I Try to Get a New Friend

**I Try to Get a New Friend** is the second chapter of The Gift of a Best Friend. It was first published on May 16, 2016.

## Chapter

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**Jasmine's POV**
Hello. I’m Jasmine Saturday.
That’s what the S means on my shirt: my last name, which is Saturday.
As Peter and I were walking home together from where the school bus dropped us off, I was thinking about that blond girl I met today: Annabeth. I really liked that name. It seems to fit her. But her eyes were gray, like thunder clouds, which was creepy, but at the same time, cool.
She looked so sad and alone. I want to help her not be so sad anymore, but I’m not sure how to do that. I’ll ask my mommy and daddy.
When Peter and I got to my home, both of our parents were waiting for us at my house, just like they said they would be. Oh, and if you’re wondering, Peter’s my cousin. He’s my mommy’s twin brother’s, my uncle’s, son. He has brown hair and blue eyes. He lives across the street and a few houses up the hill from my house.
“Hi, Mommy. Hi, Daddy,” I said.
“Hey, how was your first day of kindergarten?” Daddy asked, picking me up.
“It was fun,” I replied.
“Did you make any new friends?” Mommy asked.
“She kept bugging one girl,” Peter said.
“I wasn’t bugging her,” I argued.
“Yes, you were.”
“Ok, you two,” Aunt Selena said. She’s Peter’s mommy. “Don’t fight each other.”
“Sorry,” I said, then I turned to my mommy and daddy. “Mommy, Daddy, I want to help her.”
“Help who, exactly?” Daddy asked. “The girl you were bugging?”
“I wasn’t bugging her!”
“Ok, ok. Sorry. But that girl?”
I nodded. “Yes.”
“Why?” Mommy asked. “What’s wrong with her?”
“She looks sad. She was alone all day. I wanted to be her friend, but she said no and told me to go away.”
“That doesn’t sound good,” Uncle Zack, Peter’s daddy, said.
“No, it doesn’t,” Mommy agreed. “But, Jasmine, I understand why you want to help this girl—”
“Annabeth. That’s her name.”
“Annabeth . . . ? That’s a pretty name.”
“I know. I like it too.”
“Yes. But if you want to help her, maybe you should stay away from her, like she said.”
“But I don’t want to. How can I help her if I stay away?”
“It’s something you’ll understand when you’re older.”
“I don’t want to.”
“I know. But we all do things we don’t want to do.”
“Why? It’s not fair.”
“I know. Now, you ready for your lesson?”
I nodded. “Yeah.”
I nodded. “Yeah.” Daddy put me down. Then I touched Mommy’s tummy. “Is he ok?”
“He’s my brother. It’s my job.”
“Yes, I suppose it is.”
Mommy’s pregnant with my brother. She told me that he’ll come out of her tummy in nine months. He’s already been in there for three months, so he’ll come out in, umm . . . 9-3 . . . six months. Aunt Selena is also pregnant with my cousin. It’s a girl, and she’s going to come out of Aunt Selena’s tummy in one month. I can’t wait.
Mommy took my hand and we went downstairs to our music room. Mommy’s teaching me how to play the piano. Komodo was waiting for us like he always is.
He’s our pet komodo dragon. We also have another pet: Fiskerton. He’s a Fiskerton Phantom, a six-foot-tall gorilla cat. They’re both really friendly. Komodo can turn invisible, which is really cool, but I can always find him with my aura that makes animals—or cryptids, as my daddy likes to call them—like me and feel protective of me. My mommy has an aura too. I also have powers like my daddy’s that allow me to control cryptids into doing what I tell them to do. It’s really cool.
I have a really big, cool, different family.
My daddy’s family lives near the Atlantic Ocean. His mommy and daddy are Doc and Drew Saturday, my grandparents. My grandpa’s real name is Solomon, but everyone calls him Doc. I don’t know why. My daddy’s sister, Whitney, is my aunt and she’s only two. My great Uncle Doyle Blackwell also lives with them, and they have a flying dinosaur named Zon. None of them have any powers like my daddy. I don’t know why either.
My mommy’s family is different.
My mommy’s family is different. She has two brothers, Alex and Zack, and three sisters: Madison, Kiara, and Emily. Emily’s only ten. The others are adults. My mommy’s parents are Cj and Raylee Hollinger. My grandma is the Protector of America. All of them, except grandpa, have powers that can do almost anything. One day, I will have powers like theirs too, whenever they activate.
My grandparents also have pets: a girl cat, Silver; a girl wolf, Shillow; and six cheetahs: three boys, Kimbia, Chewie, and Toto; and three girls, Amber, Kika, and Honey. All of them, except Silver, have special collars with a few powers that my grandma made for them. They have super strength, super speed, super sense of hearing and smell, they can fly, and also expand their tails to a mile long. And they can talk like people.
Oh, and the best part about our powers is that they can keep us alive forever. And they can also keep our friends and family alive with us if they don’t have powers like we do. Isn’t that cool? My grandma is over one-hundred-years-old. So is her friend, Nick. He’s actually over two-hundred-years-old.
Yeah, I have an awesome family.
Mommy was teaching me how to play the piano with Komodo lying next to us. I wasn’t paying attention, though, and kept messing up.
“Jasmine, are you ok?” Mommy asked me.
“Yeah,” I replied.
“You thinking about that girl at school?”
“How’d you know?”
She smiled. “Because I know you.”
“Mommy, I wanna help her not be sad anymore.”
She sighed. “You always like to help people. But that girl told you to leave her alone. But if you really want to help her, you’ve got to let her know that she can trust you.”
“How do I do that?”
“I don’t know. People base trust on a lot of things. But I’m sure you’ll find a way.”
“I hope so.”
“Now, do you want to learn how to play the piano?” Mommy asked.
“Ok,” I replied.
I started playing a few keys, and while I did, I thought about how to help Annabeth let me be her friend.

I hope you guys like this chapter.
These first two chapters were introductory chapters about Annabeth and Jasmine. They are going to be the only POVs for this story, with an additional third one that won't be added for a long time. And, no, it won't be Percy, who also won't appear for a while. This story is going to follow the books as close as possible, with some minor, maybe major, differences, especially with Jasmine, who may seem useless at times because I don't want to change the outcomes of certain things that happen throughout the books. Some new things will also be added to it that most likely didn't happen in the books, like Jasmine, for example.
I hope you all come to enjoy and love Annabeth and Jasmine I have, because I have many ideas for them.
Please review **here**.

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## Character Appearances

### Main Characters

* Jasmine Saturday
* Annabeth Chase (mentioned)

### Minor Characters

* Peter Hollinger
* Sarah Saturday
* Zak Saturday
* Selena Hollinger
* Zack Hollinger
* Doc Saturday (mentioned)
* Drew Saturday (mentioned)
* Whitney Saturday (mentioned)
* Doyle Blackwell (mentioned)
* Alex Hollinger (mentioned)
* Madison Hollinger (mentioned)
* Kiara Hollinger (mentioned)
* Emily Hollinger (mentioned)
* Cj Hollinger (mentioned)
* Raylee Hollinger (mentioned)
* Nick (mentioned)

### Pets

* Komodo Saturday (mentioned)
* Fiskerton Saturday (mentioned)
* Zon Saturday (mentioned)
* Silver Hollinger (mentioned)
* Shillow Hollinger (mentioned)
* Amber Hollinger (mentioned)
* Kimbia Hollinger (mentioned)
* Kika Hollinger (mentioned)
* Chewie Hollinger (mentioned)
* Toto Hollinger (mentioned)
* Honey Hollinger (mentioned)