“Sarah’s Chronicles” is coming to an end. It’s been about a year since I started this series. I always intended for it to be a big joke, but it’s been fun experimenting with different elements of drama. I’ve grown as a writer since then. I hope I’ve grown for the better. I’m not sure whether or not I should end it on a happy or said note. I have the ending planned, but I don’t know if I should be cruel to my characters. Well, here’s another piece of the story:
Plotting
Rod Tanzol
Nikki, worried for Sarah’s sanity, asked her a question, “Do you need any help plotting your course to Canada?”
Sarah looked at her. Nikki’s concern touched her, but she did not smile. Almost robotically, Sarah asked, “I like your sandals. Where did you get them?”
Nikki was frustrated with this response. “Sarah,” she explained, “you know where I got these. You were with me when I bought them.” She shook her head in disbelief.
Sarah wasn’t in reality. She apologized, “I don’t remember. I’ve seen so many wonderful shoes in the last few months that I must be overwhelmed.”
Nikki understood the root of the problem and consoled Sarah, “Don’t fret, school’s almost over, and you can go visit him.”
“We don’t get out until the end of June. I don’t know if I can wait three more weeks!” she cried.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nikki urged Sarah. “You have three weeks left of nothing to do in school. It’s just a relaxing waiting game. You can handle this!”
Flatly, Sarah said, “No, I can’t.”
Irked, Nikki yelled, “Don’t be like that! You’re just being difficult. You talk to him every day. You know every detail of each other’s lives. You spend all your free time talking to him. What’s going to happen when you see him? Are you waiting for his warm embrace? Seriously, think about what you’re doing. What’ll happen when you leave him again? How quickly will you become depressed again?”
Those words brought Sarah to tears. She cried, “Are you just saying that I’m wasting my time with him. You’ve always resented him. Do you just want me to break up with him?”
Anger and irrationality were abound. Nikki fought the temptation to answer affirmatively to that question. She gave a more comforting answer than she originally intended, “I just want you to be happy, and I don’t think your happiness includes a guy who’s lazy and won’t make an effort to come visit you or his friends.”
Sarah screamed, “Shut up! I need to go change my shoes!” She fumingly stormed away from Nikki.
-|-|-
The next day, Sarah went to school. She dredged through her day like a snake through sewage. It was disgusting work, but she did anyway, and with great efficiency too. Sarah showed some slight joy with the completion of her school day, but she held remorse for returning home.
Joe texted her. She hadn’t talked to him in a while. It was refreshing to hear from someone different. The message read, “How many riddles does it take to confuse you?” Sarah didn’t feel like interpreting his clearly idiotic message.
She responded, “-_- grow up.”
Joe called her. She answered. “So, what’s up?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she replied.
“That’s a shame,” Joe said. “Let’s go to the mall.”
“Why?” Sarah asked.
“You can help me find some new summer clothes!”
Sarah sighed, “You’re such a typical guy. It’s the middle of June! The fall collections are already out.”
Joe answered, “That’s ridiculous. I just want to find some bright colored shirts and some new shorts.”
“We’ll look, but guy clothes are so boring. Besides, the fall stuff is already out. Haven’t you noticed that the back-to-school commercials started airing?”
Joe didn’t care, “Oh well!” We’ll look anyway. We’ll go to GameStop afterwards and see if anything is on sale.”
Sarah answered only mildly reluctantly, “Sure. I’ll meet you at the train station. It’s only 20 minutes to the mall that way.”
“I’m not really sure if I want to go, but I have nothing better to do,” Sarah thought to herself. Was she finally trying to make a decision?
Who knew? Sarah met Joe at the station, and off to the mall they went. Joe dragged Sarah through the men’s departments of various stores. Sarah laughed at him. She was right. There were no summer clothes available. Joe managed to find one pair of shorts on clearance. They went to GameStop, found nothing interesting, and they went to the food court. They bought no food and just laughed at the idiots around them. An awkward silence grew between them. Joe broke it with a stupid question. He asked, “Does it itch?”
Sarah was confused and disturbed. “Does what itch?” she asked.
Joe spread his arms over his wide knees and stared at her austerely into her eyes. He asked, “Does it hurt when he calls? Does your body ache? Do you burn for his warm embrace? Do you have an itch that only he can scratch?”
Sarah turned flushed. She asked, “Excuse me?”
Joe restated, “Does it itch?”
“Does what itch?”
“Christ!” Joe exclaimed, “Do I have to explain it again? Does your knee itch? You keep scratching it, and it looks like it’ll bleed if you keep at it!”
“Oh,” Sarah remarked, “I thought you said something completely different.”
“What might that be?” Joe asked. Sarah was hesitant to answer. Joe’s cell phone chimed. He received a test message. He told Sarah to hold on for a moment. He typed a long response.
Sarah asked, “Who are you texting?”
Joe finished his message and answered her question, “Nikki was just asking to borrow my tripod; she has a photography project to do.”
“Why would she know that you have a tripod?” Sarah asked.
Joe answered the question inquisitively, “Nikki and I talk to each other; we’re friends now.”
Sarah was in disbelief. She asked, “I thought she hated you! Since when do the two of you talk?”
“I don’t know,” Joe said. He spitefully joked, “Since when does your dad allow you to have friends with penises?”
Sarah laughed, “I convinced him that you were gay and gave me good advice when we went shoe shopping together.”
Joe’s face went flat. He answered more flatly than he looked, “Thanks. I didn’t know I liked boys or shoes.”
Sarah joked, “Knowledge is power. You learn something new every day.”
Joe texted Nikki again. Sarah urged him to hurry up. It was getting late. The two took the train back home. Each went a separate way once they arrived in their town. They bid each other farewell, and night fell.
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