Life As An American Teenager: Book One- Kathy

Chapter 1
Tammy’s mothers eyes opened wide as she exclaimed, “Where on earth did you get those pills?” it was a rainy Saturday night and I was lying down on my bed with my fluffy pink pillowcase in my lap, full of birth control pills. “I said, where did you get those pills” my mother shouted. I thought about what to say. I couldn’t tell my own mother I was taking birth control pills because of what happened last night.
“Mother I am eighteen years old and I can make my own decisions” I shouted back at her.
“Then why do you still live in my house” she screamed.
“I don’t anymore” I yelled. I grabbed the suitcase I had filled with all my stuff and yelled “I’m moving in with Jon”
“You wouldn’t dare” she challenged.
“Watch me!” I sobbed as I slammed the door and ran out into the pouring rain in my pajamas. I threw my stuff into Jon's car that was waiting outside and got in.
“STOP” my mother cried as she got her clothes on and drove after us.
“We have to lose her” I told Jon. So we pulled into the nearest star bucks, let a couple of cars pass us, and kept going. My cell phone vibrated. Oh no, she was using that new tracking device that came with the family fun plan. Family fun? Yea right, who ever heard of family fun? We swerved into the small apartment complex parking lot. Once we got inside and my stuff was unpacked, I threw my stupid cell phone into the pond outside our window and heard a loud cracking sound as it hit the ground and broke. The apartment was empty except for the inflatable couch and a TV that was barley 8 inches long. The small mini fridge in the “kitchen” had a pack of beer and some cheese. The pantry had some stale bread and a half empty box of cheerio’s. Right then I started to doubt the decision I had made. But as I looked down at my bulging stomach that used to be model thin, and I knew that this was the only choice for me, for Jon, for us, and for the baby.

Chapter 2
Several months later, my phone rang. “Hello” I answered “you have reached the home of Kathy and Darryl Durham”.
“Oh I’m sorry Ma’m” said the sad voice on the other end “I thought this was my daughter’s home.”
“Mom?” I asked
“Tammy” she said back
“yes.” I started to cry.
“Tammy, why did you say Kathy and Darryl?” she asked
“We changed our names the day after we ran away” I said.
“And what about the Durham part, you didn’t get married- did you?” she started to get angry.
“It was for the baby” I yelled
“The what!” she screamed
“Why did you think I had the pills you dummy? Sometimes I think I might just… Oh!” I dropped the phone.
“What?” my mother asked.
“I’m in labor” I yelled “Jon!” we drove to the hospital. A few hours later the baby was here. My mother was by my side saying “everything’s going to be alright sweetie” over and over. I smiled and then heard the faint sound of a baby girl crying in the distance. “Her name is Tammy” I told the doctor. And then everything went black.

Chapter 3
When I woke up, I saw Jon and my mother standing over a small pink cradle, sobbing.
“What is it” I asked.
“The baby” replied Jon “she might not make it”
“She will make it, it will be okay” I told them
“No, it won’t” Jon yelled “because you might not make it either!”
“What” I said loudly
“Dear, I have to tell you something I should have told you a long time ago” said my mother “your father never died. He ran off with my best friend from high school after he found out about you. We were going to get married, but when he found out I was carrying a baby, his baby, he ran away. I was devastated. I wanted him, the love of my life back, so I tried to get rid of you. It was a big mistake and because of all those drugs I took you and I were in danger. The doctor told me that I would never be able to carry a baby ever again and neither would you if you got anymore pills in your system. That’s why I overreacted when I saw your pillowcase. I’m sorry I got mad.
“Wait” I said “does that mean my father is still alive and out there somewhere?
“It’s not important” said my mother quietly.
“Yes, it is” I yelled at her “tell me!”
“Don’t use a tone with me. Now be quiet and get some rest” she said.
“No, don’t try to change the subject, tell me about my father right now” I screamed
“Don’t scream you’re waking the other patients and wasting all of your energy” she said calmly.
“Mother, how can you be so calm” I said “and I want to know about my fa-“
“Your father” she cut me off in mid- sentence “is in the lobby waiting for you”

