Dilemma Chapter Three - Oxy-Whosits and Snooping Sisters
By British Chicky
"Sasha!" Melanie called up the stairs. "Pizza for dinner! Come eat!"
"I'm not hungry!" Sasha yelled over the loud music blasting from his stereo. There was silence, and then the muffled sound of a young girl's footstep storming up a flight of stairs. The door to Sasha's room opened, and revealed a very tired, very grumpy looking little girl in a wrinkled sweatshirt at least four sizes too large. The words "Camp Caprice" were printed across the front in bright blue letters.
"Mom says that if you don't come downstairs right now and eat dinner, then you can't go out with your friends this weekend," she screamed over the music. When she received no response from her dark haired brother lying face down on his bed, she stalked over to his stereo and unplugged it in one swift motion. After dropping the cord back on the ground, she proceeded to pound on Sasha repeatedly with a force that could generally not be expected from a child of her size and stature.
"AH! Get OFF me!" Sasha cried as he converted himself to an upright position. Though Melanie had stopped beating on him, he edged himself to the other side of his bed, just to prevent another attack.
"Look," Melanie said sternly. "I want my pizza, and I want it NOW. Mom says that I can't have any until YOU get downstairs. Now, I've been ignoring your bad mood for the past two weeks, but NOTHING stands between me and my pizza. You know that. Now get UP!"
Sasha fought back a laugh. Melanie was so small and innocent looking... but man, could she lecture a person into getting up. Shy and quiet towards people that she didn't know well, but screaming her head off at her brother because she wanted pizza.
"What a duo," he thought.
"Okay," Sasha said, reaching a hand out towards Melanie. "Help me up, and we'll go get some pizza."
"Alright!" the young girl cheered, grabbing her older brother's hand and pulling with all her might. When they finally managed to get Sasha off of his bed, they began walking slowly towards the dining room in silence.
"You're almost like an oxy-moron, you know," Sasha said suddenly, causing Melanie to stare at him for a moment in confusion.
"An oxy-who?"
"Moron."
"You're one to call me a moron!" "Sasha, are you calling your sister names again?" Sasha's mom called from the kitchen. "We had a discussion about this last week!"
"I didn't do anything, Mom!" Sasha protested. He turned back to Melanie and continued. "Not a moron. An oxy-moron. It means you're like... two different things at the same time that don't fit together so it doesn't exist but does exist at the same time."
Melanie gave him a bewildered look. "What?"
Sasha sighed. The more he tried to figure things out lately, the less they made sense. "Never mind. I don't even remember why I said it anymore."
"You think too much," said Melanie.
"Yeah..."
They sat down at the table while their mother began to fill their plates with pizza.
"So," she said awkwardly, removing her reading glasses and placing them next to her placemat. "How were your guy's days?"
"It was okay," said Melanie. "There's a new girl in my class."
"Oh, that's great!" her mother said enthusiastically. "I'm glad to hear you're making more friends at school."
"Not really. She made fun of my hair and then tried to trip me while I was walking to recess. But the teacher made her sit out for all of free time, so it was alright."
"Oh. Well... that's good, I suppose. How was your day, Sasha?"
"Fine," Sasha responded shortly.
"Did anything interesting happen?" his mother asked, pushing for more information.
"Not really."
"Sasha, are you alright? You've been really quiet lately."
Sasha finished eating his slice of pizza, stood up, and pushed in his chair. "I'm fine mom, but thanks for asking. I'm going to go upstairs now, 'cause you know, I've got that huge English essay due."
"You said that you finished that English essay three days ago," said Melanie.
"No I didn't, I said that it was DUE three days ago." Sasha replied calmly.
"If it was due three days ago, shouldn't you have turned it in then?"
"Exactly. And that's all the more reason I should get started on it now, isn't it?"
"Sasha!" his mother scolded as he ran up the stairs leading to his room.
"Sorry Mom, gotta get to work right away!" he replied.
He opened the door to his room and plopped down on his bed. Taking a notebook from his backpack, he scribbled a few words, paused and erased them, and then repeated the process. Thirty minutes later he had barely written three sentences. Finally, he dropped the notebook to the floor, ignoring the papers that scattered every which way around his already cluttered room.
