NaNoWriMo 2011: 5/21/11--6/21/11
Title: Distance
Characters: Avery Campbell, Jude Burwell
Word Count: 2,569 (total: 4,611)
Overall Summary: Two best friends going through life's challenges.
Author's Note: I started this on May 21, and my goal is to reach 50k words by June 21. Thanks to anyone reading along. Keep in mind, though, that mostly all of this will need some intense editing in a month's time. For the first time ever, I am finally going to write about something I know a lot about: my religion. I am LDS (Mormon) and the characters in this story are LDS. I am going to say now, that if you have hateful things to say about my church/beliefs, your comments will be deleted.
Seventh grade went by quickly and easily. Jude was able to find a couple guy friends to hang out with, but still be best friends with Avery. She also found some girls who she became very close with. They had slumber parties every now and then, where nails would be painted, movies were watched and boys were talked about. One girl, Amanda Hughes, who was closest with Avery, brought up Jude and all of his little buddies. She started to talk about how cute they were, and how one of the boys wanted to hold her hand and kiss her. The other girls all giggled and smiled at one another, but Avery felt confused. Why would he want to hold Amanda’s hand? Better yet, why would he want to kiss her? Why was Amanda calling those boys cute? Rather than keeping all of those questions to herself, Avery asked all of them. Amanda looked around at the girls in the room, then back at Avery.
“You’ve never noticed how cute Jude is? Or how much he likes you?” Amanda asked. Avery frowned, and then started to laugh.
“Jude? Cute? You are so funny, Amanda!” Avery giggled. Amanda gave her a serious look.
“I’m being serious, Avery. Jude totally likes you.”
“Well, I know he likes me. He’s been my best friend for a year!”
“No, I mean he likes you likes you,” Amanda smiled. Avery felt confused yet again.
“I still don’t understand,” Avery mumbled.
“That’s okay; I’ll talk to Jude for you on Monday,” Amanda smiled again, but this time there seemed to be an evil gleam in her eyes.
The Monday morning following the sleepover, Avery’s father, Adam, picked up Jude and took the two of them to school. Jude greeted Avery the same way he always had; smiled and waved. Was that not how he should say hello to her? Should he just say hi, or something simple like that? Avery felt a cloud of confusion come over her again.
Once at school, Jude offered to walk Avery to her class. Normally, she would have smiled and said yes; but now, she wasn’t sure how to react. What if Jude really did like her like her? What did that mean for their friendship? Was he only being friends with her to hold her hand or kiss her? She knew that wasn’t the case, because neither of them was supposed to do things like that until they turned sixteen. Besides, what did that even mean, like liking someone? Why couldn’t you just like someone and be done with it?
Avery politely told him she wanted to walk by herself. He blinked a few times, looking defeated, as she walked away. Amanda showed up at her side a moment later, smiling that same evil smile from a few nights ago.
“So, if Jude says he likes you likes you, do you want me to tell you?” Amanda asked.
Avery thought about it for a moment. She honestly had no idea what the difference was between liking someone and like liking someone. If Jude did like her, and she was meant to know, that either Jude would tell her, or she would find out on her own.
“No, don’t tell me anything,” Avery smiled at her friend. Amanda sighed, bored by her cautious friend.
Avery never did find out if Jude did in fact like her like her, and she was okay with that. Her friendship with Jude was the closest it had ever been a couple years later, after eighth grade. Just a few months into the school year, her older brother Neil had left to serve a mission in the Augusta, Maine mission. It had been particularly tough on their mother, Nancy, which in turn made it tough for their father, Adam, and that ended up making it tough for Avery. She was often sent to stay the night at friend’s houses, or meals were brought over from people in their ward at church. After hanging out with Jude so much and so often, Avery’s friendship with his little sister, Julia, had grown and they had become much closer. Jude frequently took advantage of that friendship, telling Julia to invite Avery over to play with her, but then he would swoop in and hang out with them as well. He always thought he was so cool, but Avery was finally starting to see through his silly jokes.
