie laughed at Mr. Marcantel. "I've been sitting here the whole time, and I never saw it!"

Barbara's mouth hung wide open. "Natalie! You- you- just- SERIOUSLY?!"

"She left it at home!" Natalie whispered to Mr. Marcantel. "She told me."

Mr. Marcantel scowled. "I told you to turn it in, Barbara!" He yelled.

"But-But I had it just right here!" She cried.

"I'm tired of the lies, Barbara," He groaned. "Go to the office. You get and F, and I'm calling your parents.

Mr. Marcantel sat down at his desk and called Barbara's parents. Sucker! Macy thought. But they didn't answer, so Mr. Marcantel mumbled that he would call them back later. Then she remembered the papers he had to pass out. She had to make sure Barbara didn't get one!

"Mr. Marcantel, can I pass out these papers?" Macy held up the stack of papers.

Mr. Marcantel let out an exasperated groan. "I have a lot of paperwork to do for Barbara's office visit and the diary, so thank you, Macy, that would help a lot."

Macy smiled. She passed out papers to everyone in the class, except for Barbara, who was in the office, which was technically not the class.

After passing them out, to make sure Barbara didn't get one, she ripped up the extras and threw them in the trash.

And if Barbara even thinks that going to the office is bad, she doesn't know what's coming for her. Macy thought and snickered to herself.

### Chapter 19:

Bella turned page after page in her book. She wasn't really reading anything. She was just depressed, because she knew she'd be powerless for the rest of her life. Eric would inherit her mom's powers. One person in the family always did, and if it wasn't her, it had to be Eric.

Eric sat down next to her. "It really stinks you don't have a Sparkle." He said. Bella snorted in reply. "Yeah, now you'll be powerless forever. I'll get the power, and you'll feel bad because you didn't get one. Yeah, It must really stink for you. Knowing that your awesome brother will get a power and not you. You must be really upset right now. So upset you want to scream."

Bella realized her brother was trying to taunt her. "ERIC, LEAVE ME ALONE!" She shrieked.

All of a sudden, Bella heard the front door to the house swung open. "BELLA, COME LOOK WHAT WE FOUND!!!!" She heard Freddy yell. She got up off of her bed and trudged to the living room.

"Unless it's my Sparkle that came late, I don't care," She moaned.

Maryrose, who was on the sofa watching Tv, said, "Bella, if you were to get a Sparkle, it would either come early, or right on time. They never come late."

Great.

Freddy interrupted Maryrose's comment. "Bella, remember how the other day you said you always wanted an Alaskan Husky puppy with purple eyes?"

Bella rolled her eyes. "That wasn't the other day. That was three years ago."

Freddy ignored her. "Anyway, guess what I found on the driveway while I was checking the mail!" Freddy held out a small, black and white puppy with purple eyes!

"How-How- Those don't even exist!" Bella screamed.

"They do now!" Eric laughed.

"Happy late birthday, Bella!" Freddy smiled and handed Bella the puppy. "Maybe this could make up for your Sparkle."

Somehow, Bella still felt upset. I mean, she loved the puppy, but nothing could make up for that. "Thanks, Dad." She looked at the dog. "I'll name you Lavender." Lavender barked.

"You still look upset," Freddy remarked.

Bella frowned. "Well, why wouldn't I be? A puppy is just gonna make up for the thing that I've waited for my whole life, and didn't get? A puppy is supposed to make up for that?" Lavender barked again.

"Well, what would make up for it?" Freddy asked.

"A trip to Hawaii," Bella sarcastically snorted.

"Alright!" Freddy said.

Bella scoffed. "Dad, I was being sarcastic. I don't-" Freddy hopped onto the family computer. "I DON'T WANT TO GO TO HAWAII!!! I JUST WANT A SPARKLE!!!!" Bella screamed.

"Oh," Freddy said as he spun around toward her on the spin-chair. "I'm sorry, honey. I wish there was something we could do."

"Hit the lottery," Bella muttered to herself.

Ironically, seconds later, Freddy pulled out his Wednesday lottery ticket and pulled up the lottery website. "What the-" He muttered.

"HOLY SMOKES!!!" He yelled.

"What is it?" Maryrose pulled off her reading glasses and put down her book.

"WE HIT THE LOTTERY!!!!" He yelled

"WHAT?!?!??" Bella, Eric, and Maryrose screamed at the same time.

"Are we going to Hawaii?" Eric asked.

"How much did we win?" Maryrose gasped.

"I-I-I-" Bella stammered.

Freddy started laughing in delight. "We won six million bucks!" Maryrose screamed in happiness. She jumped off the sofa and ran to Freddy.

"No way!!! EEEK!!!" She squealed. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh!!!!"

"Can we go to Hawaii now?" Eric smiled.

"Go to Hawaii? Let's move there!" Freddy proposed.

"Let's move first thing Friday morning!!!" Maryrose yelled.

"Alright!" Freddy yelled. "Everyone start packing!"

But Bella didn't start packing.

Her life was ruined, again.

### Chapter 20:

When Tommy woke up Thursday morning, he expected it to be like any other Thursday. Terrible, crazy, and cursed. Just like any other BLT.

But this was destined to be the craziest Thursday yet, and it all started when the phone rang at 6 AM. Tommy awoke with a start. He hollered, jumped out of the bed, and landed on the floor.

When he realized that the noise that woke him was the phone, he got up to answer it. It was Barbara's teacher.

"Mr. Wilson," Mr. Marcantel stated, "Barbara has been misbehaving a lot lately."

Tommy scoffed and brushed off the dust on his shirt from the floor as he sat up on his bed. "Not my little Barbara! What could she possibly have done?"

"Soaking and destroying five pairs of clothes, shoving classmates out of their seats, being late for class, talking to her friends in class, lying to me, and failing to turn in assignments," Mr. Marcantel replied.

Thomas was stunned. Barbara would never do anything like that! Would she? Barbara had been acting weird lately. "I-I'll talk to her later." Tommy responded and hung up the phone.

He went back into the bed, but he felt cold. Something wasn't right. It felt hot yesterday! He went outside to check the thermometer. 30 degrees! It was 70 yesterday! Tommy was about to go inside, when someone tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hi, I'm here to deliver this to Thomas Wilson. They have to be returned to BounceMania Jump House Emporium tomorrow morning." Tommy turned to see a delivery man with five big boxes.

"Oh. Okay. Thanks." Thomas said as he began opening a box.

The delivery man walked away. "But I don't see why you would need that today!"

Thomas, confused, opened one of the packages. "What the- HEY! I DIDN'T ORDER THIS!" He yelled to the delivery man, but he had already drove away. Tommy couldn't believe it! Someone had delivered him five blow-up water slides on a cold winter day like this!

Tommy went to go put the boxes in the storage room, but he wasn't prepared for what he saw! A giant pool! "What the heck is going on?!" He groaned to himself. He stuffed the boxes in the room and decided to eat some breakfast before he got Barbara up for school.

He opened the cabinet door, and food came tumbling out. A second later, Tommy was on the ground, covered in food. Bags of chips, candy, cans of dip, chili, you name it!

"What on Earth is going on?!" He shrieked as he started placing food back into the cabinet.

Finally, all the food was put back into the cabinet, and Tommy was relieved. He sat down to take a nap on the sofa, hoping Thursday would give him a second of peace. But it didn't.

