Young Writers Society

Chapter 1

Ava's POV

"This is tiring," I said, slumping further down my chair and stared at the dying jasmine in front of me.

It had been three months now that my script had been been rejected. Three months of being broke. Three months of...well, basically these three months suck. I scratched my hair and straightened up. There has to be a way to get out of this. I knew I could not survive on writing scripts especially if I did not know how to write a short story.

"Ugh...why are people so complicated?" I groaned, "And why do I have to choose to write about them for living? I can't handle real people, so how I can I handle the imaginary ones?"

Because you choose it, my inner self scolded, Because you are too egotistic to be a waiter or a normal worker at a store. Because you basically learned nothing in your twelve years of high school and four years of college. Because you take things for granted and you think it is easy to just write. Because you-

"Shut the hell up, Ava," I scolded my arms up high, "Like it is your fault those people don't understand creativity?!"

Yeah but you don't call the trash you were submitting creativity. You call it...well... trash.

I groaned, trying to drown the voice in my head. Maybe I could be better well off working as a librarian or a waiter or...no. Ava Kim doesn't quit.

You quit college a few moths ago.

Ava Kim is a hard worker. I am smart and I knew it. I could get anywhere using my wit because that is what smart people do.

You screamed at an injured cat yesterday, saying it was Voldemort reincarnated.

"It didn't have a nose," I snapped. Then, realizing I was talking to myself, I groaned and started jumping up and down on my chair. My screen suddenly went blank and I came face to face with my own reflection. My shoulder length hair was sticking in all directions, making it appear to have more volume than it already does. My hood of my hoodie was hanging awkwardly over my shoulder while my face looked like it had been dumped in a trash can and picked up again by a stray dog.

Trash. That is the word you are trying to find. You look like trash.

I bit my lips and stomped to the bathroom. My reflection greeted me and I opened my mouth in shock.

"I actually look sexy," I complimented myself, doing an infamous pose I had always seen on posters and advertisements. However, instead of me in a mini dress, three pounds of make up and a properly combed hair, I was looking back at the me who appeared to have just gotten away from a cat fight with some high school girls.

My phone buzzed and I immediately dropped my acts and checked the screen. There were many miss calls from my parents, probably asking how college was and if I needed money and a recent message from a few of my friends asking if I could go out. I groaned and stared at the ceiling. The thought of my parents brought a lump to my throat and my face to burn with shame. They didn't know about my drop out and I had been doing everything in my capability and my friends' capability to keep the information away from them. I knew instant death would come if I said I dropped out and was now a broke girl living off the few money earned from her previous books. Figuratively speaking. My parents loved me too much and I just didn't want to hurt them.

You coming? another text appeared from Yuri.

"Going out won't hurt," I told myself. Overall, I and Yuri never focused on spending much anyway. Mainly, we just focused on the fun rather than the price. The quality rather than the quantity.

It would hurt unless you drive, my inner self retorted. I eye rolled at myself in the mirror and walked into the shower. The intense heat of summer is killing me, despite the fact that I had spent all my life living in Cambodia. That was the main reason why I mostly spent my time in Phnom Penh and rarely went to visit my parents in the countryside. The bumpy road would stress my patience and the kids running aimlessly would freak me out, especially with my driving skills. On top of that, my parents would always made me go and work in the farm, something I enjoyed but feared at the same time. That was also the reason that scared me from telling the truth. I did not want to go back to the country side. I was a runner, currently running away from my past

Chapter Two

Ava's POV

With as much care and coordination I could muster, I veered my motorbike into the parking lot and parked my vehicle along with the rest of the bikes similar to mine. I tugged my helmet off and shook my head to shake off the stray strands of hair sticking to my face, earning me a few stares from the guys walking out if the cafe. Paying little to no attention to them, I straightened my demin jacket and looked around for the sign of a dark haired girl with big glasses. Unfortunately, there were a lot of girls with dark hair and big glasses today.

"Ava! Over here!"

Almost too quickly, I turned around and waved enthusiastically at my best friend who had just gotten out of her car and running towards me. Yuri was wearing black jeans and a simple, white, oversized t shirt tucked in at the front. Her long, wavy hair cascaded down her back, swaying slightly as she ran. She was a gorgeous piece of art and she knew it.

