Life, Love, and the Pursuit of Publication: Sharing the Spotlight

Showing posts with label Sharing the Spotlight. Show all posts

Writing Wednesdays: Sharing the Spotlight

August 23

Niki: Gonna stick with the '140 characters or less' theme here:

1st day of skool-high on my "Best Day Ever" list. I have an awesome bff, gorgeous bf, e z classes, & did I mention I'm a SENIOR? Life is gd!

Ren: I figured today would be like all the other first days of school I've had. I mean, why break the cycle, right? I wish! For the last 2 years, my first days of school went a little like this: Meet up with Ari, find lockers (usually next to or near each other) and compare schedules (usually the same or close). The rest of the day felt like I was on a cloud. Today went like this: Meet up with Ari, find lockers (mine in the senior hall, hers on the other side of the building), and compare schedules (number of classes together...one). The rest of the day felt like I was on a roller coaster.

The most embarrassing part of the day was first period, which is Spanish 3. FIRST PERIOD! My brain has a hard time functioning in English that early, much less another language. I made it through almost the whole period thinking it wouldn't be so bad. Then I had to mess it up.

Senora Lopez: Senorita Blake?

Me: Si, Senora?

Senora Lopez: Como se dice, 'I can't find my comb' in espanol?

Me, laughing inside at how easy this is: No puedo encontrar mi pene.

Senora Lopez (double blink): Perdon?

Me, thinking maybe she has problems of the mental variety: No puedo encontrar mi pene.

I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why Senora Lopez had turned red. Why was everyone laughing? Ari leaned over and whispered, "Um, I think you just said, 'I can't find my penis.'" So, apparently, in Spanish, comb is 'peine' and penis is 'pene'. How was I to know? They sound so much alike.

Unfortunately, my fellow classmates didn't forget about my little slip up like I'd hoped they would. Instead, they blabbed it to their friends, who blabbed it to their friends. Even Senora Lopez couldn't resist telling other teachers, which explains the little smirks I got when they called my name. Even Niki couldn't resist. I think I've heard enough penis jokes to last me a lifetime. The only highlight of the day was volleyball, which I have for last period. Did I mention that coach made me team captain? Woohoo!

My day may have began crappy, but it ended on a high note. Will the rest of the year be like this?

Writing Wednesday: Sharing the Spotlight

August 5

Niki: Why does life hate me so? Why? It's bad enough I still have to share a room with Ren - Mom refuses to give up her 'office'. Now, I have to share senior year with her, too? Don't get me wrong. I love my sister and all, but come on. This was supposed to be MY year, not ours.

And to make matters worse, Mom is making us "chronicle" our senior year in a diary. I mean, really Mom? Diaries are so 20th century. Hello! Anything more than 140 characters is just too long. Do we even use pen and paper anymore?

Life is so unfair! Why did Ren choose to skip a grade? Was she even thinking about my feelings when she made her decision? Apparently not.

Ren: Niki is such a drama queen sometimes. I bet her first diary entry is about how I ruined her life or about how life is so unfair. Look at her with her eyebrows drawn together. I wonder if she knows that frowning can cause wrinkles.

It wasn't even my idea to skip junior year. Mrs. Porter, my guidance counselor, suggested it. It was either skip or attend some outrageously expensive private school for nerds like me. Considering the fact that the private school doesn't have a good volleyball team, I chose to test out of junior year. You'd think my big sis would be happy for me. Guess not.

The more I think about it, the more I get excited. I mean, I'm a senior now. I'll be part of the first graduating class of Kingsley High School. And I'm finally gonna step out of Niki's shadow. No matter what I've done - made straight A's for the 10th year in a row, became the only freshman on Varsity volleyball, etc - I've always been known as Niki's little sister. This year, I'm finally getting my own identity! Yeah. This year is looking so good!

Writing Wednesday: Sharing the Spotlight

Have you ever had a story that just wasn't gellin with you? My first WW story was ok, but it wasn't gellin with me as much as I'd have liked it to be. So, I've changed it a bit...ok, maybe more than a bit. Some of the characters are still the same, but some are gone (yeah, I had to get rid of those babies) and some are added. This story is just right. This post will only introduce the story and characters, then on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday, the story will unfold. And I still suck at titles and synopses, but I'm working on it. Without further ado...

Title: Sharing the Spotlight

Synopsis: Niki and Ren are complete opposites. While Niki is tall and model-thin; Ren is short and curvy. Niki lives for fashion; Ren is all about jeans and tees. Niki thrives on being the center of attention; Ren prefers fading into the background. Despite the differences, the sisters remain close...that is, until they end up sharing the spotlight.

Characters: Using pics of people who resemble my characters...

Nikole "Niki" Blake: 18