DING DONG!

Tommy groaned and got up. I hate Thursday. He thought as he swung the door open. Five teenagers stood in his doorway. "What could you possibly want this early in the morning?" He moaned. "Why are you stupid teenagers here?"

"We're the Smashers. We're the neighborhood band," Said the guy with the guitar.

"Unless you're here to lull me to sleep, get out of my house," Thomas groaned and slammed the door. He began walking back toward the sofa. But seconds later, they rang the doorbell again.

"WHAAAAAAAT?!!?!" He growled between his teeth.

The girl with the drum set smiled nervously. "We're supposed to play at your party today," She replied.

Tommy was about fed up. "What party?"

The five band members all looked back and forth at each other. The girl with the biker hairdo, leather jacket and black makeup popped her gum and rolled her eyes. "You are the Wilsons, right?" She groaned. Tommy nodded. "Yeah, well, someone booked us to play at a party at this location."

Tommy sucked in his teeth in frustration. Maryrose must have done this as a prank. I mean, she had cursed him! Why shouldn't she pull a prank to go with it? "Who told you to play here?" He asked.

"Barbara Wilson. She said you were a multimillionaire." Said the bald guy with the bass.

Tommy's eyes widened in sudden realization. Barbara. "I-I-I-" He stuttered, speechless.

Anger bubbled in his stomach. Barbara was about to get it. What she had been doing behind his back was totally unacceptable. Planning parties. Using his money. Being bad in school. Making bad grades.

He shook his head at the band in total disgust. What Barbara had done disgusted him to levels unimaginable.

"Excuse me a second, thanks," He slowly closed the door on the band.

"BARBARA!!!!" He yelled as the top of his lungs. He had never been so angry in all his life. Barbara was about to get it, bad.

### Chapter 21:

Barbara waited by the bus stop. Something didn't feel right. She had gotten ready for school before any of her parents got up, and she had been waiting for the bus ever since, although she was an hour early for the bus. She was just so excited for the party.

But something wasn't right. It didn't feel warm enough for the pool. It felt...chilly... in an eerie sort of way. Barbara had to throw on her jacket. It'll warm up by this afternoon. She thought.

Barbara thought everything would be fine, up until the mail truck showed up. She saw the delivery man walk up to the door, and knock. She saw her dad yelling at the guy about the waterslides, and the man running away.

Then she saw the band. And her Dad being mad. Oh, well, she'd confess after school. But then Barbara realized that Tommy might cancel the whole party when he found out. But he probably already knew.

Something interrupted Barbara's thoughts. Something...small. And....cold. It had landed on her nose, and sent a chill down her spine. She rubbed it off of her nose, quickly and looked at it. It was a little white speck. It melted in her palm.

Oh.

Oh no.

Snow.

A flurry of feelings rushed through Barbara. First, disbelief. It was snowing, on Fun in the Sun day? She couldn't believe it! Then, confusion came. Grace had planned the date. She had told her it would be sunny and hot. And she said it was going to snow Friday. It didn't make sense. Third, she just laughed. Thursday strikes again, she thought. Thursday changed the weather forecast, just to mess with her! But then, she realized something else. The weather forecast never changed. She remembered seeing it a few days ago. It had always said it would snow on Thursday; she had just never put much thought into it. Then she laughed again. Stupid Grace. She got the forecast wrong.

But then she thought about it again. This would ruin the party. Snow would ruin Fun in the Sun.

Ruin the Party.

Suddenly, Barbara had a terrible thought. Grace isn't that stupid. She had told her that she had checked the forecast. She had done this on purpose. It was all a dirty trick.

Everything suddenly made sense to Barbara. She felt as if she had been punched in the stomach as everything made sense. Why Grace had put "Winter" for the theme and why she had told her to buy summer stuff. So everyone would come thinking the theme was winter and Barbara would be humiliated when people showed up and saw the summer stuff.

Then Barbara remembered something else on the invitation. It had said the time was 9 AM for the party. Why hadn't that set an alarm off in Barbara's head?! If it had been sunny that day, they would have had school, and if they were at school, they couldn't have had a party at nine in the morning.

She now understood why the party planning was so complicated. She understood why they had the party was at her house. It was to make her look stupid.

The whole party was a big trick. Barbara felt so gullible, so stupid, that she hadn't realized it earlier. Grace, Macy, and Natalie are so mean, she thought. They lied to her stole her seats, tattled on her, threw their lunches on her, and made up this whole party thing, just to be mean to her. What kind of friends did that?! Barbara was so mad!

Then, Barbara made another terrible realization. They weren't her friends. They were never her friends. To them, Barbara was just a joke. Sadness washed over Barbara. She felt hurt. She blinked back tears.

Why hadn't Laura stood up for her? Laura must have known the whole time! Barbara burst out into tears. Laura knew the whole time! Laura was on their side the whole time! Laura was never Barbara's friend in the first place.

The wind picked up and it started snowing harder. Barbara's tears felt like they were going to freeze to her face.

No one cared about her. No one liked her. The only people who cared about her was her parents. She started to walk back home.

But wait. Layla and Tommy found out about the party! They were probably looking for her right now, trying to punish her for the rest of her life.

Barbara couldn't go home. She couldn't get in trouble. She didn't want to. That would just be more people to hate her.

Barbara tried to think of someone that did care. But she couldn't. Everyone hated her. Her parents, the neighbors, Laura, Macy, Grace, Mr. Marcantel, Mason and the fifth graders, everyone.

She sat down under a snow-covered tree and cried. Bella probably hated her too, now that she thought about it. Bella had yelled at her the other day for no reason.

Everyone hated her.

She finally cried herself to sleep under the tree.

### Chapter 22:

"Ooh," Maryrose groaned dramatically, "Why, oh why, did it have to snow today?"

Bella laughed to herself. "I'm glad it snowed today. Now the moving will be rescheduled."

Maryrose's eyes flashed red as she turned to Bella. "Are you talking smart to me, young lady?"

Bella flinched back. "No-No, Mom," Maryrose rolled her eyes as she stuffed a few things into a box.

Note to self: Bella thought, Don't make Mom mad today. She's in a bad mood.

Bella was in a bad mood herself, too. She had to move away from the house she had always lived in, and where all her memories had been made.

She had to move, just when her life in this house got interesting! She had finally found a friend, Barbara, and now she had to move. She had planned to do so many things with Barbara, like go to the park, or have sleepovers, but she never would. After tomorrow, she'd never see her again.

Why life treated her like this, she didn't know. Maybe it was her Mom's power, the bad luck. Maybe it just rubbed off on her.

Maybe one day, if she could have gained Barbara's trust, she might have told her about the Sparkles.

Even though Barbara's dad had betrayed Maryrose, it didn't mean for sure that Barbara would betray her. Besides, Barbara didn't even know that Maryrose was in fact the woman that cursed her dad! Barbara barely knew a thing about the curse!

Poor Barbara, Bella thought. Cursed on every Thursday. That must stink. I'd hate to see her face when she finds out I'm moving.

Bella realized that she wasn't going to be the only one upset about the move. Barbara was going to be even more upset! All of Barbara's friends were jerks, and Bella was the only one nice to her! She couldn't imagine what Barbara would do when she found out that she was moving!

