“Why couldn’t we have stayed more?” Sapphire asked as the five of them trudged up the pavement from the rec room to cabin 2A.
“It was just time to go,” Yori replied, unsticking her trapped mascara-coated lashes. A streak of black liquid mascara stained her pointer finger manicure.
“Where did Brody go?” Mallory questioned.
“He…got tired,” Yori responded, scratching at the black streak of makeup.
“He seemed mad,” Mallory commented. Ready to burst out in a cascade of insults, Yori turned to look at Mallory, the one camper that reminded Yori of herself. Mallory stared up at Yori, her black and gray hair spilling over her caved in shoulders. Mallory wasn’t smiling or frowning. Her lips were in a straight line and her eyes showed no concern, just curiosity.
“Brody…was mad,” Yori finally replied, turning back around.
“Why?” Tegan piped up, running up in front of Yori and strutting backward so she could look at Yori face-on.
“I made a mistake,” Yori said, trying to convince herself. Did she make a mistake? Or was the whole relationship already a mistaken lie?
“What did you do?” Mallory inquired. Yori tightened the sash on her robe and cuffed the perfect edges of the sleeves.
“I said something…not nice,” Yori explained, suddenly coming to the realization that she was being soft. But she didn’t care, no, being gentle was a major stress relief. Not having to think of bitter stories and lies made Yori feel a little bit better about everything.
“Mean?” Kristina said softly as she took the porch steps one step with two feet at a time.
“Yes, it was mean. I shouldn’t have said it. Since I didn’t have anything nice to say, I—“
“Shouldn’t have said it at all?” Velvet’s voice finished from the back room. Yori sighed, her minty lip gloss floating through the room. The room smelled like cherry mint tea for a moment before Yori replied, “I wasn’t talking to you or about you.”
“She was talking about Brody,” Sapphire said, crawling into her bed, her little eyelids slowly folding in. Velvet appeared in the front room, her blonde hair perfectly did up in a “sleepy” bun. She had a small touch of blush on her upper cheeks and her lips looked recently glossed. Yori could also smell her own personal lavender perfume that she put in the back of her cosmetic bag, in case she ran out of her others. Lavender was not a good fragrance for Yori…or for Velvet, for that matter.
“You’re back early…everything go okay?” Velvet asked, rolling up the blankets to Sapphire’s neck as her eyes finally allowed themselves to shut close and give in to sleep.
“Don’t worry about it, Velvet,” Yori responded, tucking in Mallory. Yori felt the same, or even worse, about Velvet for some reason. On top of the regret of breaking her own heart, Yori also despised the situation for practically handing Brody over to Velvet. Velvet would cherish the moments she had with Brody just like Yori had done; it would be torture and Yori hated the fact that she had brought it all on herself. Yori would never forgive herself for letting her emotions get in front of a cute boyfriend. Yori had given herself away to her thoughts of why Brody liked her for her personality and why her past boyfriends hadn’t and the results weren’t pretty.
After every camper was in bed, fully asleep, the chests heaving up and down amidst their dreams, Velvet and Yori went into the back room. Yori slipped off her robe, bundled it up, threw it in the corner, and flicked off her slippers to add to the pile in the corner. Yori was feeling awful and dare she say, ugly. Her lips felt chapped, she could feel a spot of oil on her scalp, and she could feel her facial skin stretch under the tension and stress that she with held. And to think she thought she could release herself with a bunch of kids. No, she had seen Velvet and realized what she had done. It was over.
Yori and Velvet both lay in their beds, the lights off, and knowing the other was not asleep. Yori lay on her side, facing the wall, getting a strong whiff of potpourri. Her eyes were wide open, her lashes beating up and down like a tireless bird.
“Velvet? When you opened my mail was there a letter from my mom?” Yori was almost grateful when she heard Velvet had opened her mail, that way Yori wouldn’t have to face the news about her dad first.
“Your mom? Yes…” Yori could tell Velvet felt like she was being played.
“Don’t worry, Velvet, I’m not tricking you. I just need to know if, if you read the letter, if my mom said anything about my dad…” Yori trailed off, hoping she would fall asleep before the answer could come out of Velvet’s mouth.
“I did read it…” Velvet started off uneasily. “But it didn’t say anything specifically about your dad. It said something about Ghazni…” Yori’s heart started to flutter and she felt it turning over, skipping beat after beat.
“She said…there wasn’t…I don’t know. Why don’t you just read it yourself?” Velvet replied, clearly not understanding Yori’s intentions. Yori couldn’t stand the heart-wrenching anticipation. She jumped form her bed, lifted her mattress, pulled out the manila envelope, and dug out the letter from her mother. She unfolded the letter, closed her eyes, and took a huge yoga breath, a sharp intake.
Her eyes grazed over the lines quickly and nervously, but she knew right away from the first line that the news wasn’t good. And the news could only have been one or the other—good or bad.
Yori let the letter fall from her shaking hands, watching the paper flutter to the wood floor. She didn’t get a chance to see it touch the floor before her eyes filled with death-defying tears. Yori couldn’t distinguish what happened next. Velvet was saying something, her knees hurt from the drop to the ground, her shouts woke the campers, the strain from her sobbing jaw hurt all the way up from her throat to her ears, and the tears soaked the letter that her face was lying against. Now it was over.
Thanks for reading!
And remember guys: People always say readers like to read what they can relate to, but I don't really. Find something you like to read, not necessairly relate to, and try to match that in your writing.
Dramatic last paragraph...beautifully described. I also liked the line "eye lashes opening and closing like a tireless bird."
ReplyDelete