Avery had just turned fourteen, which meant a few different things for her. Now she could go to the church dances, and she was also in the next class at church, Mia Maids. Although, these things didn’t meant too much to Avery; she had no interest in the dances yet, and there weren’t a lot of girls her own age at church. Even though Avery didn’t consider her age a big milestone, her parents started to talk to her about getting ready for a rush of hormones when she entered high school in the fall. She was excited and terrified at the same time. Unlike the way she entered middle school, she would enter high school with a tight group of friends. She was looking forward to spending time with Amanda and the other girls, along with Jude and his friends.
A couple of weeks after Avery’s fourteenth birthday, Jude told her that his family was moving again, but that he didn’t want her to worry because they were just moving to a new house. Avery was grateful that he wasn’t leaving her alone to enter high school, but she was sad that her best friend wouldn’t be right around the corner when she needed him.
“I know, it sucks that I won’t be close anymore,” Jude told her one afternoon. They were sitting on the hot driveway of Avery’s house, eating Popsicles to try and cool down. “But this new house has a great perk: a pool.”
Avery smiled her signature big, toothy grin at him as she took another chomp at her Popsicle. “That is awesome, Jude! It is also very exciting, because I am only assuming that we will be having many parties at your new house, right?”
Jude grinned at her. “Of course we will!”
Jude and his family moved into their new house a few weeks later. However, before they were even able to unpack all of their things, his parents surprised him and Julia with four plane tickets to Colorado where his mother’s family lived. They would be spending all summer there, coming back to California only a week before the school year was scheduled to start.
This was devastating news to Avery, who now that both Jude and Julia would be gone, she didn’t really have anyone. Amanda was going to Southern California with her parents, which meant that Avery would have to spend all summer alone with her own parents. The day that Jude and his family were supposed to leave, he made them make a quick stop at Avery’s house. He clambered out of the car, his arms and legs still too long for his body. Avery met him on the driveway, smiling at him and trying to hold back tears.
“Here is the key to our house, Avery,” said Jude, placing a small silver key in her hand.
“Wait, what?” Avery asked, frowning up at him.
“We need someone to house sit for us, you know, just stop by everyday and make sure the house is still there; things like that.”
“Wow, okay; thanks for trusting me with this, Jude.”
“You and your parents are also welcome to use the pool,” he offered, smiling at her. She smiled back, nodding.
“Of course, thank you so much.”
Jude gave her one last hug, this one seeming to last for quite sometime, before he got back into the car and his father drove off. Avery sighed, looking down at the key. Suddenly, she knew it was going to be a good summer, regardless of all of her friends being gone.
The first few days after Jude left, the days moved so slowly for Avery. She woke up at about nine or ten then would take her time eating breakfast and showering. By one in the afternoon, she would be so bored out of her mind. She would write her brother a letter, and then maybe tinker with the guitar that Neil had left behind in his room. Finally, her mother suggested she go and check on the Burwell’s house. Avery made the claim that she had no way of getting there, but her mother countered that by telling her daughter that there was a perfectly good bike in the garage. Avery sighed, knowing that she had nothing better to do. She went into the garage and found the bike, wiping off the cobwebs that had formed in the last years.
After making sure the Burwell’s key was secure and safe inside her bag, Avery began the mile long bike ride to the house. The weather was beautiful, the warm sun generously bathing everything in light while the bees hummed around freshly blossomed flowers. She thought it would take a long time before she got to the house, but she was pleasantly surprised when she turned a corner and saw it at the end of the street.
When she reached the house and slipped the little key into the side gate’s lock, she was taken aback by how gorgeous the back yard was. It was nice and spacious, even with a pool off to the side. She wheeled her bike in, making sure to shut the gate behind her. Walking into the house, she saw that it was still mostly empty. There was a couch and a chair in the front room, but other than that there were boxes all over the place. Avery smiled at her newfound sanctuary; this really was going to be a good summer.
