When Life Gives You Lemons
The Second Book in the Awesome Magic Secret Stories series
By Ashlynn Elliott
When Life Gives You Lemons
Copyright 2015 by Ashlynn Elliott
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Prologue
By: Gina Smith
“HAHAHAHA!!!!!” Selena screamed as she lowered the rope. I glanced down at the boiling lava beneath me.
“You can’t do this!” Lea yelled.
“Oh, yes I can!” Selena screeched back.
“I’m so sorry about this!” Nikki cried. We all looked around the cage we were in.
“Sissy?” Izzy babbled, “It’s hot!”
“I know.” I sighed, “And it’s all my fault!”
“No it’s not!” Lea growled, “It’s Selena and Nikki’s fault!”
I should back this story up. For starters, my life was ruined. How, you ask? A couple of lemons are to blame!
Chapter 1:
Meet Gina
By: Gina Smith
Alright, let’s get the unimportant stuff out of the way first. I am Gina K. Smith. The K stands for Kay. I have brown hair and blue eyes. I am nine-and-three-quarters years old. I live in Rinkensburg, Oregon.
I have a 15-year-old older sister named Lea. She has dirty-blonde hair and hazel eyes. I have a 4-year-old younger sister named Izzy. She has red-brown hair and hazel eyes. My parents are on a trip down in Arizona. Good thing Lea’s old enough to baby-sit!
One morning, I walked across the hallway and into the living room. I sighed as I sat down on the sofa. I looked at our couch pillows. They were red and orange. That’s the only thing that doesn’t match our green walls. Of course, Lea picked it out. I picked up the pillow and found the TV remote.
“Hey, Gina!” Izzy called. “What are you watching?”
“I don’t know.” I replied. “I haven’t even turned it on yet.”
“Can I come watch it too?” She innocently asked and ran down the hallway toward me.
“I haven’t even turned it on yet, Izzy!” I laughed.
“Oh.” She smiled as she crawled into my lap. “Then put somethin’ on!” I clicked on the TV.
It must of been really loud because Lea screamed from the kitchen, “TURN IT DOWN!!!” I clicked on the volume button as the scent from what Lea was cooking drifted into my nose. CUPCAKES!!!!!!
I jumped off of the couch and took off toward the kitchen. “Why are you running, Gina?” Izzy asked.
“That!” I finally said as we got to the kitchen. There were cupcakes, cupcakes, and even more cupcakes everywhere! I couldn’t wait to try one!
“Wow, Lea!” Izzy shouted, “These will be perfect!”
I was confused. “Perfect for what?”
“Izzy’s birthday party tomorrow!” Lea laughed as she put wooden spoon full of batter in the sink. “Did you forget the present?”
“Um… Uh… No.” I stammered. I bit my lip. I had lied. I completely forgot about Izzy’s birthday!
Chapter 2:
Selena and Nikki
By: Selena Johnson
Hi, I’m the evil “Selena” girl Gina was talking about in the prologue. Technically, it’s my fault her life was ruined, instead of the lemons. I didn’t mean for it to happen, just, well, mistakes were made, and you are about to see what REALLY happened.
I’m not really evil. Or at least, I wasn’t for most of my life. I was nice, kind, funny, and a bit of a daredevil. I’m 14 years old and I live with my 21 year old sister, Nikki. Nikki has brown hair with a slight wave to it. She has glasses and blue eyes.
I look somewhat similar. I have a blonde-brown hair with glasses and blue eyes.
Well, I bet you are wondering how we ruined Gina’s life. Well, it all started the morning we moved into our new house in Rinkensburg, Oregon.
“Hurry up!” I screamed from the backseat of the car.
“Shut up, Sel!” Nikki replied. “It’s going to be five more minutes. The new house isn’t going ANYWHERE!”
“Not if it gets up and sprouts legs!” I joked. Nikki scowled at me. That’s the one thing I don’t like about my sister. She’s WAY too serious about everything. “Why can’t I sit in the front seat?” I complained. “I’m FOURTEEN! I think I’m old enough!”
“Because,” Nikki smiled. “My box of snow globes will definitely break if they're anywhere near YOU and the front seat is the only place they’ll be safe.”
