“Come on in, Yori,” Katie said, signaling her in from her wooden desk. “Take a seat and tell me what is going on.”
“I accidentally signed up for On Wheels when I meant to sign up for Water Sports. I would like to switch over, but Water Sports is all full. You’ll need to move someone out,” Yori said bluntly, smoothly down her skirt before she sat down on the black leather chair.
“We can’t just do that,” Katie replied. “If they’re both full, they’re full.”
“Wasn’t there anyone who chose Water Sports as their second choice and might want to do On Wheels instead?” Yori asked, shifting in her chair, crossing her legs.
“No, Yori,” Katie said, stressfully putting her tan arm under her pointy jawbone.
“What about someone who wants to switch into Pottery?” Yori pressed.
“Yori, not everything can be adjusted to your wishes,” Katie droned, fingering through some of her files on the desk. Taking out a chewed-on pencil like it was a piece of bubbly gum, Katie began writing out a few notes on the papers on her desk. The door of Katie’s office opened and Jane Webster’s moussed down head of hair poked in.
“Pottery’s booked. There’s also someone waiting out here to see if there’s room in the Pottery class. Do you want me to send her in once you’re through with her?” she asked. Yori raised her right eyebrow at Katie, smirking a little. Katie narrowed what would be her eyebrows, although they were penciled in with a brown marker, and told her to send the other person in then.
A few moments later, a short girl with bright red hair walked in and sat down in the chair next to Yori, side-glancing her nervously.
“I didn’t know this would be a group conference,” the girl squeaked after the door closed behind Jane.
“What would you like to switch out of?” Katie sighed, flinging her chomped on pencil onto her desk.
“Gardening,” the girl responded. Yori bit her lip, disappointed that it wasn’t Water Sports.
“Katie. Can we focus on my problem before we get to Green Thumb over here?” Yori snapped, getting more and more irritated as the time passed, time that she could be spending with Brody.
“Yori, there isn’t anything I can do,” Katie snapped back.
“You are telling me, CupCakery’s daughter, that you can’t move anyone out of Water Sports? Or, even easier, just add me in.”
“Yori, with a course like Water Sports, we can’t just get more equipment!” Katie was growing angrier and angrier.
“Water Sports? I’m signed up for that…” the small girl commented.
“I’ll pay you 100 dollars if you switch into Pottery and out of Water Sports,” Yori offered, her eyes brightening with anticipation.
“Yori! You can’t bribe someone like—“ Katie started to bark.
“I’ll take it,” the girl cut Katie off. Yori unzipped her black Prada purse and dug out her alligator-leather wallet. Taking two fifty dollar bills out of her wallet and handing it to the girl, both counselors stood up and headed for the door.
“Oh, and Katie?” Yori said, turning at the doorway. “Everything can be adjusted for me. See you at the lake for training after lunch!” Yori was already thinking about the second suit she had brought and what earrings she could match with it as she waltzed out of Katie’s office, the main office, and back toward the field.
She spotted Velvet at the Activities booth, scheduling the extra recreations with Brody standing beside her. Turning her stroll to a catwalk speed, Yori pushed her way through the crowd of people to catch up to Velvet and Brody.
“Hi!” Yori blurted out, tapping Velvet on the shoulder.
“Are we in?” Velvet asked eagerly.
“Done, done, and done!”
“What’re you talking about?” Brody asked.
“We’re in Water Sports!” Yori exclaimed.
“Fun! Velvet, I can finally teach you how to wakeboard!” Brody replied, smiling at Velvet.
“I’d love to learn too,” Yori interjected, smiling. “We’re going swimming, right?” Yori inconspicuously poked Velvet’s hip.
“Yeah, Brody wants to come,” Velvet said, smiling a knowingly smile back.
“Grassome—I mean…” Yori tripped up her words, her pink blush turning to a natural red. Brody chortled, covering his mouth with his hands.
“Grassome?” Velvet asked, laughing a little.
“I meant great and awesome…” Yori started, pleading Velvet with her big eyes.
“Can Matt come?” Brody interrupted, bored with Yori’s mistake.
“Of course!” Yori piped up, winking at Velvet. Brody gave Velvet a funny look, then left to find his friend.
“Okay, Yori. Before we go through with anything…I think you should know that I do not like Matt. He’s just a friend. I’ll still help you with Brody, but stop trying to set me up with Matt,” Velvet stated, holding Yori’s shoulder before she got away.
“Velvet, I know how it is…well, actually I don’t know how it is to like a geek, but it’s okay. I already don’t think terribly high of you. But I was just thinking you knew Matt was coming, so why did you bring that bathing suit?” Yori asked, simply not able to fathom Velvet’s reasoning.
“Let’s just go suit up,” Velvet responded, turning in the direction of cabin 2A.
At the lake where the water was freezing, but felt like a hot tub with Brody there, Yori, Velvet, Brody, and Matt all dunked and jumped before lunch. Well, Yori mostly waded her feet in the water on the side of the dock, occasionally splashing Velvet.
“You should come in,” Velvet called as she waded next to Brody and Matt, her blonde hair dripping across her face.
“No, I’m fine!” Yori called back, perfectly content with her view. Yori daydreamed a little, mesmerized by the rippling water and Brody’ tan biceps, letting the time pass as the three others swam and swam. When an hour was up, everyone dried off and started the trek back to their cabins to get ready for lunch. Matt and Velvet fell behind as Brody walked up ahead and Yori got caught awkwardly in between. Yori jogged up to meet Brody.
“Hi,” Yori said breathlessly, slowing down from her little workout. “Lucky we got Water Sports together, right?”
“Yeah…” Brody replied, a little uneasy at first from the sudden conversation. “I’m totally psyched to teach Velvet something. I hope she’ll be impressed with my skiing and boarding.”
Yori’s ears suddenly swelled up and the sounds around her mushed into one big smothered mess. Her eyes turned blurry and she could feel her feet stop moving. She could’ve sworn Brody said good-bye, but she couldn’t feel her ears working either. Brody didn’t like Yori, he liked Velvet. Yori’s world suddenly went into overdrive.
Today was a little hard to get going, but I tried to move the plot along. Please give me feedback on what you thought of today. Uggh, I'm having internal mindful conflict of the plot! Don't worry, though, I'll fix it :)
And remember guys: If you, the author, can stand to read your own writing, it's good :)
I liked it!! Very happy that Brody likes Velvet. I can't wait to see what Yori will do...
ReplyDeleteI thought it was great!!! I think it's great that you didn't have Brody like Yori. It adds that extra bit of conflict between Velvet and Yori that I think will make the novel even more interesting... Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteIt's really gratifying that Yori knows Brody likes Velvet, especially after she said "I already don't think very highly of you." Sheesh! Yori's a hard girl to like.
ReplyDelete