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Tuesday, November 6, 2012

In Brist's Time - Chapter 1

Remember how I've said that I have a BUNCH of stories that I have written over the years that are just lying around my house in notebooks waiting for me to finish typing them onto my computer? (Or start typing them as the case may be.) WELL this is one that I got more than half typed up back in 2010. The story itself is finished, it's just not fully on my computer. I've decided that I'm just going to post what I have and make use of the Mercury retrograde this month to focus on typing up the rest of it and working on other things I need to edit and polish. I originally started writing this story in 1997 (I'm not certain. It could have been anytime between '96 and '98), then I refigured parts of it in 2001. When I typed it up in 2010, I decided to stick with the timing I set in 2001. I also haven't gone through and edited it since 2001, SO if you see a few obvious mistakes that I usually don't make, remember that this was typed up before I got pretty good at editing. Enjoy :-D


In Brist’s Time
Part one Chapter one
October 2nd 2001

The girl lying on the bed in just her undergarments – talking on the phone – was a normal, energetic, 17 year-old, teenage girl. Except for the fact that her father was the owner of a large electronics development company. Currently, she was reliving the previous weekend, both in her mind and visually as she watched herself on the video her brother – her biggest fan – had recorded for her.
This past weekend, she had won her second national kickboxing championship. She had been taking kickboxing classes since she was five, and was going to be one of the more interesting contestants in the upcoming world championships. She also took strength-training and wrestling classes in school.
Her boyfriend was a big fan of the martial arts, and during their relationship – they had been going out for exactly a year today – she had taken up his hobbies as well as her own in order to spend more time with him. He, in turn, had done the same. However, he had not started any of these athletic pursuits until about a year before they had met, and so she was by far the more skilled of the two.
As she was watching herself win the final match of the national championship, she was unconsciously in the yoga lotus position, alternating it with the rowboat position. She had taken up yoga many years ago to balance her more strenuous activities with a gentler one. She was mildly annoyed by the phone when it rang, but her annoyance passed quickly as she realized that her boyfriend had just gone on break at the Footlocker he worked at in the Mall of America.
“Do you wanna meet me when I get off work?” Jesse asked.
“I’d love to Muskles,” she replied, calling him by his last name, which she adored.
She normally enjoyed acting like an overly feminine twit around him, which was a long-standing joke between them because nearly every girl in school was, and she most definitely was not. However, today was their one-year anniversary and she was excited and nervous, and found that she was not merely acting, but rapidly degenerating into an ultra feminine twit.
“Great, see ya at 4:00 then!”
“K!” She giggled as she placed the phone back on its cradle. She glanced at the clock. “AAAH! I only have an hour in which to find something to wear!”
In a state of mild panic, she looked at herself in the mirror; at least her make-up was perfect. Flinging open the closet door, she withdrew and tossed to the floor various clothing items, in search of the perfect outfit to wear for her precious Muskles. Even though, they had been going out for exactly a year today, she still felt the need to look at her very best whenever he was around.
“Absolutely nothing!” She exclaimed in exasperation, kicking the extremely large pile of clothing that now lay on her bedroom floor. A random shoe flew from the pile, hit her full-length mirror, thereby bringing it to her attention.
“Ohmigod! I look as if I’ve never ran a brush through my hair in my entire life!” She exaggerated. “That is the last time I play tackle with Drew!” She vowed vehemently. Just as she uttered the insincere vow, her older brother walked by her room, and upon hearing his name, entered to see why it had been mentioned.
“Did I hear my name?” He asked.
“Damn it Drew! Can’t you ever knock?” She wondered loudly as she slipped into the nearest pair of shorts and a shirt.
“Sorry, I didn’t know you were in the process of changing,” he apologized. “What’s this Brist? You’re actually wearing that outfit again? I thought you had a limit on how many times you wore the same thing, like 5 or something.”
“Shut up Drew!” She said with a snotty air. Then she noticed that she was wearing a shirt that Jesse always asked her to wear, along with her favorite pair of shorts. They were skin-tight, knee-length black denim shorts that matched perfectly the baggy purple with large black polka dots short T-shirt that Jesse so loved. Secretly, she believed that the fact that the shirt always insisted on falling to one side – showing off one of her adorable shoulders – was the reason he loved it so, even though he insisted that it was because the shirt perfectly complimented her oddly purple eyes.
Ecstatic with the outfit, and the fact that her brother had brought it to her attention, she gave him a hug exclaiming, “Dude, Drew! I love you.” She rushed off to locate her mother.
“Whoa! Sis, are you running a fever?” He called after her disappearing figure.
“Mom, I’m going to the Mall, ok? So I need some money,” she stated upon discovering her mother in the kitchen. Her brother, having nothing better to do at the moment, had decided to follow her.
“But honey, didn’t you just run up my charge card last weekend at Macy’s?” Her mother wondered.
“Yeah, well that was for home-coming. Today is just as important, and Jesse and I are kinda going to the mall together, so I need some money,” Brist stated with an air of impatience.
“I told your father that he should just give you your own charge card and teach you to use it wisely, or maybe he should just let you foot the bill,” her mother remarked sagely.
“Well Mom?” Brist said, holding out her hand.
“I don’t know... The chauffeur’s with your father, and I would feel safer if you didn’t drive yourself.”
“But Mom!” Brist protested her mother’s insane fear that her baby, whom she trusted to engage in all sorts of possibly dangerous sports, would somehow seriously injure herself once behind the wheel of a car. Even though she’d had her license for nearly two years now.
“I really don’t think you should.”
“But it’s our year anniversary!” Brist exclaimed, afraid that she wasn’t going to get her way.
Her mother sighed in defeat. Yet, unwilling to give up completely, she decided on a deal. “Now Honey, I know this is special to you, so I’m going to give you use of the Rolls, and a few hundred dollars, but under one condition…”
“Uh huh…”
“Drew has to drive you there and back,” her mother insisted in her do-not-argue-with-me tone of voice.
“But Mom!” Both of her children started to protest at the same time. Brist wasn’t generally prone to wasting time thinking things weren’t fair, but in this particular matter, she could not see why her 21 year-old brother was any more qualified to drive her around. Especially since he had grown up using the family chauffeur and hadn’t seen any reason to get his own license until Brist had decided that it would be a good idea to get hers.
“Now Drew, all you have to do is drop her off and pick her up a few hours later. Ok?” She said in the same tone of voice. A duo of sighs were released, and then Drew answered.
“Yes Mom.”
“You needn’t look so down-hearted, it’s not as if you’re about to be hanged.”
Again Brist sighed as she began to walk towards the door.
“Um Brist?” 
“Yes Drew?”
“Aren’t you going to fix your hair?” Drew asked, amused by the way her hair was in wild disarray due to their earlier wrestling session.
“OHMIGOD! I forgot!”

