Laurel Hill: New Beginnings

Chapter 1 - Birthday Surprises “Happy Birthday Katie!” Amy yelled as she ran over to her group of friends. Although she was normally shy in public, Amy was bubbly and herself when she was around her best friends. The girls had become friends several years before when they went to a summer camp together as part of a church group. Ever since that summer Amy, Jennifer, Morgan, Katie, and Nikki had become almost inseparable. Katie was the youngest in the group as she turned ten today and the rest of the girls were already eleven. Amy was the oldest as she would be the first to turn twelve in August. Even though Katie was younger, she had been moved up two years in school and was in sixth grade with the rest of the girls because she was so smart. Katie had always gotten straight A’s, and she hardly ever had to study. Sometimes it bothered her older sister Morgan, because she had to study hard to keep her grades as good as they were. But Morgan was a good student, too, so she never got mad or jealous of how easy it seemed for Katie. ”So, are you excited about turning ten, Katie?” asked Amy’s Mom. Mrs. Madison worked at Faith Bible Chapel, where all of the girls and their families went to Church. “I guess so. It’s kind of exciting since I’m almost a teenager now,” Katie answered. “Well, enjoy each year as it comes, dear. Believe me, they go by fast enough!” said Mrs. Madison, as she walked off to chat with some of the other parents at the party. “So, Katie, what are you doing tomorrow on your birthday? Nikki asked. “Well, after church we’re gonna go play miniature golf at Sleepy Hollow. Then we’ll go out for pizza, since it’s my favorite, and Dad has some special movie planned at the theater just for us to watch! He won’t tell me what it is. . . he said it’s going to be a big surprise,” Katie said as she looked questioningly over at her older sister. “I don’t know either, I swear!” Morgan squealed, as she threw her hands up defensively. Just then, Katie’s Mom announced that it was time to cut the cake, and everyone went over to the picnic table. Mrs. Johnson had spent all day Friday making the food and cake for the party, and everything looked wonderful! The cake was decorated in pink icing with white daisies and green leaves, and it looked like it was store-bought. Mrs. Johnson loved to bake and cook, and since she was a homemaker, she had become very good at baking all sorts of goodies, which always sounded good to the girls’ younger brother Gabe, who was four, and loved to lick the spoon whenever his Mom was done baking. Everyone sang “Happy Birthday” and Gabe made funny faces at his sister as she blew out her candles. Katie blew them all out with one deep breath, and everyone clapped, as Mrs. Johnson started removing the candles and slicing the cake. As they ate their cake and ice cream, they chatted and laughed until it was time to open the presents. Katie started opening her gifts, but saved the ones from her best friends for last, knowing that they would be special. As she got to the last few gifts, she opened Jennifer’s first. It was a backpack with her name on the front. The backpack was dark blue with her name in white, and a little daisy was next to her name on the front. “You can keep all of your writing stuff in this backpack, Katie, and use your other one just for school now,” Jennifer said. Katie’s passion had always been writing stories, and she was quite good at it. All of the girls knew that she planned to be a writer when she grew up. “Thank you, Jennifer! I love it,” Katie exclaimed with a smile. “Open mine next, Katie!” Amy shouted excitedly. As she ripped the wrapping paper off of the small box and opened it, everyone could see the silver pen and pencil set with Katie’s name engraved along the sides in gold. “Oh, they’re beautiful, Amy. Thank you!” Katie said. Next Katie reached for Nikki’s present. Inside, she found copies of the books Charlotte’s Web, Stuart Little, and The Trumpet and the Swan, which she had been wanting for some time. “You remembered, Nikki! Thank you so much!” she exclaimed as she reached over and hugged her friend. “You’re welcome,” Nikki answered with a smile. Finally, she opened her sister’s gift. “I think it’s a book,” Katie guessed, feeling the present through the paper. As she removed the wrapping, she sat staring at the book. It was a beautiful leather-bound copy of Katie’s favorite book, Anne of Green Gables, with gold lettering imprinted on the cover and spine. “It’s beautiful,” Katie said, still fingering the cover gently, as she looked up and saw Morgan smiling at her. “I know it’s your favorite,” Morgan said, as Katie got up to hug her big sister. “Thank you so much, Morgan. I love it,” Katie whispered, as everyone shouted Happy Birthday again. Mrs. Johnson started to clean up and Mr. Johnson took Gabe in for a well-deserved nap while the kids went off to play games and listen to music in the backyard. But as they chatted and laughed, every once in a while Morgan would look up to see Katie smiling at her again. Later that evening after the party finished and everyone went home, Katie went into Morgan’s room and asked, “Where did you find that book? I’ve never seen one like it. It must’ve cost you way too much!” But Morgan just answered, “I just happened to find it in a bookstore, and I thought of you,” not telling her sister that she had saved her allowance for two months to be able to buy the book.