Entry for the Scratch competition. Title: Cecile Avril and the Scarlett Note Our story begins here- where dolphins peaked from the water. Where kids filled buckets of water. Where the tide was slow and careful. Where one mysterious girl was staying out of the water. Cecile Avril wasn’t a strange girl, some would say she was as normal as the rest. The cyan sky was blistering as the bright ball of fire -we all call the sun- glistened on the shiny water. ‘Cecile, go into the water! C’mon- it’s perfectly fine,’ her brother, Samuel Avril, pulled on her arm. He smirked. ‘Are you not going in the water because James is here?’ Cecile blushed and shook her head. Samuel rolled his eyes, and walked off with his hands in his pockets. So maybe Cecile was not going in the water because her crush was in the water. Who could blame her? One half of her was on that though. The other was on the strange thought of how she would never impress him with her swimming skills. ‘Earth to Cecile Avril,’ grumbled her moody sister, Bonnie Avril. ‘Mum told me to tell you that we’re going. Get in the car.’ Cecile got up and glared at Bonnie who shrugged and scraped her feet along the floor as she walked to the car in her towel covering her wet bikini. ‘How are you, baby?’ When Cecile got in the car, her mother, Sophie Avril, asked this question. ‘I’m alright. I just wonder why we go to the beach on a pointless day like this? You’re just wetting your car- and your poor daughter, Cecile.’ she muttered in a reply. Her dad, Ethan Avril, replied to Cecile for Sophie, ‘Because today is a beautiful day and we never get to spend time at the beach.’ ‘Dad, it’s Winter. Even Char wouldn’t go to the beach in Winter. Probably because she had a brain, like me.’ Cecile said. Charlotte Mason was Cecile’s best friend. Her nickname was Char. ‘Young lady,’ Ethan paused as he switched on his blinkers. ‘I do not like the tone of your voice.’ Cecile rolled her eyes, as she tried to get away from Bonnie who was taking enough selfies in that one car trip to last a lifetime. ‘Hey!’ Samuel growled. ‘CeeCee- you hit me!’ ‘Kids, we’re almost home! Please don’t make me take away your screen time.’ Sophie yelled over the chaos. ‘Only Sam has screen time, which is that kiddy game, Robots.’ Bonnie said. She posed with a duck face.’ ‘Last time I checked, you spend more time than Sam spends on the game which by the way, is called Roblox,’ Cecile said, making Samuel grin. ‘Plus, it’s not as pointless as you and your duck faced selfies. Talk about obsessed. I almost feel bad for your friends.’ Bonnie shrugged and took photos of the beach.
‘Avrils, please have showers then meet me at the fireplace!’ Sophie reminded her kids. They all groaned in unison. To be fair, reading a page of the most boring book in the universe was torture for kids who would rather watch YouTube in their pajamas. ‘I bags shower!’ Bonnie said. ‘Whatever. I’ll have mine tomorrow.’ said Samuel, who barely ever showed ‘Bonnie, you spend hours in the shower. Sam, I’ve never seen you with a towel tied around your waist- you never shower.’ Cecile said. She was smart and sassy. Some may say double threat. Others like her siblings would say rude. ‘Well maybe I drip-dry. Or maybe I shower when you’re in your room thinking about James Klay,’ Samuel snapped. ‘Ooh! I’m in love with my James!’ He said that in a “girly-voice”. ‘Who’s James Klay?’ Bonnie smirked. ‘It’s her crush and her one and only true love.’ Samuel replied. ‘Shut up!’ Cecile basically screamed. ‘Don’t worry, CeeCee, we both know no one ever has just one and only true love,’ Bonnie winked. ‘Your secret’s safe with me!’ Cecile couldn’t bear thrashing and kicking the unfortunate misfit that was her brother. But she took a deep breath, and walked downstairs. Of course she heard Bonnie and Samuel behind her talking about James Klay. She walked into the kitchen, where Sophie was cooking bacon and Ethan was watering the kitchen plants. ‘Hey Cecile- are you okay? You look a bit…. annoyed.’ Sophie said, stirring up the bacon. ‘When are we reading Wendy’s Loss?’ Sophie looked up at her with brown eyes. ‘C’mon darling, you can tell me.’ ‘But when are we?’ ‘Stop stalling, CeeCee.’ Cecile became very interested in her feet. Ethan howled. ‘Do you want to know something, Cecile?’ A loud girl entered the room- Bonnie Avril. ‘I don’t accept or appreciate little turds who think it’s okay to try on my makeup!’ Bonnie threw out a white bag with stains all over it. She opened it up showing mascaras, blush palettes, eye shadow, lipsticks and even more, which all were ruined. Cecile couldn’t help but gasp. ‘And don’t you think you can just pretend to be surprised! I know you did this!’ ‘Cecile, did you ruin Bonnie’s stuff?’ Sophie came closer. Cecile was very close to bursting into tears- she did not do that! ‘I promise I did not!’ Cecile sobbed. She fiddled with the bag and found a letter. It was coloured with scarlett. No, it had stuff written in scarlett. ‘It says something,’ Cecile cleared her throat and read aloud. ‘Blame you will, fight you may, Without skill, you won’t have the answer at the end of the day.’ ‘What in the world does that mean?’ Bonnie put her hand on her hip. ‘It means we’ve got a mystery to solve.’ To be continued….
