The Daniels Generation 4.0 Part 2
It’s been a couple days since my last entry. Keiko still isn’t talking to me, Bim is still talking to me but she’s also a little upset.
So I decided to call up River since I needed some time outside the house.
River was happy to see me…
But he got a little freaked out when he saw the black eye. He tried to ask me about it a couple times but I kept evading the question.
To be fair to River, I understand where he was coming from. I mean if he was the one who showed up with a nasty black eye, I’d be asking questions too. Also he did drop the subject once I made it clear that I didn’t want to talk about it.
But I could tell that he was still worried.
Eventually we moved on this bowling/games place that recently opened, the name escapes me at the moment. While we were playing pool, I decided that River should know the bare bones details at least.
“I got into a fight. I lost and my sister got pissed off at me since I could have been kicked out of school for it. I needed to get out of the house.”
For a couple minutes, River didn’t say anything. But then he asked: “Did you at least get a few good hits?”
I didn’t answer but it did make me smile.
The rest of the outing went well and I went home in a much better mood.
-Kaede
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Things are still awkward at the house. Aside from dealing with classes and schoolwork, I’ve been re-reading all my old Hawk Bradley books. This series has always been good for cheering me up.
Though it hasn’t been all awkward silences and avoiding each other though, we recently all pooled our money together to get a desk and computer. Now we can type up assignments at home rather than at the library.
Considering the looks I’ve gotten from classmates, I’ll take any excuse to stay at home. I’m gonna be honest, I feel like I’m in bit of a slump right now. I guess it’s all the stress from tests and Keiko still avoiding me finally catching up.
That’s all I’ve got for now. I’ll write later.
-Kaede
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I think I figured out how to get out of my slump! There’s this website that I follow for aspiring writers and they’re having a competition. The story has to be at least 50,000 words long and fit within one of the genre categories. When the entries are in, the three best in each category will be published! I had to give this a try.
I’ve wanted to be a writer since high school but until now I wasn’t sure what to write about. Then I thought about my family’s trip to Takemizu Village and all the stories dad used to tell about his travels, and my Hawk Bradley books.
This is actually sort of embarrassing but when I was a kid, I actually made up my own character for the HB series. She was a professional treasure hunter named Ruby Hunter and she had a rivalry with Hawk. After thinking about, I decided that I was going to make Ruby her own character. I already have an idea for this story, I’m so excited!
-Kaede
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I’m not dead! I’ve just been really busy between school work and working on Ruby Hunter.
I’ve also been hanging out with River more often.
I told him about the book and he’s been really supportive.
I mentioned that I am a little nervous since pulps aren’t as popular as they used to be. But he has complete and utter confidence that I’m totally going to win.
-Kaede
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I went on another outing with River. We stopped by one of the parks at the end of the night.
We chatted for a while, River asked how school was going (well), how far along I am on the book (I’m toward the end of Act 1), if anything has changed with Keiko and Bim (no).
But at some point we just sat there and stopped talking.
Eventually River spoke up. “You know Kaede, I’ve really been enjoying these outings. You’re a great girl, you’re smart, you’re funny, you’re creative, you’re...”
“River is something wrong?”
“N-No, no. Just…”
“I’m just saying that I really like spending time with you. More than any of my other friends.”
I probably should have realized what River was trying to say but I was kind of tired so I didn’t think much of it.
Eventually I got up from the bench.
“I should get going River, it’s getting late.”
River got up, grabbed my shoulder and turned me around before I got too far.
“Wait. Before you get home…”
He stepped closer to me and before I realized what he was doing, he kissed me… right on the lips… and I guess I kind of kissed him back…
After that he just smiled and wished me a good night.
I just sort of came home in a daze.
I wasn’t even really paying attention when Bim asked me if I was okay. I don’t even remember going to bed.
When I woke up, I was still sort of in a daze and while I ate breakfast it all just hit me like a sack of bricks. River kissed me… I liked it so I kissed him back… I think we’ve kind of gone beyond friends now.
-Kaede
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I haven’t gone on an outing with River since the kiss. I mean I’m not avoiding him or anything, we exchanged chat messages, it’s just kind one of those “so where do we go from there” type of deals.
Plus I’ve been busy juggling school work with book writing.
On the bright side though, Keiko and I seem to be talking again… sort of.
She just kind of walked up and asked how the book was going.
“It’s going well. I’m working on act 2 right now. If I keep going like this, I should make it in time for the deadline.”
“That’s great, um… keep at it.”
Like I said, not a whole lot but it was better than when she was ignoring me so I take that as sign of improvement.
-Kaede
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So I invited River over. Keiko and Bim were at class so it would be just the two of us.
We spent a bit of time watching some TV.
Neither of us said anything… it just felt awkward.
When the show finished up, River spoke up.
“Hey, are you upset about that kiss? I’m really sorry I wasn’t really thi…”
“No, no. It’s just… I never had a boyfriend before, never really thought about dating. So the kiss sort of caught me by surprise. I actually kind of liked it.”
“You liked it?”
“Yeah. I mean I kissed you back didn’t I?”
“Well… maybe we weren’t thinking straight… maybe…”
“Maybe we should kiss again just in case?”
As it turned out, we both liked kissing each other…
…and cuddling each other…
…and holding each other’s hands…
Basically the point I’m making is that River and I are dating now. Hopefully mom and dad don’t react too badly to the fact that I’m dating an older guy.
-Kaede
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YES! That giant black eye of mine is finally gone! I actually go outside without getting dirty looks!
Keiko is willing to be near me and actually talk to me again. I don’t think she still quite forgives me but she’s not constantly glaring at me anymore so hey step in the right direction!
Plus I just started typing up act 3 for Ruby Hunter. If I keep up the pace, I’ll totally make the deadline with time to spare.
Life is good right now.
-Kaede
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It. Is. Finished! My first book: Ruby Hunter & The Fortress of the Fiend. I submitted it to the site and now all I have to do is wait.
In the meantime, I decided that it was time to celebrate.
I called up River and asked if he wanted to go out and he was more than happy to say yes.
We went to this place called The Hub. Not too fancy but at the same time, it was a lot nicer than the bowling place we used to go to.
“Let’s have a toast to Gardenfield’s best writer!”
“Hey I haven’t won you know.”
“Didn’t I say before that you were going to totally win?”
The rest of the date went well. Found out that River and I are much better dancers than we are singers.
The next morning, we found that River actually left me flowers. He’s such a dork but I still love him.
-Kaede
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Keiko, Bim, and I went over to the Student Lounge building last night. While Bim was working on something upstairs, my twin and I had a conversation over dinner.
“Keiko, I know this is way, way overdue. But I’m sorry for getting into that fight with Skeevy and I’m sorry for yelling and screaming at you that day. We cool again?”
Keiko sighed, “Honestly, I’m still angry at you. But what’s done is done and no amount of anger is going to change the past. So yeah we’re cool.”
“Hey I’ll take what I can get as long as I can talk to you again.”
Keiko chuckled a little at that. She also told me that she heard that Skeevy got expelled when she and Bim proved that he was the one behind those gross phone calls. So before I end this entry allow me to get in one good “HA HA!”
-Kaede
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Sorry it’s been a while since I wrote! Busy with school and everything. Not to mention…
Well I’m not going to be hearing the results of the competition for a while but even if I don’t win, I can still shop around for a publisher. That said; I was hit with inspiration for another Ruby Hunter book. Ruby Hunter & the Crown of the Crimson Queen.
-Kaede
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Stick around for part 3 because I didn't know that LJ had a friggin' entry size limit. DX