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Coming of Age

This doesn't have anything to do with the prompt..... hope you like it!!! :)

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“I stood up to make a change. I succeeded. That’s what matters the most.” I told my mom as I put the dishes away.


“I know, honey, but do you really need better classrooms at your school? I get that that matters to you, but wouldn’t better seating be a big distraction?” she asked me.


“I dunno.” I sighed. “I know that the petition was a bit much, but student leadership is supposed to make changes for what is right. I’m 11, mom. I can decide what I want to do to make a difference.” I tell her. My 1 ½ year old sister Emma walked into the kitchen.


“Livy Livy LIVY!” she started shouting. “I hungry!” she yelled.


“Okay, Emmie.” my mom picks her up. “We’re having dinner soon, you can go to Avery's house and hang out for a little.”


“Okay!” I dash to my room to grab my phone. I slip on my flip flops and walk next door to my best friend’s house. Knock, knock. The door opens.


“Hey Olivia!” her dad greets me.


“Hi, Mr. Wilson!” I say. “Can I hang out with Avery for a little bit?” I ask.


“Sure.” he tells me. I hurry inside to her room and see her sitting criss cross applesauce on the floor with her phone in her hands. I sit on her spinny chair. Avery is watching YouTube.


“Hi, Olivia.” Avery says to me. “Hi.” As I go to sit by her, my phone buzzes. I expect it to be my mom, telling me it’s dinnertime, but instead it’s a girl at our school, Natalie Cook.


“Ummmm?” I am confused.


“What?” Avery looks over my shoulder at my phone, after pausing her video. “Natalie? She’s literally the newest girl in 5th grade. Liv, block her.” she tells me.


“No,” I say. “I’ll ask her how she got my number…” I trail off. I just shove my phone into my pocket.


“OLIVIA! Your mom wants you for dinner!” I hear Mr. Wilson shout.


“Oop, gotta go. Bye, Aves.” I say.


“Bye Olivia.” she says. I hurry over to my house and go to the kitchen. I saw three plates sitting on the counter, and I took one off the stack. I set mine on the island counter and gave my mom the plastic IKEA plate for Emma.


“Thanks.” she says, as she cuts up a hot dog. I use the tongs to get my steaming hot dog and set it carefully onto a bun. I squirt out ketchup, mustard, get some relish, and scoop out some shredded cheese with my hands. I get some mac and cheese and go to sit on the couch. My dad was sitting in a chair and watching the news. My phone buzzes from my pocket. It’s Natalie, again.


'I’m eating dinner.' I text my sorta secret friend. Some days when Avery leaves early, has after-school activities, or isn’t at school, I hang out with Natalie, and Avery doesn’t know. She thinks the new girl Natalie Cook is the strangest girl ever. We actually have a LOT in common.


'k.' she replies. I turn my phone on silent mode and take a bite of my hot dog.


“How was school?” my dad asks me.


“Good,” I nod, “We finally got 300 signatures!” I tell him excitedly.


“Yay!” he says. He encourages my ideas and tells me to keep going and trying, while my mom basically tells me to stop and none of my ideas will work out the way I want them to. We keep watching the TV until a movie turns on.


“What is this, hon?” my mom asks, through a bite of macaroni and cheese.


“I don’t know.” my dad replies.


“Wheel! Wheel!” Emma kicks her booster seat.


“Wheel?” my dad asks. Then he turns on Wheel of Fortune. Once it’s over, I go to my room and sit at my loft desk. I open my computer.


“Dad!” I shout.


“Coming!” he says back. I hear his footsteps. He walks into my room and flips on my LED lights that I got for Christmas. “Okay…” My dad and I are working on a website where I am selling my own handmade clothes. It's called My Busy Bee Clothes. Our garage is my #2 happy place. It’s basically my fashion studio. I log onto my Instagram account and post some pictures. I also comment on my friends' pictures and posts.


‘@AbbyKat Thanks! Yes, I do make my own clothes and yes, I do sell them.’ I comment. ‘@goldenroses Most things are around $20-40.’


“Okay, I think I worked out that kink that we had.” he tells me.


“Thanks, dad.” I hug him. He hugs me back. Then I go out to the garage and get some fabric and a needle and thread. I hurry out of the garage and into the house. My stitches aren’t normally uneven, so that’s good because I sew clothes for a business. And I’m really good at sewing for an 11 year old. Even my teacher bought some clothes that I made! And gave me a $10 tip!!! I started sewing and 20 minutes later, I was done with a pocket for a cute pink polka-dotted dress.


“Dessert? Me? Yummy.” Emmie says.


“You want dessert, Emmie? Can you say please?” my dad encourages.