Chapter 4
“IN THE LOBBY!” I yelled. “Mother, my father who has pretended to be dead for the past eighteen years of my life suddenly shows up on the day of my daughter’s birth and he is in the lobby!” I started to sob. He stepped into the room.
“Barry” my mother whispered getting teary eyed.
“How could you miss that horrible, jerk faced, two timing wimp!” I yelled, crying.
“Tammy” my father said as he came over and touched my cheek.
“Let go of me you disgusting creep!” I yelled even louder. Jon looked at my father with a dirty look on his face. “And my name is Kathy Durham now. I would never want your lying, cheating name” I was crying bucketfuls.
“Tammy”, he said “I was wrong. I never should have left you or your mother. Forgive me, it was the only thing I could do, I was not ready for a baby. I only went away because I couldn’t just drop out on the spot and live the rest of my life caring for a child. I have been living in the next town over for the past seventeen years now and when your mother found out about your baby, she called me and I rushed over. I’ve been sleeping on the cold floor of the hospital with Joanie for the past three days for you.” He was getting ready to cry.
“Oh so her name is Joanie. Where is that cow” I said with an angry look on my face.
“Barry” called a high pitched sing song voice from down the hallway. “Hurry up sweetie mark and I are waiting.” I was furious. A dumb looking blond woman in overalls and a red frilly teddy bear t shirt bounced (literally, bounced) in the room followed by a seventeen year old boy. The anger in the air was almost tangible.
“Oh, so you weren’t ready to have a baby then but you were three months later!?” I screamed.
“Honey, calm down it wasn’t his fault.” My mother said.
“No, I will not calm down. How can I calm down when I just found out that my father left my mother for some blond idiot and now he suddenly comes back asking for my forgiveness!” I yelled
My dad said “honey, Jordan isn’t your step brother; he is your real brother.”

Chapter 5

“My brother!” I screamed at the top of my lungs “how could he be my brother?”
“I don’t know how it happened honey, I just had another child. I did a DNA test and Barry tested as his father.” My mother was nervous.
“No” I said “don’t do that! Stop lying to me!” I was steaming angry. “Tell me how Jordan is my brother.”
“Mandy, don’t avoid it, she’ll find out sooner or later. Honey, you and Jordan are twins” My father told me calmly.
“Twins” I yelled “how could we be twins! I’m like, a year older that him!”
“Never judge a book by his cover. Jordan is the older one” Barry said “it was one night I noticed Mandy was very… fat. I asked her what was wrong. She told me she was having two babies. I knew she was having one of them, you, but I ran off because I couldn’t handle two children. I pretended to Joanie that Jordan was adopted, because Mandy couldn’t take care of two kids by herself. Her parents disowned her when they found out about the babies. She was living with a colleague from her art class in an already crammed dorm room. She came to my door asking me to take Jordan, so I did.”
“What!” Joanie yelled as she burst out of her hiding place, the closet “Jordan is her son and not mine!”
“Juju wait! I couldn’t tell you about it to protect you. I’m sorry”
“Your daughter is right, you are a jerk. I’m leaving and taking my house and all of my stuff.” Joanie yelled.
“Ha” I said “serves you right. Now you have no house, family, or girl.”
“Mandy” Barry stooped to his knees and put on his puppy dog face. It was disgusting. “I was wrong to leave you and Tammy. I mean Kathy. I’m so sorry. Will you take me back and be my bride?” did he seriously just ask her that?
“Barry, I don’t know if I could forgive you for leaving” she said.
“That’s right” I said.
“But… yes!” she sounded excited.
“Mother, how could you forgive that male chauvinist pig?” I yelled.
“It’s my choice” she yelled back “now!” a nurse came dashing in and shoved a needle of blue liquid into my arm. I tried to fight back, but I felt weaker and weaker as I fell into a deep, deep sleep.

