July Writing Craze: Day 18!!

Can you believe we only have 11 days left? :)

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! :)

July Writing Craze: Day 15!!

Today is the halfway mark for July Writing Craze!!! Thank you all soooo much for all your support! :)
Enjoy!

“Go to sleep, you guys,”  Velvet called, titling back the green curtain, giving the four campers a reason to scream and scamper.  “We’ll be playing an early game of Capture The Flag tomorrow.”  Velvet went back into her room where Yori was already laying in her bed, flipping through a People magazine.

            “What are you reading?”  Velvet asked nonchalantly, pulling back her hair into a loose bun.  Yori flipped to the next page in her magazine, scanning through the pictures and captions.  Her manicured nails strummed lightly against the covers of the mag.  The crinkling of the flimsy paper and the muttering of the little troopers in the next room edged at Velvet’s mind.  The mix of negative emotions was getting to her.  She was feeling ire with a twinge of guilt from trespassing Yori twice in one day.

            “I put your mail back where I found it,”  Velvet tried again, grabbing her book from the floor beside her bed.  Yori closed her magazine, reached for her bag under her bed, and selected a nail file, proceeding to file her nails.

            “Okay, I get it.  You’re mad.  I still don’t think you should be doing what you are,”  Velvet commented, fluffing her pillows.

            “Velvet!  Can we go to the rec room for pudding?”  Sapphire cried out from the other room, her little feet appearing underneath the green curtain.  A small hand poked through the slit in the curtain and soon a short-haired head stuck out into the counselor room.

            “Sapphire, we can’t.  It’s time for bed, actually it has been time for bed for the past thirty minutes.  Bed, now,”  Velvet commanded, growing a little tired of the tedious routine of trying to get the campers to sleep.

            “Please, Velvet?  Can we go for tapioca, then?  Please!  Everyone wants to go,”  Sapphire persisted.  Velvet wanted to talk to Yori alone even though chocolate pudding sounded pretty tasty.

            “I’m going to sleep,”  Velvet said simply, demonstrating by tucking herself into bed.  Sapphire sighed in disappointment and turned to leave.

            “Why ask Velvet?”  Yori piped up, throwing her blankets off her legs and standing up.  “I’m up for it.”  Sapphire’s face lit up.

            “Yes!  You guys, Yori is going to take us!”  Sapphire hollered to the other girls, running into the front room.  Yori hurried to her makeup case, rapidly coating her brushes with natural colors and then doing up her face with them.

            “We’re just gonna get dressed,”  Mallory called into the counselor room.

            “Don’t bother.  Just put on some slippers,”  Yori called back, setting down her brushes so she could drape her silk lavender robe over her shoulders.

            “Yori.  They need to go to—“

            “Yori, you’re the best!  Do you think the air hockey table will be plugged in?”  Tegan said, pinning back the green curtain.

            “I don’t know about you, but I know how to plug in a cord,”  Yori responded as she combed through her hair and gave it a messy toss.  Tegan grinned.  Velvet could feel the surge of jealousy creeping up her throat.

            “Yori, did you tell Brody I was sick yesterday?”  Velvet demanded Yori, grasping at something to keep herself from plain exploding.

            “Of course not, Velvet,”  Yori taunted super-sweetly.  “I told him that today.”  Velvet swallowed, hoping her jealousy would go down too.  After spritzing some perfume on her, Yori popped a breath mint in her mouth and looked through the green curtain.

            “Ready to go, guys?”  Yori called.  “Oh, Velvet?  Can I ask you something?”  Yori asked before she left.

            “What, Yori?  What could you possibly want from me?  After you’ve taken Brody from me, you’ve taken my campers from me, you’ve made lies up about me, and you’ve ignored me, taunted me, and insulted me…all because you need to keep a guy for yourself, you want to tell me ask me something!  Oh, pray tell, what you must ask me.”

            Yori’s lips curled up into a tormented little simper, her head falling limply to one side.  She slowly closed her eyes in a blink and when they opened, Yori shook her head, her black hair tossing from side to side.

            “Brody’s in 4B, right?  I think I’ll get him and his little campers to come too,”  she said.  Velvet’s heart burned.  How was it, that all the suck in the world could be bottled up and shoved into one person?  The one person being the one Velvet had to spend the two weeks that were supposed to be the best days of her life with?!

            “Can I ask you something Yori?”  Velvet said, surprised by how calm her tone was.

