July Writing Craze: Day 17!!

Day 17 everyone!  Hope you're still with me :)

“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.

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 13!!

Almost at the halfway mark guys!
Also, sorry if the sidelines are hard to read with the new background, I'm still trying to find new background designs that'll work.  Thanks for being patient! :)
Happy reading!

After Yori and Brody went to the main office and got Brody’s uniform, they went to sit by the lake on the rocks.  It didn’t sound super appealing to Yori to sit on old, pointy rocks, but when Brody suggested the idea, his eyes were so full of shimmer and romance, Yori couldn’t say no.  Trying to find a comfortable position on a particularly bumpy rock, Yori thought about how leprechaun-lucky she had gotten in one day.  Who knew running around with a few blockheads and lying about holding Velvet’s greasy hair could get her so far?

            “You know, Yori.  To be honest, I didn’t think too much of you when I first saw you,”  Brody admitted, slinging his brawny arms around her thin shoulders.

            “I didn’t think so, especially when you said you wanted to impress Velvet,”  Yori teased.

            “Yeah…”  Brody trailed off.  “Velvet has been a really nice friend.  I used to think I  could maybe see myself with her, but she never seemed interested.  And then I realized how genuine you are,”  Brody continued.  “When you said you helped Velvet when she wasn’t feeling well, it really hit me.  You, of all people, the one who likes to stay pristine, was willing to get a little messy to help one of my best friends.”

            Yori smiled weakly.  Was that all Brody saw in her?  Her kindness…which was actually a fib?  He didn’t see her charm, her stunning beauty, her put-together and well-maintained physique?  Did Brody have to be that deep?  Was that what Yori wanted in a boyfriend?  Someone who saw her for her personality?!

Chapter Six:  Velvet

Read Between the Lies

            “Shower up, guys!”  Velvet called out as the four campers rushed into cabin 2A, darting towards their beds and unpacked belongings.  Everything was so out of focus for Velvet right then.  It was like she was washing and scrubbing at a camera lens that’s purpose was not to be clean.  Velvet had never felt such a level of anger before toward anyone.  Yori had really gone far that time and Velvet didn’t know how to pass her up.  Brody was already taken anyway.  Did it matter?  Could she—

            “Are you coming to shower, Velvet?”  Kristina asked, tapping her lightly on the arm.  Velvet looked down and smiled at the shy little girl.

            “In a minute,”  Velvet replied, wanting some time to think things over in the quiet.

            “Okay.  Oh!  Velvet?  Do you know where we pick up our mail?”  Kristina asked, edging towards the door where the other three were waiting.  Mail?  Velvet felt the reels and chains in her brain chugging to life, steam wisping from the inner workings of her emotional brain. 

            “Soon!  Go shower,”  Velvet responded quickly, pushing the four girls out of the cabin and to the shower room.  Hurrying back to cabin 2A, Velvet’s brain started working overtime.  Back in the cabin, Velvet tore up Yori’s side of the room—her half of the drawers, her luggage, her shoe row, and her bed.  Velvet slid her hand underneath Yori’s pillow, hoping her fingers would at least glaze over Yori’s manila envelope of mail.  Velvet checked underneath the blankets and sheets, and finally, desperate as a housewife, Velvet lifted up Yori’s mattress.  On the wrought-iron base bed, laid a mildly colored orange manila envelope with YORI, CABIN 2A scribbled on the front with a black marker.

            Velvet grabbed the envelope, let the mattress fall back down with a bang, and ripped open the manila envelope, two letters falling out.  Velvet knew there had to be something she could find out from Yori’s mail that would be of benefit to Velvet.

            Velvet picked up the two letters.  Without looking on whom they were from, Velvet sliced open each letter.  The first one, on a nice piece of stationary, was from Yori’s mom, and the second one was on a coffee-stained, hamburger greased lined piece of paper, from someone named Steven Banks.  Yori’s mom’s note was brief. 

            Dear Yori,

                  I know you did not want a long explanation if any of the rumors were true, so all I can say is, I’m sorry, but there is no record.  They think it might have happened in Ghazni where not a trace was found of anything.  I’ll be coming home soon.  Hold you head high, princess.