How would she ever tell Barbara that she was moving? She hated to see Barbara upset! But she had to tell Barbara she was moving! She couldn't just go without telling her.

She imagined Barbara waiting by the fence for her by the fence for hours, and Bella never showing up. She imagined Barbara's face when she she realized that Bella had moved without telling her. It would be the exact same face she made when Bella had yelled at her, just worst.

Bella hated imagining it. It made her want to cry even more, as if she hadn't cried enough over the past few days.

She had to tell Barbara. She walked over to Eric.

"Eric?" She sat down next to him. "I'm going somewhere. Cover for me," Bella stood up before he could respond.

She dashed through the newly fallen snow over to Barbara's house and knocked on the door. But as soon as she knocked, something dawned on her. It was Thursday. The day of the party.

OH NO! Bella thought. I'm going to ruin Barbara's party by telling her I'm moving! It'll make her upset for the rest of the party!

Bella thought about running back home. But too late, the door opened.

"Ugh, what do you want?!" At the door stood a man with black curly hair, grey-blue eyes, and a stubby beard. He was still in his night robe and he had a worried looked on his face.

"You-You're not Barbara," Bella stammered, since she was expecting Barbara to be waiting at the door.

"I'm Barbara's dad, Thomas. Now why are you here?" He moaned and rubbed his head like he had a headache. Bella guessed he had had a bad morning.

"I'm here to see Barbara!" Bella replied. "For the party!"

Thomas groaned really loud. "The party's cancelled. Now go home." He groaned and shut the door in Bella's face.

Bella couldn't just leave! She needed an excuse to talk to Barbara! She knocked on the door again. Thomas opened the door again, and he didn't look happy!

"WHAT DO YOU WANT, KID?!" He yelled and threw his arms up.

"I need to talk to Barbara! It's very important!" Bella screamed.

The man sighed and the worried expression on his face returned. His eyes softened. Then, tears filled his eyes. "Kid, sorry. I can't let you do that."

"But why?" Bella asked.

The man bit his lip. Bella had never seen a man cry before. "You see, kid, Barbara's not here."

"What?"

"She's gone missing."

### Chapter 23

Thomas wasn't mad at Barbara. He just wanted his daughter back. She must of heard him get mad and ran away. Now, he can't find her anywhere.

He wanted to take it back. He had yelled some pretty mean things at Barbara when he couldn't find her. But he had kept looking all over the neighborhood for hours. He wished he could take everything he said back.

Thomas had went home to call the police. But then this wacky-looking kid shows up. He kept telling this kid to go home, but she just kept waiting at his doorstep. The kid also wanted to talk to Barbara, so Thomas told her why she couldn't talk to Barbara. Because she was gone.

He just wanted the kid to go. He didn't feel like dealing with her and Barbara's disappearance. But the kid apparently wanted to help find her.

"I can help!" The kid said.

Thomas started to close the door. "No. Bye, kid." He slammed the door in her face and walked toward the phone to call 911. But the door creaked open.

"Let me help!" She yelled.

Tommy spun around in disbelief. This kid had just walked into his house! His HOUSE!

"What are you doing in here?!" He screamed. "This is MY house! You can't just walk in here like you own the place!"

"I can help you find Barbara! I know a lot about her!" The kid yelled.

Thomas paused. Did she SERIOUSLY just say that?! "I'm Barbara's DAD!" He yelled. "What do you know about her that I don't?!"

The kid sneered. "A lot." She scowled.

Thomas laughed to himself. This kid thought she was so smart. "Like what?" He asked.

The kid rolled her eyes. "Did you know Barbara was being bullied?"

This took Tommy by surprise. Barbara was being bullied? Barbara never told him that! "No-No. I didn't know that. How do you know? Who's bullying her?"

The kid continued. "Did you know that Barbara has no friends at school? Did you know that she was having a party? Did you know that Barbara had a new friend, me? Did you know that she was sneaking out to see me almost every day? Did you know that Barbara was getting bullied by her own best friends? Did you know that I was the one who paid for the party, not Barbara? Did you know all this?"

Thomas was stunned. Was this kid serious about all this? "How-how-how do you know this?"

"Because I'm Barbara's friend!"

"But I'm her father!" Thomas replied in disbelief.

"Well, she doesn't trust you!"

Thomas took the blow hard. Barbara...didn't trust him? "Why?" Thomas whispered, feeling hurt.

The kid hesitated a moment. She hung her head low and her hair hung over her face. "Because you lie and keep secrets from her!"

Secrets. The fence. No, this kid couldn't be.... "What secrets? How do you know all this? Who are you?" Thomas demanded.

The kid brushed back her hair and looked up at him. "You know who I am," She quietly replied. And it was true. Thomas did know who it was. Who else would know everything about him and Barbara?

"B-B-Barbara went over the fence," He stuttered, "You-You're-"

"I'm Bella," She interrupted, "Daughter of Freddy and Maryrose."

Any other day, Thomas would have slapped the girl in the face and kicked her out. He would have punished Barbara for the rest of her life for disobeying him. But Barbara wasn't there, and today, he needed Bella. She knew things that he didn't.

"Come with me," He said and motioned her over to his room. Bella was going to help him find his daughter, even if the kid was a witch like her mom.

### Chapter 24:

Bella had finally met the guy her mom had cursed. She'd never seen Barbara's Dad before. She had one opinion of him. Rude and disrespectful.

Now she saw why her mom might have cursed him. Yet she still didn't agree with her. Thomas always had a reason to be mean. A long time ago, it was because of him not believing. I mean, if Bella didn't know about the Sparkles, and someone told her they were real, she would have thought that person was psycho and told someone else!

And Thomas also had a reason to be mad today. His daughter was missing.

And Bella had a reason to help. Barbara was her friend, her only friend. And if Bella was to move, she had to do one good thing for the Wilson family. Her mom had ruined their life, and Bella wished she could do something, but she couldn't. She had to do one favor for them. She would find their daughter. If she couldn't stop the curse, the least she could do is help them be happy.

Thomas had pulled her into a closet. She didn't resist. She wondered in her mind what Thomas was thinking. Probably something like, I'm about to kill this kid for what her mom did. Or, This kid is about to reverse this curse. Just by the look on that man's face when she told him who she was, she could tell Thomas wouldn't be giving her any candy for being a good girl.

He pulled her shirt and looked straight in her eyes. Bella was scared he was going to beat her up. But he didn't. "How much do you know?" He whispered through his teeth.

"Everything," Bella squeaked in fear that this man was going to pulverise her. But then he let her shirt go. Bella sighed in relief.

Thomas then started to look nervous. His eyes wandered across the closet, although it wasn't that big, only big enough for the two of them to stand in. "You're not going to make my curse worse, are you?" He asked. "Because it's already bad enough." Bella could hear faint laughter in his voice.

Bella sighed. "No," She was going to tell him how she'd never had a Sparkle in the first place, and how she was really upset about it but she decided to just keep her reply as no.

There was a long silence. Finally, Thomas broke it. "Do you know where Barbara is?" He asked.

"Not for sure," Bella replied. "But I do have some ideas."

Thomas looked straight into her eyes again. "Like what?"

Bella laughed in awkwardness. "Well," She nervously smiled, "First I'd have to tell you the whole story."

Thomas sighed. Bella felt like they had finally broken the ice. Things weren't as tense as they were earlier. "Talk away," He snickered. "But hurry, because we need to find Barbara!"