I sneered. Ok, Nikki may be serious, but she sometimes she finds a way to squeeze in an insult one way or another.
“Yes, but couldn’t you just put your globes in the back and me in the front? I wouldn't be able to touch them!” I suggested.
Nikki sighed, “No, I’d rather keep them in here for the rest of the trip. It would be pointless to move them now.” We pulled into the driveway.
“Wow!” I exclaimed. “Nice house!” I pulled out my luggage and my rock collection. I walked into the house. The first door I walked into opened into the hallway. There was a big purple rug in the middle of the white tile floor. I stepped onto it. It was SO fluffy!!!
When we finished unpacking, I sat down in my new room. It wasn’t as pretty as my last one. It had a purple wall instead of a green one. There was a twin sized bed with plain pink sheets instead of a queen sized bed with pink, yellow, and green polka dots and stripes.
“Do you like it?” Nikki leaned into the doorway.
“Yeah, um, I guess,” I sighed. “It could use some improvements.”
“Do you wanna go do something to celebrate our move-in?” Nikki asked.
“Of course!” I smiled and got off the bed. “Can we go meet the neighbors?”
Nikki’s face went pale. “N-no, S-selena.”
“Why?”
“You remember what happened last time!” She cried.
“I won’t do it again!” I groaned as I sat down on the bed again.
“Yes, you will!” She screamed.
“Why can’t we be like normal people and go meet our neighbors?” I cried.
“Because we’re NOT!” Nikki growled, walked out the room and slammed the door.
You are probably wondering why we can’t see our neighbors. For most people, it wouldn’t be a big deal to go meet new people but , for Nikki and I, it’s different. Why? You see, we’re different from everyone else. We’re fairies.
Chapter 3:
Izzy and the Bike
By: Gina Smith
I didn’t know what to get Izzy. I sat back down on the sofa and thought about it. Does she want a doll? A pony? A puppy? I couldn’t decide what to get her. I turned on the TV to calm myself down.
Izzy walked back in the room and sat down beside me. “What are you watching?” She asked again.
I groaned. “Do you have to ask that every time you see me with the remote?!” She innocently nodded. “What do YOU want to watch?” I asked her.
“CRA-Z FAIRIES!” She excitedly smiled. I don’t know why, but everyone loves this show. It’s about 6 teenage fairies that somehow look like regular people whenever they feel like it. They have, like, I don’t know, crazy powers that they control stuff with. It’s stupid.
I flipped on the KidsTV station and watched the 6 teenagers fly around and beat stuff up. Izzy screamed at the fairies when they messed up. As if they could hear her! “GO, BELLE! GO SANDY! BEAT DIANE AND INDIA!” She yelled.
Finally, the commercial came on. I was so glad because I couldn’t take this show much more. “LOOK AT IT!” Izzy screamed.
“What?” I asked. I had been looking down. There was a big Cra-Z fairies bike on the commercial. “That?”<
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Izzy nodded. “What’s so good about it?” I asked. It looked so ridiculous. There were rainbow streamers hanging down from the handlebars and had every fairy in the series on it. And worst of all, it was an ugly, nauseating, headachey, bright yellow-green.
And Izzy then ruined my day by saying,“THAT’S IT, GINA! THAT’S WHAT I WANT FOR MY BIRTHDAY!!”
Lea walked into the room. “Sorry, Izzy.” She sighed. “Everyone’s gotten your present already. And your party’s tomorrow morning. If you would have told us earlier, maybe we would have gotten it for you.”
Izzy sadly sighed, “Oh.”
Now, being the nice, kind, and, well, a bit forgetful big sister I am, I told myself, no matter how ugly or expensive it was, I would get it for little Izzy. Soon I realized I shouldn’t have said expensive. I looked down at the price. $200.99?!?!?!?!?
I knew I had the money, but I was saving up for my own bike and a computer! Or so I thought. I rushed to my room. I opened my piggy bank. I had about a fifty bills and 100 coins. If each of those were five dollar bills, I’d definitely have enough! But, sadly, I looked closely at my bills. About two-thirds were fives, and the rest were ones. It only totaled to $180.56.
“Lea, could I borrow $21?” I shouted from my room.
“As if!” She shouted back.
