The story so far: Jenny told her friends that she's moving away. Now Mark is not returning her calls.

When she opened her eyes on Tuesday, in that couple of seconds that passes just as you wake up, Jenny felt fine. Then reality set in. The memory of last night's info chain crept back like a rash. She dragged herself into her clothes and out the door, but she just felt weighed down by her life.She was the talk of the school. Everyone was asking about her big news. This was the worst day of her life, by far. Someone even asked her whether she was excited about the move. Excited? Far from it.Kids were telling her about family they had in Philly, or trips they had made there. Philly. Even the name sounded stupid. And what kind of a city has a nickname? No one calls New York Yorkie. Chicago? Chicky? Absolutely not.Normally, Jenny loved being the center of things, but this attention she hated. She was usually the center of good things. Good things Jenny knew how to handle, but this was truly the worst thing she could imagine. She had no idea how to handle bad things, let alone the worst thing.In science class, Ms. Armbruster talked about energy forms – where they came from and how people are using them up too quickly. Then she handled out a blank book with lots of different colored pages. It was for a "Power Project" they had to do. As she handed one to Jenny, she kind of tapped her on the shoulder and said, "Jenny? It doesn't look like you're paying attention."Jenny looked up from her daze and saw her teacher standing there handing her the booklet."What has you so tuned out today?" Ms. Armbruster wanted to know."I just found out my family is moving to Philadelphia," explained Jenny."Oh, how wonderful. You know it was once the capital of our country. So much history happened there. You'll love it," Ms. Armbruster bubbled.At that point, Jenny was pretty sure of two things:1. Ms. Armbruster didn't have a clue about what it was like to be 10.2. Jenny felt worse than she did before she tuned out.Things picked up at lunch. Lindsay, Anna, and Danny were in a different science class than Jenny and Mark, and they had stories to tell about how their teacher had sort of accidentally set off a stink bomb during class. That took Jenny's mind off her problems, and she was feeling a little better until she and Mark walked to their next class together."So why didn't you call me back last night?" Jenny asked Mark."I was busy," he answered, but he sounded like he had more to say."Busy? Geez, Mark, I'm moving away. Forever! You couldn't make time to talk to me about it?" Jenny insisted."You know what?" Mark retorted, "You're not the center of the universe. Other people have stuff to deal with, too."At that point, they went their separate ways as Mark headed to the gym and Jenny took off the other way to get to math class on time."All right, bye," Jenny said, angrily.Mark didn't answer as he disappeared into the stairwell. Jenny didn't see Mark after school because she had soccer practice and he wasn't on the late bus. When she got home, it was already getting dark out and she looked over to see if the light was on in his room, but it wasn't.Marnie came into Jenny's room. She had been crying, and Jenny realized that she hadn't even thought about Marnie and this move. She must hate it too. Jenny thought that this might be one time she and her sister could agree."Hey," Jenny offered, "Guess this move is something you hate too, huh?""Hate it? I'm so excited," Marnie replied."Then what are you crying about?" Jenny demanded."Fuzzy's still MIA," Marnie answered."You know, it's a turtle!" Jenny retorted. "A stupid turtle. And what do you mean you're excited about moving? What's wrong with you?""What's wrong with me?" Marnie's voice began to get higher and louder. "You're the one acting like a brat. We're moving. Dad's gonna get paid more. We'll get a better house. It'll be great. We'll be able to make new friends.""I don't want new friends. And you wouldn't either... if you had any!" Jenny spat back. She was sorry the minute it came out, but then she couldn't stop. "You are such a loser. Only a loser wouldn't care about leaving everything. I don't care about living in a better house. And I don't care what you say. Get out of my room!"Jenny went online to see if Mark was online. She really needed to talk to him. He was online, but he hadn't been active for a while. She sent him a message.JSTARS1: R U there? I need to talk to you.No reply. She tried again.JSTARS1: MARK!!!! WHERE ARE YOU?MFUTBOL: I'm here. Can't talk, tho.JSTARS1: What are you doing?MFUTBOL: I'll talk to you tomorrow.With that, he quit out.

&Copy; Hot Topics Hot Serials 2006Eagle in EducationBringing Creative Learning Opportunities to Local Classrooms<b>CHAPTER FOUR WILL BE PUBLISHED MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7, 2011</b>

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