"Well, she might be at school, because she didn't know about the snowstorm today." Bella said.

"But why wouldn't she know? They should have passed notes out at school!" Thomas asked.

"I don't know," Bella replied. "Let's go check at the school."

"But Barbara catches the bus!" Thomas replied. "Let's look at the bus stop."

"Okay," said Bella. The two walked out of the closet and out of the house. They walked through the cold, wet snow. The wind blew hard, making things almost impossible to see.

Finally, they reached the bus stop. They looked all around but they couldn't find Barbara. Bella and Thomas sat down on the bench. "I have another question for you, Miss Know-It-All," Thomas asked and smirked.

"What?" Bella snorted, not appreciating the new nickname.

"What was all that talk about a party this morning? Why was the teacher calling about Barbara? Why did I keep finding weird things at my house?" Thomas asked and wiped snow off his shoulder.

Bella answered him by telling him about Macy, Grace, Laura, and Natalie's tricks. She told them how they got her in trouble almost everyday, She told him about the party, and how they tricked her into that.

"They're horrible!" Thomas gasped in disbelief. "And I thought that Laura was her friend! Why didn't she tell me all this? Why didn't she tell me about the party?"

Bella sighed. "Like I said, she doesn't trust you," Bella saw Thomas grimace and groan. "If I help you find Barbara," Bella added, "Will you still let her have the party?"

Thomas made the Are you kidding me? face. Bella could tell he didn't want to. "Fine," He answered. "But those girls aren't coming. Let's go look some more for Barbara."

They got up and started looking again. A few seconds later, Bella heard Thomas gasp in horror.

"What is it?" She asked.

"No...No...NO!" Thomas gasped. He sounded like he had just seen someone pointing a gun at him.

Bella ran over. No. That can't be....No!

It was a shoe.

Barbara's shoe.

Buried under the snow.

### Chapter 25:

A warm hand touched her. "Barbara?"

A tingling sensation passed through Barbara, starting at her feet. As it went through her body, she felt warm, unlike she had earlier. Half unconscious, not many thoughts went through her mind. But she knew something for sure. She wasn't in the same place as she was earlier.

As she began to regain consciousness, she began to become more aware of her surroundings. She was lying in her side, on a cold, wet, floor. She could hear a familiar voice talking on the phone. She smelt the dust, the dust that usually came from their heater when they hadn't used in in a while. She felt warm, cozy blankets on top of her.

Soon she was able to sense more things. Someone sobbing, someone nearby. She heard someone yelling "Call 911! Call 911!" Then, someone responding, "Okay, okay!" It sounded like her parents.

Her parents.

Barbara's eyes fluttered open in sudden realization. She was at home. To her surprise, she saw Bella, next to her, sobbing uncontrollably.

Barbara was too weak to do anything or say anything. She had barely enough strength to keep her eyes open. But she felt her strength growing as the tingling went up and down through her.

Finally, when she felt like she had regained enough strength, she looked at Bella. "Whaaaaat Happened?" She croaked.

Bella, whose eyes were swollen shut and red, spun around in alarm. "Barbara!" She gasped. "How do you feel?"

As Bella was talking, Barbara realized something else. "I-I-I'm very cold," She shivered through chattering teeth. "W-w-what happened?"

Bella sighed. "Well, Barbara, why don't you tell me? We found you under a pile of snow by the bus stop."

Barbara's heart sunk as she remembered what happened. Sadness crept into her and tears stung her eyes. These people hated her. Once she was better, they would ground her. They would probably punish her even worse for running away and almost dying of hypothermia in the snow, so she had to run away before they did that. She had to run, even if it was snowing outside.

Once she felt like she had enough strength to get up and run, which was about ten seconds later, (The strength came unnaturally quick), she lifted up her head and started to stand up. Bella noticed her immediately.

"No, Barbara!" Bella gasped. "You have to stay down! Your Daddy said so!" Bella pushed Barbara down back onto the floor.

"No!" Barbara cried and fought back against Bella with all of the strength she had in her, but she didn't have much strength in her, so it didn't work all that well.

"Barbara, you have to lay down so you'll get better!" Bella stomped her foot and covered Barbara with a blanket.

Barbara kicked the blanket off. She had to get away from Bella. Bella was already being mean to her. "But I feel fine!" She shouted and rolled over. She stood up and started walking away.

Bella frowned and stood up. "No you're not fine! Your Daddy said so! He said you have hypo-termee-somethin'!"

"I DON'T CARE ABOUT HYPNO-THORNIA!" Barbara screamed as loud as her lungs would let her. "I FEEL GREAT!"

"You don't look great!" Bella cried. "You're cold, wet, weak, and sick! You're crying, too, so it proves you're not great!"

"That's not why I'm crying!" Barbara yelled and sniffed a tear. "I'm crying because you hate me!" She screamed. So there, Barbara thought, Now leave me alone you big meanie.

Bella's facial expression was so different. Barbara had never seen Bella make that face before. It was a mix between pain, disbelief, confusion, sympathy, and sadness. All the color in her face had been drained away.

"Barbara, I-I-I don't...What? What are you talking about?" Bella choked. A small tear dribbled down her cheek. Bella took a deep breath. The color in her face began to return. She wiped up the stray tear on her face and smiled unconfidently at Barbara.

"Look, you're sick, Barbara! You're saying things that don't make sense! You have to lay down until the ambulance gets here!" Bella coaxed her to lay down and motioned her to the sofa.

Barbara didn't follow her. "No. I don't need an ambulance. I'm not sick! I'm just sick of you!" She fussed and spun around. She made a dash for the door. She was almost there, but Bella pulled her back. She staggered backwards. Bella caught her hand before she fell.

But then, Bella gasped and let her hand go. Barbara landed with a bam on her behind. Bella's mouth hung open in wonder. "What?" Barbara asked, annoyed. Now she had a bruise on her butt. Was Bella trying to keep her from running, or let her go?

"Your-Your- hand," She stammered in complete and utter surprise, "It's-It's warm!"

Really? That's what's so unbelievable? "So?" Barbara snapped.

"Just a second ago, you were freezing. Now you're warm! You can't get better that fast!" Bella replied, still in wonder.

"Well, I did." Barbara sneered in reply and stood up to walk out the door.

"But-But- That's-That's impossible! MR. WILSON!!!" Bella yelled.

Great.

Now Bella was getting her dad involved. Barbara growled in her throat. At this point, she couldn't tell if Bella hated her, but she was certain that now, she absolutely hated Bella.

Thomas walked into his living room. "Oh, Barbara!" He gasped and ran to Barbara. He threw his arms around her. " You need to lay down! The ambulance is on the way!"

"NO!" Barbara pushed him away. "Let me go! I'm not sick! Just go away!"

Thomas, surprised, backed away. "Barbara, are you ok?"

"Yes!" Barbara cried angrily, but then she had second thoughts. "No-No I'm not! I mean, I'm ok...but not-" She lowered her voice.

Her anger suddenly disappeared. It was quickly replaced with sadness. She looked down at the floor. Tears stung her eyes and throat. She couldn't hold it back anymore. She started crying the world out.

"Not okay?" Thomas finished her sentence.

Barbara sadly nodded. Her dad understood. "Come see," Thomas sighed. Barbara ran over to her father and hugged him. She cried on his shoulder. Thomas hugged her back.