Great. I had to make $20.43 by tomorrow morning or Izzy’s heart will be crushed and Lea will be mad for getting Izzy no present.
DING DONG! The doorbell rang. Who could that be?
Chapter 4:
Selena’s Idea
By: Selena Johnson
You are probably wanting information on the whole fairy thing. If you have no clue what I’m talking about, go back to Chapter Two, last paragraph, last sentence, last word. Fairy.
There is two ways to be a fairy like us. One way is to be born one. That’s like us. Our parents, grandparents, and so on were fairies, too. The other way is to be given a potion that lasts a year. The day after you turn five, you are granted wings and a certain talent. If you are given the potion and are younger than five, and will not turn five within the next year, the potion is useless.
Now, the talent part can vary. I am a nature talent fairy. I have bright green wings and I can grow any type of plant. Now, I bet you are wondering how I get around with two honking wings attached to my back! I simply tuck them in the back of my shirt. Nikki has potion-creating talents. She only has wings when she uses the wing potion. That kind of potions only last 12 hours, though, unlike the fairy potions.
There are talents of all sorts, and some of them are kind of strange, such as singing, in which you can use your voice to get people to follow your commands. There’s dancing where you can get different powers from the dances you do, music where you can play songs on any instrument or create music no matter where you are. You see, there are talents I’ve never even heard of!
Well now, back to the story. I thought for a little while in my room. Well, since being fairies was the only reason why we couldn’t meet the humans, why can’t we make the humans into faires?!
“Nikki!” I shouted. “I have an idea!”
Nikki groaned. “If it’s about going see the neighbors, I don’t want to hear it.”
I ignored her comment, “If we are the only fairies left, why don’t we create a potion to turn one of the neighbors into fair-”
“NO!!!!!!” She interrupted. “Absolutely NOT! We are not going to pick a random neighbor, turn her into a fairy, and let them tell the world about us!”
“Let me finish.” I groaned. “Let’s go to different neighbors’ houses and see which one’s best to turn into a fairy.”
Nikki sighed. “That’s still a horrible idea, Selena.”
I frowned. Nikki is so stubborn! Why can’t she ever try to have a little fun? “Please?” I asked. “Please please please please please please pl-”
“ALRIGHT! SHUT UP!” She interrupted. “I’ll do it.” She got up out of her chair. “Now first we have to find the right person.”
“YAY!” I shouted and jumped up and down. We walked out of the door. We got into Nikki’s white Toyota.
“So, where are we going first?” I asked. We drove into the driveway right next to us.
We walked up the driveway and knocked on the door. “Hello?” An old man opened the door and glumly sighed.
“Hi!” I bounced. “We’re Selena and Nikki Johnson and we’re your new neigh-” He slammed the door in our faces. “He’s grouchy.”
“He’s also not going be be even considered as a fairy!” Nikki laughed. I rolled my eyes. Good job stating the obvious, Nikki! We stopped at the next house. Nikki knocked on the door. A lady holding triplets opened the door. We could see a four year old and a six year old screaming at each other behind her. “Hi, my name is Nikki and this is my sister, Selena. We’re your new neighbors!” Nikki smiled.
“Can you come back later?” The woman cried. “These kids are a handful!” She closed the door.
“Well, she’s out the picture.” Nikki sighed. We walked across the street until we got to a greenhouse. We knock on the door.
“Hi, who are you?” Said a teenager that opened the door. “I’m Lea Smith!” She smiled.
“I’m Selena Johnson and this is my sister, Nikki.” I smiled.
Chapter 5:
The Lemonade Stand
By: Gina Smith
When Lea opened the door, there was a teenager and an adult that were at the door. I didn’t think I had ever seen them before. “Who is it, Lea?” I asked as I jumped down the stairs.
“Hi, I’m Selena!” Said the teenager. “Who are you?” She asked.
“I’m Gina.” I simply said. I didn’t want to give much information about myself to these people.
“Do you want to go upstairs?” She smiled.
“Um, ok.” I sighed as I got up off of the sofa and walked up the stairs with Selena.
When she walked into my room, she looked confused. “What’s wrong?” I asked. “You don’t like my room?”
“Oh, yes, I like it,” She laughed, “But why is your piggy bank on the floor?”