            “Go for it,”  Yori replied, taking a deep breath, her smile still goading.

            “How do you live with yourself, being so…mean and…difficult?”  Velvet spat out, staring at Yori’s feet, fearing she would slap Yori if she looked her in the eyes.

            “Live with myself?”  Yori asked, in a completely serious and sober voice.  “It’s harder than you would think.”  Velvet snapped her head up to meet Yori’s eye level,  expecting to see a disgustingly smug, obnoxiously righteous, and utterly sarcastic expression.  Velvet did a retake when she saw how solemn Yori appeared, her wavering eyes darting within Velvet’s.

            “Don’t be so hard on yourself,”  Velvet heard herself say.  Her body suddenly felt very achy as if all the fighting and tension between her and Yori had lifted off of Velvet’s body, leaving a painfully sore repercussion.  Was it over?  Was all the fighting done?  Could Velvet finally relax after all the guilt and jealousy and betrayal and immoral undertaking she had to go through?  Was Yori coming around to be—

            “So, it is 4B?  Oh, never mind.  I’ll find him, you get some rest, I can see the bags under your eyes forming already.  C’mon girls!  Who’s the best counselor?”  Yori interjected, whirling around and flouncing off in her nightgown, robe, and slippers, looking more like a Grecian goddess than someone who just hopped out of bed.

            Velvet flopped down on her bed, cursing herself for thinking anything had been resolved, especially as the cheers and praise for Yori echoed through the cabin.

Thanks for reading!  And thank you for coming halfway with me! :)

And remember guys:  "Most of the material a writer works with, is aquired before the age of fifteen."    -Willa Cather
ABC 123,
                Maddie

July Writing Craze: Day 14!!

Hi everyone!  Before we get started, I would like to devote this writing day to J.K Rowling!  It is the midnight premier for the last Harry Potter movie ever!!! J.K Rowling is such an inspiring and beautiful writer and I hope someday to be just like her!! Check out the sidelines for a link to her new Harry Potter website, pottermore.com!
Happy reading!

Leading the campers to dinner, Velvet could hardly wait until she saw Yori and Brody.  Velvet didn’t see the couple until all the troopers had gotten their food, picked a spot to sit, and had started in on their food.  Velvet was too anticipatory to eat.

            “It’s unhealthy not to eat,”  Sapphire told Velvet, stabbing a piece of grated corn with her plastic fork.

            “I will, I just need to talk to Yori and Brody.  If you see them, tell me, okay?”  Velvet said, scanning the big field full of hyped up kids and tired counselors.  She didn’t see either one anywhere and Velvet was starting to get worried.  She smoothed down her Camp Sing-Song counselor uniform, straightening out the cuffs on her cargo shorts.  If only the uniforms were a little more flattering for the situation she was about to confront.

            “Hi Velvet,”  a voice from behind her said.  Velvet twirled around, coming face to face with Brody.  Stepping back, Velvet waved and smiled.

            “Are you feeling better?  You seemed a little mad after Water Sports,”  Brody commented. 

            “I’m fine, thanks.  Where’s Yori?”  Velvet asked, looking around for any trace of the rat.  The one time Velvet wanted Yori to be there (really, the only time), she wasn’t.  Just Velvet’s luck.

            “Oh, she’s changing into her uniform.  She’ll be down soon,”  Brody replied, sitting down on the ground next to his boy campers and Velvet’s girl campers.  Velvet immediately plopped down next to him, crossing her legs, and then extending them, and then crossing them, undecided on what looked cuter.

            “Everything okay with your legs?”  Brody asked, peering at her manic limbs.  Velvet finally crossed her legs and nodded her head, hoping the cold wind would cool her hot, embarrassed cheeks.  As Brody talked with a few of his campers about Pokémon, Velvet thought about how she could introduce the boyfriend topic when Yori came down from changing into her—uniform!  Yori would be in a Camp Sing-Song uniform?!  Baggy, cargo shorts and an awkward blue polo?  Velvet almost laughed out loud, but Brody said something before she had the chance to.

            “There’s Yori,”  was what Brody said, pointing to the pavement winding down from the cabins to the main field.  Yori was more than halfway down, strutting as usual.  Velvet dropped her jaw when she saw Yori.  Her camp uniform looked…good.