She changed into her bathing suit and jumped into the pool. The water was a relaxing cold against her skin from the hot sun. She swam around for a while, floating on her back and doing laps. After about an hour, she got out and laid in the grass right under the sun. She took a deep, long breath, enjoying the warm summer rays on her skin.
Over the next couple of months, this would become a routine for Avery every single day. By the time summer was almost over, Avery’s skin tone had changed from a pale white to a golden brown. She had gotten a little bit taller, and had filled out in areas she was not expecting to. After a long, lonely summer, Jude and his family was finally coming home. Avery had a couple of ideas on how to welcome them back; she could wait for them in their house and surprise them, or she could just wait until Jude or Julia called her. Her mother agreed that the second option would be best.
The day that the Burwell’s came back was a long and agonizing day for Avery. Jude had emailed her in the morning that their plane should land in California at ten AM. It was already almost eleven, and she had still heard nothing from Jude or his family. She knew that nothing was wrong; she would have felt it if something was wrong. Her mother tried to tell her to be patient; that Jude just got back from a very long and exhausting flight and vacation; that he would call when he was rested. These were things that Avery did not want to hear, but she knew her mother was right. Avery had settled herself in the front room of her house, peering out of the window like a sad puppy. After a few hours of trying to wait, she had fallen into a light nap.
However, when the phone finally rang at three o’clock, Avery jumped awake and ran to the phone. She mumbled a hasty hello, only to be greeted by a deeper version of Jude’s voice. She felt confused for a moment, like someone was playing a mean joke on her, but when the deep voice asked Avery if she had enjoyed their pool, she knew it was Jude.
“I need to see you, Jude! It has been two and a half months! I NEED to see you!” She shouted into the phone, her face split in half by the biggest smile she’s ever worn.
“I know, I want to see you, too,” Jude replied. She could hear the smile in his voice. “Can I come over right now?”
“Yes, of course!” Avery answered, not bothering to ask her parents.
“Great, I will be right over.”
Avery hung the phone up, taking a deep sigh of relief. Her best friend was back, which meant that things would finally be back to normal. The suspense was killing Avery as she waited for Jude to show up at her house. Had he changed during the summer, like she had? Was he even taller than he already was? Avery chewed at her lip nervously, smiling though. She hadn’t realized how much she missed Jude until he came to her house a few minutes later.
Running out of the house to embrace him, Avery stopped short at the sight of him. She was used to tall, gangly Jude who was awkward and uncomfortable in his body. The young man who stood before her, however, was none of those things. His shoulders and back filled out, and his limbs had grown in size with tough muscles. His face was fuller, rather than skinny and youthful. This person who stood before her was not Jude, could not be Jude; this guy looked too handsome to be Jude.
“Long time no see!” Jude bellowed in his newly found deep voice, wrapping his arms around Avery to pull her into a tight bear hug. She simply smiled into his arms and allowed herself to be swallowed up.
“It is so good to see you, Jude! I have missed you so much,” she told him, trying to hug him back. After a minute, he put her back down, the both of them still smiling.
“How has your summer been?” he asked.
“It has been really good. Thanks again for letting me house sit for you guys, it was nice to have somewhere else to go other than my house.”
“No problem. Looks like it worked in your favor,” Jude pointed out, gesturing to her tanned skin. Avery simply grinned in return.
They stood and talked for a few more minutes before Jude got a call on his cell phone from his mother. She wanted him home to help unpack and put things away. Reluctantly, Jude said goodbye to Avery with another big hug before walking back the way he came. Avery stood on the sidewalk and watched until he turned the corner and was gone. She took a deep breath and smiled again, a rush of new and strange feelings coming over her. They had been best friends since the sixth grade and they obviously cared about each other, but these feelings were different. These feelings made her want to just be cuddled up in Jude’s safe, protective arms all day. She frowned, stopping for a moment, before shaking those feelings away. She was just happy to see him, that’s all; nothing else.
