The YouTube Chronicles

Chapter 1: Strawberry Fields and Sunshine

Chapter 1: Strawberry Fields and Sunshine

It was five-thirty in the morning. I had just woken up, and boy, was I tired. I had never been a morning person, but since my friend, Avery Petersen (or 'Giggles' as I liked to call her) and I were about to take a long trip to a nearby Strawberry Field, I had to get up extra early. Luckily she was the one driving. Avery was definitely more of a morning person than I was, though I wouldn't qualify her to be a full-on morning person. She was more like a middle-of-the-day person if that was even a thing.

I got dressed in a cute outfit that I had casually but strategically put together. I wanted to seem both fashionable and cute, but also like I really don't care about what I wear. Messy sort of fashion, if you know what I mean. Along with my outfit, I put on a pair of Converse high-top sneakers. Something unique about me is not only my taste of fashion (which is very eclectic and different), but also my taste in collectibles. I love to collect both shoes and socks. In fact, I have such a giant collection that I have to store some shoes in bags. I don't know why, but something about footwear appeals to me highly. I love the gosh darn things.

I still had about an hour until Avery and I had to make the long journey to the strawberry farm, so I decided to watch a bit of Sherlock (the BBC version, obviously). I also made some Chai Tea for myself, using the fancy coffee machine that I had bought with my YouTube money a few years ago. I probably needed to replace it, as it often sputtered and squeaked, but I didn't really want to. I suppose it's because it's a nostalgiac item. It was the very first item that I had bought for myself when I first started my YouTube channel. I poured some almond-milk creamer into my tea (I'm lactose-intolerant), as well as a few spoons of sugar. I liked my tea piping hot and very creamy and sweet.

If you haven't figured out before, I'm a YouTuber. A booktuber, to be specific. It's literally the job of my dreams: I review and talk about books for a living, and I occasionally team up with other booktubers to create lots of unique content in videos.

I love to read. In fact, it might just be the sole thing that I live for (other than my family and my cats, of course). Books are my escape from life, my sanctuary from reality, and my comfort from the world. If I could, I would live in them. Most of them, at least. I don't think I'd like life in Panem very much, pre-Katniss era. My favorite book of all time, one that I often ranted about on my channel, was "The Light Between Worlds" by Laura E. Weymouth. It had come out the year before, and as soon as I saw the cover, I fell in love with it. Even more so when I began to read it. It was magical, and the imagery was amazing! Now, I own two copies of it: the United States edition and the UK edition. Both have beautiful covers.

Anyways, as I was saying before after I finished brewing my tea, I sat down to watch some good ol' Benedict Cumberbatch. He's one of my favorite actors. I seem to gravitate towards anything and everything he plays in. While I was watching it intently, deep in the story's tension and twists, one of my cats, whose name was Voldemort, came up to me and arched his back. I rolled my eyes and began to scratch him to the point where he began to come closer to me and curl up on my lap, just so that I'd never have to stop. I could never understand cats, and to this day, I've given up trying (good thing too, they're far too complicated for my simple brain).

I had two cats, who are as named: Voldemort and Loki. In my mind, cats are like villains, trying to take over the world and destroy humans (or Muggles), hence the names. Voldemort was a pure, white-as-milk cat, while Loki was the exact opposite. He had black fur and beautiful blue eyes. Though their appearances weren't completely accurate to the characters, cut me some slack, because they're cats. And besides, since Voldemort (the wizard) has no nose, it was the perfect opportunity, because cats barely have a nose either.

I finished the episode right in time. As soon as the end credits began to roll, Avery Petersen, the one and only Giggles, rang the doorbell. As the doorbell chimed, I picked Voldy (my nickname for Voldemort the cat) and I quickly rinsed out my mug (which I also happen to collect) and ran to the door. Avery was like a wizard, she doesn't arrive late or early, she arrives precisely when she means to. It's something I admire her for. I can't stand being late. I feel like if I am, I am the worst person in the world. I really don't know why, but I can't change my personality.