         I love you forever, Mom 

            Velvet read over the letter several times, her curiosity overtaking her body.  She hadn’t expected something so serious (or so it seemed).  She had expected a nice post card from Europe with little candies and smiley faces next to fun parts of the mom’s trip.  Velvet carefully replaced the card and put the letter back in the envelope.  She unfolded the next one from Steven Banks, sat on her bed, and allowed her mind to go sober.

            Yori,

            I hope I got your camp address right.  If this is going to someone other than Yori at Camp Singing, STOP READING.  Thanks.  Anyway, if you are Yori, I’m sorry to hear about everything going on at home.  But, either way, I don’t think we can stay together.  I can’t have girl drama in my life, to be frank and stuff.  It’s been a nice run.  Thanks.    Later,

            Steve

Yori had a boyfriend?!  Adrenaline shot through Velvet’s stunned body.  Standing up, Velvet started to pace and ponder.

            First, Steve and Yori seemed perfect for each other.  Both totally unconcerned of other’s feelings and quite blunt with what they said.  Based on the mom’s letter, Velvet judged that the situation wasn’t all that great at Yori’s home, so seeing the breakup letter form Steve and how he couldn’t have “girl drama” in his life, really seemed like it was coming from someone that Yori would pick.

            Second, this was great war mileage for Velvet against Yori.  Telling Brody that Yori was already involved with some other guy, Velvet knew would turn Brody off.  After all, Velvet knew Brody better than most anyone.  Velvet didn’t need to mention that the Steve guy had just broken it off with Yori, the point was, was that Yori was with Brody at the same time Yori had another boyfriend.

            Velvet resealed the letter, replaced the manila envelope as precisely as she could, and grabbed her things to go shower.  Despite the saddening letters, Velvet felt on top of the world.

Thanks for reading!  Hope you enjoyed it!

And remember guys:  Writing by hand is a completely different experience than writing on a computer.  Try it out!

ABC 123,

                Maddie

July Writing Craze: Day 11!!

Hi everyone!
  Please check out my other blog, Summer Outfits, and also take a peek at the sidelines of this blog!  Thanks!

Chapter  Five: Yori

Kiss and Hell

Four jumpy eight year old girls were tugging at Yori’s pink and black drop skirt, begging to know what they were going to do that day.  Matt and Brody had gone off after breakfast to find their campers and since Velvet was still dealing with her stupid problem, Yori had to go off and find her campers.

            Tegan was a fiery girl with a strong personality and much to say.  Yori could tell she would be popular in high school.  Kristina was a mellow, kept away girl with a mousy face and stringy hair.  Yori knew she would be the freak that ate in the library when she reached high school.  Sapphire had a very strong build to her with a pink-streaked pixie cut and fake tattoos pinned to every inch of her teeny arms.  Yori saw her as one of those punk girls in high school, cooler than the goths, but still far below the cheerleaders.  And lastly, Mallory was a normal, pretty girl that was social enough and easy to like.  Yori saw herself in Mallory a little.

            When Yori had met up with the girls and their parents said their goodbyes, Yori dragged the campers to the main field where she had hoped she would get some idea of what to do with them.  She tried to tell them to sit down and relax, but all they wanted to do was run and play.  Immediate friends without even seeing each other before, the four girls waited out the time by playing a wild game of intense tag.

            “Yodi!”  Tegan hollered, practically ripping Yori’s skirt off her when the tag game stopped.  “What are we going to do?”

            “It’s Yori!”  Yori snapped, yanking her skirt from the little brat’s grip.  “I’m not sure yet.  Can’t you just calm down?”

            “At least play tag with us!”  Mallory said, lightly tapping her on the lower arm.  All four girls ran away screaming and laughing, looking behind them to see if Yori would charge.  Yori was just happy they had gone away.  Counseling wasn’t all it was cracked up to be.

            “Yori!”  a deep, manly voice called, Yori recognizing it as Brody.  She turned around and sure enough saw Brody with four little rollicking boys hanging on his arms.  Brody effortlessly held them up, his arms straight as a stick, his biceps bulging.

            “Have you seen Velvet?  She seemed pretty upset after breakfast.  Did she even eat?”  Brody asked.

            “No, but don’t you think it’s so weird that she took my clothes?”  Yori replied, baiting him.