I looked down and realized I had forgotten to put my bank up after I had put my money in. “Oh.” I nervously laughed, “That...um… I don’t want to talk about it.” Should I trust this girl with my secret? Would she tell Lea?
“Please tell me!” She begged. I gave in. She looked like a girl who wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“I have to earn money for my sister’s birthday present. I forgot about her birthday and it’s tomorrow. The only thing I can get her is a bike that costs 200 dollars!” I sighed.
“Well, why don’t you start a lemonade stand?” Selena asked. “You can earn money quickly that way!”
She was a genius! “Perfect!” I cried. About an hour later of fun with my new neighbors, Selena and Nikki left.
That afternoon, I walked down the road to my friend, Ella’s, house. My friend, Kate, and Ella’s neighbor, Beth, were there, too. I’m not BEST friends with Beth, since she’s a little bossy and short-tempered, but we get along pretty well. Ella is very smart and she’s super nice. Kate, um, well, she’s overly-hyper, but she’s the peace-maker of the group.
“Hey, Kate. Hey Beth.” I sighed.
“What’s wrong, Gina?” Ella asked.
“Nothing. I was just coming over to ask if you guys wanted to come to my lemonade stand tomorrow!” I smiled.
“YES!” Kate shouted. “I’ll be there!”
“I don’t want to just come,” Ella smiled, “I want to help! I want to be the cashier so I could do all the math! And, we could split the profits!”
“And I’m going to help too!” Beth gasped. “It would be awesome to earn some extra money!”
“No.” I frowned. I was supposed to get all the money, not Beth and Ella!
“Why?” Beth demanded. “That’s not fair!”
“Because it’s MY lemonade stand!” I shrieked.
“Whoa,
whoa, whoa.” Kate interrupted. “Are you two fighting?”
“SHUT UP, KATE!” Beth and I screamed at the same time.
“Um, g-guys,” Ella stammered, “Please don’t start-”
We angrily stared at Ella, who quickly stopped talking. “Why can’t I help?!” Beth screeched. “We’re supposed to be your FRIENDS!”
“THAT’S WHERE YOU’RE WRONG!” I yelled as I began walking towards the door. “I MAY BE FRIENDS WITH ELLA AND KATE, BUT I HATE YOU!” I screamed as I opened the door and slammed it. I angrily walked down the road to my house.
This is where the lemons begin to ruin my life. They have costed me my friendship with Beth. Ella and Kate are probably mad at me, too. They probably won’t even come to my stand in the morning.
As I got home, Lea was on the porch. “Come sit down with me!” She said as she pointed to the spot on the swing next to her. I sit down.
We start talking about what happened at Ella’s house. We talk about how awesome Selena and Nikki are. Somehow, I can’t help but notice the sly smile on her face. As I get up to go fix my dinner, I realize that there is wet, blue chewing gum all over the swing, and I was sitting in it! “LEA!” I shouted, knowing that she was the one who put it there. Lea laughed as I scraped the gooey mess off of my pants. My day was horrible!
Chapter 6
A BIG Problem
By: Selena Johnson
“They’re perfect!” Nikki sighed as we closed the door. I thought about how fun that little girl, Gina was. Her sister Izzy was so cute, and Lea was so kind!
“Can all of them be faires?” I asked.
“No,” Nikki replied. “Izzy can’t. She’s not five yet. And I want Lea to be one. I know I can trust her.”
I sighed. Poor Gina. She will be very upset. Maybe one day, though… “So how are we going to do it?” I asked.
“Do what?” Nikki asked.
“Turn Lea into a fairy. How are we going to casually convince her to drink a weird looking potion?” I snorted.
Nikki scoffed. “It was your plan! You come up with a way!”
We walked into our house. Nikki went down into the basement to mix the potion. I sat down by my daisy on my windowsill. I sighed. The little daisy was wilting. I spread my hand out, made a little magic, and the daisy sprang back to life. If only I could make the daisy talk. It could give me advice.
I looked out the window. Gina and little Izzy were playing outside on the swingset. I could barely hear them. “Sissy!” Izzy was so far away, it sounded like a whisper, “Guess what I’m gonna do? I’m gonna make lemonade for Lea!” She pulled a bright yellow lemon off of their lemon tree.
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