Free The Ascent of the Vampires - Book 1 by Stephen Harrison Page A

past tense of ‘stand up’, to rise to your feet. aufstehen
    deafeningly – very loudly, someone who is ‘deaf’ cannot hear. ohrenbetäubend
    scream – to shout very loudly, often if you are scared. schreien

CHAPTER TWO

    7am. October 17th, 2020.
    The Andersons’ house, New Jersey, (just outside New York).

    The alarm clock began to buzz . It was 7am and Amy Anderson jumped out of bed. Suddenly, Amy realised it was Saturday and not a school day. Normally, she would have gone back to bed for a few hours. But today was different... she was too excited. Tonight she had her first ever date. It wasn't just her first date, it was with Travis Peters! Amy grinned and ran downstairs, singing happily.
    As she went downstairs, she thought about Travis. He was the captain of the school football team and the most handsome boy in the entire school. They sat together in English class, and after a few months of flirting , he had finally asked her on a date. Travis had green eyes and toffee coloured hair. He had lots of friends and the teachers liked him.
    All the girls at her school were green with envy . But Amy didn't understand why he had chosen her. She looked in the mirror, Amy didn't think that she was anything special.
    "Oh well," she thought, "he must like something about me, who knows?"
    When Amy reached the bottom of the stairs, she saw her mother Christine. She was in the kitchen, cooking toast and making fresh coffee. The smell was delicious and made Amy feel even hungrier.
    "Good morning mom!" she said happily.
    "Good morning darling," her mother said, "you look happy."
    Amy just smiled to herself.
    "What are you doing today mom ?” she questioned.
    "I have a lot of things to do at home, dear. I'm waiting for Jen to call later," replied her mother,
    Jen was Amy's younger sister and she was on a school trip to the Grand Canyon, in Nevada.
    "What about you?" continued Christine.
    "I'm meeting Anna at the mall . She's going to help me choose a dress for my date with Travis tonight," said Amy.
    "Ah yes, your date," Christine Anderson said.
    Then she took out her purse and gave Amy some money. Christine and Amy Anderson were not rich. Every dollar was important to them.
    "I can't accept this mom," said Amy, in a shocked voice.
    Since Amy's parents had divorced, five years ago, they had very little money. Christine Anderson had two jobs and they still struggled financially. Amy helped by doing small jobs for the neighbours, but it didn't bring much money into the house. She looked at the money, but she felt guilty . What should she do?
    "Amy, take it!" her mother said, "it's important to me that you enjoy yourself. You have been such a great help to me since your father left. I just wanted to show how much I love you."
    "I know how much you love me mom, and I love you," said Amy.
    She realised it was important to her mother and so she decided to accept the money. Mother and daughter hugged . While they hugged, Amy could smell her mother's perfume and shampoo. It made her feel happy. It was a memory Amy would cherish forever and one which she would replay in her head many times, after that night...
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    >Glossary<

    buzz – ‘to buzz’ a sound made when something vibrates, for example, bees buzz. summen
    realised – ‘to realise’ means to understand something. begreifen, erkennen
    would have gone – the conditional perfect tense, would + have + past participle. wäre gegangen
    grinned – ‘to grin’ means to smile. grinsen
    football – ‘football’ in America means ‘American football’, but in the UK, football is what Americans call ‘soccer’. Fußball
    flirting – ‘to flirt’ means behaving as though attracted to, or trying to attract someone romantically. flirten
    toffee – a light brown sweet. Toffee, Karamellbonbon
    green with envy – ‘to be green with envy’ means to be very jealous. grün sein vor Neid
    reached – ‘to reach’ in this context means ‘to arrive’.