This week’s featured rough draft is The Secret Notes, R. E. Graff’s first Young Adult novel. She lives in Bloomington, MN, where she plays hockey and lacrosse and is a prolific reader. Her favorite genres to read include adventure, horror, and mystery stories, especially when they’re combined in one book! Favorite authors include J.K. Rowling, Jeanne Birdsall and Margaret Peterson Haddix. Give this rough draft your feedback in the comment box!
THE SECRET NOTES
“Hey, Chatty Kathy!” said Robin, Mikala’s best friend, on the first day of school. Mikala and Robin had been friends since preschool, and always loved to talk to each other, but just recently, Mikala had started to babble on and about . . . boys.
Robin hated most boys because they were loud, obnoxious, and jerky–you get the picture. There was one boy that was actually cute, and that was Chase Finley. Chase was a hotshot. He played a ton of sports, and was good at all of them. That’s why girls flocked to him.
Mikala was crazy about Chase, and sometimes Robin couldn’t get her to stop talking about him. “Hey, Birdy! Guess who’s in our class this year?” Mikala asked Robin.
“Let me guess–Chase,” Robin responded glumly, because she knew there would be no time for her now that Chase was in their class.
“We have a winner!” Mikala exclaimed.
Just then, the bell rang and the girls had to hustle into their new seventh grade class. Their teacher was Mrs. Bandon, and she looked young.
The first thing the class did was talk about their summers. When Chase talked about his, Mikala sat fixed to her chair, staring dreamily into his eyes. All the other girls did that, too, except for Robin, who stared out the window.
The loudspeaker suddenly buzzed, and Mrs. Bandon was called to the office. She excused herself and left the classroom. Mikala immediately walked over to Chase and started to talk to him.
Probably talking with him about her stupid summer, thought Robin. Robin was disgusted; she left to get a drink. When she returned, Ms. Bandon still wasn’t back, but Mikala was waiting at her desk. Robin wondered what she was doing there.
As soon as Robin wondered that, Mrs. Bandon came back, looking grim. She sat down and announced to the class that she was going to be leaving class early because her 9-month-old was sick. The class gasped, then rushed to help Mrs. Bandon arrange a substitute.
While Mikala and Robin were helping Mrs. B, someone slipped a note onto Mikala’s desk. When Mikala returned, she opened the note, read it, and then almost fainted. Robin rushed over to help Mikala–and read the note.*
As soon as Robin read the note, she knew why tall, well-built Mikala almost fainted. In fact, she almost fainted herself, because this is what she read:
Dear Mikala,
You are very cute in my opinion and I want you on my soccer team.
Love, G. W.
“Who’s G. W.?” Mikala croaked.
“Maybe ‘Guess Who.’ That makes sense, doesn’t it?” Robin replied.
