JULIA JONES - My Worst Day Ever! - Book 1: aged 9 - 12 Read Online Free PDF Page A

so
intense that none of us had wanted him to stop.
    That trailer ride really was a highlight of
my childhood and back then, I thought that Jackie was the luckiest kid alive to
grow up on a property like that. And reminiscing about that day made me wonder if
they still had that trailer because I thought it would still be a pretty cool
thing to do!
    When I jumped into the back of Millie’s car
later that morning, I was filled with excited anticipation about what lied
ahead. Blake, Jack and Alex had also been invited and it was pretty much all
that everyone had been able to talk about at school the day before. Sitting
alongside Millie, we chatted about how much fun the party was going to be as
well as how we were looking forward to giving Jackie her birthday present. We
had gone shopping at the mall after school one day earlier in the week and were
so happy with what we had bought.

    The light blue jacket studded with silver
sequins and a cool design on the collar and cuffs of the sleeves had definitely
stood out on the rack. And because we’d had enough money left over from what we
had pooled together, we were also able to buy her a really pretty silver
necklace with a capital J on it. She had always admired the one I wore, which
my mom had given me for my last birthday. It was just very lucky that we had
gone shopping when the sales were on as the prices for everything were
drastically reduced. This meant we could get her an extra special present and we
couldn’t wait to give it to her!
    When we jumped out of the car, we saw Jackie
running towards us, a huge grin on her face. We were the first to arrive and
she was bubbling over with excitement.
    We gave her a hug and handed her the
present that we had carefully wrapped in shimmering pink paper, along with a
darker shade of curling ribbon tied decoratively around it. She could see our
impatience in wanting her to open it straight away but decided to place it on a
table on the veranda of her house so that all the presents could be opened
later on, when everyone was there together. While we were waiting for the
others, she showed us around her property.
    Since my last visit, her parents had made
some incredible changes to the outside entertaining area of their home. Where
there was once just a large patch of green grass, now sat a huge sparkling
swimming pool to which was attached an amazing looking diving deck at one end.
Although summer had not yet arrived, the temperature that day was unusually warm.
In addition, her parents had activated the pool’s heating system in preparation
for the party so the water would also be a lovely temperature.
    There were streamers and balloons strung
everywhere including on the walls and framework of a nearby gazebo and this
really added to the birthday party atmosphere.

    While we waited for the others to arrive,
Jackie offered to take us over to the horse paddocks. As well as all the other
advantages of living on a property, Jackie also had a pony of her own. He was a
beautiful chestnut welsh mountain pony called Charlie and was the cutest thing
I had ever seen. Ever since I was a little girl, I had always dreamed of owning
my own pony one day and I gently stroked his forehead, wistfully thinking about
how much I would love to have my own horse. He eagerly took the carrots from
our hands that Jackie had given us to feed to him and his rough tongue tickled my
skin as he licked up the last remnants of carrot that remained.
    “You will have to come over more often,”
Jackie said to us, especially when she realized how taken with her pony I was.
    “We’d love to!” Millie and I replied in
unison.
    “You have the coolest property, Jackie,” I
continued. “You’re so lucky!!”
    Jackie smiled in response and then said,
“Come on, we’d better head back. The others may be here already!”
    We raced towards the house just as several
cars were pulling up in the driveway. It seemed that everyone was arriving at
once. People were jumping