July Writing Craze: Day 16!

Happy reading!

Chapter Seven:  Yori

Never Kid on the Block

“4B…4B…” Yori muttered to herself, trotting down the pavement with the four campers clutched to her robe.

“It’s so scary,” Kristina mumbled, her nails sawing through Yori’s silken attire.

“Oh, good.  The light is still on,” Yori piped up and flip-flopped up the porch.  Four pairs of tip-tapping feet trailed behind her.

“Knock-knock!”  Yori whisper-called into cabin 4B, lightly drumming her fingers on the wooden door.

“Yori?”  Brody came up to the door.  “What’s going on?”

“Late night rec room visit.  Wanna come?”  Yori replied.  “Chocolate pudding!”  The four boy campers snapped to attention and started running around Brody, begging to go.

“Do we wanna go, guys?”  Brody asked.

“Yessss!!!” the four campers yelled, running faster and faster.  Yori yearned to trip one of them so they would stop giving her motion sickness.

As air hockey tables hummed and billiard balls clunked and the freezer popped open and closed for tapioca and chocolate pudding, Brody and Yori sat in chairs across from each other, talking and ¼ watching their campers.

“Did Velvet not want to come?”  Brody asked.  Yori’s mind flashed back to the cabin twenty minutes earlier.

“No…she didn’t want to be the fun counselor.  She’s been a downer lately, you know.  Really…she never wants to come to anything.  She’s been weird…” Yori said, continuing to see how far she would have to go to get a reaction.  Brody just chortled and stood up.

“Want something to eat or drink?”  Brody asked, ignoring Yori’s spciel, and heading over to the kitchen where the theme of silver nauseated Yori.  The silver microwave with the black, flat buttons, the silver fridge with camp photos trapped to the surface by letter magnets, the white marble counter that had swirls and stripes of silver streaks, and the cabinets that were obviously originally plaster wood were painted over with a gray-silver that didn’t match the rest of the kitchen.  Yori winced at the vital mistake.

“Sparkling water if they have it,” Yori replied, watching as Brody hurried off to fulfill her order.  Brody was a nice guy who complimented her on her…inner beauty?  He told her she was fun and got her food because he wanted to, not because the other guy on their double date was and he felt obligated to.  Yori felt the foreign kindness start to go to her head.  He was so nice it was sickening.  The only other nice person she really knew and despised was…Velvet.  The two were so much alike and if it wasn’t for Brody’s great looks and Yori’s competitive nature, Yori would be throwing Brody away for Velvet faster than someone could notice the ugliness of the rec room kitchen.

Brody came back with a bottle of orange cream soda and a glass topped off with sparkling water, politely handing Yori the glass.  Yori took the glass, took a sip, and set it down. 

“So, Yori,” Brody began.  Yori inched forward, interested.  “Tell me about yourself.”  Yori couldn’t help but frown.  Why exactly had she chased such a winner down to the rec room?

“Me?  Let’s not.  Let’s talk about…let’s gossip,” Yori replied, eyeing Brody as he chugged his soda down in two gulps.

“Gossip?  Not much of a gossiper, Yori.  I don’t most guys are,” Brody responded, laughing and wiping his orange-tinted lips with the side of his arm.  Yori laughed, glad the conversation wasn’t going too deep.

“Fine, no gossiping.  But…tell me about Velvet.  What was she like when she was younger?”  Yori remarked, hoping Brody could come up with something that would send Velvet over the edge.  Yori had Velvet on the tips of her fingers, all she needed was one good thing that would force Velvet to give up so Yori could date Brody, in all his good looks, in peace.

“Velvet?  Well…she’s always been really nice.  She’s always doing something really great at school, too.  I mean, in ninth grade she started her band that actually plays some gigs now.  Isn’t that great?  And she has a great sense of humor, she’ always been—“  Brody listed off.

“Do you think she’s pretty?”  Yori said, a little shocked she would say something like that.  Yori had so many mixed emotions of jealousy, love, and disgust going through her system, that she was getting internally confused, leading, she guessed, to stupid questions. 

“Pretty?”  Brody gave Yori a funny look, then glanced at his cream soda.  Yori knew Brody wished he had more of his drink left so he could think of an answer while he chugged once more.

“ I guess she’s pretty…but you are, too.  Besides, that’s not the only thing I notice in people, their looks, I mean,”  Brody said.

“Figures,”  Yori mumbled, not being able to contain herself.

“What?”  Brody asked, his eyes showing how utterly confused he was.

“It figures that you don’t look for appearance in girls.  Just their…personality.”  Yori knew she was jeopardizing how far she had come with Brody, but at the same time, felt that she needed to say what had been on her mind all day.  Why was Brody so interested in personality?!  Yori’s strong point was in outer beauty and he didn’t even care.

“Is that bad?”  Brody asked, bewildered.  He stood up so Yori stood too.

“Well, I mean, you haven’t said a thing about how…good I look, but you say it about Velvet,” Yori responded, planting her fists on her hips.

“You asked me!”  Brody cried out.

“Brody, why do you care about personality so much anyway?”  Yori barked, growing angry when Brody wouldn’t just give in and say she was pretty like her past boyfriends.

“I can’t believe you’re asking me this, Yori.  Good personality is a much better compliment than good looks,” Brody replied, narrowing his now-seeming overly bushy eyebrows.

“It is not!  You know, you are just like Velvet.  So obsessed with…”

“What really matters?  Why are you so pressing when you talk about Velvet anyway?  It’s like you’re in a more involved relationship with her than you are with me,” Brody responded, louder than before.

“Oh, shut up Brody.  You have no idea what you’re talking about,”  Yori snarled.

“Whatever, Yori.  Why don’t we just break this off, okay?  I didn’t know you were a one-day relationship kind of girl.  Let’s go guys.”  Brody rounded up his guys and left, not giving Yori a second look.  What had Yori done? 

There you go guys!  Thanks for reading!

And remember guys:  Give your readers something to look forward to about their characters.  Repeat a characteristic in each or a few of your characters that is funny or cute.

ABC 123,

                Maddie