Characters: Avery Campbell, Jude Burwell
Word Count: 2,569 (total: 4,611)
Overall Summary: Two best friends going through life's challenges.
Author's Note: I started this on May 21, and my goal is to reach 50k words by June 21. Thanks to anyone reading along. Keep in mind, though, that mostly all of this will need some intense editing in a month's time. For the first time ever, I am finally going to write about something I know a lot about: my religion. I am LDS (Mormon) and the characters in this story are LDS. I am going to say now, that if you have hateful things to say about my church/beliefs, your comments will be deleted.
Seventh grade went by quickly and easily. Jude was able to find a couple guy friends to hang out with, but still be best friends with Avery. She also found some girls who she became very close with. They had slumber parties every now and then, where nails would be painted, movies were watched and boys were talked about. One girl, Amanda Hughes, who was closest with Avery, brought up Jude and all of his little buddies. She started to talk about how cute they were, and how one of the boys wanted to hold her hand and kiss her. The other girls all giggled and smiled at one another, but Avery felt confused. Why would he want to hold Amanda’s hand? Better yet, why would he want to kiss her? Why was Amanda calling those boys cute? Rather than keeping all of those questions to herself, Avery asked all of them. Amanda looked around at the girls in the room, then back at Avery.
“You’ve never noticed how cute Jude is? Or how much he likes you?” Amanda asked. Avery frowned, and then started to laugh.
“Jude? Cute? You are so funny, Amanda!” Avery giggled. Amanda gave her a serious look.
“I’m being serious, Avery. Jude totally likes you.”
“Well, I know he likes me. He’s been my best friend for a year!”
“No, I mean he likes you likes you,” Amanda smiled. Avery felt confused yet again.
“I still don’t understand,” Avery mumbled.
“That’s okay; I’ll talk to Jude for you on Monday,” Amanda smiled again, but this time there seemed to be an evil gleam in her eyes.
The Monday morning following the sleepover, Avery’s father, Adam, picked up Jude and took the two of them to school. Jude greeted Avery the same way he always had; smiled and waved. Was that not how he should say hello to her? Should he just say hi, or something simple like that? Avery felt a cloud of confusion come over her again.
Once at school, Jude offered to walk Avery to her class. Normally, she would have smiled and said yes; but now, she wasn’t sure how to react. What if Jude really did like her like her? What did that mean for their friendship? Was he only being friends with her to hold her hand or kiss her? She knew that wasn’t the case, because neither of them was supposed to do things like that until they turned sixteen. Besides, what did that even mean, like liking someone? Why couldn’t you just like someone and be done with it?
Avery politely told him she wanted to walk by herself. He blinked a few times, looking defeated, as she walked away. Amanda showed up at her side a moment later, smiling that same evil smile from a few nights ago.
“So, if Jude says he likes you likes you, do you want me to tell you?” Amanda asked.
Avery thought about it for a moment. She honestly had no idea what the difference was between liking someone and like liking someone. If Jude did like her, and she was meant to know, that either Jude would tell her, or she would find out on her own.
“No, don’t tell me anything,” Avery smiled at her friend. Amanda sighed, bored by her cautious friend.
Avery never did find out if Jude did in fact like her like her, and she was okay with that. Her friendship with Jude was the closest it had ever been a couple years later, after eighth grade. Just a few months into the school year, her older brother Neil had left to serve a mission in the Augusta, Maine mission. It had been particularly tough on their mother, Nancy, which in turn made it tough for their father, Adam, and that ended up making it tough for Avery. She was often sent to stay the night at friend’s houses, or meals were brought over from people in their ward at church. After hanging out with Jude so much and so often, Avery’s friendship with his little sister, Julia, had grown and they had become much closer. Jude frequently took advantage of that friendship, telling Julia to invite Avery over to play with her, but then he would swoop in and hang out with them as well. He always thought he was so cool, but Avery was finally starting to see through his silly jokes.