Chapter 6
I woke up in a dark room wearing a blue sundress and black shoes. There was something cold and metal on my hand. I looked and saw a weird square sheet of metal with a beeping red light on it attached to my watch. A tracking device. I tried to pry it off, but it was stuck. Somehow, my watch buckle had been removed and the leather was sewed back together really strongly so that I couldn’t take it off. “Where is my child?” I yelled into the darkness. A small television lowered in front of me. My mother was on the screen in the hospital, surrounded by Barry, Jon, Jordan, and Tammy dressed in fancy clothes. “Honey, your little Tammy is fine. We are going to have the wedding now, so we had to put you in there to make sure nothing got in our way. If you try to escape, you will get hurt. You are surrounded by guards and if you do escape, we will use the tracker and find you. Things will not be pretty then. Love you, bye.” The time of the recording was July 9th, 2009 at 1:46 pm. Two hour ago at the most. It might be too late now. The screen turned black. Silver letters flashed across it. July 12th, 2009, 4:00 pm. Uh oh! It wasn’t two hours ago, it was two days ago! They had definitely done it by now. But why hadn’t they let me go yet? After the date and time flashed across the screen a few times, I heard a continuous beeping. There was some kind of a countdown on the screen. My mother’s words replayed in my head. “If you try to escape, you will get hurt.” I had tried to escape, without luck. Oh no. I got scared as I realized why they hadn’t let me go yet. They didn’t just want me gone for their wedding, they wanted me dead.

Chapter 7
Dead. I cringed as I thought of it over and over. But why? I couldn’t do anything to them after they were married. My mind flashed back to the video. My mother’s eyes were gray and stale. Wait, my mom’s eyes were bright green. It occurred to me. That wasn’t my mother speaking. She was in some kind of trance. But who was controlling her? “Think, who would want you dead, Kathy?” a voice said.
“Who are you?” I asked nervously.
“Who do you think I am you airhead! You stole my mother from me at birth, forced me to live with that idiot blond, and when you found out about me, you acted like I was dirt!” the voice bellowed angrily. A shadow stepped out of the dark. The beeping was getting louder and faster. My heart was pounding against my chest. Beads of sweat popped out of my skin onto my forehead. The countdown had only four more seconds left. The mysterious man turned to leave and for a minute I saw his face. I closed my eyes as I heard the sound of an explosion. My last thought was “Jordan”.

Chapter 8
I woke up in a weird open field. My dead grandmother was running to me. So this is what it’s like to be dead. I heard someone whispering in the background. Then a baby crying. My mother and Tammy. Oh no, how could Tammy have died? I didn’t care about my mom. For all I care, she could die. Oh wait, she did. My eyes opened and I was in a gray room with my mom and a cop. They were arguing.
“I’m sure it wasn’t her” my mother was persistent.
“What wasn’t who” I asked drowsily.
“I’m sorry, but Kathy Durham, you are under arrest for the murder of Jordan black.” The cop had a firm look on his face. He wasn’t going to give up.
“Black” I thought “where have I heard that name before. “Excuse me” I asked “but who are Kathy Durham and Jordan black?”
The cop looked puzzled “your Kathy and Jordan is your brother” he said.
“I am” I said.
“She must have amnesia” the doctor said.
“Wait, I thought you were a cop” I said, confused.
“No, I am a doctor” he answered. I looked around and saw a hospital room.
“How did I get here?” I asked.
“Officer Gary drove you here.” The doctor was speaking slowly like I was a kindergartener.
“I remember what happened. I was in a room, and then Jordan blew me up.” I said.
“It’s worse than I thought” the doctor said.
“What’s today’s date?” I asked him
“January 8, 2011, why?”
“But it was just yesterday” I said. Something weird was going on. I had been living almost two years of my life without knowing it. This is very strange. I saw a woman in a brown overcoat sitting in a soft leather couch in the corner, wringing her hands, and instantly knew it was my mother. “Mom, we need to talk.” I glared at Dr. Clueless. “Alone” the doctor left the room. As soon as he stepped out of the door, I stared at my mother and asked desperately “what is going on? Have I been living that past two years of my life without knowing?”
She sat looking into my eyes and finally said “Kathy, I have to tell you something I should have told you fifteen years ago.” She had a painful look on her face.
“You’re not my real mother, are you” I said.
“No” she whispered.