"Maybe a shower will help me think better," he sighed as he grabbed a towel from his closet and headed towards the bathroom.
"Melanie, didn't your brother say he was going to go work on that English essay that was due three days ago?" asked Melanie's mom as she cleared the table.
"I think so... why?" Melanie replied.
"Well, I hear the water running upstairs. Do me a favor, sweetie, and go see why he's not working on his overdue homework."
"Alright," agreed Melanie as she headed for the stairs.
She raised her hand no knock on the bathroom door, but suddenly had a better idea. Taking a few steps down the hall, she found herself in front of Sasha's door.
"I don't know what you're hiding, but I do know that you said you finished that essay before," she said to herself as she silently opened the door. What stood before her was in such a state of disarray that it looked like a hurricane had torn through the room. Gingerly picking her way through the mess, a thick, stapled package of papers with a large A+ on the top seemed to jump out at her. She picked it up and read the writing in red pen on the front.
"Sasha-" it said, "This is some of the best work I've seen from you this year. You express your feelings very strongly. Did you ever consider a career as a writer?" It was signed by Sasha's English teacher... and dated four days before the current date.
Melanie tutted under her breath. "Oh, Sasha, I always knew you were a bad liar... so let's see what you were really doing." She continued to silently search the room, looking for any sign of what Sasha had been so occupied with. After a ten-minute search, she picked a notebook of the ground and began reading the contents of it.
"Dear Ginger," it said, "I know you can't stand me and probably aren't too pleased with the fact that now I take the time to send you a letter, but I really wanted to apologize to you. I'm a complete jerk, there's really no other way of phrasing it. I shouldn't have led you on... I shouldn't have let you go."
The paper was smudged and wrinkled, and there was a small hole in one place where it looked as if Sasha had erased too hard. Melanie smiled and placed the notebook back where she had found it. Realizing how much time she had spent in Sasha's room, she quickly headed for the door. Unfortunately, it opened before she had a chance to escape.
"What are you doing in here, Melanie?" Sasha asked angrily, adjusting the towel wrapped around his waist. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times to stay out of my room and not to touch my stuff."
Melanie stared up at him. "You're a bad liar," she said, pushing by him in his towel-clad state. He glared at her as she exited. Before he had a chance to close the door behind her, she stuck her head back inside the room.
"Send the letter," she said, and exited silently.
Sasha stared at the closed door, once again amazed by his younger sister. After dressing quickly, he walked back to his bed and stared at the notebook in front of him. He added a few of his last thoughts, signed it, and sealed it in an envelope.
"I've got a feeling that I'm going to regret this," he said as he placed the addressed envelope into the town's post office mailbox.
"You won't," said Melanie, standing beside him smiling. "I can feel it."
"Really?" Sasha asked.
"Yeah, really."
Little did they know that three days later the letter would be lying unopened at the bottom of Ginger Foutley's trashcan.
End of Chapter Three
Author's Note - Ooh! It's like a cliff-hanger kinda thingy... sort of! Yeah! So, are y'all liking this at all? I'm feeling kinda more iffy about it the more that I write. I've pretty much given up on trying to keep Melanie in character. but she is a bit of a snoop like a couple other nine years olds I know (i.e. my little sister ^_^) Once again, thank all of you for your reviews, I love all the encouragement. Um... I know I have something else to day, I just don't remember what it is. *ponders*
Now I remember! Okay, it's poll time. Eventually, it's going to be that time of year when our favorite cartoon peoples all go off to the famous *dun dun dun dun* Camp Caprice. The big question for my fic at the moment is... Will Ginger be attending? It's not going to happen for awhile either way, but I'd like to have an idea in my head as to what's going on. When I wrote the first chapter of this story back in August, I had full plans for Ginger to skip Camp Caprice so she could avoid Sasha. But with her new "outlook" on life, I'm thinking maybe we should send her in spite of Sasha, you know, to create some tension. Anyway, I'm looking for opinions, so stick it in your review. or better yet, e-mail me at CharmSkoolGrad@cox.net , or IM me on ChrmSkoolGrad. I love talking to people. Well, before this turns into an author's note to rival the one from the first chapter, I'll leave y'all alone. Review please! Thank you!
