Silver Linings

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

I'm continuing with my YA coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) This scene skips ahead a bit and needs some setup. JoJo has just discovered that Sam's step-father beats him and molests his step-sister Britney, and that Sam's mom drinks and takes sleeping pills. Sam is afraid he'll be sent out of state to live with his grandmother if the authorities find out everything, and he makes JoJo promise not to tell anyone. They talk it all through and Sam admits it's part of why he's been avoiding her 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. When she says that, Sam gives her the same look he gave her a few days earlier when they were wrestling and she thought he'd been about to kiss her. That brings back the horror of what she's just gone through with Chip, and this is how she reacts. (Creative punctuation alert!)

He put a hand on my shoulder and turned me around to face him, then 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 and said, “You’re a lot more than a friend to me, JoJo, I think you know that.”

I knew it as well as I knew that he was gonna kiss me and 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 tongue in my 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.

More next week. Or you could always go buy your own copy of Shades of Blue here. ;-) Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

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

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Secrets and Lies

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Continuing with my YA coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) 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 to her and get him involved with the police. This part is right after JoJo sees the bruises on Sam's back and 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.”

Sam’s mom had never been a candidate for Mother of the Year, but I didn't know it had gotten so bad. “What does she say about Russ hitting you?”

“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. Can't wait? You could always go buy your own copy of Shades of Blue here. ;-) Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

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

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Talk About Your Scumbags

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

Happy Valentine's Day! Sorry my snippet isn't romantic, but I wanted to continue with my YA coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) 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. Sam doesn't want to tell her why he got hit, but she threatens to take back her promise not to tell anyone what happened if he doesn't talk to her. Here's the first part of the explanation. And a blue Valentine for everyone! :-)

Photo from MJBnTx's photobucket

His breath came out in a frustrated huff, but he said, “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 said then realized something. “Wait, you mean she told him you’d been groping her?”

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

“I’m gonna beat that tramp's lying ass!”

“No, JoJo, that would just make everything worse, and it probably won’t happen again anyway because he only does it when he’s drunk and—” He realized what he’d just told me and hung his head.

Uh-oh. It's happened before. And don't be too quick to judge Britney here. Things aren't always what they seem, especially in my books. More next week, or you could always go buy your own copy of Shades of Blue here. ;-) Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

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

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Gotta Love Those Title Moments

Time again for Weekend Writing Warriors and Snippet Sunday!

I'm continuing with my YA coming-of-age mystery, Shades of Blue. (You can catch up on the earlier excerpts here.) This scene takes place a little later after Sam shows up to rescue JoJo from being molested by Chip Wiley in the woods on the way home from school. Sam and JoJo share a tender moment, but 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 through his T-shirt and realizes that his step-father has been beating him. Sam tries to deny it, but JoJo isn't fooled.

“Let me see your back.”

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 until then, but I didn't like it anymore. 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.”

I put my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. “I hate him, Sam."

Find out next week why he got beaten. Or you could always go buy your own copy of Shades of Blue here. ;-) Please also check out the other Snippet Sunday folks and the Weekend Writing Warriors. Something for everyone among these talented writers!

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

See all my books at my Web site
Follow me on Twitter
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