Emma wanted to have a normal life where you can chill and get food at the store. But normal doesn’t apply when you live in a city infested with annoying sea dragons who go around asking for stuff. So it was a regular day at school when one of those things stopped her on her way home and asked for a fruit. She told it that she had none and walked on. However, the sea dragon did not stop. It followed her back to her house. She did not notice this until she got home and turned around to hang up her backpack and saw it standing right there, in the middle of a water spill on the floor.
“What do you want!?” she asked, exasperated.
“Can I have some fruit?” it asked.
“I told you, I don’t have any!”
She took her homework out of her backpack, went to her bedroom, and started it. Then the sea dragon tapped her on the finger. It had shrunk itself and was standing in the cup of water on her desk.
“Can I please have a fruit now?”
That’s when she totally lost it.
“Can you please shut now up now!!! For the last time can you not follow me everywhere?!”
That’s when the sea dragon disappeared. For real, this time. Good, she thought, I can use some space. However, as she finished her homework she couldn’t help thinking that she had been a little bit rude. Don’t be silly, she told herself, it’s the thing’s fault that it can’t keep its big fat mouth shut. This still didn’t make her feel better about yelling at the top of her lungs. Then she smiled, and picked up a book. She read the title. “How to get rid of annoying creatures.” She flipped the pages until she got to the page of sea dragons. This is what it said:
- Bore it out. Try patting your hair or blabbering nonstop about the newest book or movie. You might also want to talk about hair and makeup. They have no interest in that stuff.
- Ignore it. Make it so tired of sitting there that it just leaves.
- Don’t yell, or satisfy it. It will only ask for more, or keep asking for what you didn’t give it
Whatever. They shouldn’t expect us to do it that easily. It is not like sea dragons are cute little siblings. They don’t have any right to follow people all over the place.
So what?
So they shouldn’t bother people!
Maybe you don’t have the right to yell!
Well, it was wasting my time!!
Well, two wrongs don’t make a right!!!
Fine. But it was still acting like a pain.
After that, Emma knew what would be the best plan. Just then, the door opened. It was Emma’s mom.
“Oh hi, Mom,” she said. “Can Kayla spend the night tomorrow?”
“Yes, but please do not stay up all night talking. If I hear a peep past midnight, I’m sending her straight home. Understand?”
“Okay fine.”
After her mom left the room, Emma sighed. She wished she and Kayla could spend the night giggling about the haunted comb at last summer’s sleepaway camp. (She knew Kayla had thrown it, Kayla liked to think it flew by itself.) Kayla was Emma’s best friend. However, unlike Emma, she seemed to think sea dragons were cute. At least they could stay up until midnight. It wasn’t a very long time for a sleepover, three hours, but it was something. After the incident with the comb, Emma had gotten a new white comb on a pink cloth.
Okay, so it was a bit fancier than she expected. Honestly, she kind of liked it. Soon her mom called her out for dinner. They had pizza, which was one of Emma’s favorites. But she couldn’t focus on eating. She was too busy daydreaming.
The next morning, Emma put on her favorite pink blouse and sparkly white lace skirt. She put little care into breakfast and brushing her teeth, as she had never cared for her morning routine. Then she ran off to meet Kayla at the bus stop.
“Hi, Kayla!”
“Hi, Emma! You seem quite cheerful.”
“Well, TGIF, because my mom says you can sleep over!”
“Cool! I’ll text my mom before we get there. And guess what?”
“What?”
“They expanded the bus system. So we don’t have to walk home!”
“What? Are you kidding? This is the best news!!!”
“Um, what is so interesting about a bus system, may I ask?”
“Um… so we can get some rest?”
As close as the girls were, Emma could not explain that she did not want to be followed by an annoying sea dragon because Kayla seemed to adore them.
That was when the bus driver said, “C’mon girls, everyone is waiting for you.”
“Coming!”
Kayla put down her phone. “She said… Yes!”
“Sweet! So my house, right?”
“Yeah! So when should I be there?”
“Just right after school. I’m so happy about the bus system!”
“I never knew how much you hated walking.”
They chatted for awhile, until they realized they were they only ones on the bus.
“Oops!” said Kayla.
“Come on, we’re going to be late for class again.”
So as usual, they were late for class. In fact, the only times they weren’t late were when they had nothing to talk about on the bus, which was rare.
“Ladies, what has been making you late for the past few days?” said the teacher, Miss Philips. “You both missed attendance. So you were marked absent. I guess I’ll have to adjust my notes.”
Emma sat down at her desk. So did Kayla.
“Now, I hope you have memorized your times tables.” (The whole class sighed.) “Rose Miller, please recite the two times tables.”