It seemed to last forever.

### Chapter 26:

"Why don't you tell me everything that happened?" Tommy asked.

Barbara wasn't mad at anyone anymore. She wasn't mad at Bella, her parents, or anyone else. She was mad at herself. Why she hadn't seen it before, that Bella was her real friend, and those other girls weren't. She was mad at herself for lying to her parents, mad at herself for having the party, mad at herself for being bad in school.

And she was positive her dad would be mad at her too. But he still loved her. He still cared.

Of course, her mom wasn't that happy. But she didn't understand. She would never understand what was going on. But Thomas told her it was okay. Since Barbara was okay, he told the ambulance not to come. The doctors weren't happy either, but still. They'd never understand.

Thomas and Barbara had went into Barbara's room to talk after she stopped crying. Barbara started telling Thomas about everything that happened. Starting with the diary, finishing with the snow.

"Oh, Barbara, why didn't you tell me any of this?" Thomas whispered, shaking his head.

Barbara stared down at her feet. "I-I-I don't know," She sighed shamefully.

Barbara decided to tell him the truth. "I just find it hard to trust you, Dad. You never tell me anything. You never tell me or mom anything about the curse! I had to figure out why you wouldn't let me over the fence on my own! If you would have just told me, I wouldn't have had to go there and figure it out the hard way."

Thomas raised his eyebrow. "You know, you didn't have to go over there," He snorted.

Barbara, annoyed, looked up from her feet. "Yes, I did. I had to get my kickball!" Then, Barbara remembered something. "Oh no! The kickball tournament!"

"Don't worry," Thomas placed his hand on her shoulder, "Mr. Marcantel called and said it's rescheduled for next Tuesday."

Barbara smiled and leaned her head on her dad's shoulder. "Good. I'm glad it's not on a Thursday anymore."

A faint smile appeared on Thomas's face. Then it disappeared as Thomas's face hardened and became serious again. "Barbara, I'm sorry I don't tell you much about the curse and the fence. I just think you're a little too young to understand. It's really.... complicated."

Barbara's smile disappeared, too. "Oh," She sighed, "Okay. Will you at least tell me one day?"

"One day," Thomas echoed.

There was a long silence. "I love you, Dad." Barbara finally exclaimed. Barbara hopefully grinned at Thomas, hoping he would reply.

"I love you too, Barbie," He warmly smiled. Barbara's heart lifted.

Barbara climbed into his lap. Thomas picked her up, and threw her to the other side of the bed, just for fun. Barbara giggled playfully. She jumped onto Thomas's back and wrapped her arms around Thomas's neck. Thomas reached under her armpits and tickled her. Barbara laughed and jumped backwards, landing on her back on the bed.

Thomas laughed.

Barbara laughed, too. She was happy. She had never heard her dad laugh before. She had heard him snicker, or laugh sarcastically, but this was a real laugh. A happy, fun, joyful laugh. Barbara hoped that moment would never end as Barbara and Thomas tumbled and rolled around on the bed.

It seemed like forever, but it was only for about fifteen seconds. Then, someone knocked on the door. "Thomas?" It was Layla. She opened the door. "We have a problem."

Thomas put Barbara, who was on his shoulders, down onto the bed. She landed with a plop and giggled again. "What's up?" He asked happily, since he was still in a great mood.

Layla sighed and leaned against the doorway. "We got kids at the door begging for a party," She glared at Thomas, waiting for an answer.

Thomas didn't look impressed at first. He glanced skeptically at Barbara. Then, after a few seconds of thinking, he smiled. "Tell them to come on in!" He laughed and shrugged his shoulders.

Barbara gasped in happiness and sat up on the bed. "Really?!"

Thomas nodded. "After the week you've been through, you deserve it! And I did promise Bella..."

Layla's mouth hung open in disbelief. "How does she DESERVE it?! She ran away, got in trouble in class, and-"

Thomas and Barbara began walking out of the room. When they past Layla up in the doorway. She scoffed angrily. "You can NOT let her do this! I am her MOTHER and-"

"You may be her mother," Thomas laughed, "But I'm the Man of the House!"

Barbara giggled at her father's joke and skipped gleefully to the door. She opened it.

"Hey guys!" She grinned at the kids waiting at the door. "Welcome to my party!"

### Chapter 27:

Bella stood idly outside, out on Barbara's back porch, wondering what to think.

She couldn't take it all in as it happened. It took her a second to realize what was going on. It took her more than a second, actually. She wondered why she hadn't realized this before.

Suddenly, all the puzzle pieces of her life fit together. She didn't know what to think, now that she knew.

She'd had it all along, just she never noticed it. Sparkles are funny like that sometimes. You'll have an ability your whole life, but it would just be a normal talent. But when your Sparkle comes along, it just transforms into a power.

Bella had always been good at games. She had never lost a single one. She had always wondered if playing games was her Sparkle. But it was actually just one of the benefits of it.

The day after her birthday, her dad found the puppy she had always wanted. After she had said hit the lottery, they did. And they would be going to Hawaii, too.

She always got what she wanted. What luck.

Luck.

After Barbara miraculously got better, Bella realized it could only be one thing. Luck. It had to be. When Thomas and Bella had brought Barbara into the house, she was cold, her skin was pale blue, and she was unconscious. Her body temperature was so low, she shouldn't have been okay.

Thomas had nervously implied, "She'll be okay. Only if we're REALLY lucky."

Bella had started to cover her up with blankets. She had plopped down next to Barbara and started crying as Thomas went off to call 911. Then she whispered, "Please be okay!" and grabbed Barbara's arm. She silently cried her name.

It shocked Bella when only moments later, Barbara began to revive. That shouldn't have happened. Barbara was too sick to wake up. There was only one thing that could have possibly woken her up.

Luck.

But where did that luck come from? It came from Bella. Then and only then, Bella realized that she did have her Sparkle. She had had it all along. Her Sparkle was the opposite of her mom's. She had good luck.

How else would have good things happen right after she said for them to? How else would she win EVERY game she played no matter what? How else would Barbara be in such critical condition, and just wake up?

Bella had to have done it. There could be no other way.

Bella stood barefoot on the freezing concrete porch. She stared out into the pale grey sky, watching the snowflakes fall, feeling the cold, piercing wind on her face.

She hated it.

This morning, she was glad about the snow. It would have delayed the moving. But now, she wished more than ever that the sun would come out and warm the Earth. It ruined Barbara's party. Now that Barbara was okay, it would crush her to find out that she still couldn't have the party.

There had to be something she could do.

Bella thought about it. She was good luck. If she said anything about something lucky happening, it would happen.

"Boy, it sure is cold today," Bella's own words surprised her, how fast they came out, and how fast she thought of them.

"All this snow really is depressing," She called out, wondering who she was even talking to. Was she talking to her Sparkle, or the snow?

"I sure wish it would stop snowing," Bella looked all around to see if any changes in the weather patterns had happened. Nothing.

"It sure is such bad luck that it had to snow today," Bella's voice echoed as it bounced off the houses and abundant trees in their small little neighborhood. Still nothing changed.

Bella was starting to think that maybe, just maybe, she didn't really have a Sparkle. Maybe everything was just a coincidence. The idea took a second to sink in. Bella's shoulders slumped. Tears stung her eyes and throat, and she used all her strength not to cry again.

