Willa Chapter 2

2. A Tangled Mess1

“Willa! Willa! Wake UPPP!!” Brenna howled in Willa’s ear. As Willa opened her eyes, she saw that her sister’s face was bright red from all the yelling. When her ears finally adjusted, she observed that everyone else was screaming. 2

“You blend right in, Bren,” Willa said with a smirky smile. She sat up straight in bed and hit her head again. “Ow.”3

“Goober!” Brenna screamed joyfully, grinning a yellow smile. She skipped down off of the bed and landed on her chest. Instead of letting out a loud, whiny, “Oomph!” Brenna laughed maniacally like she was on some sort of happy drug.4

“Calm down!” Willa whispered, wanting to stick out from her family. She’d do anything to do that. “You’ll wake—”5

“Schoftie’s awake, and she’s wunning away!” Alen screamed, popping his head into their room.6

“What?!” Willa threw off her Sanrio Chococat covers and jumped down. She, unlike unbalanced Brenna, landed swiftly on her feet.7

She ran into Alen and Nate’s room and skidded on her socks. “WHAT did you say?”8

“We was just kidding,” Nate said, grinning. He sat lazily on his bed, kicking his feet up in the air. 9

“Grr,” Willa enunciated, “Then where is she?”10

“She’s wight here, spazmo.” Alen said, picking up Schoftie by her stomach.11

“ALEN!” She shrieked, (gently) snatched the Schnoodle away from her brother.12

“By the way,” he shouted after her, “Your haiwr is a tangwy mess!”13

“That’s tangled, dummy,” Willa rolled her eyes, and went into the bathroom.14

“OH MY GOSH!” She giggled spastically. Her hair was almost stick-straight up in the air and staticky to anything it went near. She giggled some more and took her brush to make it nice, smooth, and shiny again. Then she heated up her curler and curled her auburn locks until they were like always. She also applied some eyeliner, mascara, and eyeshadow.15

“Much better,” She said down to Schoftie, who she’d set down on the soft rug next to the toilet.16

She picked up Schoftie and trodded off to her room. She placed the dog on her bed and strode off to her spacious closet that (thank God) she didn’t have to share with Brenna.17

“What to wear, Schoftie? What to wear...” Willa pondered.18

Mrs. Yeager popped her head in and said, “By the way, we’re going to the park. Dress warmly!” and popped back out. What didn’t make sense was that it was barely fall.19

Willa rolled her eyes and called to her dog, “Well, I guess there’s your answer.” She gazed out of the window to longingly look at the bustling suburb streets of Latrobe, Pennsylvania, which she’d called her home ever since she was born. She loved breathing in the country atmosphere near the Farmer’s Market and Latrobe Orchards, liked going into town in the winter and buying warm chestnuts and caroling along to the many stories, but also enjoyed driving into Pittsburgh, getting real Chinese food from Chinatown, and experiencing how hectic it was to live in the city. That was the thing Willa loved about living life as a Pennsylvanian; the whole state was so diverse. 20

She picked out a pair of white sweatpants from Aeropostale, a snug yellow tee-shirt with a sun on it, and a light white zip-up sweatshirt from Pac Sun. She slipped on her favorite sneakers with the multi-colored stars all over them, and slid on her yellow “Livestrong” bracelet and silver locket. Finally, she was ready.21

"Schoftie, it's the first time you're on a leash. Be good, okay? Don't jump around and try to pull out of it." Schoftie stared up at her with huge puppy dog eyes. Then she made a loud yap. Willa carried her puppy down the stairs and took the green leash off the coat hook, sniffing it. The smell of new leather calmed her senses, the ones that were running wrong after her brothers scared her that Schoftie ran away. She hooked the chain to the collar and reviewed basic commands (aka sit, stay, walk, and heel) with her newly-trained dog. 22

"Christmastime is a while away, but I'm sure you'll be a good little doggie and get lots and lots of Miss Anne's baby food beef biscuits! She's like the best cook in the neighborhood, even for pets. Ha, no French Boogeyman whipping you this year!" Schofties ears perked up, and relaxed after that wonderful phrase mentioning treats. "Mom, you almost ready?" Willa called to the upstairs.23

"I am, Brenna is, I got Bebe ready, but Alen and Nate are still fighting over the clothes they want to take."24

"But they're already dressed, aren't they?"25

"Alen wet his pants and wants to borrow Nate’s."26

Alen screamed, "You don't have to tewl evewybod-ee!"27

Eventually they got to the park, though. Schoftie was so excited to feel the fresh Fall-is-coming wind. Its chill was as crisp and moist as a golden apple, and the breezes were as refreshing as one. The leaves were turning to the color of one, also.28

Schoftie got to sit in the baby swing next to Bebe, and they were having the time of their life. Willa and Brenna were playing hide-and-go-seek-tag on the big jungle gym. Nate and Alen were on the see-saws, but even though Alen was younger, he was a lot heavier than Nate, and Nate was a lot skinnier than Alen, so Nate ended up stuck at the top of the see-saw and Alen wouldn't let him down. "It's because you wouldn't let me hab your pants."29