Rose zipped right through (although this was probably because the two times tables are very easy).
The next five or so went through smoothly.
“Kayla Wexler, please recite the eight times tables.”
Kayla stood up and said them quickly, “Eight times one equals eight. Eight times two equals sixteen. Eight times three equals twenty-four. Eight times four equals thirty-two. Eight times five equals forty… ”
“Emma Taylor, please recite the nine times tables.”
“Nine times one equals nine. Nine times two equals eighteen. Nine times three equals twenty-seven. Nine times four equals thirty-six. Nine times five equals forty-five. Nine times six equals fifty-four. Nine times seven equals sixty-three. Nine times eight equals seventy-two. Nine times nine equals eighty-one. Nine times ten equals ninety. Nine times eleven equals ninety-nine. Nine times twelve equals one hundred and eight.”
After school, Emma and Kayla got on the bus.
“Emma, did you ever wish that we could see the sea dragons more often? I mean, they are so cute.”
Oh boy, she is crazy sometimes.
“Um, I never really thought about it.”
Because they are so annoying sometimes, she silently added.
“Oh, this is our stop! Come on! I’ll run to my house and get my stuff, okay?”
“Sure, I’ll set up the sleeping bags. Or do you want to share the loft bed?”
“Sleeping bags sounds good. This way we can watch a movie or something. Should I get my own sleeping bag, or do you have a spare one?”
“Your choice. By the way, we can’t say anything past midnight. Or you get sent home.”
“Got it. Now I need to get my stuff.”
After that conversation, Emma took out a sleeping bag. It was pink with white stars. She laid it out in front of the TV. Then she went to her room and took out “How to get rid of annoying creatures.” Then Kayla came into the room. Emma instantly slammed the book down on the wooden floor.
“Hi, I put down my sleeping bag in the living room next to yours. Um, what’s that green thing on the floor?”
“Hi. That’s just a book. Why?”
“Let me get a look at the title. ‘How to get rid of annoying creatures.’ You’re not telling me you read this book? Also, why did you choose the green cover? I thought you would choose the pink. Or even white. Not green. I mean, it’s a nice color, but it was never your taste. Anyway, don’t you think this book is stereotypical?”
“Um, it only had green left. Plus, my room is pink enough.”
“But why did you get this book? It includes some of the cutest things ever. Look, sea dragons. Wait a minute, you bookmarked this page.”
“So?”
“So, you have been reading it.”
“So?”
“So, you agree with it.”
“Honestly, I do kind of think that they’re annoying. I mean, they always ask for stuff.”
“Fine. Let’s agree to disagree. But they are kind of cute in that way. Plus, they share whatever you give them.”
“Now that I think of it, they are kind of cute. Come on, let’s go get a snack. Glimmer chips? This time I did get them in pink.”
The girls giggled. As they walked to the kitchen, they passed their sleeping bags. The sleeping bags reflected their differences. Kayla’s was blue with a green dragon wrapped around it, while Emma’s was just pink with white stars, as most of her possessions were either pink, white, or both. Her only non-pink-or-white thing was “How to get rid of annoying creatures.” Kayla, on the other hand, owned anything with a cute animal decorating it. She was especially fond of sea dragons, and she hardly ever forgot about their cuteness.
“Mmm, these are good,” said Kayla. “Are you sure you got these with your own money? Because they taste expensive.”
“Uh huh,” said Emma, who was sucking the chips, then chewing. Emma’s older brother, Eddie, burst into the house.
“That is the slowest way to eat chips that I’ve ever seen,” he said. “You don’t suck off all the glitter and then chew. You start chewing as soon as it’s in your mouth.”
Emma rolled her eyes.
“I can eat chips however I want, glutton,” she responded. “You don’t burst into the living room and say” (says this in a squeaky voice) “Eat it like this, not that, you have to eat before it rots’ like, that is so rude and nosy. I mean, keep your big fat mouth shut.”
By the time it was Emma and Kayla’s bedtime, the girls got into their sleeping bags and watched a movie. It was about a girl who was riding a sea dragon. Suddenly, Emma changed the channel.
“What was that all about?” asked Kayla. “We just started that one. We didn’t even get to the green ice cream part.”
“Um, let’s watch The Sound of Music.”
“Sure, but why don’t you like this movie? Do you still hate sea dragons?”
“No, but I still find them annoying.”
“They’re nice though. They share whatever you give them with all their friends. I find it sweet.”
“I guess I kind of like them. But I prefer nuns and children, thank you very much.”
“Okay, let’s watch The Sound of Music.”
“Sounds good. Remember the line of kids?”
“Hey by the way, did you see those adorable water alicorns?”
The End