            Yori had ripped the collar from the polo and cut the scoop neck into a V-neck; her cargo shorts were missing a couple of the side pockets and looked like they were clothes-pinned in to look like skinny jean-style shorts.  And lastly, Yori had flipped her Camp Sing-Song cap backwards, allowing her flowing hair to spill over her shoulders quite nicely.  Even though most of the clothes were messily cut and ripped, they gave off a…gringe look?  A fringe look?  A grungy look?  Either way, Velvet glowed with envy, especially when Brody went up to meet Yori and give her a hug.  Mostly, Velvet steamed because during Yori’s hug, over Brody’s shoulder, Yori smirked at Velvet.

            Matt and his campers ended up joining them for dinner and they all had a nice time talking and laughing.  Except Velvet was plotting her plan very carefully.  When there was a break in the conversation, Velvet seized her ultimate chance.

            “Yori, did you open your mail yet?  What, do you have a letter from your…boyfriend or something?”  Velvet “teased.”  Everyone chuckled except Yori.  She stared at Velvet for a moment later than is normally socially acceptable and then let out a little giggle.

            “Boyfriend?  I don’t have a boyfriend,”  Yori said, nervously flipping her hair over her shoulder.

            “Really?  Have you ever had a boyfriend?”  Velvet asked, “out of curiosity.”

            “Well, yes, but that is kind of an awkward topic, don’t you think?”  Yori remarked, side-glancing at Brody who was trying to engage his campers in spoon-flicking food.  Velvet wanted Brody to hear this!

            “Oh, well you’ve never had a boyfriend, ever?!”  Velvet tried to raise her voice without seeming obvious.  Brody and Matt looked at Velvet before quickly diverting their stares, seeming to feel strange.  Yori grabbed Velvet’s elbow and turned her body away from the guys, forcing Velvet to twist away, too.

            “What is your problem?!”  Yori hissed, glaring at Velvet.

            “I know you have a boyfriend, Yori!  I opened your mail and I saw a letter from Steven!”  Velvet hissed back, her anger growth level going off the charts with just a look at Yori.

            “How dare you!”  Yori snapped, tightening her long-nailed grip on Velvet’s elbow.

            “Of course, I dare!”  Velvet snarled back.

            “Who do you think you are?!”  Yori growled, her grip only tightening as the conversation went on, but Velvet wasn’t going to end the discussion because of a little cut elbow skin.

            “You deserve it, Yori!  You took Brody from me when you knew I liked him!  All because you can’t have any competition!  Isn’t that right?”  Velvet brusquely remarked.

            “Wrong, actually.  I got him.  All because he liked me.  Brody likes me, Velvet.  Not you!”  Yori lashed, finally yanking her grip from Velvet’s trembling arm.  Velvet felt her face grow hot, not with embarrassment, but with anger.

            “Fine.”  Velvet tried to level out her shaking voice.  “Steven broke up with you.”  Velvet twisted back around and smiled a forced and slightly tense smile at the two guys who were obviously listening in.  Yori slowly turned back around, too and giggled a little.

            “Is everything okay?”  Matt asked, his eyes darting back and forth like a chicken trying to cross the road.

            “Peachy,”  Velvet replied, this time having her chance to smirk at Yori.

            “Are you sure?  Was there something about a boyfriend?  Sorry, I couldn’t help but hear,”  Brody commented, staring at Yori.  Velvet had finally gotten somewhere!

            “Boyfriend?”  Yori asked.  “Oh no!  Velvet thought I had a boyfriend back home, but I was just telling her that we had already broke up a long time ago.  Actually, I think I accidentally brought the letter.  How funny!  I think it got stuffed down in my purse from a while ago,”  Yori responded, her voice smooth and her eyes calm.  Lies!

            “You’re strong,”  Brody said admiringly to Yori, but Yori barely acknowledged the compliment.  In fact, Yori looked almost annoyed.

All right guys!  I'm off to the midnight premiere!  Good night :)

And remember guys: J.K Rowling rocks!!!

July Writing Craze: Day 10!!

Hi everyone!
  Thank you sooo much for posting your comments and giving me feedback!  You are all so supportive and  very auspicious.  Anyway, here is Day 10!

The next morning, like normal, Velvet woke up after Yori, missing her completely in the bathroom and in the cabin.  Velvet couldn’t have wanted anything more than that.  Velvet didn’t think she could face Yori in the morning.  It wasn’t because she was afraid or guilty, but it was because Velvet wanted to wear some of Yori’s clothes.  And Yori couldn’t take them from Velvet when she was already wearing them.

