I'm unsure where to start, but I'll try my best. My name is Johanna Letzte. I live in Appleton, a small town in Washington. Look in the tri-cities area near Finley and Kennewick, it's so small it's not on the map. The town has one school for each level, a few stores, one roller rink/arcade, and the American dream, houses with a white picket fence all over the neighborhood. It's calm, and I personally like it, it would be a good setting for a hallmark movie if you so wished. It was a simpler time back then. I remember things starting a week ago. It was the first day of summer break, and I woke up to the smell of Mama's pancakes. I bolted out of bed and down the stairs, still in my pajamas and my hair still wild from my sleep. Mama was standing in the kitchen wearing a girly apron. It looked silly because Mama is a tougher-looking lady with a shaved head and a more masculine body. Mama saw me and smiled.
"Good morning, Sleepyhead!" She said to me,"You look… good kiddo.." Mama giggled, flipping a pancake.
"I'll fix up after eating!" I said, sitting down, kicking my feet from excitement. Mama just smiled, shook her head, and handed me my plate of pancakes.
"By the way, Roo called earlier. Your friends want to play with you today." I smiled and nodded, my mouth and cheeks stuffed with pancake. After breakfast, Mama made me take a shower. After the shower, I got dressed in my normal, orange short-sleeved shirt, jean shorts, and sneakers. I brushed my blonde hair and washed my face, looking up to see my blue eyes. Mama says I look just like my Dad. Dad was a German immigrant who came to America. He has been gone since I was six, Mama says he went missing. I speak with Dad's German accent, Mama likes it. I even notice that sometimes she'll let me go on and on, yap and yap, just to hear my accent. I run outside, yelling goodbye to Mama, promising to be home by lunch. I hop on my bike and ride to the edge of the woods near town. I do live in the evergreen state, so there are a lot of trees. I ride over to the old playground at the entrance of the woods, and I spot them. The fellow stray dogs.
I stopped my bike near the other three bikes, got off, and ran over to my friends. Forrest, Maria, And Roo were talking to each other until Roo spotted me and waved. Roo has been my best friend since second grade, and their real name isn't actually Roo (who names their child Roo?) but we all call them that. Roo has short brown hair and brown eyes that depending on the light look black or goldish. Roo wore a baggy tee shirt, baggy pants, and sneakers as well. Next to Roo was Forrest, A boy with black hair and green eyes, and his sister Maria, a girl who also has black hair and more hazel eyes. Those two were deeply into their conversation. Forrest and Maria are Roma AKA gypsies, that's why Forrest always comes with us, even if he likes to complain. Most people think of gypsies as good-for-nothing thieves, but Forrest and Maria's family could be anything but that. Their father is gone most of the time doing construction jobs, and their mother stays at home. She's nice and makes good grilled cheese. Roo ran over and hugged me.
"Jo! There ya are! I thought you would never get up! Forrest and Maria thought you died!" Roo exclaimed. Whining. Maria shifted and looked at us, tossing her hair back.
"We did not, Roo! We just thought she'd sleep in all day…" Maria wore a sundress, sandals, and all sorts of jewelry (which she calls her bling)
"You totally thought she died, Maria. don't lie" Forrest said, snickering. Like normal, Forrest wore a tank top, jeans, and sandals. Maria glared at him, and Forrest just laughed at her.
"Gee, thanks, guys, I feel so loved and cherished" I said, acting so betrayed. Roo fell over laughing. Forrest and Maria just huffed and puffed.
"We didn't actually think you were dead…" Maria said. I rolled my eyes.
"Whatever… Tag! You're it!" I quickly tagged Roo, as we all ran away from them. Now, I would love to tell you all about how I epically lost at tag, but I got a story to tell here, so we continue to when we got bored of playing at the playground, so we decided to ride our bikes around town and just chat. So, we did that, until we ran into the local jerks. They were eighth graders, and they loved to pick on us daily. Jett, and his current "girlfriend" Stephanie were picking on some 7th grader when they spotted us. By us, I mean mainly Roo. You see Roo has two moms, they're the coolest and nicest ever! But… that causes Roo to be subject to Bullies a lot of times. We tried to ride on past, but Jett stepped in front of us, causing Maria, who was in the front, to brake way too fast and fall over with her bike.
"What's the rush, pipsqueaks?" Jett sneered at us, his girlfriend looking uninterested with a bunch of to-be 7th graders.
"Come on, Jett, just leave us alone" Roo said, crossing their arms. Jett slowly looked at them, and that's when Roo realized it probably would've been better to keep their mouth shut.
"Leave you alone? Like your dad left you-?" "Okay! Knock it off!" I yelled at him as Roo just scowled at Jett.
"Ew, your German? What are you? A-" I refuse to write down exactly what she called me, but when Jett's girlfriend finally spoke up, I just winced and felt ashamed for something I didn't even do, all because of my stupid accent. Forrest stepped up…. Which ended up with him and Jett getting into a screaming match, which ended with an old little lady politely asking us to calm down and be quieter. That seemed to make Jett even madder because he snatched his girlfriend's hand and stormed off.
"Well, sure they'll be a happy couple" Maria said, rubbing her side from her earlier fall. We all nodded.
"It's the afternoon… My Mom promised chicken nuggets!" I said, and with that, I had been unanimously chosen for that days lunch spot.