Chapter Eight: Velvet
Hero Tolerance
Velvet couldn’t sleep that night and when she woke up in the morning, she wouldn’t stop yawning. Yori had laid on the floor, crying, for a long time before she pulled herself up and went out for a walk. Velvet had to explain to the campers that Yori had just hit her head and would be fine. The girls seemed too tired to care and liked the excuse of Yori hitting her head to go back to sleep. Velvet had stayed wide awake for hours on end, wanting to see if Yori would come back. Velvet must have fallen asleep before Yori even headed back to cabin 2A because Yori didn’t seem to come back at all that night.
In the morning, Velvet decided to let the campers sleep a little longer and jump into their Capture the Flag game late since the night before had been tiring and behind bedtime schedule. Velvet could not imagine why Yori would be crying so hard from the mom’s letter. Although Velvet had lied the night before and said she didn’t remember what the note had said, Velvet remembered quite well. The mom had mentioned something about there being no record and it happening in Ghazni where no trace was found. She had also told Yori to hold her head up high, ‘princess.’ Velvet guessed, knowing it was cruel, that Yori had lost a pair of high-heeled boots in Ghazni, wherever that was.
Velvet, although she felt bad for Yori from her sudden and quite embarrassing breakdown, she still thought very poorly of Yori. Yori was still as cold as ever, still stealing from Velvet’s camp experience and first possible boyfriend. Yori still obviously hated Velvet for no valid reason and Yori also thought she could push herself through life just because she had money and connections. If they lived in LA, that would be perfectly valid, but since this was an Idaho camp, it wouldn’t fly.
Velvet gathered her bathroom items and headed for the bathroom. She set up at the sink, rubbing her eyes from the eternal night. Velvet washed her face and brushed her teeth. She combed her hair and flossed. Then Velvet went in for the shower room with her hair products and one-blade razor. To her surprise, Yori was already turning on her water, wrapped in a fluffy pink towel.
“Oh, Yori. How are you feeling today?” Velvet asked coldly, feeling zero empathy for Yori.
“Why do care?” Yori snapped, slipping her showering supplies into the holder hanging uneasily on the wall.
“Oh, I don’t know, Yori…you were sobbing last night,” Velvet barked, pulling the faucet lever for her shower head that was across the wall from Yori.
“Whatever are you talking about?” Yori replied, pursing her envy-worthy plump lips.
“Are you kidding? You woke up the campers,” Velvet responded, almost laughing. Was Yori really going to be in denial over something so obvious?
“Velvet, you know I like to shower alone. So, why don’t you leave and lock the bathroom door behind you,” Yori suggested, sass practically spilling from her every word.
“Yori, you can’t just ignore that you broke down yesterday,” Velvet pressed, wanting answers. Was it just a pair of boots?
“You don’t seem actually concerned, so I don’t know why I should tell you anything about anything,” Yori returned, letting the water run as she held her towel up.
“I’m not concerned, but I think it would be a good thing to know…as…roomies,” Velvet stumbled, hoping her rosy cheeks wouldn’t give away her impromptu lie. Velvet had absolutely no concern for the well-being of Yori; she just wanted to see if it was anything good to use with Brody if Yori hadn’t already scared him away based on the cut short conversation the night before. Velvet was dying to know what Yori had done to Brody in the rec room and if the letter could help her either know, or be of her use to push Brody away from Yori for good. If it was something incredibly stupid like a lost pair of shoes, Velvet would have Brody away from Yori forever and Velvet and Brody could be together happily. Or maybe the letter was a report saying that Yori had a disease that forbade her from dating and they lost the…cure for singleness in…Ghazni? Velvet was betting on the boots.
“Please, Velvet. There is no roomie code of honor at dumb camps like this one,” Yori responded, rolling her eyes and tapping her foot impatiently.
“You know, I happen to like this camp and you always putting it down is really annoying,” Velvet finally stated. She dropped her towel as if to indicate she wasn’t leaving the shower room. Yori took in a deep breath and her thin eyebrows started to narrow.
“You like this camp, do you? Where everything is so perfect and happy? You think this camp is all what it is on the surface, don’t you now? Everyone is actually happy, right? Because their exterior is what it’s all about. Wake up, Velvet. There’s more to people than that,” Yori lectured. Flustered and startled, Velvet started to shampoo her hair. She didn’t understand why Yori was saying all that. Velvet knew there was more to people than their outside; she wasn’t that naive. She wasn’t…right? Seeing that Yori wasn’t dropping her towel to shower, Velvet turned to face the wall, so Yori could cleanse herself. A half a bottle of conditioner, three pumps of camp soap, and three nicks in Velvet’s leg later, Velvet turned off her faucet, and draped her towel around her.
As she gathered her things, Velvet said, “Can I turn around now?”
“By all means,” Yori replied, not sounding at all muffled by the water. Velvet turned around and saw that Yori was still standing in her towel, the water still on.
“Oh, get over it, Yori. Besides, you’re wasting water,” Velvet remarked, juggling the bottles in her arms.
“You can leave,” Yori said, clearly annoyed for having to wait so long.
“I bet I know what was wrong…” Velvet suddenly brought up, deciding to say what she wanted!
“’Pray tell,’” Yori mimicked Velvet from the night before, before the rec room incident.
“In Ghazni, I bet there wasn’t a record of…your precious Prada boots, ‘princess,’” Velvet taunted, mocking the letter. Velvet felt pleased with herself for saying what was on her mind.
“You don’t have to be such a bitch,” Yori suddenly snapped and ran out of the bathroom, still in her towel, letting the water run.
Thanks for reading!
And remember guys: The more you write, the easier it gets to overcome writer's block! Did I say that one already? Oh well, it's a good one to remember! :)
I love the part about L.A. and also the "cure for singleness." Ha! I also have a request: can you put the print in black? The background is lovely and fun but colored print is hard for me to read. Thanks for considering it.
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