            After showering, Velvet hurried into cabin 2A and sifted through Yori’s sides of the drawers.  She found mini skirt after short shorts after one-strap blouses, not picturing herself wearing any of that.  Finally, Velvet found a summery dress that was brightly floral and a halter top.  Velvet didn’t usually wear anything like that, but if she liked Brody, she liked Brody and in order to surpass her feelings she would need to do something to change.  And that would start with her clothing, she guessed.

            The dress was a little tight around the waist, but Velvet sucked it in and went to put on her shoes.  She started lacing up her blue high tops before she realized the summer dress and the Converse might not work so well together.  Kicking her regular shoes under her bed, Velvet looked through Yori’s shoes that were lined up neatly by the drawers.  There were pink heels and boots and wedge heels and strappy, heeled sandals.  Velvet picked a pair of yellow, heeled, and strappy shoes, spending a good five minutes trying to figure out how to put them on and wincing when they finally fit tightly on her big feet.

            Once Velvet was dressed, she delved through Yori’s makeup case, secretly weeping over all her morals of not stealing nor trespassing.  Velvet found a beige, lipstick looking cosmetic that’s words were scratched out on the side.  All she could read was something about pores or pares…whatever it was, Velvet uncapped it and spread it generously over her chapped lips.  Confused at the style, but not questioning it, Velvet kept on the brightly beige and somewhat bumpy lipstick.  Maybe it was one of those lip-liner things.  After delicately spreading a little pink blush on her eyelids and outlining her eyes with the eyeliner stick, Velvet had had enough and put away Yori’s makeup.  Glancing once in the mirror, Velvet shrugged, not really getting the whole makeup fashion and headed out.

Velvet carefully made her way out of the cabin and down the porch which was much more hard to maneuver in the heels.

            Velvet made clicking noises all the way down the pavement, wincing at each loud step.  She hated making an entrance, but the results would be worth the sacrifice.  Finally, Velvet found Brody, Matt, and Yori all sitting on a couple of logs with their plates of food.  Matt was talking and looking directly at Yori who kept the corner of her eyes on Brody.  Velvet smoothed down her hair and walked up to the group.

            “Hi guys,”  Velvet said as smoothly as she could, smiling lightly.  Brody looked up, flinched a little, and lost his balance, slipping off his log and spilling his food onto the grass.

            “What did you do to your face?”  Yori asked, looking intently at Velvet.

            “You have something on your lips,”  Matt commented, gesturing to her lips.  Velvet snapped her hand to her lips, covering them as much as she could.  Had she done something wrong?  Yori started laughing.  Brody even began to chuckle.  Matt just sat there, confused, and analyzing her face.

            “Wait!  Is that my dress?”  Yori snapped, standing up and feeling the material on Velvet’s dress.

            “No…”  Velvet started to feel strange.  She obviously had missed something and that something was apparently what would have impressed Brody because he was not in awe at all.

            “Yes, it is.  Those are my heels, too.  Why are you wearing my things?”

            “These are my things,”  Velvet stumbled, swiping the back of her hand across her lips.

            “Obviously, none of it is,”  Yori started.  “Because, honey, you’re lipstick is for covering up pimples.”  Matt’s turned his face, placing his hand over his nose.  Velvet’s face turned red and her palms started getting sweaty.

            “Why are you wearing heels, Velvet?  The campers are coming today and you’re going to need to run when they come,”  Brody said.  “Even Yori is wearing tennis shoes.”  Velvet immediately directed her eyes from Yori’s smirking face to her feet.  Velvet’s tanning tennis shoes were placed loosely on Yori’s feet and Velvet could see Yori was even wearing a second pair of socks.

            “Those…”  Velvet tried to push some kind of words out of her mouth, but couldn’t complete her sentence.  Velvet was so embarrassed, she hadn’t made Brody smile and she hadn’t shown up Yori.  Instead, she had made a fool of herself. 

            “Why don’t you go change?”  Yori said in a horribly sweet tone.  It was so sweet, Velvet could see the sugar grains glistening on Yori’s lips, or maybe that was just her lip gloss.  Either way, Velvet needed time alone and she abruptly turned away.  In her sharp turn, Velvet’s ankle gave way and she fell sideways, hearing a deafening crack. 

