Blog 4: Not So Peaceful

This story is about two old best friends that finally meet for the first time in a couple years. They decided to take a road trip to California. However, they both realize how things have changed in their relationship

Not So Peaceful

            I sit in the uncomfortable metal chair, feeling awkward already.  I drink my herbal tea, fidgeting with my peace sign necklace. I hold the stiff cardboard cup in my right hand, my neon pink lipstick stain on the lid. I look at my flip phone that I found in the trash. The screen is cracked at the top right corner. The dirt and muck on the keyboard run a shiver down my spine.  The big white numbers on my phone tell me its two o’clock. Fifteen minutes late, it better be for a good reason. I start tapping my foot on the floor, growing more impatient with every second. I become aware of my surroundings. A group of students laugh hysterically at their own study session. I wish I still had an easy life like theirs, surrounded by their perfect pink Macbooks and ringing Iphones.  I hear a click as the door opens. My eyes shoot over to the loud piercing noise. A five foot eleven geek with curly dirt-like hair and square glasses approaches me. She looks at my outfit; I can see her eyes pop out of her head when she sees my bare feet.

            “Hey girl! Do you remember me?” Her body sways back and forth, moving to her own beat in her head.

            “Are you Sarah?” I question, not knowing if this might be my old best friend. The one who would always call me when I got home from school, the one who would always beg me to hang out. After I finish that sentence I flash a peace sign towards her. She looks puzzled. Her eyes scan my outfit. My outfit is something that symbolizes me well. The long flowy flower pants make me feel like I am floating on a cloud. My sheer top blends into my skin tone which is a tan brown.

            “Of course I am. How have you been? I haven’t seen you in like three years. Are you ready for this vacation?” She does a little jig and prances around. I don’t remember her being this crazy and wild. She takes a seat right next to mine.

            “Yeah, it’ll be so much fun. I already have my bags in the car,” I stand up and gesture towards my car. My car is like a baby to me. Its vibrant orange color makes me feel like the sunshine is hitting me in the soul. The giant peace signs on the side of the car remind me of how this country needs some peace. I daze off when I suddenly hear a snap. Sarah’s hand is right in front of my face, urging for attention.

            Both of us exit through the door. We grab all of Sarah’s designer luggage and head to the car. I only have one bag for two weeks and Sarah has about twenty. At least my car is big enough for the luggage and us. I brought some CDs to play in the car in case anything got awkward between us. We do have plenty to talk about, since we haven’t seen each other in over three years. I can’t wait to start our eight hour trip to California, one of my favorite places. I love the way California is so free; nobody cares what you do there, nobody will judge you. We both hop into the car ready to begin our journey.

            The music starts blaring a natural vibe. This indie pop makes me feel like I am at home, wearing my favorite long maxi dress. I snap out of my thoughts and look over to Sarah; I have missed her so much. I can’t believe we are going to be spending eight hours in this van together. She looks over at me and rolls her eyes; I wonder what’s up with her mood.

            “So what is your major?” Sarah looks confused and already grumpy. I always remembered that she got mad easily as a kid.

            “I’m majoring in philosophy. I love learning about different cultures other than ours. Hopefully I will just be a free spirit though. I haven’t really decided what I want to do with my life yet,” I try to laugh it off, but Sarah is taking it the wrong way. I start to listen to my music, hearing the beats that hypnotize my body. Sarah is giving me this weird glare; I try to play it off.

            “So how have you been, what have you been up to?” Sarah tries to move this conversation along. I look at the clock and it has already been one hour; the time is going too fast.

            “Well, after graduation I went to the University of Colorado. I met this guy there that changed my life forever. I noticed how free he was. He didn’t care what anyone thought of him. He would always wear tie dye clothes; his hair dangled down his back in dreadlocks. I thought he was so strange because he never wore shoes either.” I blurt out while I look down at my pale shoeless feet, “He would always wear a peace sign necklace. He influenced who I am today. However, he dropped out of college and moved to New York City and I haven’t seen him since,” I say. I watch Sarah’s face. I can clearly see the confusion spread throughout her face. She doesn’t even acknowledge me; she stares at the buildings passing our van. I turn up the music, hoping this awkward silence will pass us, it doesn’t.

