Not Another Vampire Story - 1
1. Two Weeks and Counting
PG13. Tween, humor, middle school, angst, vampires, summer. #ReadFree
Suggested Music: J-Pop AudioNetwork
. . . She’d never look like Julia at seventeen-years-old. Not in a million years.
Sylvia turned the first page in her new manga and sighed. Only two weeks until school started. She wasn’t ready for summer break to be over. And she certainly wasn’t ready for eighth grade.
At least she had all her core classes with Holly. It would totally suck not to.
She anchored the graphic novel with one elbow and used both hands to tighten her hair tie, then flipped her ponytail of strawberry blonde hair out her face before it got caught in her bubblegum.
Once school started she’d have to start matching her clothes again, wearing socks and shoes, and make sure her hair was combed.
"Get your wet swimsuit off the carpet!" Julia screeched.
The foot in Sylvia’s side was more than a nudge, but not quite a kick. Sylvia looked up—way up—at her older sister’s irate face. Usually the face was nice to look at; all blonde hair like a halo around her sister Julia, stunning blue eyes with perfect mascara, topping a faultless figure not suffering too much for the lack of top-notch fashion.
Sylvia sat up on the living room floor, careful not to get her book wet, and rearranged her beach towel better under her soggy bottom. She’d never look like Julia at seventeen-years-old. Not in a million years.
"Mom says you’re wearing a bra this year to school," Julia said when she caught her younger sister’s blunt stare at her t-shirt. She smiled in satisfaction at Sylvia’s grimace.
"I don’t need one. How will it stay down? I’ve got nothing to put in it!" Sylvia leaned against the sofa behind her.
"Just a training bra, Sylvi." Julia touched her hair, glimpsing herself in the oval mirror by the living room door.
"I don’t have anything to train."
Julia applied a pink lipstick to her lips, making a test pucker. "I don’t understand your infatuation with those comic books."
"They’re graphic novels, and they are the art form in Japan."
Julia wiped a small extra bit of color from her lips. "Whatever. Where’s the point in reading—" she focused in the mirror at the manga in Sylvia’s hands, "—Girl Got Game? And it’s not just the books. The music, too. You’d think you were going to grow up and be Japanese or something."
Sylvia blew a bubble and the oscillating pedestal fan blew her hair into it as it popped. She wiped her hair away with her hand, which jerked the gum clear out of her mouth.
Julia shook her head as the gum dangled in Sylvia’s hair. "Serves you right, gum-head."
Sylvia set the book down and gave her attention to the hair now matted with dull pink watermelon gum that had long ago lost its flavor. The more she fingered the gooey mess, the worse it got.
"Get the scissors and I’ll cut it out." Julia looked out the narrow window by the door. "Hurry up."
"I’ll do it myself." Sylvia frowned, cross-eyed, at the sticky glopped-up hair hanging near her face.
Julia made a final check of her reflection. "My date’s here. Behave yourself. Mom will be home at eight."
"You behave yourself," Sylvia returned, rising to her knees to see what she could of her sister’s new boyfriend through the narrow window. Not much to see; just the top of dark hair of someone standing by the curb. She assumed there was a car nearby, out of sight. "Another one bites the dust."
Julia gave her a mocking look. "He is absolutely gorgeous, I’ll have you know."
"That’s why you’re so anxious to show him off to us?" Sylvia grinned.
Julia grabbed her purse from the chair, throwing a look to her sister. "Oh, by the way, your package came—three hours ago. KAT-TUN, is it?"
Sylvia made a face of horror. "You’re just telling me now?"
Julia stepped out. "Bye!"
Sylvia threw a pillow from the sofa at the closing door.
She got up and found the package on the phone stand in the kitchen, under a stack of mail for her mom. She dug through this and held the mailer up, smiling. KAT-TUN’s latest CD. She found the scissors from a kitchen drawer and carefully opened the package, and then with even more caution snipped the gum dangling from her hair.
She smiled at the photo on the CD cover. She gave her favorite member of the Jpop group a soft kiss. "Ahh. Junno..."
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Thanks to Sakurapu for sharing her story!
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