*I like this one at the beginning. Once it gets to the "a few days later" part, it's not as good. Not a terrible scene, but I think it should've been placed later in the story. *
Ding! Sara looked down at her new text message. It was from Brittany, her older sister. MEET ME AT THE NAIL SHOP ,it read. Sara mentally sighed and kept walking. Brittany was supposed to walk home from school with Sara, but she played hookey almost every day. Apparently she'd rather get a manicure than run laps in P.E. It made sense, in a way, but it really wasn't fair to Sara.
Sara turned left into the nail shop.It was pretty easy to spot Brittany. She was the only person there with purple and blue streaks in her hair, too-tight rhinestone skinny jeans, and a black butterfly tattoo on her wrist, not to mention the excessive amounts of make-up.
She had thick black eyeliner and mascara, dark purple eyeshadow, and deep red lipstick.
She wore about a hundred bangles on each wrist, and a sparkly silver headband held back her sleek black hair. Sara didn't even want to think about all of Brittany's piercings. Sara had counted nine once, but that was a month ago. Brittany had probably had more needles stuck into into her since then. Sara didn't even have her ears pierced. She didn't like needles.
"You know, sooner or later mom's going to find out you've been skipping school," Sara told Brittany.
"Yeah, right," Brittany said. "Are you going to tell her?"
"They call home," Sara said.
"Not if I show up in Homeroom," Brittany said, sounding smug. "None of my other teachers take roll."
"It's still illegal!" Sara said.
"Whatever, Squirt."
"Don't call me Squirt! I'm thirteen and you're only three years older than me!"
Brittany wasn't listening anymore. She turned back to the boy who was painting her nails black. Sara rolled her eyes and sat down on the floor. She opened up her backpack and pulled out her math homework. Better to get it over with. Algebra was hard, and she didn't want to put it off.
Sara had done about half of her math problems when Brittany's nails were finished drying.
"Come on, Sara, I need to get my hair touched up and I haven't got all day!" she griped.
"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Sara said, packing up her things. She wished Brittany would go back to the way she was, last year, before she decided to hate the world, dye her hair, and get a million piercings.
Brittany and Sara used to have so much fun together. They used to bake cookies, act out stories, all kinds of fun things.
Then Brittany met Keith. Keith thought that Sara was an immature goody-goody, so Brittany started thinking that, too. Keith thought Brittany was a bit of a goody-goody, too, so Brittany started doing things like dyeing her hair, skipping school, and sneaking out to parties in the middle of the night.
Brittany claimed that it had nothing to do with Keith, that she was just sick of being perfect, but Sara knew better. She knew she had to get Brittany to break up with Keith. The question was, how could she do it without making things worse than they already were between Brittany and her? Sara needed a plan.
While Brittany was getting her hair redone, Sara went to the office supply store nearby. She bought a one subject notebook with a purple cover. ( 25 cents. It was on sale.) She went back to the hair shop to wait for Brittany. While she was waiting, she wrote Project Sisters on the first page of her new notebook. She wrote it on the first page because if Brittany saw it, she probably wouldn't be happy. A front page was much more hidden than a cover. She made a list, sort of a table of contents.
identify the problem
speculate causes
brainstorm solutions
create a step-by-step plan to solve the problem
enjoy a nice Brittany(!)
Problem: Brittany hates me (and the world)
Causes: Keith (no speculation there)
Possible solutions:
Sara was stuck. She knew what she had to now, she just didn't know how to do it.
It didn't take long for Brittany's hair to get finished. Sara packed up her things (again!) and the two sisters walked home. As they walked, Sara thought about the new notebook in her backpack. She was still thinking when they got home. At home, Sara went to her room, locked the door, and opened up the notebook.
Possible solutions: get Keith and Brittany to break up
Step 1:
Sara was stuck again. How could she get them to break up? She knew more about their relationship than Brittany thought she did, and it didn't seem very healthy. Keith was always yelling at Brittany and making her do things she didn't want to do. Yet, anytime someone brought it up,she always defended Keith. Sara didn't know what to do.
A few days later
Brittany had gotten a car. She picked Sara up from school in it. It was a shiny black sports car with a few scratches and one small dent. It smelled like . . . . . alcohol. Brittany had been drinking. And now she was driving.
Sara didn't say anything. She didn't want Brittany mad at her. Besides, they weren't really in any danger. Brittany had a license, and she'd always been a safe driver. Well, as far as Sara knew, anyway. Brittany had been keeping so many secrets lately.
But . . . wasn't it illegal? Drinking and driving? Didn't people die from doing it?
Well, they weren't dead yet, and Brittany seemed to be driving as safely as she usually was. Sara decided not to do anything. Until Brittany turned down the wrong street.
"Um . . . Brittany?" Sara said hesitantly. "Where are we going?"
"To Keith's house," Brittany replied. " Well, I am anyway. I'm dropping you off at the park."
That didn't sound very good to Sara, but she didn't say so. She'd been to the park on her own before, and Brittany would probably be back after an hour or so. Sara was wrong. At nine pm, she was still at the park. She'd texted Brittany at least six times, and she hadn't answered any of them.
ring! ring! Sara pulled out her phone. Was Brittany calling her? It was Mom. Sara answered.
"Sara, where on earth are you?!" Sara's mom sounded angry, disappointed, scared.
"I'm at the park, Mom," Sara said. "And I think Brittany is at Keith's house."
"Do you have any idea how scared I was?!" Her mom yelled into the phone. "Why didn't you call me!?"
"I tried to, Mom; you never answered."
Her mom took a deep breath.
*comment whether or not you think I should continue this one/ what should change*