            “Anyway, what have you been up to?” I try to venture away from my awkward story.

            “Well I went to Miami University and studied to become a doctor. I have worked really hard the past couple months trying to accomplish my goals. I have barely even been outside because all I have been doing lately is studying. So I was so ecstatic to come on this road trip with you, but now I don’t really know how I feel about this situation,” I can barely even hear what she says at the end since it’s a whisper. The awkward silence stings my ears. Something does seem different about our relationship these days.

            We have been driving for a total of five hours, we can do this. After that story I have shared, Sarah has not said a word to me. I really want her to like me so we can become friends again. My mind starts to daze off. I think about Steve; the man that changed my life forever and decided to leave to New York City. One of my favorite songs starts to play. The way the bongo is playing in the background puts me into a hypnotized stage. I look up from the radio and notice a red light. I slam hard on the brakes and our bodies move forward. I really need to start paying attention to the road ahead. I suddenly hear a loud creak. My first instinct believes that it is just the music playing. I try to shake the idea out of my head and start listening to the music. I look over to my right to start talking to Sarah, I notice that the passenger door is open and Sarah is getting out. I try to yank her arm back into the car, I was too late. I see tears in her eyes as she makes a huff when she falls on the concert beneath her.

            “ Jessie, you’re physco! Whatever happened to you, I don’t want to deal with you. You used to be so normal. I was jealous of you when we were younger. Now, I can’t even look at you without scolding. That random guy that you met changed you. I just think I’m going to go home.” She screamed, my body is frozen but my mind is racing.

            “Sarah! Why are you doing this? I thought we were friends and we were going to have the best vacation yet. Just come back into the car and we can talk through this,” I really wanted this to work out, but I guess it won’t. Sarah shakes her head and opens the back door causing the whole car to shake. I don’t know what to do. I hear the back door open and all of the luggage fall out onto the dusty road.

            “Uh! Stupid designer luggage!” Sarah shouts and throws her hands into the air like she is praising God. The door slams shut again, causing the other luggage to knock into each other. I roll my eyes to myself, this is ridiculous.

             The light turns green, signaling me to leave. I try to wait for a minute, praying she will come back in. I hear two loud beeps behind me. I hit the gas. My body moves lunges forward. I try to call Sarah’s cell phone, but she won’t answer. I turn my head around and look in the mirrors, I don’t see anything. I try to get the image of her saying all those nasty comments out of my head. I look in my rearview mirror to see a tall girl standing by a red light waving at me.

            

I chose this character writing because I tried to pick a weird character that I could describe really well. I also enjoyed making up such a silly character. I believe that it shows great description, you can really see what my character looks like and how she is. I also believe that you can infer facts about Jessie. You can infer that she is a hippie. Overall, I think this writing shows how I created a great description of the characters. 

The Hunger Games: Character

The scene that I chose was one of my favorite scenes from The Hunger Games. In this scene Katniss's sister Primrose gets chosen to participate in The Hunger Games. As you can see the look on Primrose's face, she is very scared and shocked. Katniss sees that her sister has been chosen and volunteers as tribute.

I believe that this is a good representation of a character because you can see how brave Katniss is. Katniss knew that she might not make it to the end if she volunteers. You can also see that Primrose is very special to Katniss. Katniss will do anything to protect Primrose because Katniss believes and knows that Primrose will not make it to the end of The Hunger Games. I think that it was very smart for Katniss to protect her sister like that. 

Remember The Titans: Specificity

  




  Remember the Titans has always been one of my favorite movies, I have seen this movie so many times I have lost count. This movie is based on two schools in Virginia during the 1970's. One black and one white school are suddenly closed and they both become one big school. There are many conflicts in the beginning of the movie, but when the movie plays out, they all start to relay on each other. In this scene, Gary just got into a car accident and is now paralyzed from the waist down. Julius is has suddenly realized how much their relationship has grown from this point.

   I like this scene because it can influence so many people. No one should judge each other based on race, sex, or age. This scene makes me feel both sad and happy. Sad because I know that Gary will not get better at all. Happy because they will always stay friends until the end. Gary and Julius hated each other in the beginning. However, they overcame their problems and became really great friends.