*******

“Muskles, let’s stop at the food court quick. I’m hungry,” Brist suggested, twirling a lock of her red hair around her finger, subtly calling attention to the fact that her hair was once again flawless – not a strand daring to be out of place.
“Actually, I wanted to go into that store over there,” he said as he pointed to a nearby store.
“Hoff Jewelers?” Brist puzzled.
“That’s the one,” Jesse replied as he led her into the store. She smiled as she tenderly brushed a lock of his hair out of his face. It promptly fell right back to where it had been resting, gently brushing the top of his ear.
“I bought you a present.”
“Really Muskles, you remembered?”
“Remembered what?”
“Our one year anniversary of course!”
“Oh!” He cleared his throat, and dropped his crystal blue eyes to seemingly study an interesting spot on the floor.
“What’s wrong?” A shadow passed through Brist’s dark purple eyes and a frown touched her lips.
“I, um, b-bet yoooou can’t, um, guess which ring I bought you,” he stammered.
“Welllll…” Her eyes left his to wander over the display case in front of her. “Oh! That one!” She exclaimed as soon as she saw a breathtakingly beautiful good-sized opal framed by the intricate pattern formed by the gold band around it.
“Wow! That’s it exactly!” He exclaimed as he pulled a small box from his pocket. Removing the ring from the box, he slipped it onto her right ring finger. “I don’t quite know how to say this, Brist, but…”
“Yes?”
“I…I…” He took a deep breath, then sighed. “I wanted you to have a ring for being the best girlfriend a guy could have, but I just don’t love you anymore, and I wanna break up.”
“What!” She was in shock! What just happened?
“I want to remain friends, but there’s someone else I want to go with.”
Tears began to stream down her face.
He took another breath, and then continued. “I’m sorry, I didn’t know today was our anniversary, or I would have waited until tomorrow, but… Um, Brist I’m sorry, but I have to go so I can be home by curfew.” He kissed her with far more passion than a boyfriend who didn’t love her – and had just dumped her – should, then ran off.
Drew came up behind her just as Jesse ran off.
“Hey, where’s he going?” He asked.
“Home!” She wailed softly as she fell into Drew’s arms.
“What happened?”
“He dumped me… He-he dumped me! That bastard dumped me!” She wailed in disbelief.
“What? Why?”
Brist was crying so hard that she couldn’t talk to reply to his questions.
“I saw the entire thing, Drew. He gave her a ring, told her that there was someone else, and then ran off so that he wouldn’t have to see her cry.” One of Drew’s friends, Lillian, who happened to work there, informed him.
“I’m gonna bring her home. Call me later. Okay?” He said. Then, he led a numb Brist out of the Mall, thanking God that they had been close to the correct exit. As gently as possible, he guided her to their car.
Brist was so miserable that she couldn’t see, couldn’t think, and could just barely breath. Somehow, Drew got her into the car and brought her home.