"Hey, Avery!" I said, smiling widely. She and I had been planning this 24 hour trip for a while now, and I was uber excited to begin it. You see, we both lived in the great city of San Fran, California, and we loved the city, but sometimes, one simply needs a breath of fresh air, if you know what I mean. Here's a little economy lesson for you: San Francisco is one of the most polluted cities in the U.S. Not to mention the wildfires that have been going on lately; they've been making it even worse. In fact, we used to have to wear face masks whenever we went out. It was very annoying.

"Hey, TJ," Avery responded, returning my smile. That's the main reason why I called her Giggles; because she was always smiling and laughing. Just so you know, my name's Teresa-Jane Waters. But most people, especially my friends, call me TJ. It has a nice ring to it, don't you think? It's both spunky and different; my kind of jam.

I looked Avery up and down. We both had a very different style of clothing. I liked to wear more eclectic types of clothing, while she liked to wear cute-yet-pretty clothes. Taking a brief glance at the both of us, you'd never guess we were friends. But, when you came to know us both well, it'd be obvious that we were inseparable. Today, she wore some clear lip gloss on her beautifully natural plump lips. She was wearing a pair of Winnie the Pooh overalls with a sunshiny yellow shirt to match. In her hair curly black afro, she had scattered flowers all through her hair. Her radiant dark skin beamed in the bright morning sunlight. I sometimes wish I looked like her, I just think dark skin is so beautiful.

"You ready?" She asked, beaming at me. I nodded.

"Let's do this," I said, earning a laugh from Avery.

Soon enough, we had piled in Avery's car. All of our picnic supplies and cameras were in the backseat, waiting to be numerously used. Avery had the most organized car in the history of cars. You'd never guess simply by looking at the car that she was a teenager. My car, on the other hand, was wonderfully messy, just the way I liked it.

"Gum?" Avery offered. Besides her brother, I'm pretty sure gum was Avery's favorite thing on planet Earth. Not that I blamed her; I loved to chew it, too.

"Yes, please," I said, rubbing my hands together in mock anticipation, creating friction. Avery gave me two pieces, and, instead of saving the second, I popped both into my mouth. Immediately, all sorts of fruity flavors exploded in my mouth.

"Juicy Fruit?" I guessed over the loud chewing noises that Avery was making.

She smiled at me. "You guessed it." Ever since we were little, we both would spend our money on different types of candy and unpackage it, give it to the other person, and ask them to guess. Now, it was such a habit, we didn't even have to ask anymore. Normally, I bought either gummy bears or gummy worms for her to guess (they're my favorite type of candy), and she bought gum for me. Of course, the one who bought the candy divulged in it, too. For crying out loud, it's candy!

Avery turned on the radio, and for at least an hour of the long car ride, we just listened to the music and cruised along the California countryside. Our tastes in music were very similar: we both really liked the music from the 70s and 80s. In fact, one of our favorite songs was "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" by Cydni Lauper. That's the one that we were listening to on the car ride.

We both sang our hearts out and laughed a ton until both of us were worn out from smiling and singing too much. It was the greatest feeling ever. For the next five hours of the car ride, we talked, listened to audiobooks, and just had some overall shenanigans. On the sixth hour, however, we began to be silent. It wasn't because we had run out of things to say, no. It was because we both felt like we needed some silence. I think that's the thing I like most about Avery: she can still spend time with you but not have to talk. Around her, she doesn't need to speak for you to know that she cares about you (in a friendly way), you just have a feeling.

Finally, after six long hours of sitting in the car and driving, we finally arrived at our destination: the Sherwood Strawberry Farm. It was gorgeous, to say the least. All around, for as far as you could see, the ground was covered with tiers and rows of plump-looking strawberries. I stumbled out of the car and groaned. We hadn't taken any breaks, not even for gas, and my legs were both stiff and asleep.

