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rainbowfic2014-06-02 10:38 pm
clare_dragonfly) wrote in rainbowfic2014-06-02 10:38 pm
Entry tags:
Summer's Beginning
Name: Clare
Story: Falling Into Light
Colors: Antique Brass 13, Oh, you know, texting. It's what the kids do these days instead of going to dinosaur races.
Supplies and Materials: none
Word Count: 2,016
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Notes: Working out Sasha's life. This takes place not long before the start of the book.
“Come on, Sasha,” said Jodie, tugging on Sasha’s arm as they left the school. “Let’s go out for ice cream.”
Sasha made a disgusted face. “I can’t today. I have to go home. My mom wants something.”
“Ugh,” said Desiree sympathetically. “She probably wants to talk to you about responsibility or some stupid stuff like that.”
Sasha laughed and rolled her eyes. “I bet. She probably wants me to get a summer job. Actually, she was talking about that before. What do I need that crap for?” Sasha had never felt herself wanting for money; now that her dad was remarried and had more kids, she didn’t see much of him, but he made up for it by sending her money whenever she wanted it. Thanks to his generosity, she had all the cutest clothes, the latest phone, and the ability to not stand around listening to people yell at her about getting their burger wrong.
“I wish my parents would let me get a summer job,” said Jodie, wrinkling her nose. “I could use the extra cash. But I’m supposed to focus on schoolwork. Like I’m going to do any schoolwork over the summer!” They stepped off to the side of the entrance, letting the general mass of students move around them without getting in their way.
“Maybe Sasha could pretend to get a summer job and you really get one, and Sasha can say she’s going out to work when she’s really visiting you, and you could say you’re visiting her when you’re really working,” suggested Desiree.
Jodie laughed. “That’s a complicated plan! I love it. Come on, Sash, are you sure you can’t just get a small one?”
Sasha shook her head. “Better to miss the ice cream tonight and not get in trouble than have ice cream tonight and miss the whole summer. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay? Maybe we can do something cool over the weekend.” She waved as Jodie reluctantly let her go and started walking home.
At least it was a beautiful day. Her mom would probably want to sit in the backyard to talk. That was one thing mother and daughter had in common: a love of being outdoors.
Her phone beeped as she crossed the street, the noise of students leaving school fading away in the background. When she looked at her phone, it held a picture of Jodie and Desiree holding up huge ice cream cones. It beeped again, and this time she had to laugh at Jodie and Desiree with ice cream smeared on both of their faces. They were trying to make her jealous, and it was working. Maybe she would run into an ice cream truck on her way home…
There was no ice cream truck, but she did get two more texts from Jodie, one of them saying that the college guy who worked at the ice cream place had asked about Sasha, and one saying that she could get a job there that summer and have something much better to focus on than making money.
It was a good idea, and Sasha texted back a smiley face. She couldn’t really believe that the guy had been asking about her because he liked her—it was probably just because she, Jodie, and Desiree were usually an inseparable unit, and he was surprised to see two of them without the other. After a few moments of thought, she texted, Did he know my name? When there was no response by the time she got to her house, she figured that was a no.
There was no car in the driveway, and the front door was locked. She scowled as she dug out her key. Her mom wasn’t even home yet—she probably could have gone out for ice cream with her friends and still gotten home in time to have a talk. “Mom?” she called when she got inside, but of course she wasn’t home.
At least that would give her some time to practice. She dropped her backpack on the couch, stuck her phone in her pocket, and kicked her basketball out the back door. It bounced off the steps and landed softly on the grass. She jogged out to catch it and began to practice her free throws, checking her phone in between. Desiree texted her a picture of the ice cream guy and a smiley face with hearts floating around it. Sasha sent back an eye-rolling smiley face.
Sasha was just a little sweaty by the time she finally heard her mom’s car in the driveway. She kept practicing for a few minutes, wanting to make her mom wait like she had waited. But a few moments later, the smell of garlic and oregano reached her nose, and she turned around, unable to resist.
“Hi, sweetie,” her mom called. “Sorry I’m home later than usual. I decided to pick up some pizza for dinner. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” Sasha left her basketball where it was and jogged back up to the house to take the pizza from her mom. It smelled heavenly. They usually had take-out for dinner, since her mom didn’t really know how to cook, but pizza was a special treat. It probably meant that whatever her mom had to talk about was super serious, but Sasha could forgive her for that.
While Sasha carried the pizza inside, her mom dragged the lawn chairs and small table out from the corner of the house and set them out in the backyard. “I thought we could eat outside,” she called through the screen door.
“Perfect,” said Sasha. She got out a couple of plates and put two slices of pizza onto each of them, then filled two glasses with lemonade. Her mom opened the door while she juggled them, and finally they sat down on the chairs, facing their neighbor’s attractive garden and balancing their food and drinks.