            “You didn’t!”  Yori screamed, running over to Velvet.  Velvet’s ankle burned from her  sudden fall from the three inch heels and her knees stung from the impact, as well.  Velvet tried to get back on her feet, feeling strangely off balance.  Yori, next to her, was holding a cracked high heel and looking down, Velvet saw that her right high heel was now a flat.  Velvet instantly felt awful.  She looked like a clown, she had been caught stealing Yori’s clothes, and to top it all off, she broke Yori’s heel because she didn’t know how to walk.

            Velvet stood up uneasily and started walking up to cabin 2A, not having any humility to apologize.  Yori ran up to meet her and glared her down.

            “Congratulations, Velvet.  You have officially made Brody laugh.  Too bad, it was at you.  Well…I guess this means, the ball is in my court, now, doesn’t it?”  Yori hissed, her smug look haunting Velvet’s soul.

Thanks for reading!  I got it up earlier today!! :)

And remember guys:  Try writing all different kinds of writing.  You might surprise yourself!

July Writing Craze: Day 8!

Happy Friday, everyone!  Day 8-here it is!

            “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 :)

July Writing Craze: Day 7!!

Check out the sidelines of this blog for fun writing prompts, exercises, and ideas!  Please comment, answer the poll below, and give me feedback.  Thanks!  Happy reading!

“Not one of them wants Fashion Design or Interior Design?”  Yori asked, smoothing down her mini denim skirt that matched with her pale pink top that had little bows on the end of the lacy sleeves.  Yori walked down the line of booths with information on each course, her pink-beaded wedge sandals, clomping gracefully along with her.

            “Nope.  Tegan and Mallory want Water Sports and Kristina and Sapphire want Crafting and Cooking.  We can pick three courses for them and then book up their Activities schedule with 12 choices from the Activities booth over there,”  Velvet said, pointing to a lone booth with sign-up sheets and a faltering poster board with lists of daytime activities.

            “Fine, but have you seen you-know-who lately?”  Yori questioned, fingering her hair that she had dried and twisted up into a French braid, seeking out Brody amongst the other few dozen teen counselors.

            “No, why don’t you sign us up for Water Sports and I’ll look around for another course based on their interest application after I register for Crafting and Cooking, okay?”  Velvet replied.

            The two girls went in opposite directions, Velvet looking for her designated booth, Yori looking for Brody.  Halfway down the row of booths, Yori spotted a head of tangled thready hair and assumed Brody would be near that creepy spool.  Tucking the extra hairs behind her triple-pierced ears, Yori strode up to the booth on the end where the boys might have been.

            “Hi, Yori!”  Matt exclaimed, grinning a saliva-coated toothy smile.  Yori couldn’t help but focus in on the huge zit that Matt was unfortunately hosting.  Yori averted her addicted eyes to beside Matt to see if Brody was anywhere near.

            “Listen, Yori.  I’m really sorry about yesterday; I wasn’t the one who splashed you.  In fact, it was…”  Yori started to zone out the more Matt continued to rattle on, looking this way and that for any sight of the vaguely brown buzz cut and, fingers crossed, a muscle shirt.

            “Are you gonna sign up or what?  Hellooo?  Anyway in the attic?!”  a voice suddenly snapped, the familiar voice prodding at Yori’s sinuses.  Yori twirled around like she was cracking a whip and sucked in a sharp breath, taking in perfume that smelled like 99 cent drugstore product.  The chubby girl from the shower, earlier that morning, was waiting impatiently behind her.  Her burnt Cheetos colored hair was frizzy at the scalp and at the tips, looking as if she hadn’t conditioned or something.

            “Oh, it’s you,”  Yori said flatly, propping her hands on her hips.

            “Sign up already,”  the girl barked, looking nervously to the side, fidgeting with the bottom of her peppermint-tinted T-shirt.

            “As long as it doesn’t snow again,”  Yori snarled.  The girl reddened, glancing over at Matt, hoping he didn’t hear.  Matt looked away in sympathy, pretending to be engrossed in a brochure on the table. 

            Eager to find Brody, Yori turned around, signed her name and cabin on the last available line on the sign-up sheet and let the other girl pass.

            “Sorry, we’re full,”  the person behind the booth said to the chubby girl, taking in the sign-up sheet and brochures.

            “Aw, great.  Thanks a lot,”  the chubby girl complained and lumbered away.

            “Matt.  Where can I find Brody?”

            “Uh, probably at the Water Sports booth.  But, why?”  Matt replied. 

            “Wait, what booth is this?”  Yori inquired, looking for the poster with the name.