After cracking my various limbs (to confirm they were still working correctly), Avery and I began to wait. We were supposed to tour the strawberry farm with a tour guide, so we couldn't just start walking around the place without anyone to guide us.

After about fifteen minutes of waiting, our tour guide came into sight. She jogged right up to us and held out her hand for us to shake.

"Hey. The name's Lauren," she said and smiled. We smiled back.

"I love your hair color," I commented, hoping to get off on the right foot as soon as possible.

She smiled again. "Thanks! Your shoes are amazing! You guys ready?"

We both nodded, I thanked Lauren, and thus began the tour. We toured the farm for hours, and it felt real good to be away from the city. The air was fresh, the sun was high (though it was baking us like french fries), and the wind was cool. Right about then, it felt good to be alive.

The farm was beautiful. I had never really seen anything like it before; it was in a small valley with big mountains surrounding it, covered in lush greenery. The farm itself was simply huge, I didn't think we'd be able to tour it all that day.

At about 1, Avery and I decided to have lunch. We journeyed back to the car, picked up the picnic supplies, and found a nice, shady tree to settle in. The lunch was delicious. Avery's mother had made it for us, and she was, literally, the best cook ever. We had turkey-mustard-and- tomato sandwiches (our personal favorite) with homemade sugary and delicious lemonade, just the way I like it. By the time everything was said and done, I was happy and very full.

Then, Lauren taught us how to pick the strawberries on the farm. Unbeknownst to most, there actually is a pretty complicated process of picking strawberries. I won't tell you the steps right now, as I'm sure it'd bore you, but the process is pretty extensive. After the difficult work of picking the strawberries (which we now had several different kinds), we enjoyed our hard and sweaty work by feasting on them. Avery said, and I quote, "I've never wanted to do something so much and then have so little to pay for it!" Seriously, though, we had only a few dozen strawberries, and we each only got five. Like, it took us well over an hour and this is all we have to show for it?!

Not much happened after that: we toured more of the farm, we said our goodbyes to Lauren, piled in the car, and drove home. We had quite the conversation on the road home, too:

Avery: "Hey, I was thinking about shaving my head. What do you think?"

Me: *slowly turns my head toward her with my eyebrows raised* "Uhhh, what? Like those amazing warrior dudettes in Black Panther?" *Pauses to think what they're called* "Like the Dora Milaje or whatever?"

Avery: "Yep! Exactly like them!"

Me: "But why?"

Avery: "I fear I look too innocent; if I want to avoid the bad dudes, I have to look menacing."

Me: "And that's your solution?"

Avery: "Uhh, yeah. Wakanda forever, you know what I mean? Like, and then I could get some tattoos on my bald head, too."

Me: "Now you're just joking. Shaving off those beautiful curls of yours and replacing them with tattoos? Who are you and what have you done with my friend Avery?"

Avery: *giggles* "I suppose it does sound pretty silly. But, that being said, my hair is really hard to maintain!"

Me: "Whatever you decide, I suppose I have to support it. That's what friends are for, right?"

Avery: "Right!"

That's about all we accomplished in the conversation, most of the rest was mindless chatter, and listening to lots and lots of 70s music. We also chatted about how we still have yet to receive our invitations for the local college and such. Student life, am I right? Even in summer, we're stressed.

That night, I arrived at my apartment just to see the wonderful present that my cats prepared for me: the toilet paper was hanging all throughout the bathroom of my one-room apartment. After lots of swearing, and many, many scolds to the cats, I cleaned it up, cleaned up myself, read for an hour or so (it wasn't a very interesting book, otherwise I would be staying up way past my bedtime), and then hopped into bed, ready to start another day.

A/N-  

Ahhh! First chapter is OUT! *Cue cheers*

Sooo, what did you think? I'd love to know in the comments below (that rhymed). Just so you know, this chapter was basically to introduce the characters and to set the story up. More plot will be coming up soon!

Bye for now, Ripplefluff.