Well, here is Chapter 4 everyone! A huge shout out to those who have read this work. Feel free to leave reviews and PM me!
In this chapter we meet the member of the Wild Kratt Crew I hinted at in the Prologue's Author Notes, and yes, as some of you guessed, it is Aviva!
In addition, one of Violet's struggles/ coping mechanisms will be revealed in this chapter. Also, a portion of this chapter will be written in the third person. I hope that does not cause any confusion!
Again, I am only playing in the sandbox that is the Wild Kratt Universe, I do not own Wild Kratts or any associated characters.
My eyes found the source of the voice in a thin, pale, black haired young man lying on the ground, with me on top of him. I looked at his face, which was a bit blurry because my glasses had fallen to the ground in our tumble, but I could see well enough to know he was furious with me. I snatched my glasses off the ground and placed them back on my face. I quickly scrambled off him and began apologizing, "I am so sorry! I was not paying attention, are you okay? I hope you are okay. I am so, so sorry!"
The young man's emerald eyes glared at me, flashing malice and hatred in my direction. I noticed his face was flushed with anger; he made a noise that sounded like he was a tea kettle squealing on top of a stove. A few tears escaped my eyes: I hated making people angry.
At that time, Amy, Paige, and a few onlookers heard the commotion. I heard whispers around me, "she has made him her enemy, poor thing." "Do you see how mad he is? I feel bad for that kid."
I gulped and scrambled to Amy as "my enemy" continued to glare in my direction. Amy hugged me and opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off by a feminine voice asking, "Zach, is there a problem here?"
The owner of the voice was a young woman with tan skin, thick, brown hair tied back in a ponytail, and green-gray eyes. She raised her eyebrows and looked from me to Zach.
Zach turned to the young woman and pointed back at me, "SHE ran into ME because she was too busy 'not paying attention.'" He held his fingers up and used air quotes when he said not paying attention, and, for added damage, he used an even whinier voice when saying those words to try to mimic me.
I felt Amy tense beside me and knew she was going to give him some of her signature southern sass, but the young woman spoke up, "I heard her say she was sorry, Zach. It is obvious it was an accident. You are okay, and so is she, so there is no harm done."
Zach cast me one final glare, turned on his heal, and uttered "Humph." As he stomped away, the young woman sighed and stuck her hand out to my aunt, cousin, and me.
"My name is Aviva Corcovado, and I am one of the counselors here at the Greatest Minds of Our Youth Science Camp," she explained as she shook all our hands. "I am sorry for the way Zach treated you, he can be a bit difficult to get along with."
Amy spoke up, "I can see that, what is his role here anyway?" It was obvious from her tone that she was now worried about my safety at the camp after Zach lashed out at me.
Aviva sensed Amy's distress and said, "He is another camp counselor, but he is only tasked with the interests of the campers in his cabin, the Experiment Cabin, which is an all-boy's cabin. He likely will not have much contact with your daughter."
After hearing Aviva use the term "daughter," I broke free from Amy's grasp and dashed off in the direction of my cabin. I heard Amy call out to Paige, "go after her, Paige, please!" By that point, however, I was out of sight.
VvvvvvVvvvvvV
"I am sorry, did I say something wrong?" Aviva asked Amy as she looked at the running form of the young girl who had just encountered Zach's wrath.
Amy rubbed her neck and looked to the direction her niece and daughter had fled. "You did not do anything wrong…Violet is a bit sensitive when people refer to her as my daughter."
"Why is that?" Aviva inquired, mentally kicking herself for asking so many questions. To her surprise, the woman did not seem insulted.
Amy took a deep breath and willed her own tears to stop. Even though Violet showed the greatest emotional distress between the two of them, Amy was crumbling from the effects of the loss herself. "She is my niece. She lost her parents, my sister and brother-in-law, last fall…They died in a hurricane that ravaged our hometown. Whenever people talk about them, or they think she is my daughter, well…she runs away."
I made a reference to the summary of my story in this chapter, did you all see it?
I also tried my best to describe the squealing sound Zach makes when he is angry; we all know what that sounds like. To me, it sounds like a whistling tea kettle XD. If any of you have better terms for this, you can let me know in the reviews :).
I included Violet's coping mechanism of running away because it will reenter the story later. This serves as a visual representation of how she deals with problems: she escapes them. That is something she will work to overcome as she matures.
Please let me know what you think in the reviews! I should have a couple more chapters out within the next day. – JIG32