"So," she said as she stopped in front of me, eyeing my demin jeans and white crop top with admiration, "How is my beautiful girl?"

"Don't even ask," I grumbled, getting out of my bike and started walking with her towards the front door.

"Your story?"

"Still sucks."

Yuri didn't respond to my short, pessimistic answer. Instead, she blocked my path and placed her hands on my shoulders.

"Tell you what? Let us do coffee another time. Right now, why don't we go to the cinema and watch a horror movie and scream our guts out?"

I smiled brightly at the suggestion. Screaming. Horror movies. Now we're talking.

*****

"Excuse me, uncle, can you please scooch down a bit? You are kind of blocking my view."

The man in the front ignored me and sat up higher. I cursed, earning a giggle from Yuri. I bit my lips and looked around, sadly the seats were already taken, except the one next to mine; a human giraffe was also occupying the seat in front, so I still couldn't see if I moved.

"Excuse me," another voice poked in. I turned to Yuri who was standing with her hands on her hips, frowning at the man who was blocking my view.

"I think you are old enough to understand simple words. My friend here just said you were blocking her, and instead you tried to block her view even more. Would you like to change your posture for the sake of everyone's convenience or would you like to make a scene and get the three of us kicked out?"

The man suddenly stood up, causing everyone to become quiet. His eyes bore into Yuri's small ones while his arms are folded in an arrogant posture. Sensing danger, I immediately stood up as well, causing him to turn his gaze towards me and smirked. I tried to ignore the fact that Yuri and I were on the tip of our toes and we were still trying hard not to break our neck looking up at him.

"Well, it seems like kids nowadays have no respect for their elders," his voice boomed, as he continued to check me out.

"Respect is one thing, Pu," I replied, still using the term "Pu" meaning uncle to show respect to the man who was more than five years older than me, "But you can't afford us to show you respect when you can't show us a sliver of it. Just because we are younger, doesn't mean we have to act dumb to satisfy people like you."

A whistled came from the back row and I heard a male voice shouted, "You go sis!"

"Shut up, you were supposed to get popcorn you idiot," a female voice scolded.

"Sorry babe, but a good show doesn't require popcorn."

The female voice gasped as if offended. "How dare you say that! When we get home, we're going to have a full conference about this!"

The invisible couple continued to argue as the three of us turned our attention towards each other. The man was giving us death glares as he leaned closer, causing both of us to fall into our seats.

"Listen young ladies," he snarled, " I'm in a bad mood today, so if you value your lives, you should quiet down your peeping. I got a black belt."

I scoffed at his last sentence, "So? I got several in my closet. Some were hanging over my kitchen table."

His expression turned into shock as he stared at me, not appearing to believe a single word. I couldn't see what was so surprising about black belts. They were all over the market.

"I would advice you to sit down or just get out, Pu," another voice butted in, sounding quite amused, "The movie is about to start. And the staff is about to come to reprimand you."

I raised my eyebrows and stared at the guy sitting next to me. He was sitting cross-legged and his arms were draping over my seat while his face, covered by his hoodie, was directing at the screen. I could make out nothing besides the mob of bangs poking out from under the hood and his exposed arms from the rolled up sleeves. Though he looked relaxed, the muscles on his arms tensed and the veins were popping out, as if he was expecting a fight. The man, on the other hand, scoffed and sat down, the exact same posture he had before. However, he seemed to be taller than I remembered. I groaned and leaned back on my seat. The guy beside me was silent, but Yuri was shooting daggers toward the front.

"You wanna leave?" she asked.

"No. I could just hear the sound. I heard this movie is amazing."

"But-"

"I'm fine," I snapped, regretting my tone immediately. Yuri sighed and put her hand over me. I placed my popcorn on my lap and used my other hand to eat my popcorn. They better have high quality sound effects.

Chapter Three

Bot's Pov

I smirked proudly at the movie displayed on the screen. The first movie with me as a director. Occasionally, I would glance to my left and stared at the girl leaning over her friend's seat, trying to get a view. It saddened me to see that some people who had put a lot of interest in my own creation persevered so much just to catch a glimpse of it. I would have traded seats with her but I doubt she would be tall enough to overlook the guy in front either. If she had seen my face, I bet she would have more fun talking to me than listening to the movie. Overall, who wouldn't want to catch up with an old friend?

