"Ahh," Mitchie sighed. "The carnival at last!" Mitchie and Boomerang wait all year to go on "Shower of Shrieks", a fifty-two foot drop, while Shells and I prefer the games.

     "Well, since the town carnival only comes around once a year, we'll all go on the roller coaster first, so no one thinks we're chickens," I said. My friends nodded in agreement. The three girls, Mitchie, Shells and Boomerang all coincedentally have the same real name, Michelle, so I gave them all nicnames that sort of stuck. Boomerang is the witty comeback pro. She can make anything you say come back at you. Shells is the group Asian body guard. Her parents teach Kung Fu downtown, and if any of us could be considered a girly girl, it would be Mitchie.

     We made our way over to the roller coaster. It's not "King Da Ka", but it can certainly make you sick. I get butterflies in my stomach just from looking at it. Boomerang looked as excited as could be. I shouldn't be scared, I thought. I'd been on the coaster twice before- granted, the first time I threw up after for three minutes straight. We walked right past ther ticket collector. We didn't have to pay because no one, not even ticket collectors want to get into a fight with Shells. Shells brought us to the last cart, the one that  bounced and shook with every turn. We got in and I took care to buckle in myself, my cell phone and my pants (dont ask). I was a little uncomfortable sitting next to Boom. She had eaten three microwaveable corn dogs before we came.

     "Shells, aren't you going to buckle your seatbelt?" asked Mitchie. It wasn a stupid question. Shells had survived worse than falling off roller coasters. A few minutes later, we were climbing the high drop. I'm no good at math, but I'd estimate about a hundred feet. I grabbed onto the saftey bar. At least it wasn't straight down like "Shower of Shrieks". There was a genuine look of excitement in Boomerang's eyes. My heart lept as I felt our cart tip- and whoosh! I hear Mitchie scream, and I screamed myself. I grabbed onto Boomerang for dear life. There was a choras of shrieks from all parts of the ride and I felt like my stomach would explode.

     At last, we hit a sharp turn and the ride was over.  I got off but my legs were still shaking.

     "Mitchie, can I have your compact mirror?" I asked. Mitchie handed me a gold-framed mini mirror. I patted my long golden hair into place. It's not straight, but loaded with lots of giant, shiny curls that I care fully work to hide the zits on my forehead. My eyes are big and dark blue, and I have to put on lip gloss or else my lips will blend in with my very pale face.

     "Lets go play some games before all the good prizes are gone," I announced.

     "One game, but then Boom and I are going on "Shower of Shrieks," said Mitchie. My legs were still shaking as we walked over to an interesting looking game booth.

     "All ya gotta do is figure out how to smash the bottle and ya get yerself a prize," said an old man in a booth cluttered with lots of odds and ends like rusty old locks and necklaces. Boom and I each grabbed a bottle, but after many whacks, neither of us could even chip it.

     "Let me," said Shells. She hit it hard, but nothing happened.

     "Ahhhh!" screamed Mitchie. "SPIDER!" and the bottle broke.

     The old man laughed.

     "Pick yer prize," he said. Mitchie was the first to find a thin, key-shaped metal bookmark. Shells grabbed it from her to inspect.

     "We'll take it," said Shells.

     "Hmm," I said. "This is kind of interesting." Boomerang tucked her short brown hair behind her ears to get a better look. I passed the bookmark around to each of the girls in turn. The I grabbed my copy of The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton. Boom had thought it was funny that one of the characters had my last name, and gave it to me to read. I un- dog eared the page and put in the bookmark- and then CRACK!

     Mitchie screamed as I dropped the now purple gleaming book. I was terrified and slipped. I stepped on the book and then I couldn't feel anything... until I landed on pavement in clear sunlight.

     To be continued...