"Did you hear that?" you ask, as you and Dad stuff your faces with cold, stale cheese from Dani's old plate of nachos.
"This could be worse than Mittens," Dad says.
Then, at that moment, Dani and her friends enter the room. Even as junior high school teenagers, they seem as if gigantic skyscrapers of girls to you and Dad.
"Your room's a mess!" Aliyah exclaims. You know that Aliyah is Dani's best friend, and that they have known each other for years. An athletic sports lover, Aliyah is a light-skinned African American girl with long, wavy brown hair. She is very popular at school due to her attractiveness, talent in sports, and social-loving personality. However, she and Dani are known to fight a lot because of how close they are and Aliyah's propensity to be vain and stuck-up at times.
The girls step into the room, trying to avoid the dirty clothes and homework assignments. Aliyah stops near the plate you and Dad have climbed onto and are eating from. She has on an unzipped burgundy hoody, denim capris, and white canvas shoes with a single red stripe encompassing the sides.
"Look," you and Dad hear her say from high above, "you even have leftovers on the floor!"
Aliyah gently taps the plate with her foot, but the force is enough topple you and Dad over. You land face-first into a pool of cold, sticky salsa.
"I dare you to eat some," Aliyah says in a mischievous voice to the other girl, whose name is Andrea.
"Ew! No way!" Andrea answers.
As you wipe salsa from your face, you see Andrea standing nearby. She is Caucasian and has long, flowing hair like Aliyah, only blonde instead. Her eyes are a lighter brown than Aliyah's, with a cute face. Though the Andrea you know has a dorky personality, you know that one day she will be a beauty. Unlike Aliyah and Dani, though, she is normally shy around those she doesn't know--especially boys. Your interactions with her in the past have you aware that she has a big crush on you, as she blushes and becomes flustered around you, hardly saying anything from embarrassment.
"We're selling Girl Scout cookies today for my little sister," Aliyah says to Dani. "Want to come along?"
"Cookies? What kinds?" Dani asks excitedly as she flops onto her bed.
"Here," Aliyah answers, placing a plastic bag full of boxes of cookies on the ground and taking out a few of the boxes. "Look."
"You should try these," Andrea tells Dani, holding out a cookie from a box she had opened and been eating out of.
Aliyah swipes the cookie from Andrea's fingers and puts it in her mouth. You can hear the sound of it being chomped and crushed.
"No cookies for you!" Aliyah says, still chewing the cookie. She pulls a chip, crusty with dried cheese and salsa, from the plate and tosses it at Andrea. The plate is shaken again when she does this, tossing you over and against a chip. She then adds, "Only nachos for you! You're eating our merchandise!"
"Sorry!" Andrea says, quickly stuffing another cookie into her mouth.
"No!"
As the girls talk, you stand back up and look around for your dad. He is nearby but remains down where he first tumbled.
"Dad? Are you OK?"
"I'm stuck," he says, his voice somewhat muffled as he lays in a glob of nacho cheese.
You quickly go to him and try to tug him out, but the cheese is more solid than liquid after having sat out for hours, and Dad seems to have sunk into the goop.
"This isn't good," you say.
Meanwhile, Dani calls for Mom, who appears in the doorway a few seconds later.
"Mom, can I go with my friends to sell cookies?" Dani asks.
Mom is standing in the doorway with wide eyes and a blank expression. She lets her jaw drop in mock horror as she looks over the messy bedroom.
"How did your room get so dirty?" she asks. "Don't you know clothes go on hangers? In the closet?"
"I'll clean it later. Promise."
"No," Mom tells her. "Before you can leave, this room needs to be cleaned up."
She sniffs a particularly rancid smell and waves her hand in front of her face.
"Dani, are those nachos? This is why I don't let you have food in your room!"
In the plate of nachos, you have still had no success in rescuing your dad.
"What do I do, Dad? I can hear them talking about the plate. We have to get out of here."
"Save yourself, son," he answers. "I don't think I can get free. The more I struggle...the more I sink in."
"But..."
Suddenly, Aliyah's thumb comes flying in beside you. Her clear fingernail alone is as big as you, and you lose sight of Dad as her thumb covers him, accidentally landing in the sticky nacho cheese.
"Dad!" you cry out, but you feel the plate being lifted, and the sudden shift causes you to loose your footing again. You fall off the side of the plate and drop a good distance down to the carpet below. Your landing is soft, but it knocks the wind out of you. When you open your eyes, you see Aliyah walking away, out of the room, with the plate of nachos in hand.
View Portfolio
Visit Notebook
Send Gift Points
Awards
Badges
Send Email
Community Newsfeed
General Discussion
Sponsored Items
Book of Trinkets
Static Items
Books
Groups
Interactive Stories
Audio
Campfire Creatives
Community Notes
Crossword Puzzles
Documents
Folders
Images
In & Outs
Madlibs
Photo Albums
Polls
Product Reviews
Quizzes
Survey Forms
Web Pages
Word Searches
More by this author