My theme for 2021 is a Young Adult short story. A double-date in the 1990s. An established teen couple sets up their best friends with each other, but it doesn't go well.
Today's word count is approximately: 548 words
I is for Iris
The toy is an odd shape, like an oval-ball body, a huge triangle sticking out for a nose, and two pentagon-shaped eyes. There's an orange and purple mohawk that looks like a child cut it to bits. Yohann squeezes his, causing it to squeak. Not the normal pitch of a squeaky toy, but a flatter sound, as if it were dying.
"What is it?" I ask, taking a step back as Lance moves his closer to me.
"You never had a Hubert? They're great. See, you can fill this part with water and fling it at someone, like a water grenade. Or there's an attachment horn with a clock and you can use him as an alarm. Oh, and there are wings and glasses and stuff." Lance playfully attacks Yohann's Hubert with his own.
"I never had the accessories. They're impossible to find in the states. Choking hazard," Yohann says.
"Yeah. My cousin had them when his dad was overseas with the Air Force," Lance nods in agreement.
"Did you have one of these?" I ask Madelyn. But as I look around, she isn't there. I huff and give Lance's hand a tug. He drops the toy and comes with me. Yohann follows behind.
We spot her near the fake flowers. She's holding a purple one.
"It's an iris," she says as the three of us approach. "The last one."
None of us says anything.
"It's my favorite flower." She looks at me like this conversation is obvious, and I'm supposed to be doing or saying something.
"Neat." She scowls at my reply. I pull Lance along to the end of the aisle where there's an empty corner. My fingers walk slowly up his chest, stroke his neck, and then sneak along his chin. He lets out a sexy growl as he leans down to kiss me.
This is my date, too. And I'm going to enjoy it. Lance's hands wrap around my waist, pulling me closer. I get on my tiptoes, pressing tighter to him. There's too much clothing between us. We've been apart for an entire week. I miss the summer. I want to go back to staying at his friend's place, to waking up in each other's arms, to morning showers, and to sharing bowls of cereal. My tongue rubs against his as our kiss deepens.
I hear someone clearing their throat in the distance. There's a tap on my shoulder. I roll myself tighter to Lance, thinking someone is just trying to get past us. I feel my ankle getting kicked, but assume it's a cart, and just alter my stance.
"Are you seriously ignoring us? We're supposed to be doing a group thing!"
Lance lets out a low roar as our kiss breaks. "I'm not making out with you just because this is a group. Go kiss Yohann."
"Well I would, but I don't think he's into me," Madelyn snarls at Lance.
"He'd be a hell of a lot more into you if you were kissing him. Or not making him feel like a jackass. Have you tried saying one kind word to him?"
Madelyn blinks.
"Hon, be nice." I stroke his chest.
"Am I wrong? Tell me you're not thinking the same thing, Babe."
I wrinkle my nose.
Thank you for reading!
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My Twitter would be @PenMinion - but I'm suspended right now. I used a quote from a comedian to threaten my self-critical inner voices. I didn't know that voices in my head were protected by Twitter's TOS. But they are. And even though the comedian has a Twitter account, and the quoted joke is available as a gif on Twitter, it was still a violation of the TOS. (And possibly racist?) Feel free to scroll this blog to learn more. I have several posts about it. In the meantime, never threaten inner voices of self-doubt, because you can be kicked off of social media for such an action.
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