She was supposed to be happy. She was moving to Hawaii. She got the puppy she always wanted. Barbara was okay. She should have been happy. But she wasn't.

She had just about everything she could have ever wanted. Except for the thing she really wanted.

Maybe I do have it, Bella thought, trying to stay on the bright side, It's just, um, glitching.

One more time.

"It sure would be lucky if it would stop snowing for Barbara's party," Bella croaked and looked hopefully at the sky. A snowflake fell into her eye.

Bella sat down on the cold porch, her eyes watering. She put her head between her knees. Tears slid down her cheek and landed on the concrete. This is what she got for getting her hopes up. Every time she got her hopes up, something bad happened.

But then, everything went still.

The wind stopped. It was quiet. The only thing that Bella could hear was the echo of her own breathing off the porch. Bella looked up at the sky, expecting to see snowflakes.

But the sky was empty. Bella held her breath and watched as the grey clouds parted and gave way to the sun.

Bella stood up in wonder. Did I just-

The snow on the ground suddenly got wet and shiny, and Bella knew it was starting to melt. Bella felt the warm sun on her shoulders. She felt the temperature rapidly increasing.

It worked. Bella gasped as joy overtook her. IT WORKED!

She started laughing in happiness. She was about to start running around doing the Snoopy Happy Dance, but then, the door creaked open.

Thomas's smiling face peered out from the back door. "Bella, what are you doing out here?" He asked. "We're having a party inside! Why don't you come back inside?" He motioned for her to come back indoors.

Bella happily agreed and skipped inside.

A Sparkle and a party. How could this day get any better?

### Chapter 28:

Barbara couldn't believe her party had worked out.

After everything that happened, her dad still let her have the party. She was expected him to ground her and fuss at her. But he didn't. He still let her have her party!

She hadn't been this happy in weeks.

There were so many people that came! Some people were in her class, some were in the other third grade class, some were in second grade, and even a few fourth graders came!

Wow! Barbara thought. Does this mean I'm popular now?

Barbara and Thomas decided to do a piñata, pin the tail on the donkey, and other party games instead of the summer activities. Although it had miraculously stopped snowing, it was still way too cold to play on waterslides.

The Smashers played on their back porch. The kids could go outside and play in the half melted snow and on Barbara's swing set in the backyard whenever they wanted. All in all, the party was a blast!

While Barbara was munching down on some chips at the snack bar, she suddenly heard a crash coming from her room. Uh, oh, She thought, That can't be good! She ran to her room to find a little girl standing by her dresser, surrounded by a pile of broken glass.

"I'm so sorry!" The girl cried. "I didn't mean to! I was just looking at the picture, and I dropped it!"

Barbara stared at the girl. She didn't recognize her. She had long, wavy, blonde hair, bright blue eyes, and loads of freckles. "It's okay. We can replace it," Barbara replied and the girl sighed in relief. "Which picture frame did you break?" She asked as she slowly approached the girl.

"This one," She replied and held up the bent picture.

Barbara examined the photo. It was old and faded. There was four girls sitting on a bed, wearing goofy clothes from the 80's.They were smiling and looked like they were having a great time together. "That's my mom and her best friends." Barbara sighed and put the picture down. "I wish I had as many friends as she did."

The girl cautiously stepped over the glass. "I can be your friend," She smiled. "I'm Penny."

"Thanks," She told Penny happily, "I'm Barbara. Thanks for coming to my party," Then she added, "Where are you from? I've never seen you before!"

Penny giggled. "I live down the road. I'm homeschooled. I found out about the party from my cousin, Natalie."

Barbara flinched. Natalie? Was this girl going to be mean like her?

Penny looked down. "She's not very nice though. She's always picking on me."

Barbara smiled. "She's not that nice to me either. Hey, want to go play in the snow?"

Penny nodded in reply. Barbara went to tell Thomas about the broken frame, who responded, I knew this would happen, and Penny and Barbara went out to play in the snow with the other kids.

Later, after lunch, Barbara and Penny went into Barbara's room to play. They heard a snuffling cry from her closet. Barbara opened her closet door.

There was a young girl, she looked about a year or two younger than Barbara, crouched between Barbara's plastic bin and her suitcase. She had long brown hair, pulled up into a braid that dangled down her left shoulder, purple glasses, and big brown eyes.

"What's wrong?" Penny asked as her and Barbara crouched down next to her. Barbara noticed that she was wet and sticky. Barbara couldn't help thinking, She smells like tomatoes. Barbara pushed the thought away. That sounded mean.

"These girls," She sniffed, "While I was eating chips, they picked up the tray of salsa and dumped it on my pants because they said they were ugly."

The girl was wearing neon orange tights. They were a bit bright, but Barbara decided not to say anything. The girl continued. "I tried rubbing it all off, but I just smeared it everywhere and it got all over me."

"Do you know who these girls were?" Barbara asked, but she had a feeling she knew the answer.

The girl sniffed again and rubbed a tear off her cheek. "I think their names were Macy, Gracie, and Natie?"

"Close enough," Barbara sighed, "I know who you're talking about. What's your name?" She asked.

"I'm Raelynn," The girl replied.

"Okay," Barbara smiled, "I'm going give those girls a piece of my mind."

Raelynn smiled sheepishly. "Thanks."

### Chapter 29:

Bella was so excited. She had never seen this many people in one house her whole life! She was already overwhelmed over getting her Sparkle, and now she was at the party of a lifetime!

She had met many kids her age. They were all so nice. A little time after lunch, three girls sat down next to her outside. "Hi, I'm Bella!" She immediately blurted out.

The one with curly red hair snickered and rolled her eyes. "Hey, Bella. I don't know you. You're not from here, are you?"

"Um, I live in the house right behind us," Bella blushed.

"Yeah, you don't go to our school. And by the way, your skirt is totally lame," The girl with blonde hair scoffed and looked at Bella like she was stupid.

Bella looked down at her blue skirt. She thought it went well with her yellow shirt. These girls weren't very nice.

Bella nervously picked up a ball of snow. "Do you wanna build a snowman?" She squeaked, hoping the girls would catch along and stop being rude to her. She just hoped they liked Frozen as much as she did.

The African girl with the black curly hair looked at the other girls. She looked back at Bella and her lip curled in disgust. "Ew," She snarled. "You like Frozen? That's, like, for two year olds!"

Bella was about to protest, but then, Barbara and two other girls marched up. Barbara's face was red with rage. Bella suddenly realized why these girls were being mean. They were those girls that Barbara didn't like.

"What are you doing here?!" Barbara shrieked.

"It's OUR party, Barbara. " The girl with red hair smiled evilly.

"No, it's not, Macy!" Barbara cried and stomped her foot.

"Yeah," Said one of the girls standing next to Barbara, "It said that it was Barbara's party on the invitation!"

The girl that was supposedly Macy leaned over to the African girl. "See? I told you not to put that, Grace!"

The girl that was Grace whipped around and scowled at the blonde haired girl. "Natalie! You told me to put that!"

Natalie looked back at Grace. "What?! That was your idea!"

"GUYS!"

Everyone including Barbara spun around to see where the voice was coming from. Behind Barbara, there was a tall girl with long black hair and freckles. Macy scoffed. "What do you want, Laura? We're kind of in the middle of something!"