Sasha immediately started shoving pizza into her mouth, so maybe her mom wouldn’t start expecting responses right away. However, her mom only took a small bite of pizza, then started to speak. “So your school year’s almost over.”
“Mmhm,” Sasha mumbled through her mouthful. Oh great, this was going exactly where she thought it was.
“Next year is your junior year. I’m sure you’ve been hearing from your teachers all year about how important that year is for college, so I won’t repeat it now.”
Sasha’s phone beeped. She wriggled it out of her pocket with the fingers that aren’t greasy. Jodie had texted her. What are u up to?
Mom is lecturing me about school, she texted back. When she looked up, her mom was frowning. “Why are you always on my phone?”
“I’m texting my friends, Mom.” Sasha looked back at the phone to make sure the text had sent, then back up to her mom. “It’s just the way we communicate these days. I know in the days of the dinosaurs when you were my age you used to write people letters on fine parchment, but…”
Her mom’s shoulders stiffened, and Sasha immediately regretted what she’d said. Her mom hated jokes about her age, for some reason, and Sasha usually tried to avoid making them. Even if she was annoyed right now, that was no reason to upset her mom—she was probably just doing what she thought was best.
Of course, it would be easier if Sasha knew why her mom was so sensitive to her jokes. Was she much older than she looked? Or had something bad happened to her when she was young? It had to be something that would explain why she’d never met her grandparents on her mother’s side or why her mom, unlike her dad, had never had any other kids. But the few times Sasha had tried to ask, her mom had pretended she didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Okay.” Sasha checked her phone again and shoved it back into her pocket. “Sorry. Is this really about school, or are you trying to get me to get a summer job?”
“How did you know?”
Sasha sighed. “It seemed like the sort of stupid responsible thing you’d try to get me to go.” She took a gulp of her lemonade and snuck a look at her mom over the glass. Sure enough, she was smiling now.
“Well, it’s true. If you get a job now, you’ll be much more prepared to enter the working world after you go to college—and you’ll be able to save up money to help pay for college. I know your dad sends you plenty of money, but he’s not going to be able to pay your full way through college, and I’m certainly not going to be able to put in much.”
“Come on, I don’t need to pay for college,” said Sasha. She jumped to her feet, grabbed her basketball, and pulled off a perfect hook shot. Then she turned to her mom, grinning. “See? Athletic scholarship.”
“Do you know how hard it is to get those?” her mom asked calmly. “Because I don’t. It’s a serious question. Have you talked to your school counselors or your coach or anyone about your chances?”
“Well… no.” Sasha kicked the basketball, then had to go running after it as it bounced across the driveway. She caught it right before it tumbled into the neighbor’s yard, and carried it back to her seat with her, where she put it between her feet so she wouldn’t lose it. Sure, she could always buy another, but she was used to this one. She didn’t look at her mom.
“A summer job would probably help your chances, anyway. It would show college admissions boards that you have focus. Besides your focus on basketball, I mean.”
Sasha took a bite of pizza so she wouldn’t have to answer for a minute, but when she finished chewing, her mom was still waiting. “Where did you get all this, Mom? College brochures?”
That must have hit home; her mom was silent for a moment, too. “I just want you to have better opportunities than I did. I never worked or went to college. I didn’t have to get a job until the divorce, and it wasn’t easy then, with no experience to show. I don’t want you to be put in the same position, scrambling to do it at the very last minute when you need it, ending up with something that’s hardly worth spending the hours at it that you do.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Mom.” Sasha smiled at her mom to show she was just teasing. “I definitely have no intention of relying on a man to have a job for me. No guy is worth that. I’ll go to college and I’ll get a good job. But, look, I have three more summers before I need to start college. Why don’t I wait to get a job until next summer? Then I’ll have some experience before I start applying and I’ll be able to show the colleges what a focused individual I am.”
“You’ll be better off if you start now,” her mom said. “You’ll have more experience and more money. But you can do that, too.” She stood up and put her hand on Sasha’s shoulder. “I’m not going to make you do anything. But think about it, okay? I’ll bring the rest of the pizza out.” She went inside, sending the screen door squeaking behind her.
Sasha sighed and slouched back in her chair. She fished her phone out to find another text from Jodie. Thinks u don’t study hard enuf?
I was right, Sasha texted back. She wants me to get a job.
Ice cream place, Jodie texted back. Perf meet cute. U can get summer romance.
Sasha laughed and texted back a winking smiley face. She still doubted that college guy had any interest in her whatsoever. But it was certainly worth considering…
Story: Falling Into Light
Colors: Antique Brass 13, Oh, you know, texting. It's what the kids do these days instead of going to dinosaur races.