Chapter 9
I was in the hospital room staring at my “mom” when the doctor burst through the door panting like a dog and sweating like he had just run a marathon.
“Just a minute” I said to him.
“I… have…bad…news” he said stopping between each word to breath heavily.
“What!” I almost shouted at him. Jon came into the room holding Tammy who lay lifeless in his arms.
“She didn’t make it” he burst out, sobbing. I sat there trying to think of something to say.
“Its okay” I finally managed to mutter
“NO!” Jon yelled “it’s not okay my daughter just died and you think its okay? How could you say that?”
“She isn’t dead” I said.
“How would you know?” He was calming down. I took her small body and looked at it.
“Because!” this was the angriest I’ve ever been in my life “this is all a dream! She’s not my mom, this is not Tammy, and you’re not Jon! It’s all fake! And I will wake up… now!” I sobbed. I closed my eyes and opened them again. I was still in the bed, surrounded by Jon, “mom”, the doctor, and Tammy’s lifeless body. My hand was going up and down on her chest.” she’s breathing!” I yelled the doctor ran and felt her chest and wrist.
“I’m no pediatrician but you’d better get this kid to one soon before her slim chance of life disappears” He said.
I ran out of the room in a paper gown with Jon and Tammy. We got to the stairs when I slipped in a puddle of water that was on the second step. I fell down the stairs. Jon stopped and came to help me. He handed Tammy to my “mom”. “No” I said weakly “go on and save Tammy’s life” my phone rang. It was a text in weird box shaped letters. It said:
Violets are blue, roses are red. When it comes dark, you will be dead.
All the lights turned off. I heard the click of doors locking. Everyone was gone. “Happy death day” a grim voice said from behind me. Jordan.


Chapter 10
I was scared and nervous. Not about my own life, but about Tammy’s. Did they get her to a doctor in time? If they didn’t, did they let Dr. Stupid take “care” of her? Did my mom… “mom.” Yea right! What did she mean “not my mom” anyways? Who is she? “Wait” I shouted “before I die, what did my mom mean when she said ‘not my mom’ anyways?” Mandy stepped out of the shadows.
“Kathy” she said “I’ll tell you.” She was crying.
“Who are you?” I asked with tears in my eyes “where is my mother!?”
“Kathy, I…I can explain. My name is Julia Henderson age 49 foster mother. Everything you heard about your mother was true, but there’s more. When your mother found out about your baby over the phone, she couldn’t take it anymore. She left. She and I are twins, so I’ve been pretending to be her ever since.” She said.
“Why?” tears were dripping down my face like rain on a roof, a leaky faucet, but I wasn’t crying. I had a million questions to ask, but then something pulled her away, some kind of magnetic force. The last remaining bits of sunlight vanished.
“It’s time” Jordan said in a mocking voice.
“Why don’t you come out here and fight like a man” I said to nothing but the darkness “this isn’t a fair battle.”
“Your right” he said, stepping out of the darkness. He tossed me a gun. He held one in his left hand by his side. I pointed mine towards him and turned my head away. I tried to pull the trigger, but I couldn’t. “Go ahead” he said “shoot” but I couldn’t, I wouldn’t.
“I don’t understand” I thought to myself “why can’t I shoot someone I have so much hate for?” I looked into his sparkling blue eyes and his sun streaked brown and blond hair. That was when I realized I was in love with Jordan.