            “This is On Wheels.  Skateboarding, biking, in-line skating.  Interesting that girls would be into all that.  But there was a study in 2005, about the rate of girl interests leaning toward…”  Matt babbled on once more.

            “This isn’t Water Sports?!  Wait, wait, wait!”  Yori turned to the person at the booth to see them just going into the main office with all of her supplies.

            “Yori.  What are you doing over here?  Water Sports is over at the other end.  I hope you signed up for it already, I think I just saw it close up,”  Velvet said, approaching the two.

            “I thought the campers might like inside skating,”  Yori responded, pointing to the booth.

            “In-line skating?  But they wanted Water Sports and we agreed…”  Velvet started, wrinkling her overly hairy eyebrows.

            “Matt, here, talked me into it,” Yori lied, nudging Velvet and winking.

            “Yori!  This isn’t what we agreed—“  Velvet started to cry out, but Yori interrupted her by grabbing Velvet by the elbow and pulling her away from Matt.

            “Excuse us a second, Matt,”  Yori called from their spot a few feet away.  Matt smiled and waved his hand as if to say ‘no big deal.’

            “Yori, the campers aren’t going to be happy.”

            “They’ll be fine.  Water Sports, On Wheels, same difference.  The main thing is, is that you help me with Brody and I’ll help you with Matt.”

            “Okay, but I could have helped you with Brody if we had been in Water Sports because I saw Brody signing up for that right before they closed up.  Now, you’ll see more of Matt and less of Brody when you could’ve seen a lot more of Brody…with his shirt off,”  Velvet egged her on, raising her squirrel tail eyebrows at her.  Yori was silent for a moment, thinking over the situation. 

            “I’ll get it fixed.  For sure, I’ll get it fixed,”  Yori replied, smiling at Velvet’s relieved expression.

            “Good.  By the way, I signed us up for Cooking and Crafting and Pottery,”  Velvet added.

            “Wow, we sure have interesting campers,”  Yori said sarcastically, glancing over at Matt who was rocking back and forth on his heels, his red zit catching a reflection in his mud-colored eyes.

            “I’ll go fix it if you get Brody to go swimming with us,”  Yori said, turning to go up to the main office.

            “Deal.   Good luck!”  Yori trotted past Matt, barely acknowledging his somber wave and sloppy, drooping smile.  Entering the main office, Yori felt a blast of air conditioned draft.  She walked up to the secretary at the nearby desk.

            “Hi,”  Yori said, candy-coating her smile and tone.  “Who can I speak to about changing the courses for my campers?”  The office worker at her paisley blue counter top stared dumbly back at Yori, scratching the underside of her freckled chin.

            “You can’t.  Registry isn’t even done, yet,”  the worker, with the nameplate, Mrs. Jane Webster, responded.

            “What if I were CupCakery’s, the material sponsor’s, daughter?”  Yori asked, leaning on her elbows, mock-smiling at Jane.

            “I’ll call into Katie and see what she can do,”  Mrs. Webster replied, slowly moving toward the beige phone in the corner of her empty desk.  As Mrs. Webster got through to Katie and had a long, drawn-out conversation, Yori scanned the main office.  She had been there once before to call her mom about going home, before she had found her main purpose in her young teen life (where everything little is huge and everything huge is little), but never really noticed the details of the room like she usually wished to do.

            There were passionate red borders around sunset yellow bulletin boards with papers tactfully stabbed to the insides with titles like Don’t Walk This Summer Alone, Walk It on a Trail with Friends! and S'mores Instead of Chores!  Mossy green chairs sat to one side of the office with a flee market end table with outdated People and Velonews magazines.  The floors were blue and speckled white tile, matching the gray-ish walls with white trim.  Glass cases encompassed Camp Sing-Song trophies, with crooked photos of girls and boys having fun outdoors taped to the wall.  The pictures looked so old that the edges were yellowing and the colors were smearing together.  As Yori squinted at one of the photos to see if one of the smeared faces was a girl or a boy, she heard Jane put down her beige phone with a click.

            “Katie will take you now, but don’t get your hopes up; she didn’t seem too happy about it,”  Jane reported tonelessly, pointing to the door across from her desk.

            Yori took a deep yoga breath and headed towards the towering door.  Her hand turning the doorknob, Yori muttered to herself, “Here goes nothing.”

            “What’d you say?”  Jane asked from across the room, but Yori simply slammed the door behind her, hoping for the best.

Thanks for reading!

And remember guys:  "A metaphor is like a simile." -Anon :)