Laura folded her arms across her chest. "I want to know why you did this!" She grunted.

Barbara seemed shocked that Laura had even spoke.

"Did what?" Grace snorted.

Laura scowled. "Everything! You told me you were just going to have a summer party at Barbara's house! You never told me you were doing THIS!"

Natalie scoffed. "Again, what is 'this'?"

Laura rolled her eyes. "You knew it was going to snow today! No one told ME that! I told you to do something nice for Barbara! Not embarrass her!"

"What do you mean, embarrass her?" Macy asked sarcastically.

Barbara opened her mouth to speak, but Laura interrupted her. "You told her to buy summer things so that when it snowed today she would be embarrassed!"

"Oh," Macy laughed, "That! I thought you were talking about her diary."

Barbara's mouth hung open. "My what?" She asked in disbelief.

Macy rolled her eyes. "Oh, I just thought Laura was talking about how I stole your diary so you would go to the office and never get the note about school being canceled today. That's all. No biggie."

Barbara's face flushed red. "You're the worst friend ever," She snapped.

Macy, Grace, and Natalie laughed like she had just said something really funny. Natalie choked out a few words. "As if! Right, Laura?"

Laura just glared at them for a second. "No." The three girls stopped laughing and looked at Laura.

"What do you mean, No?" Grace sneered.

"No!" Laura shouted. "You may not be Barbara's friend, but I am! And I'm not your friend anymore either."

Macy, Grace, and Natalie, exchanged glances. Macy rolled her eyes. Grace snickered. Natalie scoffed. "Whatever," Natalie moaned. "I still have more friends than you two," She pointed to Laura and Barbara. "Oh, wait. Neither of you have any friends!"

Laura looked uneasy. Bella guessed that after Barbara, she didn't have any friends. Finally, Barbara spoke up. "We do have friends!" She cried. "Laura has me,"

"Oh, sure, like one friend is going to make you popular," Macy rolled her eyes again.

"And I have lots of friends, too." Barbara exclaimed.

"Like who?"

Barbara looked around nervously. "I have Laura." She pointed to Laura. "And Raelynn. And Penny." She pointed to the girls next to her. "And-And-my cousins! And especially Bella!"

Bella's eyes widened. Especially Bella? Bella wanted to smile, but she couldn't. Tears stung Bella's eyes as she remembered the move. Bella was Barbara's best friend. She couldn't move!

Grace laughed. "You're friends with little Elsa-lover here?" She pointed to Bella, who was sitting on the ground with her head between her knees, trying to keep from crying.

"Yeah," Barbara shot back. "She's going to be my best friend forever, right, Bella?"

Bella looked up. She didn't know how she was going to tell Barbara about the move. "No," Bella choked.

Barbara looked devastated. "What?" She asked, hurt. "Why? What did I do to you?"

"Nothing, I-"

Before Bella could say a word, the back door swung open. It was Thomas. He had an nervous and fearful expression on his face.

"Barbara? Bella? We've got a problem and you girls need to hide." He gasped.

"What?" Bella groaned.

"Bella, your mom's at the door."

### Chapter 30:

Bella's room was a mess.

A day before the move, Bella had taken everything out of her moving boxes and made a mess, just to intimidate Maryrose. My daughter's such a slob. Maryrose thought.

Anger flared through her as she walked through the house, trying to find her daughter. Maryrose understood that Bella had been through a lot lately, like not getting a Sparkle and having to move, but this was unacceptable.

Maryrose levitated up and floated through the house. She got around faster that way. One of the perks of her powers, in her opinion. After searching the whole house, she only found Freddy in his office, and Eric reading in Bella's room.

She stopped next to Bella's doorway. "Eric?" She screeched.

Eric jumped up in surprise. "Whoa. Mom. Geez." He said when he saw Maryrose. She was floating, her eyes were probably red, and her hair was frizzy and poofy. Her voice got gruff and scary when she was mad. Sensible. "What's your problem?!" He gasped.

"Your sister's missing." She growled. "Do you have any idea where she is?"

Eric smiled proudly. "Actually, I do. She told me not to tell you, but I guess I can. She snuck out."

Maryrose looked at him. She wasn't exactly surprised that Bella had snuck out. That's something like Bella to do. But she wasn't happy about it. "Really? And why did she not want me to know where she was going?"

"Because! She's going somewhere she doesn't want you to know!" Eric said proudly, as if he was very glad to be selling out his sister. "She's been doing it all week. She said if I kept the secret, she would do me one favor with her Sparkle. But since she doesn't have a Sparkle, I can tell you! And it's a really great secret because you'll be mad and-"

Eric rambled on and on about how he could now say where Bella went. Finally, Maryrose had had enough. "Eric, just tell me where she went!" She groaned.

"To the neighbors!"

Maryrose's jaw dropped open. She didn't. No way. Bella had been sneaking out to hang out with her biggest enemy?! "Eric, I'll be right back. Pack your bags. We're moving early. When I get back, we're leaving." She growled through her teeth and floated out of the house. She was so mad. Bella was in BIG trouble.

She floated to Thomas's doorstep and angrily banged on the door. Thomas casually opened it.

"Hellllooooo-OH MY GOSH!" Thomas jumped back when he saw Maryrose.

"Where's my daughter?" She snapped.

"Um...uhh...." Thomas shook in terror. "Uh....Uh...Uh....Uh.."

"She's in your house. I know it." Maryrose balled up her fists as she got closer to Thomas.

He was scared of her. He ought to be. If he had lived his life with the curse that she gave him, he'd better be scared!

"I... uh... um.." Thomas backed away, speechless and in pure terror. "Excuse me a second!" He slammed the door and ran off into the house.

Maryrose assumed he was going find Bella. But after a few minutes of waiting impatiently by Thomas's doorstep, Maryrose was starting to think he was just hiding Bella from her.

Finally, she had had enough. She was going to go inside, have a freakout, and scare everyone to the point to where they would give Bella back.

She swung open the door, squinched her eyes shut, floated up to the ceiling, and screamed, "WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER, THOMAS WILSON?!?!?!?!"

But she didn't get what she expected.

"Mommy!!!!"

"I wanna go home!!!"

"Mr. Wilson!"

"It's a murderer!!!"

"Help!"

"WAAAAH!!!"

"It's an evil witch!!! WAAAHH!!!!"

Maryrose, surprised opened her eyes. Kids. Kids everywhere. Little kids. Big kids. Kids everywhere. Thomas must have been having a party for his daughter.

And she had just walked in and had a freakout. All these kids, seeing her fly. Seeing her freak out like that.

Thomas walked in with a smug look on his face. "Hey, kids! Don't worry!" He laughed. "It's just the party clown here!"

Maryrose's jaw dropped. The Party Clown?! Thomas just hit rock bottom. That was dirty. Spilling her secret, stealing her daughter, and telling a bunch of kids that she was a PARTY CLOWN?! She scowled at Thomas. She hated that guy.

"Do some tricks!" said a little girl.

"Yeah! Do something funny!" Said another little boy.

Maryrose just stood there. "Um," She tried to sound like a sweet happy girl clown, but just listening to her voice, she didn't sound too convincing. "Nice to meet all you kids!" She smiled while angrily glaring at Thomas.

