The Real (Painful) Thing

Welcome back Snippet Sunday folks and Weekend Writing Warriors! Time for another eight sentences from my WIP, Shades of Blue.

This scene takes place after school the day after all the drama went on in the woods. Sam and JoJo are walking home together and run into Chip Wiley.

We talked about the usual school stuff the rest of the way to the Minit Mart, and we were still holding hands when we stopped to get a Coke. I didn’t see Chip and his two stupid friends behind the comic book rack until it was too late.

“Look, guys,” Chip said as they walked toward us, “Sam finally got up the nerve to hold her hand, and it only took him ten years to do it. Just think, Sammy-boy, only five more years and you’ll be feeling her up like I did yesterday.”

Before Sam could say a word or do anything to stop me, I grabbed a can of Coke from the tub of ice by the counter and chunked it at Chip’s head. It bounced off the cowlick at his crown and landed in the middle of a loaf of Wonder Bread on a rack nearby. He stumbled backward into Freddy, and they fell against the comic book rack and knocked it over.

“How did that feel, Chip,” I said, “because it felt pretty damn good to me!”

Guess everything that happened didn't make JoJo lose her mojo, huh? ;-)

Shades of Blue is still a WIP, but you can buy my other books here.

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

Follow me on Twitter: @JoyceScarbrough
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More to the Story

It's Sunday and that means it's time for eight more sentences from my WIP, Shades of Blue. Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

Last week Sam and JoJo had their first kiss, and it was everything and more that JoJo hoped it would be. This week skips ahead to the next day at school. They're talking about what happened when Sam's scumbag step-father and his step-sister "Backseat Britney" did when they heard the fabricated story they told JoJo's parents about somebody trying to grab her in the woods.

“What’d she do, get excited about the chance for a new boyfriend?”

“No, she said something about being used to perverts, and I think he slapped her.”

That threw me for a second. I could barely believe it, but I actually felt bad for Britney. “Russ is such a total SOB, no wonder she’s so messed up.”

Sam looked at me the way my mama did if I remembered to make my bed without being reminded. “That was good of you to say, JoJo.”

I rolled my eyes and said, “I still don’t like her.”

Shades of Blue is still a WIP, but you can buy my other books here.

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

Follow me on Twitter: @JoyceScarbrough
Like my Facebook Fan Page here

Silver Linings

Welcome back to Snippet Sunday! This excerpt from my WIP, Shades of Blue, is more than eight sentences, so it's not part of the Weekend Writing Warriors blog hop this week. I tried, but I just couldn't cut this one down any more. It takes place after JoJo has discovered that Sam's step-father beats him and molests his step-sister Britney, and also that his mom drinks and takes sleeping pills. They've talked it all through and Sam has admitted that it's part of why he's been avoiding JoJo for the past week. She tells him he'd better not ever keep anything from her again because he's her best friend and she's missed him. Here's what happens next.

He had the same look in his eyes that he’d had that night at my house. Suddenly, the revolting memory of Chip’s tongue in my mouth came rushing back, and panic sent my stomach into a gymnastic routine that made me let go of Sam’s shirt and move away from him abruptly.

“I think we should go home now,” I said.

He put a hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him as he said, “What’s wrong, JoJo, you’re shaking.”

I was, and I couldn’t stop.

“I just . . . I don’t want things to change between us, Sam. We’ve been best friends since we were five years old, and that’s the way I want it to stay.”

He looked at me a few seconds, then he touched my cheek. “You’re a lot more than a friend to me, JoJo. I think you know that.”

Of course I did. I knew it as well as I knew he was gonna kiss me and that I was gonna let him this time, even though I was terrified.

He leaned toward me with his eyes slowly disappearing under his eyelids, and as soon as our mouths touched, I knew everything would be okay. All I could think of was how soft his lips were and how much I liked the way they felt against mine. Sam’s kiss completely erased the memory of Chip’s disgusting mouth, and I made up my mind about something. What Chip had done didn’t count. This was my first kiss, and I refused to think otherwise.

Shades of Blue is still a WIP, but you can buy my other books here.

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

Follow me on Twitter: @JoyceScarbrough
Like my Facebook Fan Page here

Family Secrets

It's Sunday and that means it's time for eight more sentences from my WIP, Shades of Blue. Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

Last week we found out just how much of a scumbag Sam's step-father is. As promised, here's more about why Sam doesn't want JoJo to tell anybody what happened and get him involved with the police. This part is right after JoJo asks him if his mother knows about the beatings.

His head fell lower and he said, “She’s been drinking pretty heavy for a long time and . . . now she takes sleeping pills too. Some days she doesn’t even know who I am. She keeps calling me Keith—my real dad’s name. I guess I’m starting to look like him.”