Supplies and Materials: none
Word Count: 2,016
Rating: G
Warnings: none
Notes: Working out Sasha's life. This takes place not long before the start of the book.
“Come on, Sasha,” said Jodie, tugging on Sasha’s arm as they left the school. “Let’s go out for ice cream.”
Sasha made a disgusted face. “I can’t today. I have to go home. My mom wants something.”
“Ugh,” said Desiree sympathetically. “She probably wants to talk to you about responsibility or some stupid stuff like that.”
Sasha laughed and rolled her eyes. “I bet. She probably wants me to get a summer job. Actually, she was talking about that before. What do I need that crap for?” Sasha had never felt herself wanting for money; now that her dad was remarried and had more kids, she didn’t see much of him, but he made up for it by sending her money whenever she wanted it. Thanks to his generosity, she had all the cutest clothes, the latest phone, and the ability to not stand around listening to people yell at her about getting their burger wrong.
“I wish my parents would let me get a summer job,” said Jodie, wrinkling her nose. “I could use the extra cash. But I’m supposed to focus on schoolwork. Like I’m going to do any schoolwork over the summer!” They stepped off to the side of the entrance, letting the general mass of students move around them without getting in their way.
“Maybe Sasha could pretend to get a summer job and you really get one, and Sasha can say she’s going out to work when she’s really visiting you, and you could say you’re visiting her when you’re really working,” suggested Desiree.
Jodie laughed. “That’s a complicated plan! I love it. Come on, Sash, are you sure you can’t just get a small one?”
Sasha shook her head. “Better to miss the ice cream tonight and not get in trouble than have ice cream tonight and miss the whole summer. I’ll see you guys tomorrow, okay? Maybe we can do something cool over the weekend.” She waved as Jodie reluctantly let her go and started walking home.
At least it was a beautiful day. Her mom would probably want to sit in the backyard to talk. That was one thing mother and daughter had in common: a love of being outdoors.
Her phone beeped as she crossed the street, the noise of students leaving school fading away in the background. When she looked at her phone, it held a picture of Jodie and Desiree holding up huge ice cream cones. It beeped again, and this time she had to laugh at Jodie and Desiree with ice cream smeared on both of their faces. They were trying to make her jealous, and it was working. Maybe she would run into an ice cream truck on her way home…
There was no ice cream truck, but she did get two more texts from Jodie, one of them saying that the college guy who worked at the ice cream place had asked about Sasha, and one saying that she could get a job there that summer and have something much better to focus on than making money.
It was a good idea, and Sasha texted back a smiley face. She couldn’t really believe that the guy had been asking about her because he liked her—it was probably just because she, Jodie, and Desiree were usually an inseparable unit, and he was surprised to see two of them without the other. After a few moments of thought, she texted, Did he know my name? When there was no response by the time she got to her house, she figured that was a no.
There was no car in the driveway, and the front door was locked. She scowled as she dug out her key. Her mom wasn’t even home yet—she probably could have gone out for ice cream with her friends and still gotten home in time to have a talk. “Mom?” she called when she got inside, but of course she wasn’t home.
At least that would give her some time to practice. She dropped her backpack on the couch, stuck her phone in her pocket, and kicked her basketball out the back door. It bounced off the steps and landed softly on the grass. She jogged out to catch it and began to practice her free throws, checking her phone in between. Desiree texted her a picture of the ice cream guy and a smiley face with hearts floating around it. Sasha sent back an eye-rolling smiley face.
Sasha was just a little sweaty by the time she finally heard her mom’s car in the driveway. She kept practicing for a few minutes, wanting to make her mom wait like she had waited. But a few moments later, the smell of garlic and oregano reached her nose, and she turned around, unable to resist.
“Hi, sweetie,” her mom called. “Sorry I’m home later than usual. I decided to pick up some pizza for dinner. I hope you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” Sasha left her basketball where it was and jogged back up to the house to take the pizza from her mom. It smelled heavenly. They usually had take-out for dinner, since her mom didn’t really know how to cook, but pizza was a special treat. It probably meant that whatever her mom had to talk about was super serious, but Sasha could forgive her for that.
While Sasha carried the pizza inside, her mom dragged the lawn chairs and small table out from the corner of the house and set them out in the backyard. “I thought we could eat outside,” she called through the screen door.
“Perfect,” said Sasha. She got out a couple of plates and put two slices of pizza onto each of them, then filled two glasses with lemonade. Her mom opened the door while she juggled them, and finally they sat down on the chairs, facing their neighbor’s attractive garden and balancing their food and drinks.
Sasha immediately started shoving pizza into her mouth, so maybe her mom wouldn’t start expecting responses right away. However, her mom only took a small bite of pizza, then started to speak. “So your school year’s almost over.”