Avery had just turned fourteen, which meant a few different things for her. Now she could go to the church dances, and she was also in the next class at church, Mia Maids. Although, these things didn’t meant too much to Avery; she had no interest in the dances yet, and there weren’t a lot of girls her own age at church. Even though Avery didn’t consider her age a big milestone, her parents started to talk to her about getting ready for a rush of hormones when she entered high school in the fall. She was excited and terrified at the same time. Unlike the way she entered middle school, she would enter high school with a tight group of friends. She was looking forward to spending time with Amanda and the other girls, along with Jude and his friends.
A couple of weeks after Avery’s fourteenth birthday, Jude told her that his family was moving again, but that he didn’t want her to worry because they were just moving to a new house. Avery was grateful that he wasn’t leaving her alone to enter high school, but she was sad that her best friend wouldn’t be right around the corner when she needed him.
“I know, it sucks that I won’t be close anymore,” Jude told her one afternoon. They were sitting on the hot driveway of Avery’s house, eating Popsicles to try and cool down. “But this new house has a great perk: a pool.”
Avery smiled her signature big, toothy grin at him as she took another chomp at her Popsicle. “That is awesome, Jude! It is also very exciting, because I am only assuming that we will be having many parties at your new house, right?”
Jude grinned at her. “Of course we will!”
Jude and his family moved into their new house a few weeks later. However, before they were even able to unpack all of their things, his parents surprised him and Julia with four plane tickets to Colorado where his mother’s family lived. They would be spending all summer there, coming back to California only a week before the school year was scheduled to start.
This was devastating news to Avery, who now that both Jude and Julia would be gone, she didn’t really have anyone. Amanda was going to Southern California with her parents, which meant that Avery would have to spend all summer alone with her own parents. The day that Jude and his family were supposed to leave, he made them make a quick stop at Avery’s house. He clambered out of the car, his arms and legs still too long for his body. Avery met him on the driveway, smiling at him and trying to hold back tears.
“Here is the key to our house, Avery,” said Jude, placing a small silver key in her hand.
“Wait, what?” Avery asked, frowning up at him.
“We need someone to house sit for us, you know, just stop by everyday and make sure the house is still there; things like that.”
“Wow, okay; thanks for trusting me with this, Jude.”
“You and your parents are also welcome to use the pool,” he offered, smiling at her. She smiled back, nodding.
“Of course, thank you so much.”
Jude gave her one last hug, this one seeming to last for quite sometime, before he got back into the car and his father drove off. Avery sighed, looking down at the key. Suddenly, she knew it was going to be a good summer, regardless of all of her friends being gone.
The first few days after Jude left, the days moved so slowly for Avery. She woke up at about nine or ten then would take her time eating breakfast and showering. By one in the afternoon, she would be so bored out of her mind. She would write her brother a letter, and then maybe tinker with the guitar that Neil had left behind in his room. Finally, her mother suggested she go and check on the Burwell’s house. Avery made the claim that she had no way of getting there, but her mother countered that by telling her daughter that there was a perfectly good bike in the garage. Avery sighed, knowing that she had nothing better to do. She went into the garage and found the bike, wiping off the cobwebs that had formed in the last years.
After making sure the Burwell’s key was secure and safe inside her bag, Avery began the mile long bike ride to the house. The weather was beautiful, the warm sun generously bathing everything in light while the bees hummed around freshly blossomed flowers. She thought it would take a long time before she got to the house, but she was pleasantly surprised when she turned a corner and saw it at the end of the street.
When she reached the house and slipped the little key into the side gate’s lock, she was taken aback by how gorgeous the back yard was. It was nice and spacious, even with a pool off to the side. She wheeled her bike in, making sure to shut the gate behind her. Walking into the house, she saw that it was still mostly empty. There was a couch and a chair in the front room, but other than that there were boxes all over the place. Avery smiled at her newfound sanctuary; this really was going to be a good summer.