“What does she say about Russ hitting you?” I asked.

“She’s the one who made me promise I wouldn’t tell anybody. She said if he goes to jail, he’ll tell them about her problems and say she’s not fit to take care of me, and I’ll get sent to live with my grandmother in Tennessee.” He looked up at me with tears in his eyes and said, “I don't want to have to move away, JoJo--that’s why the police can’t know about any of this.”

His mom is actually hiding more than just her drinking and pill problems, but that comes later.

Shades of Blue is still a WIP, but you can buy my other books here.



~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!

Follow me on Twitter: @JoyceScarbrough
Like my Facebook Fan Page here

Talk About Your Scumbags

Welcome back for eight more sentences from my YA/coming-of-age WIP, Shades of Blue. Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

Last week JoJo saw the bruises on Sam's back and realized that's the reason he doesn't want to be involved in anything to do with the police. Since I'm limited to eight sentences, it'll take a couple of weeks to get the full explanation, but here's the first part right after JoJo asks Sam why he got hit.

“Either tell me or I take back my promise not to tell Mama and Daddy about all this.”

Sam sighed. “It was something Britney did--well, something she said.”

“You mean she lied about something?”

"Not exactly, see, my dad was really drunk when he got home Friday night, and he always gets . . . affectionate with Britney when he’s like that. She said something about being tired of getting groped, and it made him really mad.”

“So what does that have to do with you?” I asked, then something occurred to me and I added, “You mean she told him you’d been groping her?”

“No, but that’s what he ended up thinking.”

Looks bad for Britney, huh? Don't jump to too many conclusions. More next week.


Shades of Blue is still a WIP, but you can buy my other books here.

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!


Follow me on Twitter: @JoyceScarbrough
Like my Facebook Fan Page here

Title Moment

(Mosaic tiles available here)

Happy Snippet Sunday! Time for eight more sentences from my YA/coming of age WIP, Shades of Blue. This week's snippet explains the name of the book. I always love it when I get to the title moment!

Last week's snippet left off with Sam rescuing JoJo from Chip Wiley in the woods on the way home from school, and it turned out to be a trap that Chip and his two friends had set for them. Sam and JoJo share a tender moment, but then he surprises her when he says she can't tell anyone what happened because he can't be mixed up in anything to do with the police. He says that if she cares anything about him, she has to promise not to tell. JoJo reluctantly agrees, then she remembers seeing the bruises on his back and realizes the reason he's so afraid of the police: his step-father beats him. Sam tries to deny it, but JoJo isn't fooled.

“Let me see your back, Sam.”

He sighed and turned around slowly. I lifted his T-shirt, and his back was so bruised that it was hard to find any part that was the normal color of his skin--big splotches in every shade of blue imaginable. Blue had always been my favorite color, but I never liked it after that. I guess I must have gasped, because he turned around and hugged me.

“I swear it’s not as bad as it looks,” he said. “It doesn’t even hurt much anymore. Please don’t cry.”

Next week find out what prompted Sam's beating.

Shades of Blue is still a WIP, but you can buy my other books here, and please also check out the other Weekend Writing Warriors and the Snippet Sunday folks. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!


Follow me on Twitter: @JoyceScarbrough
Like my Facebook Fan Page here

Recovery

Welcome back, Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday folks! Continuing with my YA/coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue, this scene takes place immediately following last week's snippet when Sam rescues JoJo from Chip Wiley and she realizes just before she passes out that it was a trap to get Sam out there so Chip and his two friends could gang up on him.

When I opened my eyes again, Sam was smoothing the hair away from my face and saying my name over and over in a tear-choked voice.

“Don’t cry, Sam, I’m okay.”

He cried harder.

“I’m sorry I didn’t get here sooner, JoJo.”

When he raised his head to look at me, I saw his bloody nose and cut lip and started to cry too, then we hugged each other until our tears slowed and he took out his handkerchief to wipe my face with it.

“JoJo, did he . . .” he started, then he stopped and looked at me with fearful eyes, but I was too ashamed to meet his gaze.

“No, he just put his filthy hands on me and made me . . . touch him,” I said, scrubbing my palms on my jeans and staring at them in disgust. “I don’t think they’ll ever feel clean again, and neither will I.”

Next week we'll see what Sam and JoJo are going to do about it.

Shades of Blue is still a WIP, but you can buy my other books here, and please also check out the other Weekend Writing Warriors and the Snippet Sunday folks. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

~Stay true to yourself and your dreams will come true!


Follow me on Twitter: @JoyceScarbrough
Like my Facebook Fan Page here