            “I guess…it isn’t like her.  Do you know what’s going on?”  Brody asked, worried.

            “No clue.  Maybe she was nervous about the first day of counseling,”  Yori started.   “You think?”  Brody let down his four boys, letting them run free.

            “I know.  She was…I don’t want to embarrass her or anything, but…she was puking for the longest time last night,”  Yori continued.  Brody looked sympathetic, so Yori kept on, waiting to achieve the disgusted face from Brody.

            “That’s not all, though,”  Yori began once again, racking her brain for good lies.  “She didn’t even clean up.  Like, she refused to brush her teeth or mop up the mess.  Even after I held her hair for her and begged her to clean up, she wouldn’t.  So, I got up early this morning to do it, you know, to be nice,”  Yori added, smiling her sugary smile.

            “Really?”  Brody asked.  “Wow, that’s nice of you.  I didn’t think you’d be the kind to do something so messy for…someone else.”

            “Yeah, well…”  Yori replied, flipping her hair over her right shoulder, still smiling.

            “Brody!”  a little boy yelled, running right into Brody’s leg.  “We want to go to the rec room!”

            “Rec room!  Rec room!”  the other boys chanted, dancing around Brody’s feet.

            “I gotta go,”  Brody said, letting his campers hang on him like monkeys again.

            “Yeah, I should go, too.  All five of us are gonna play tag.  I’m willing to be ‘it’ the whole time for these…sweethearts,”  Yori responded.

            “Cool,”  Brody said, heading off, winking at Yori before he left.  Yori turned around and clamped her mouth shut so she wouldn’t scream in utter happiness.

            “I’m ‘it’!”  Yori yelled, running after Sapphire.  She suddenly felt the need to run, get some of her hyper adrenaline out.

It wasn’t until after lunch, during the campers induction assembly, did Velvet show her face—her plain, no-makeuped face.  She was wearing a regular pair of tan khaki shorts and a blue, short-sleeve, her hair tied back like normal.  She smelled like the camp soap, she must have just showered.  Yori wished she could have showered, especially after a whole late morning of tag.  Yori had kept playing in case Brody showed up again.  The hard, wooden lunch benches surprised Yori as being her best friend after all that running. 

            During the induction assembly, on the main field, the four little campers all sat in a row in front of Yori, with Brody’s four campers next to them and Brody sitting close next to Yori.  Velvet came in the middle of the assembly and slid in next to Yori without a word.  Yori and Brody shared a look that made Yori jump for joy on the inside.  Brody poked Velvet’s shoulder to say hi, but Velvet didn’t acknowledge him at all.

            At the end of the assembly, Yori and Velvet were notified that the first Water Sports class would take place in one hour.  Brody and his campers went to suit up first while Yori and Velvet’s four campers went up to cabin 2A to unpack and pick beds.  Yori and Velvet had to pick up their counselor uniforms and change into them.  Yori was not looking forward to wearing the cargo shorts, the polo shirt, and the weird billed cap.  They also picked up their first set of mail.  Yori had her mail wrapped in a manila envelope.  Velvet didn’t receive any mail, which Yori couldn’t help but notice and scoff at.

            On the way up to cabin 2A, with their things, Yori and Velvet walked in an awkward silence.  Finally, Velvet said, “I’ll pay for new heels for you.”  Yori laughed out loud.  Did she know how expensive those strappy heels were?  Yori had gotten them directly from Paris, after all.

            “Pl-ease!”  Yori derided.  “Those were over 400 dollars.  With what you wear, I can tell the priciest place you shop is Goodwill.”

            “Not everyone has their daddy’s credit card on them at all times, Yori!”  Velvet snapped.  Yori’s face went slack and she shifted her eyes to the ground.

            “Oh, I’m sorry!  Did your dad not give you your weekly car this week?”  Velvet sneered.  Yori suddenly went speechless.  It wasn’t because she couldn’t think of any good comebacks or felt inferior to Velvet… no, Yori knew she would always be higher up on every scale than Velvet.  Yori went speechless because she was reminded of her dad.

Ooh!  The plot is a rollin'!  Thanks for reading!

And remember guys: Write to write.  Not to impress someone else or make money.  Write because you want to :)  

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!