Chapter 11
No. how could this even happen? The guy who stole my family, hypnotized my mom, and tried to kill me twice was the man I loved? It couldn’t possibly be. I was standing there holding the gun, hand on the trigger, still pointed at Jordan. I dropped it. I heard a loud clatter on the floor, a click, and gunfire. The gun had accidentally shot, still pointed to Jordan. “Run!” I screamed. But he just stood there. The bullet hit him and bounced off of his chest. Of course! He put rubber bullets in mine and real ones in hi. He dropped his gun as he bent over with a look of pain in his eyes. Blood was flowing from the spot the bullet had hit him. His gun fired and hit me. I felt a sharp pang of pain for a second after it bounced off of my arm. The bullets were the other way around. Mine were real and his were rubber. Mine were real. Jordan fell suddenly to the floor with a slight thump as a rolled up piece of paper fell out of his hands. It looked like this:
My dearest my love my heart my soul, my breath lovely Kathy Kathy, if you are reading this it means that I am dead. I long for you to love me, and I know that once I know you do, I must die. I miss you already!
Love forever, Jordan
I cried my eyes dry. “I love you” I whispered in his ear. A single tear fell onto his face. I bent down and kissed his soft, cold lips. A bright light flashed before my eyes and he was being lifted. I held onto his hand until it slipped. I fell to the ground, trying to cry, but no tears came.

Chapter 12
“I miss you already! Love forever, Jordan” I reread the note aloud for the ninth time on the verge of tears, but again, no tears came. “Stop” I said aloud. “You don’t love that jerk.” I realized the truth. “I am” I said aloud “I am in love with Jordan so there!” I yelled. I finally started to cry. I heard footsteps behind my back.
“How could you?” Jon asked sadly, shaking as if his legs had turned to jelly. A gun in his hands had drops of blood on it. The one I used to kill Jordan.
“Go ahead” I said, sobbing “kill me! See if I care!” I ran to a wall, sat down against it with my head in my knees waiting for the loud bang that would carry me away into another world where I would live immortally with Jordan forever. Nothing happened for five minutes. I looked up. Jon was still shaking, but his gun was turned towards his own head. “No!” I screamed. But it was too late. A loud boom sounded as I reached out to him. Before he died the words “I love you” barley passed his lips. It was horrifying. It was as if everything stopped. The world froze just as the bullet reached his head. It wasn’t in all the way. For the rest of that time it seemed like everything was slow motion. No,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no,no! The two men I’ve ever loved, dead. But I didn’t cry when Jon died. I just stood staring into the darkness. It was never true love. I knew Jon for five years and I was married to him. He was the father of my child but it was never true love. I just met Jordan two years ago and haven’t seen him since, but ours was true love. I just realized that I loved him a few hours ago, but OURS was true love.

Chapter 13
Wait, Tammy! If Jon was dea… not with us anymore, and my aunt was here, who was with Tammy? “You” a voice hissed from behind me. I turned to see who it was. Two beady blue eyes stared at me. I was mesmerized as my gaze met hers. “Who are you?” I asked, not fully affected by her stare. “I” she scowled like I was an idiot not to know who she was “am Margaret Black”
“Why are you here?” I asked.
“Revenge” she said with a grim grin on her face.
“On who?” I asked, still dazed like a dummy.
“On you, you fool”!” she yelled “Jordan was mine. He loved me, I loved him, we had something special. Then you came along. He started canceling dates, forgetting to call me, daydreaming and not paying attention to me, and always mentioning ‘the beautiful Kathy.’ I had to do something to stop him from leaving me. I hypnotized him. He almost killed you twice, but it was as if his love for you was breaking the spell. He thought you loved him, but you just killed him.”
“But I do” I cried “I do”
‘No matter” she said “you killed him, and now it’s your turn to die.”
“But it wasn’t… I didn’t… I never… I love him” I managed to whisper, teary eyed.
“Then why did you kill him?” she asked “why did you string him along when like you loved him and then threw him away like a used tissue? He probably used you to make me jealous, after I went out with Bobby Mellark.” She said with a smug grin on her face. That made me angry. I was steaming mad.
“You went out with another guy and you think I didn’t love him?! That I was using HIM? I sat staring at her for what seemed like hours until a noise broke the silence. It was a light, ringing sound as if a million bells were ringing. Mirrors appeared all around me, but it wasn’t my reflection in those mirrors that I saw, it was Tammy. They suddenly disappeared. I saw a pale version of Jordan holding his hand out as if to say “come with me.” A bright flash of light blinded me as my whole life replayed in front of my eyes like a movie. I saw it now. All the signs, the clues, the notes, I saw it all. And then I fell to the ground, crying. Crying forever…

The End Of Book One…