*******

“Ellen, I think we should spend the rest of the year in our house in Georgia.”
“I thought we had planned to spend it here.”
“Yes, I know, but I’ve changed my mind.”
“I don’t think the kids would like that very much,” she told her husband.
“Why not?” He wondered.
“Well, Brist is celebrating her year anniversary with Jesse,” Ellen frowned as a snort emitted from her husband. “And Drew is never thrilled when we go to Georgia.”
“I am their father and I make the rules! I say that we are going to Georgia and they will NOT argue with me!”
“Edward, don’t you dare take that tone of voice with me! I am your WIFE!”
Just then the door burst open, cutting off whatever Edward was going to say. Ellen gasped.
“Oh! Brist honey, what’s wrong?” She questioned.
Drew got tired off dragging her with him and decided to just carry her the rest of the way. Neither option was easy for his athletic younger sister had a good amount of heavy muscle on her body. Deftly, he scooped her into his arms and carried her up the stairs into her bedroom. He laid her on the bed, then pushed his parents out of the room, closing the door behind him.
“What’s wrong?”
“Is she hurt?”
“Jesse broke up with her today.” Neither Drew nor his mother noticed the brief look of triumph that crossed Edward’s face before quickly being replaced by an appropriate frown of concern.
“She’s taking it awfully hard, is she okay?” He asked, then he told them to wait there a moment as he ran off. Quickly, he retrieved an item he had stashed in the bedroom he shared with his wife.
“What’s in the box Dear?” Ellen asked her husband once he had returned.
“Brist’s birthday present,” he replied as he handed the large, rather heavy box to Drew, then paused a few moments to catch his breath before knocking on his only daughter’s door. “Brist, honey… Can I come in? I have something for you.”
“Go away, I don’t wanna talk about it.”
He opened the door. “Okay, so we won’t talk about it.”
Brist sniffed and wiped her eyes. “Huh?” She asked, taken off guard.
“I’ve got your birthday present here,” her father informed her, motioning for Drew to place it on the foot of her bed.
“But my birthday’s not for five whole days.”
“Well, I thought you might like it now.” He motioned for Brist to open it. She complied out of curiosity. “It’s my company’s new line. See, we feel that the way of the future lies in solar power, and so we have come up with a line of everyday products that are powered by the sun. There’s a solar powered CD boom box, a TV, DVD player, mini digital video camera that records directly onto DVD’s, and a solar powered battery charger complete with batteries so that you can use your equipment even when the sun’s not out.”
“Wow dad, that was some presentation. If you make that into a commercial, I bet you’d sell millions.” Brist smiled, and wiped any remaining tears from her eyes. “Thanks dad, I really appreciate all this.”
“You’re welcome sweetie, and I also wanted to let you know that I have decided that we are going to Georgia after all for the duration of the year.”
“You don’t have to do that for me daddy.”
“I know, but I want to.” Drew caught his attention with a rather colorful curse spoken almost inaudibly. “What was that son?”
“I hate Georgia dad, it’s always hot there, and I have friends here that I don’t want to leave behind.”
“Well, we are going to Georgia and we are going tonight, so I would suggest that the two of you get packing. Come Ellen, we have to pack as well. Oh, and Drew? Once we get settled in, if you still want to come home after 2 or 3 weeks, you can.”
Drew sighed and stormed out of his sister’s room. After both her parents had given her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, they left her alone to pack for their rather sudden trip.
Somewhat listlessly at first, Brist grabbed an enormous bag out of her closet and began to pack. The bag was at least 4’ long, and had to be just over 2’ wide and about 2’ tall. She had found this bag in a shop that specialized in sports clothes and accessories. She thought back to the day she and Jesse had been debating on the pros and cons of her remaining in the school strength training class while they were shopping at the place she had bought the bag.
“I’m already in kick-boxing and I have been for years. I’m also taking a self defense class, which I find repetitive, seeing as how I am the undefeated champion in my kick-boxing class,” Brist had reminded him, trying not to bring up the time before they had been going out, when they hated each other, and she had kicked his ass.
