Should be Day 217. My sister gave me this challenge, to write a story backwards and plan it as I go. It's quite a difficult task that needs much more planning than I had time for.
I quivered and shook the water off me. It splattered against the grass. I ran as fast as I could into the bushes a few yards away to stay out of sight from any nosy spectators. The music from the Ferris wheel, which usually meant such joy for children, was only a bitter reminder that I was still stuck at the fair. I stared down at my hands. The water had stung the red chafes that were streaked across my palms. I sat curled up with my arms wrapped around my shins and my eyes shut tight. I couldn't wait until this day was over.
I could hear the laughter ringing in my ears still. I was running, I didn't know where, but I knew I had to get away from them all as soon as possible. My arms stuck to the paint that now covered my clothes as I pumped them while I was running. I couldn't think believe they would trick me like that. What's more, I couldn't believe I was stupid enough to fall for it. Maybe I was too naive. The lake was a few yards ahead of me. I didn't want to get wet, but I wasn't sure what other choices I had. I needed to wash the paint off of me, and I didn't want anyone else seeing me like this, even if it was in the girls' bathroom. The water looked murky, and a few tadpoles swam away from my finger as I tested the temperature. Tepid. I took a deep breath in, plugged my nose, and dove in, scrubbing my arms, hair, and clothes.
My feet crunched against the hay as I wandered in the barn. The smell of cows was that awful, familiar smell. Awful because it stunk but familiar because it reminded me of my childhood home. I checked my text messages again. This was the right building. I called my friends' names again, but goats and chickens only answered. As I was staring at the blue ribbon winners, I heard Melanie greet me. I was confused though because she didn't sound very excited to greet me. She said her animal was in this cage towards the back of the corner. When I got there, the pen gate was wide open. I turned around to question it when I saw Fern and Clive there too. They pushed me towards the gate, and I scraped my knee as I tripped over a cable to an incubator. I heard their laughter reverberate on the walls, followed by a loud clank. They had closed the gate on me. I wiped the dirt clods off my face and yanked on the rusty gate as hard as I could. My hands ached. I called, but they ignored me as they walked away (or hid behind the barn door, as I later found out). When I was finally able to jiggle the gate a certain way to pop open, the gate pulled against a white string, that rained down white paint all over my new jeans I had bought as an effort to impress them.
I hung up the phone, staring blankly at the wall. I couldn't believe the conversation I just had. Melanie, The Melanie Vickers, had actually invited me to her party. I had been trying to get her attention for the past semester, sitting near her at lunch and in the library, wearing clothes I hoped would get her attention, reading magazines so I could know what I could add to a conversation in case she spoke to me. My hard work had paid off. It didn't matter that she only invited me because some of her guests couldn't show up at the fair. At least I was invited. I hoped this was the start of good things to come.
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