“Pwease.” She rubs her hand on her chest.


“Good!” my dad breaks a tiny brownie out of a pan for her and Cooper. I grab a brownie. After I finished, I went to my room to check my business email to see if I got any orders placed. I clicked on my business email account. There are three emails for me.



To: olivia.willow.anderson@mybusybeeclothes.com From: micah.r.willens@gmail.com 

Hi, Olivia Anderson. I’m Micah Rae Willens and I need a dress for a Christmas party. I also would like my younger daughter to have a dress for Christmas. For mine, it needs to be a red dress- medium in womens and my daughter’s should be a sparkly silver dress in size small for girls. Best Regards, Micah Rae Willens.


“Moooooom! We need a medium in womens and a small for girls!” I shout.


“Okay, I’ll help you in a minute.” she tells me from the living room.


“Okay.” I say.


“Mommy Mommy MOMMY!” Emma screeches.


“What’s up, honey?” my mom walks into Emma’s room and goes to her bed.


“Coop, bedtime!” I tell my 6 year old brother.


“I’m not tired.” he pouts, sitting on his bed.


“Then how come you’re on your bed?” I ask, then grin. He growls at me, and I tickle him.


“Ah, ah, ah. Shhh.” my mom tells us quietly.


“Cooper Dean Anderson, it is your bedtime.” my dad walks in and tells him. Cooper flops onto his bed.


“Fine.” he says. I walk out and go to my room. Mom follows me in. She flips my laptop open and enters in my password to see the email for more information.


“Ok, let’s go to the store tomorrow morning and pick out the right fabric.” she tells me.


“Okay.” I say.


“Also, go finish that polka dot one. I can help you.” she rushes out of my room and grabs the pink fabric. I follow her into the garage. Mom sits down at the sewing table and grabs a needle and thread.


"Thanks, mom. For teaching me to sew?" I say.


"You're welcome." she says. I hum a song, and 20 minutes later, we're both done. I grab my phone out of my jean shorts and take a picture of the finished pink polka-dot dress to put on the website. I select a few pictures and add them to the site, typing what the outfits are and what the costs are after I looked at a piece of paper that was pinned onto the corkboard.


"World, get ready for a shopping spree! Oh, and Olivia..." my dad said, walking into the garage, "get ready for a gazillion orders!!!"


"I'm ready, dad." I said, grinning at my goofy dad. My parents squeezed me in a hug.

March 09, 2021 15:08

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14 comments

SAMANTHA LANGLEY
15:09 Mar 09, 2021

I actually made this story a while ago, hope you like it. I like how it turned out!

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Akshaya Sutrave
14:19 Mar 10, 2021

Hi Samantha! I really like this story and your writing style in general! The way you write different characters and narrate ordinary things in such an interesting way! Also, I did notice some slight things (not necessarily mistakes): 1. In the following lines: '“Okay, Emmie.” my mom picks her up. “We’re having dinner soon.” she tells me. “Go to Avery's house and hang out for a little.” my mom says.' You could write it in this way as well: '“Okay, Emmie.” my mom picks her up. “We’re having dinner soon. Go to Avery's house and hang out ...

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SAMANTHA LANGLEY
20:47 Mar 10, 2021

Thank you so much! Feedback does help, I tried to change some things a little. Thanks for bringing those mistakes to my attention!

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Akshaya Sutrave
10:48 Mar 11, 2021

No problem!! :) I'm glad I could help you!

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SAMANTHA LANGLEY
13:15 Mar 12, 2021

:D

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TJ Squared
16:54 Mar 23, 2021

wow, interesting story! I'm impressed at Olivia I mean, I'm a little older, and my stitches are all over the place XD It was a bit confusing when Olivia goes over to her friends' house, and then like 5 minutes later, she has to go again. It's like...okay then :) I hope you are doing well, and I would love to chat more with you :))

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SAMANTHA LANGLEY
12:59 Mar 24, 2021

Thanks! Yeah, I guess that part is kinda confusing. I am doing well, what about you? I'd love to chat more with you too!

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TJ Squared
14:43 Mar 24, 2021

I'm doing pretty great :) what's your favorite animal?

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SAMANTHA LANGLEY
13:08 Mar 25, 2021

A koala, for sure. You?

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TJ Squared
14:58 Mar 25, 2021

Well, I like wolves because they are beautiful and misunderstood :)

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SAMANTHA LANGLEY
15:25 Mar 25, 2021

Oooh. That's why your name on Reedsy is 'Lone Wolf,' right? What's your favorite food? Mine is ice cream DEFINITELY. And I also like mac & cheese a lot.

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