• I got home from school, soaked with rain.
    It had been a light drizzle when I had said goodbye to all my friends and started the walk home. Sadly, by the time I had reached my street, that was no longer the case. I tossed by sopping wet backpack onto the floor in the front hall and stormed through the house to my mother's office. I banged on the door as loud as I could, and, not waiting for an answer, burst into the room. My mom was sitting at her desk, her red hair folding around her face as she stared over thin spectacles at some papers piled infront of her.
    "Hon, I'm very busy," Was all she said as I stood, dripping infront of her. "Why don't you go outside and kick a ball around like you used to?"
    "Mom, I'm soaked to the skin!!!" I screamed, thrusting out my arms to reveal my soggy T-shirt.
    " Amanda!" My mom said sternly. "You are not to get so wet like that. Go change." She pointed at my shirt and capris and gestured for me to go.
    "Mom!" I cried again. "It's not my fault I'm wet, it's yours! You told me that whenever it rained you pick me up from school, and you didn't!!!" I ran out of the room, not wanting to argue any more. I returned to my backpack and sighed. Classic teen tantrum. Why was being 16 so hard? Becuase no one understands you, I thought. Your all alone. Sighing again, I picked my backpack, only to have it's contents spill all over the granite floor. I groaned and began to scurrie around on all fours, grabbing binders and textbooks and papers and wha- ?
    I stared at the purple stone lying in my palm. What was this? I never seen anything like it, so solid, yet so empty and clear. I stared transfixed at the stone for two more minutes before the sound of mom climbing upstairs to see if I had changed pulled me out of the stone's depth. I stuffed it in my pocket and ran upstairs, but that's when things got weird....