Stitched Up (Ill-Advised Moment)

 

Stitched Up

 

                The snow is piling down outside my house. I look out the window seeing white everywhere. The snow has covered every inch of my yard and street. The snow storm was picking up its pace. The wind starts picking up its pace, trees moving side to side. A white dusting rolls over the street.  I put on my warm, fuzzy pajamas and head downstairs to talk with my sister. I make sure to put on my favorite white socks since; it is about 63 degrees in my house. My parents hate turning on the heat, they think it is a waste of money. But, it is below freezing so maybe they will make an acceptation. I scurry down the stairs, so I can ask my sister if she wants to go outside.

I walk into the kitchen to see my sister and my mom sitting there, gossiping about work and school. They suddenly stop when I walk into the room. My eyebrows crease, confused on why they stopped. My hand reaches out to the fridge handle and I grab an ice cold water bottle. I gulp down a few sips, enjoying the coldness of each sip. My breath fogs up the bottle. Suddenly, my sister, Mallory, walks too close to my face.  My sister eggs me on for a challenge.  “Hey Maddie, I bet that I can swing on the counter and fridge and you can’t.” My sister and I have a complicated relationship. We do fight like every other normal sister but sometimes, we actually like each other.

I roll my eyes and declare, “Mallory, I can beat you at anything.” I accept the challenge, praying that I will win. I usually lose when it comes to Mallory. My mom doesn’t know what to say as she looks back and forth to Mallory’s face and then to mine.

“I think this is going to be a bad idea. Someone could get hurt,” my mom warns us. My mom is one of those watch-everything-you-do kinds of moms. She will do anything to protect us. We both laugh at the silliness of this warning.

My sister goes first. I watch her as she puts one of her hands on the counter top. Pushing it down to make sure she has a tight grip on the counter. She places her other hand to the fridge handle. She moves her hand up and down to make sure her hand is in the correct place. I can see her muscles flexing as she lifts her body off the ground. She begins to sway back and forth, her face goes from totally freaked out to a smirk. She leaps down and does a little dance, proving to me how easy it could be. I smug, I try to hide my actual feelings, scared to death.

It was my turn to prove myself to my sister. I test out the fridge first to make sure it will not open. I place my hands exactly where my sister’s hands were. The surface is warm from Mallory’s hand being placed there, firmly. I lift my tiny body and start to sway. I am actually doing it. I look towards Mallory and give her a smug, as I sway. I suddenly hit a sharp object. A huge bang is echoed through the house as I fall down to the ground. I try to shake my body and I can see my sister laughing at me. I stand up and start to head downstairs, my head looking down, embarrassed of what just happened.

I sit down at the steps and sigh. I reach down to fix my sock when I notice a red blob filling my sock with liquid. It spreads quickly, towards my ankle. The liquid is warm against my cold skin. I limp up the stairs, making sure that I don’t get it on the steps. I yell for my mom to come down here. I hear a pounding of feet, running down the stairs. They run towards me and I show them my favorite sock, it once was as white as the snow and is now a dark red. I peel my sock off, slowly; making sure nothing comes out of it. I try to find the place that is supplying all the blood. I look everywhere when I suddenly see a hole right in-between my toes. I gasp and almost faint, the blood is oozing out and all I can see is just red. A deep circular hole is right in my foot. The aroma of flesh is spreading throughout the room. A deep shade of red starts spreading over my mother’s face, matching my foot. I can see her eyebrow start to move up and down, twitching from the shock. My sister’s face is no longer a smirk, it is complete astonishment. Her mouth makes an O shape. I hear her gasp from across the room. If she is scared then it makes me even more terrified.

“Donna, will you come down to our house. We had a little accident over here,” my mom shakily says as she hangs up her phone. I can tell she is trying to act calm, but I can see the panic in her eyes. Donna arrives a short time after the phone call. She takes my foot and examines it. She moves my toes to the side and asks if certain things hurt. I return the question with a nod.

Five stitches later, my foot is patched up. I return home from the hospital, limping. The boot on my left foot is giving me hope that I will heal soon. As I limp up the stairs, I hear my sister saying, “Told you, you couldn’t do it.”

 

 

 

 

I think that I provided many details about what my foot looked like after the accident. Also I think that I appealed to my five sense many times during this story. I also believe that I made the climax, very interesting, making you want to read more.