• “Bridget, I am so happy to see you!” exclaimed my father. My mother had just died three weeks ago, and I had just arrived in L.A. where I was going to live with my dad, whom I had never met before. My dad had walked out on my mom the day I was born, and I was not sure if I would be able to forgive him for that.
    “Why don’t we go out to dinner tonight?” my dad asked.
    “Ok” I mumbled. I did not want to be here because I had left behind my seven years of life in Texas and my four best friends. Now, I would have to adjust to a new family, house, and school. On the plane from Texas to L.A., I was thinking about how this would be a total nightmare.
    We went to a very expensive restaurant that served really good food. I learned a lot about my dad during dinner. I discovered that he is the manager of this restaurant and that over the holidays and over the summer I could earn money by working there. I also learned where I would go to school. But, I was still very mad at him for making me move here.
    A week later was the first day of school. My dad gave me a ride since I did not know where it was. I entered the building and went to the office to get my schedule and find out where my classes were. Finally, I reached my homeroom, sat down in my seat, and listened to my teacher talk.
    After class, the girl seated next to me introduced herself as Alli. She seemed very nice and helped me get to and from my classes. Alli invited me to sit at her table at lunch, and she introduced me to all of her friends. They told me that I could sit with them every day.
    Bringggggggggggg sounded the end-of-school bell. I went to my locker and got my stuff and then walked out of the school with Alli. When I got outside I found that my dad was waiting for me, and I got into the car. He asked me about my day and took me home so that I could do my homework.
    The next few days went the same with me going to school and Alli still helping me find my way around the school. The week seemed to go by quite fast, and then the weekend arrived. My dad had to work the whole weekend, so I just stayed home. It was boring because I hardly had any homework.
    Monday and Tuesday went really fast, and then we had the rest of the week off. My dad let me invite Alli to sleep over from Tuesday to Wednesday. We had a lot of fun watching movies and just hanging out. For the rest of the week I did my homework and spent time at my dad’s restaurant.
    School on Monday went really well. I talked to Alli and her friends some more. I also met some other really nice kids. After school my dad was waiting for me and he said that he had a surprise for me. I got really excited and could not wait until we got to our destination.
    After driving for about half an hour, my dad stopped the car in the driveway of a beautiful country house. I was really surprised, and I asked him if we were going to move here. He said, “no”.
    All of a sudden a young woman came out of the house and said to me, “You must be Bridget. Your dad has told me so much about you.”
    She took us inside her house, and my dad explained that this was his girlfriend, Courtney. I was really angry with my dad because he had not told me about this before, and I was not ready for a new mom yet. I stormed out of the house and went into the car. My dad ran after me and asked me what was wrong, but I would not tell him. He said goodbye to Courtney and then got into the car and we went home. As soon as my dad opened the door, I stormed up to my room and slammed the door shut. I flopped onto my bed and started to scream into my pillow I could not stop crying.
    After fifteen minutes, I calmed down and my dad came into my room. Again he asked me what was wrong, and I told him what was bothering me. He then apologized and told me that they would not be getting married very soon and that maybe I could get to know her better.
    For the next week I was in a really bad mood, especially when my dad invited Courtney over for dinner on Friday. After the dinner I told myself that I would never get used to Courtney and that I would always hate her.
    After about one year, I started to get to know Courtney a little bit better, but I still hated her. Then my dad told me that he was going to marry Courtney that coming December.
    September that year went by so slowly that it seemed like a year had gone by before it was over. November felt the total opposite since we were so busy getting ready for the wedding. I was going to be the maid of honor, and I kept putting up a fuss because I did not want to be a part of the wedding.
    December finally came and so did the day that I had been dreading since the beginning of September-- the wedding day. The wedding went just as planned, and I tried to look as cheerful as I could so that I would not ruin it for my dad.
    The reception went well with lots of dancing. There was even a live band playing. The cake was tall, white, and delicious. When the reception finally ended, my dad and Courtney caught a flight to the Bahamas where they would be spending their honeymoon.
    I spent the two weeks that they were away at Alli’s house, and we had a lot of fun hanging out at the mall, movies, and just at her house with some of our other friends.
    Dad and Courtney got home late Friday night, so I decided to spend the rest of the weekend at Alli’s.
    The next day Alli and I decided to go and see a movie and then go to the pizza parlor for lunch. After lunch we decided to meet up with some friends at the mall.
    The rest of the weekend went by really fast, and then it was Monday. On Monday I had four tests and tons of homework. That afternoon my dad was there to pick me up from school, and I was really excited to see him. He said that he would drop me off at home and then he had to go back to the restaurant and work until ten. When I got home, Courtney was there waiting for me. She tried to talk to me, but I would not listen to her.
    I ate dinner by myself in my room, trying to finish my homework while Courtney ate by herself watching the TV. By the time my dad got home, I still was not done with my homework. I ended up going to bed around midnight and had to wake up at six a.m. The next afternoon, on the way home, my dad asked me why I was being so rude to Courtney. I told him that I did not want a new mom yet, and that I was going to be rude to her until I was ready. He asked me if I could be at least a little nicer to her because she was really sad that I did not approve of her.