She changed into her bathing suit and jumped into the pool. The water was a relaxing cold against her skin from the hot sun. She swam around for a while, floating on her back and doing laps. After about an hour, she got out and laid in the grass right under the sun. She took a deep, long breath, enjoying the warm summer rays on her skin.
Over the next couple of months, this would become a routine for Avery every single day. By the time summer was almost over, Avery’s skin tone had changed from a pale white to a golden brown. She had gotten a little bit taller, and had filled out in areas she was not expecting to. After a long, lonely summer, Jude and his family was finally coming home. Avery had a couple of ideas on how to welcome them back; she could wait for them in their house and surprise them, or she could just wait until Jude or Julia called her. Her mother agreed that the second option would be best.
The day that the Burwell’s came back was a long and agonizing day for Avery. Jude had emailed her in the morning that their plane should land in California at ten AM. It was already almost eleven, and she had still heard nothing from Jude or his family. She knew that nothing was wrong; she would have felt it if something was wrong. Her mother tried to tell her to be patient; that Jude just got back from a very long and exhausting flight and vacation; that he would call when he was rested. These were things that Avery did not want to hear, but she knew her mother was right. Avery had settled herself in the front room of her house, peering out of the window like a sad puppy. After a few hours of trying to wait, she had fallen into a light nap.
However, when the phone finally rang at three o’clock, Avery jumped awake and ran to the phone. She mumbled a hasty hello, only to be greeted by a deeper version of Jude’s voice. She felt confused for a moment, like someone was playing a mean joke on her, but when the deep voice asked Avery if she had enjoyed their pool, she knew it was Jude.
“I need to see you, Jude! It has been two and a half months! I NEED to see you!” She shouted into the phone, her face split in half by the biggest smile she’s ever worn.
“I know, I want to see you, too,” Jude replied. She could hear the smile in his voice. “Can I come over right now?”
“Yes, of course!” Avery answered, not bothering to ask her parents.
“Great, I will be right over.”
Avery hung the phone up, taking a deep sigh of relief. Her best friend was back, which meant that things would finally be back to normal. The suspense was killing Avery as she waited for Jude to show up at her house. Had he changed during the summer, like she had? Was he even taller than he already was? Avery chewed at her lip nervously, smiling though. She hadn’t realized how much she missed Jude until he came to her house a few minutes later.
Running out of the house to embrace him, Avery stopped short at the sight of him. She was used to tall, gangly Jude who was awkward and uncomfortable in his body. The young man who stood before her, however, was none of those things. His shoulders and back filled out, and his limbs had grown in size with tough muscles. His face was fuller, rather than skinny and youthful. This person who stood before her was not Jude, could not be Jude; this guy looked too handsome to be Jude.
“Long time no see!” Jude bellowed in his newly found deep voice, wrapping his arms around Avery to pull her into a tight bear hug. She simply smiled into his arms and allowed herself to be swallowed up.
“It is so good to see you, Jude! I have missed you so much,” she told him, trying to hug him back. After a minute, he put her back down, the both of them still smiling.
“How has your summer been?” he asked.
“It has been really good. Thanks again for letting me house sit for you guys, it was nice to have somewhere else to go other than my house.”
“No problem. Looks like it worked in your favor,” Jude pointed out, gesturing to her tanned skin. Avery simply grinned in return.
They stood and talked for a few more minutes before Jude got a call on his cell phone from his mother. She wanted him home to help unpack and put things away. Reluctantly, Jude said goodbye to Avery with another big hug before walking back the way he came. Avery stood on the sidewalk and watched until he turned the corner and was gone. She took a deep breath and smiled again, a rush of new and strange feelings coming over her. They had been best friends since the sixth grade and they obviously cared about each other, but these feelings were different. These feelings made her want to just be cuddled up in Jude’s safe, protective arms all day. She frowned, stopping for a moment, before shaking those feelings away. She was just happy to see him, that’s all; nothing else.