“Mmhm,” Sasha mumbled through her mouthful. Oh great, this was going exactly where she thought it was.
“Next year is your junior year. I’m sure you’ve been hearing from your teachers all year about how important that year is for college, so I won’t repeat it now.”
Sasha’s phone beeped. She wriggled it out of her pocket with the fingers that aren’t greasy. Jodie had texted her. What are u up to?
Mom is lecturing me about school, she texted back. When she looked up, her mom was frowning. “Why are you always on my phone?”
“I’m texting my friends, Mom.” Sasha looked back at the phone to make sure the text had sent, then back up to her mom. “It’s just the way we communicate these days. I know in the days of the dinosaurs when you were my age you used to write people letters on fine parchment, but…”
Her mom’s shoulders stiffened, and Sasha immediately regretted what she’d said. Her mom hated jokes about her age, for some reason, and Sasha usually tried to avoid making them. Even if she was annoyed right now, that was no reason to upset her mom—she was probably just doing what she thought was best.
Of course, it would be easier if Sasha knew why her mom was so sensitive to her jokes. Was she much older than she looked? Or had something bad happened to her when she was young? It had to be something that would explain why she’d never met her grandparents on her mother’s side or why her mom, unlike her dad, had never had any other kids. But the few times Sasha had tried to ask, her mom had pretended she didn’t know what she was talking about.
“Okay.” Sasha checked her phone again and shoved it back into her pocket. “Sorry. Is this really about school, or are you trying to get me to get a summer job?”
“How did you know?”
Sasha sighed. “It seemed like the sort of stupid responsible thing you’d try to get me to go.” She took a gulp of her lemonade and snuck a look at her mom over the glass. Sure enough, she was smiling now.
“Well, it’s true. If you get a job now, you’ll be much more prepared to enter the working world after you go to college—and you’ll be able to save up money to help pay for college. I know your dad sends you plenty of money, but he’s not going to be able to pay your full way through college, and I’m certainly not going to be able to put in much.”
“Come on, I don’t need to pay for college,” said Sasha. She jumped to her feet, grabbed her basketball, and pulled off a perfect hook shot. Then she turned to her mom, grinning. “See? Athletic scholarship.”
“Do you know how hard it is to get those?” her mom asked calmly. “Because I don’t. It’s a serious question. Have you talked to your school counselors or your coach or anyone about your chances?”
“Well… no.” Sasha kicked the basketball, then had to go running after it as it bounced across the driveway. She caught it right before it tumbled into the neighbor’s yard, and carried it back to her seat with her, where she put it between her feet so she wouldn’t lose it. Sure, she could always buy another, but she was used to this one. She didn’t look at her mom.
“A summer job would probably help your chances, anyway. It would show college admissions boards that you have focus. Besides your focus on basketball, I mean.”
Sasha took a bite of pizza so she wouldn’t have to answer for a minute, but when she finished chewing, her mom was still waiting. “Where did you get all this, Mom? College brochures?”
That must have hit home; her mom was silent for a moment, too. “I just want you to have better opportunities than I did. I never worked or went to college. I didn’t have to get a job until the divorce, and it wasn’t easy then, with no experience to show. I don’t want you to be put in the same position, scrambling to do it at the very last minute when you need it, ending up with something that’s hardly worth spending the hours at it that you do.”
“Don’t be ridiculous, Mom.” Sasha smiled at her mom to show she was just teasing. “I definitely have no intention of relying on a man to have a job for me. No guy is worth that. I’ll go to college and I’ll get a good job. But, look, I have three more summers before I need to start college. Why don’t I wait to get a job until next summer? Then I’ll have some experience before I start applying and I’ll be able to show the colleges what a focused individual I am.”
“You’ll be better off if you start now,” her mom said. “You’ll have more experience and more money. But you can do that, too.” She stood up and put her hand on Sasha’s shoulder. “I’m not going to make you do anything. But think about it, okay? I’ll bring the rest of the pizza out.” She went inside, sending the screen door squeaking behind her.
Sasha sighed and slouched back in her chair. She fished her phone out to find another text from Jodie. Thinks u don’t study hard enuf?
I was right, Sasha texted back. She wants me to get a job.
Ice cream place, Jodie texted back. Perf meet cute. U can get summer romance.
Sasha laughed and texted back a winking smiley face. She still doubted that college guy had any interest in her whatsoever. But it was certainly worth considering…
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Though working at an ice cream shop with a cute college guy probably wouldn't be the worst job in the world.
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An ice cream shop sounds adorable, though.
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Hope things work out for them.
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I like how Lucy's worry and point of view come through even through Sasha's teenagerness!
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