By British Chicky
"Sasha!" Melanie called up the stairs. "Pizza for dinner! Come eat!"
"I'm not hungry!" Sasha yelled over the loud music blasting from his stereo. There was silence, and then the muffled sound of a young girl's footstep storming up a flight of stairs. The door to Sasha's room opened, and revealed a very tired, very grumpy looking little girl in a wrinkled sweatshirt at least four sizes too large. The words "Camp Caprice" were printed across the front in bright blue letters.
"Mom says that if you don't come downstairs right now and eat dinner, then you can't go out with your friends this weekend," she screamed over the music. When she received no response from her dark haired brother lying face down on his bed, she stalked over to his stereo and unplugged it in one swift motion. After dropping the cord back on the ground, she proceeded to pound on Sasha repeatedly with a force that could generally not be expected from a child of her size and stature.
"AH! Get OFF me!" Sasha cried as he converted himself to an upright position. Though Melanie had stopped beating on him, he edged himself to the other side of his bed, just to prevent another attack.
"Look," Melanie said sternly. "I want my pizza, and I want it NOW. Mom says that I can't have any until YOU get downstairs. Now, I've been ignoring your bad mood for the past two weeks, but NOTHING stands between me and my pizza. You know that. Now get UP!"
Sasha fought back a laugh. Melanie was so small and innocent looking... but man, could she lecture a person into getting up. Shy and quiet towards people that she didn't know well, but screaming her head off at her brother because she wanted pizza.
"What a duo," he thought.
"Okay," Sasha said, reaching a hand out towards Melanie. "Help me up, and we'll go get some pizza."
"Alright!" the young girl cheered, grabbing her older brother's hand and pulling with all her might. When they finally managed to get Sasha off of his bed, they began walking slowly towards the dining room in silence.
"You're almost like an oxy-moron, you know," Sasha said suddenly, causing Melanie to stare at him for a moment in confusion.
"An oxy-who?"
"Moron."
"You're one to call me a moron!" "Sasha, are you calling your sister names again?" Sasha's mom called from the kitchen. "We had a discussion about this last week!"
"I didn't do anything, Mom!" Sasha protested. He turned back to Melanie and continued. "Not a moron. An oxy-moron. It means you're like... two different things at the same time that don't fit together so it doesn't exist but does exist at the same time."
Melanie gave him a bewildered look. "What?"
Sasha sighed. The more he tried to figure things out lately, the less they made sense. "Never mind. I don't even remember why I said it anymore."
"You think too much," said Melanie.
"Yeah..."
They sat down at the table while their mother began to fill their plates with pizza.
"So," she said awkwardly, removing her reading glasses and placing them next to her placemat. "How were your guy's days?"
"It was okay," said Melanie. "There's a new girl in my class."
"Oh, that's great!" her mother said enthusiastically. "I'm glad to hear you're making more friends at school."
"Not really. She made fun of my hair and then tried to trip me while I was walking to recess. But the teacher made her sit out for all of free time, so it was alright."
"Oh. Well... that's good, I suppose. How was your day, Sasha?"
"Fine," Sasha responded shortly.
"Did anything interesting happen?" his mother asked, pushing for more information.
"Not really."
"Sasha, are you alright? You've been really quiet lately."
Sasha finished eating his slice of pizza, stood up, and pushed in his chair. "I'm fine mom, but thanks for asking. I'm going to go upstairs now, 'cause you know, I've got that huge English essay due."
"You said that you finished that English essay three days ago," said Melanie.
"No I didn't, I said that it was DUE three days ago." Sasha replied calmly.
"If it was due three days ago, shouldn't you have turned it in then?"
"Exactly. And that's all the more reason I should get started on it now, isn't it?"
"Sasha!" his mother scolded as he ran up the stairs leading to his room.
"Sorry Mom, gotta get to work right away!" he replied.
He opened the door to his room and plopped down on his bed. Taking a notebook from his backpack, he scribbled a few words, paused and erased them, and then repeated the process. Thirty minutes later he had barely written three sentences. Finally, he dropped the notebook to the floor, ignoring the papers that scattered every which way around his already cluttered room.