Thomas snickered and smiled at her, like he was enjoying her embarrassment. Maryrose looked back at the kids. "But The Magnificent Maryrose is having a few, um, technical difficulties," She glared at Thomas again, who was biting his lip to keep from laughing. "And I'm...going to have to, uh, take the day off."

A few kids groaned. "Bye!" Maryrose smiled halfheartedly and walked off.

She had enough. This is her last time she'd see Thomas before she moved, and she didn't exactly want to hug him bye.

She was going to get Bella, and get out. She wasn't going to freak out. She just wanted to get out.

### Chapter 31:

"It's not very comfy up here," Bella told Barbara.

They had climbed up the big oak tree in Barbara's yard in order to hide from Maryrose. Barbara and Bella were both wedged between two scratchy branches, and they were both holding on for dear life, trying not to fall.

"No duh," Barbara replied. "Again, why are we even up here?"

"Because my mom figured out I was here. You know what she's like. She's going to KILL me for sneaking out." Bella replied nervously.

There was a long silence.

"What did you mean when you said you weren't my friend?" Barbara asked and frowned.

"I never said I wasn't your friend," Bella started tearing up again. "I said that I wouldn't be your best friend forever."

Barbara looked at Bella painfully. "Why?" She asked.

Bella had been dreading that moment all day. "I'm moving," She choked through tears.

Bella expected Barbara to burst out into tears. But she didn't. "Oh," Barbara sighed. "When?"

"Tomorrow," Bella replied, "But most likely today. Mom is probably so mad she'll probably want to get out of here as soon as possible. Are you...mad?"

"No," Barbara replied. "Just, well, disappointed. I thought I had finally found a good friend," Barbara slumped down and sat down on the branch, leaving Bella only a little room.

"But you do have friends," Bella replied. "Like you said, you have Laura, your cousins, and those other girls, what were their names?"

"Raelynn and Penny," Barbara replied. "Yeah, I guess you're right. But I'm going to miss you a lot. What if I never see you again? What if I forget you?"

Bella then had a great idea. "You won't forget me. I'll make sure you don't."

The two girls sat atop the tree, waiting for Maryrose to come outside. "Thanks," Barbara said at last.

"For what?"

Barbara sighed. "Everything. You've helped me a lot this week. Being with you made me brave. I'm not scared to make new friends anymore. I'm not scared to stand up to bullies. I'm not scared to take risks anymore. Going over the fence and meeting you was the best thing that ever happened to me."

Best thing that ever happened to her, Bella echoed in her mind. She really was good luck. And she was proud of it.

"You too, Barbara. You've made me brave, too." Bella smiled. "I'm not shy like I used to be anymore. You've taught me to make friends. You taught me to speak for what I believe in, like when I told my mom you weren't mean."

"Thanks." Barbara replied.

"Thanks," Bella echoed.

About ten seconds later, Bella and Barbara saw Maryrose, stepping carefully around kids outside. Finally, Maryrose spotted Barbara and Bella in the tree.

"Oh, Bella, sweet daughter," Maryrose said in an exaggerated sweet voice. "You need to come down so we can talk."

"Bye," Bella sighed.

"Bye," Barbara echoed. The two girls hugged and Bella climbed down the tree, ready to meet her angry mother.

Maryrose squeezed Bella's hand. "Come on." She muttered. "Let's go get in the car."

Maryrose and Bella walked back through Barbara's house, twisting through the crowds of kids. After a not-so-formal goodbye between Maryrose and Thomas, (Bella hoped she'd never hear things like that again) they began walking toward her house.

Bella braced for the fussing of her life. But Maryrose didn't fuss at her. "Thank the Lord we're getting out of this trashy town." She muttered. "I don't know why Freddy wanted to live here anyway."

Bella stopped in her tracks as a great idea dawned on her. Maybe she could use her Sparkle to get them to stay there! "It sure would be lucky if we didn't have to move," She whispered.

Maryrose stopped to look at Bella. "Bella, aren't you coming? We have to get your luggage so we can get out of here."

Bella looked down. "I don't want to move, Mom." Bella sighed. "Can we please stay? Isn't there anything you can do to stop the move? Like, maybe use your powers to make sure we didn't win the lottery? Please. I don't want to leave."

Maryrose knelt down next to Bella. "Bellie, look. I understand it's hard on you to move. I understand that you don't want to. Powers can change some things, Bella. But some things are just meant to be. No amount of power can change that. Not everything in life is perfect. Good or bad, some things are just meant to be. And this trip, it was meant to be!" Maryrose giggled. "Now, come on! Let's get out of here!"

Bella smiled. Maybe her mom was right. Maybe she would have fun in Hawaii. Maybe some things are meant to be.

But she knew something that wasn't meant to be. Barbara's curse. She could do something to change that. Besides. She could replace her mom's bad luck on Barbara with good luck.

Bella looked around to see if Maryrose was watching. She wasn't. She looked at Barbara from across the yard, playing with her new friends.

"I reverse Barbara and Thomas's curse. Let there be no more Bad Luck Thursday." She smiled. "But still let there be a BLT. But instead of Bad Luck Thursday, let it be...hmm....Best Luck...Tuesday."

Nothing happened physically, but Bella knew, deep inside, that it had worked. There would be no more Bad Luck Thursday, but there would be Best Luck Tuesday.

Bella skipped happily to the car.

She knew now that she'd never have bad luck again. Just good luck.

Friday, April 25

Dear Diary,

Guess what? Obviously, I got my diary back!!! YAY!!!

My dad found out that Macy, Grace, and Natalie were at the party, so he told their parents and sent them home. Macy's mom made her surrender my diary. Then he called Mr. Marcantel and told him about the things they've done. Macy got suspended, and Natalie and Grace got detention.

I've made really good friends with Raelynn and Penny. They've become good friends with me. And I also forgave Laura.

I know now who are my true friends, and who isn't.

I'm really going to miss Bella. I had fun with her. She changed my life. I'll never be the same again.

I hope she has fun.

Anyways, I'm glad I got my diary back. Now I can write in it for the rest of my life.

Maybe.

### Epilogue:

Weeks later, confused Thomas picked up the phone and called Maryrose. "Hello? Maryrose, this is Thomas."

"Ugh, what do you want?" Maryrose replied. "And how do you have my number?"

"Never mind that," Thomas shot back. "I want to know what happened to BLT."

"Excuse me?" Maryrose snorted. "Thomas, why are you calling me about a sandwich? Freddy, do you know what he's talking about?"

Thomas waited as Freddy said a few words. "The curse? Why would- Thomas, what happened to the curse?" Maryrose asked, confused.

"Um, it's gone," Thomas laughed at Maryrose's confusion. "There's no more curse! Now we have good luck on Tuesday! Guess who just hit the jackpot at the casino?"

"Wait, what?!" Maryrose shrieked.

There were muffled voices. "Bella- what?! Why didn't you tell me that?! You WHAT?! YOU-YOU-LITTLE-"

"What's going on?" Thomas snickered.

"My mommy erased your curse because she LOVES you!" Bella cried from the background.

"Excuse me?" Thomas laughed.

"SHUT UP OR I'LL STRANGLE YOU, BELLA!!!!" Maryrose screeched.

"I think I'd better go," Thomas laughed nervously.

"I erased your curse." Maryrose grunted and hung up.

Thomas smiled. Maryrose reversed the curse. He knew one day, Maryrose would come to her senses.

And today was the day.