"Excuse me," I whispered as she sighed and leaned back against her seat. She didn't hear me and I didn't make an effort to try again, since my phone buzzed, displaying a message. The name of the person created a bitter taste in my mouth and I immediately closed my phone. I closed my eyes and leaned back against my chair, trying to enjoy the movie with Ava silently mumbling curses at the human giraffe in front of her. Seriously, the girl hadn't changed at all.

"Can you please be quiet?" I asked, clutching the side of her seat.

"Sorry," she mumbled, making me smile.

"Hey Yuri," I heard her whispered again, "I'll wait for you in the front, ok?"

After much rustling, Ava pushed past me and hobbled down the rows, her hair bouncing as she moved. My eyes trained on her as she rounded the corner and disappeared into the dark. I had intended to stay in my seat and catch any potential flaws in the first movie to make improvements in my second one. Overall, even though I was a successful director at such a young age,my knowledge of films was still limited. On top of this, I didn't intend to show my face in front of her right now, especially when I didn't know how to explain myself after disappearing without any words for five years. However, when my gaze shifted toward Ava's human giraffe, I saw him moved from his seat and headed towards the direction Ava had disappeared into. A bad feeling settled in my stomach as I watched him moved quietly out of my field of vision.

******

Ava's POV

The smell of popcorn immediately left me as I took a step out of the cinema. I squinted at the flower shop just in front of the building and checked for signs of incoming cars and motorbikes before hurrying towards the florist shop. My heart sailed the moment the smell of fresh flowers engulfed me, and I spun happily around, searching for my favorite ones to replace the dying Jasmine on my desk. I traced my fingers across each of the roses, lilies, and other flowers I couldn't name that was placed elegantly inside cute little pots decorated in traditional Cambodian style. The softness tickled the tips of my fingers and I giggled in delight.

"Ah, there, my favorite customer," sounded a female voice from behind. I didn't turn around, but my smile grew as I immediately know who the voice belonged to.

"Hey Auntie Lily," I greeted, smelling the Jasmine in front of me.

"You're coming back for Jasmines?" she asked.

I turned to her and nodded.

"Good, pick whatever you want,and like always, you can choose any flowers you like. You don't have to pay me."

I frowned. "But-"

"No buts. I have some business to attend to at the back of the shop. If you see any more customers, do me a favor and guided them through will you?"

I nodded as she disappeared behind the numerous rows of unique flowers. I gazed at her disappearing frame in adoration because even though we had met barely a year ago, Aunt Lily seemed to know me more than anyone else when it comes to flowers. She always said I reminded her of them, which I agreed only for the sake of discounts. I was about to grab the pot of jasmines dangling from one of the poles when a rough hand grabbed my shoulders and warm breath tickled my neck.

"Hey, sexy," it rumbled. My chest tightened and I held my breath. " Care to show me your black belts?"

Black belts. My eyes grew wide and I twisted around, my face coming several inches away from the human giraffe from the cinema. He was quite a handsome guy, but the scar running across his temple made him look more menacing than anyone I had ever came across. I glanced at his hands, which were snaking down my shoulders and onto my waist.

"Let me go you pervert," I snarled, trying to squirm away as he clutched onto my small waist. I opened my mouth to scream for help but he immediately placed his large hand over my mouth and dragged me behind the rows of lilies. My eyes watered, searching for any customers who happened to come into the store; there were none.

"You were quite brave back there, hon," he sneered, forcing me onto the ground and tucking a strand of hair away from my face. I whimpered and bit onto his palm hard, causing him to yell in pain and released me. Immediately, I scrambled away, kicking his most painful part in the process and crawled quickly around the corner. Giraffe screamed a series of curses and curled into a ball on the floor.

"Aunt Lily!" I screamed, trying to get up. However, a hand reached towards my hair, grabbed a fistful of it and pulled me back. I tried to scream again, but my head cracked against the floor ad my screamed morphed into a small whimper instead. Everything swirled around me and I felt nauseated. Giraffe cursed and slammed his fist against my stomach; any trace of sound disappeared and I could only stared hazily as he smirked and descended onto me, his hands reaching towards my chest. My vision went blank and the last thing I remembered was the smell of jasmines that had fallen during my struggle with the man.