"Maybe a shower will help me think better," he sighed as he grabbed a towel from his closet and headed towards the bathroom.
"Melanie, didn't your brother say he was going to go work on that English essay that was due three days ago?" asked Melanie's mom as she cleared the table.
"I think so... why?" Melanie replied.
"Well, I hear the water running upstairs. Do me a favor, sweetie, and go see why he's not working on his overdue homework."
"Alright," agreed Melanie as she headed for the stairs.
She raised her hand no knock on the bathroom door, but suddenly had a better idea. Taking a few steps down the hall, she found herself in front of Sasha's door.
"I don't know what you're hiding, but I do know that you said you finished that essay before," she said to herself as she silently opened the door. What stood before her was in such a state of disarray that it looked like a hurricane had torn through the room. Gingerly picking her way through the mess, a thick, stapled package of papers with a large A+ on the top seemed to jump out at her. She picked it up and read the writing in red pen on the front.
"Sasha-" it said, "This is some of the best work I've seen from you this year. You express your feelings very strongly. Did you ever consider a career as a writer?" It was signed by Sasha's English teacher... and dated four days before the current date.
Melanie tutted under her breath. "Oh, Sasha, I always knew you were a bad liar... so let's see what you were really doing." She continued to silently search the room, looking for any sign of what Sasha had been so occupied with. After a ten-minute search, she picked a notebook of the ground and began reading the contents of it.
"Dear Ginger," it said, "I know you can't stand me and probably aren't too pleased with the fact that now I take the time to send you a letter, but I really wanted to apologize to you. I'm a complete jerk, there's really no other way of phrasing it. I shouldn't have led you on... I shouldn't have let you go."
The paper was smudged and wrinkled, and there was a small hole in one place where it looked as if Sasha had erased too hard. Melanie smiled and placed the notebook back where she had found it. Realizing how much time she had spent in Sasha's room, she quickly headed for the door. Unfortunately, it opened before she had a chance to escape.
"What are you doing in here, Melanie?" Sasha asked angrily, adjusting the towel wrapped around his waist. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times to stay out of my room and not to touch my stuff."
Melanie stared up at him. "You're a bad liar," she said, pushing by him in his towel-clad state. He glared at her as she exited. Before he had a chance to close the door behind her, she stuck her head back inside the room.
"Send the letter," she said, and exited silently.
Sasha stared at the closed door, once again amazed by his younger sister. After dressing quickly, he walked back to his bed and stared at the notebook in front of him. He added a few of his last thoughts, signed it, and sealed it in an envelope.
"I've got a feeling that I'm going to regret this," he said as he placed the addressed envelope into the town's post office mailbox.
"You won't," said Melanie, standing beside him smiling. "I can feel it."
"Really?" Sasha asked.
"Yeah, really."
Little did they know that three days later the letter would be lying unopened at the bottom of Ginger Foutley's trashcan.
End of Chapter Three
Author's Note - Ooh! It's like a cliff-hanger kinda thingy... sort of! Yeah! So, are y'all liking this at all? I'm feeling kinda more iffy about it the more that I write. I've pretty much given up on trying to keep Melanie in character. but she is a bit of a snoop like a couple other nine years olds I know (i.e. my little sister ^_^) Once again, thank all of you for your reviews, I love all the encouragement. Um... I know I have something else to day, I just don't remember what it is. *ponders*
Now I remember! Okay, it's poll time. Eventually, it's going to be that time of year when our favorite cartoon peoples all go off to the famous *dun dun dun dun* Camp Caprice. The big question for my fic at the moment is... Will Ginger be attending? It's not going to happen for awhile either way, but I'd like to have an idea in my head as to what's going on. When I wrote the first chapter of this story back in August, I had full plans for Ginger to skip Camp Caprice so she could avoid Sasha. But with her new "outlook" on life, I'm thinking maybe we should send her in spite of Sasha, you know, to create some tension. Anyway, I'm looking for opinions, so stick it in your review. or better yet, e-mail me at CharmSkoolGrad@cox.net , or IM me on ChrmSkoolGrad. I love talking to people. Well, before this turns into an author's note to rival the one from the first chapter, I'll leave y'all alone. Review please! Thank you!