    After that talk, I was a little bit nicer to Courtney, but I still was not as nice as I was to my dad. I started to eat with her and talk to her when my dad was not home. I started to ask her for help with my homework, and she even took me shopping some weekends.
    Two years later, I had finally gotten used to Courtney and we were a happy family. But then, they had another surprise for me, and this time I was not excited to learn what it was. They told me that I was going to be a big sister in about five months. I got really mad at my dad I did not want to have a sibling. I preferred being an only child.
    After being in my room for an hour, Courtney came up and talked to me about the new baby. She told me that it was going to be a big change for all of us and that we would all help each other get through it. Her talking to me helped me, and four months later I got really excited because the baby was due the next month.
    The next month was really busy getting ready for the baby. Two weeks into the month my dad had to take Courtney to the hospital because she thought she was going to have the baby. It turned out that she did not have it that day, but the next week it finally came. The baby was a girl, and they named her Hilary. She was very cute, and I was excited to be her big sister.
    A week later Courtney and Hilary came home from the hospital. During the week that Courtney had been in the hospital, my dad and I had decorated the whole house and the baby’s room so that it was very special for her.
    The first few weeks were hard because the baby would cry at two in the morning and I could hardly sleep after that. But then I finally got used to it, and I was a lot more alert during my classes. I helped Courtney by making dinner, playing with Hilary, warming up milk for Hilary, and many other things.
    Two years later when Hilary was two, we found out that she had cancer and was most likely not going to survive. All of us were very sad and scared, and we decided to let her do chemotherapy.
    After about three months of chemotherapy, the doctor told us that Hilary was very weak but that the cancer was gone. We were all very happy. To celebrate, we went on a vacation to Florida. In Florida we went to Disney World and Sea World because we thought Hilary would enjoy it. We stayed down there for about three weeks, but I did not miss school because it was during summer vacation.
    The week after we got back I invited Alli and some of our other friends over for an end of summer party. We had a lot of fun playing games, swimming in our neighbor’s pool, watching movies, and doing tons of other things.
    The next day was the first day of school, and everyone was tired from staying up so late. I got so bored in science class that I fell asleep, and the person next to me had to wake me up. I walked home that day since it was warm and our house was not that far away.
    One year later, when I got home from school, I noticed that nobody else was home. I saw a note on the counter and it said,” Hilary is very sick. I am taking her to the hospital.” It was signed by Courtney. I rushed to the phone and called my dad. He said that he would be home soon to pick me up and that we would go over to the hospital.
    As we rushed into the Emergency Room, we saw Courtney sitting there crying. She said that Hilary’s cancer had come back and that she was so weak that she would probably die that week. I stood there stunned. After four years of being Hilary’s big sister I was going to lose her, just like I had lost my mom.
    We all went home that night and my dad told me that I did not have to go to school for the rest of the week. I spent most of that week in Hilary’s hospital room. On Thursday night, while I was sitting next to her bed, Hilary took her last breath. I put my head onto her bed and started to cry. She was gone, and she would never come back. I remembered all of the fun things we had done together and how she would always snuggle up against me when we were watching TV or a movie. That was all gone and in the past. I would never hear her call me Bwidget again or ever hear her voice.
    I could not take it any longer. I ran outside and ran the three miles home from the hospital. I ran up to my room and then, all of a sudden, everything went black.
    I woke up and had no idea what was going on. Courtney and my dad were sitting next to me, and I was in the hospital. They told me that I had fainted. I asked if Hilary was really dead, and they told me that she was.
    The funeral was four days later, and all of my friends showed up. I was happy to see them, but it did not show because I was still so sad about Hilary’s death. The service went well and so did the burial, but everybody was very sad and nobody really said anything.
    Our house was very quiet the next few weeks. Dad went to work again and Courtney went out to find a job since she did not have to take care of Hilary anymore. My grades at school were slipping since I could not concentrate on anything except for Hilary.
    Finally, four months later, my school grades went up again. I was happy for the first time that spring. When I got home from school that day, my dad told me that Courtney was going to have another baby. I was excited this time but also scared because I did not want this baby to get cancer like Hilary had.
    Six months and one week before my fifteenth birthday, Courtney had another girl, and a boy. She named them Alicia and Eric. All three of them came home the next week and the house was very loud. Courtney and I hardly got any sleep because the babies kept us so busy and my dad was away on a business trip. It did not take long for Courtney to realize that she would never be able to take care of both of them, so she hired a nanny to help her while I was at school. Helping Courtney was a lot of work but it was also fun. My dad finally came home two weeks later, and then he started to help out too.
    Life went on as it should, and neither of the babies got very sick. I enjoyed life with Alicia and Eric, and I had learned to be nice and respect Courtney.
    Eight years later I married a guy named Steven. Eventually we moved into our own house and, in six months from now, we are going to have a baby. Steven and I go over to my parents’ house every other weekend since we only live two hours away. They are as excited as we are that our family is growing again.