“I know you’re the almighty kick-boxing Goddess, and that I should pity the fool who crosses you, but I still think that strength training classes after school could only supplement your other after school ass-kicking classes. Besides, I’m in strength training class and I love having you there to spot me and keep my butt in line. You keep me humble and you keep me in that class. Don’t get me wrong, I love that class, but I would have given up a thousand times by now if it hadn’t been for you,” Jesse said.
At that point Brist had melted and would have agreed to anything to make him happy. That was also the exact moment that the bag had caught her eye. She thought it was the perfect symbol to represent her agreement with Jesse. They had agreed that they would both stay in that class, and that he would re-enroll in a kick-boxing class so that they would have even more in common. So, she’d bought one for them to share, for lord knew it was large enough for both their stuff, with plenty of room to spare.
She emptied the bag on the floor and almost began to cry again at the sight of some of Jesse’s belongings. She separated their things, leaving a note for the maid to make sure that his things were returned to him in the morning.
Brist stood staring at the bag for a moment, as if packing were a completely foreign subject to her. Numbly, she remembered some advice of her mother’s: always put your underthings on bottom. That way, if the bag is left open or spilled, they’re less likely to be seen.
She sprayed a light coating of her favorite perfume on the bottom – to combat any lingering gym smell – then proceeded to put everything from sox to pajamas to very tiny, yet highly erotic lingerie on the bottom of the bag. (She wanted to feel sexy and confident, even though her boyfriend had just destroyed her self-esteem.) Next, she sprayed another very light coating of the perfume over them, also to ensure that they would not smell like the gym.
After that, she packed the small solar powered presents that she had just received. All were amazingly tiny, except for the TV, which had a 13” screen, making it just over a foot square. The boombox, including its detachable speakers, was only about a foot and a half long, and about 9” wide, which left plenty of room in the bag for the mini digital video recorder and battery charger. The DVD player was fairly flat and compact, and had no trouble fitting into the bag.
Again, Brist was struck by the sheer size of the bag, for there was still tons of room left in it for her clothes. On top of and around her solar powered presents, she packed a variety of clothing from her closet, and – as an afterthought – she packed her Renaissance festival costume. She couldn’t remember when the festival passed through Georgia, but she wanted to have her costume just in case.
Into the right side-compartment, she placed her jewelry box – which was full of expensive jewelry. Finding she still had room in the compartment, she tossed in her makeup bag and all her hair supplies. She even brought extra of the shampoo and conditioner that she insisted upon using, because it was hand made by a woman here in Minnesota.
Into the left side-compartment, she packed her menstrual cup, her small bag filled with a variety of different colored gel pens, her diary, her photo-album, and as many books as she could fit. As an after thought, she removed a few books and replaced them with a good-sized box that contained her small handgun, a spare clip, and a good supply of bullets. She figured now would be a great time to continue her sharp-shooting practice. There was a range with an awesome teacher not too far from their Georgian home.
Brist briefly wondered why it was that she was so interested in the many athletic and self-defense classes that she seemed to be addicted to, and yet her brother was only interested in them as much as he had to be to support her. He had played high school football and that was it. Yet, even that he had stopped doing when he had graduated high school and had decided to forego college.
He was going to inherit so much money that he truly saw no point in college. His dream – one which he hadn’t been able to share with their father – was to buy a little hobby farm with a cow, some chickens, a few goats, a couple of sheep, and lots and lots of dogs. He was fairly certain that the only person he wanted to share his life with was Lillian, yet his father was such a businessman down to his very bones that he would never, could never understand why his son didn’t want to make lots of money just as he did.
Brist, on the other hand, wasn’t the farm type. However, she wasn’t exactly the business type either. She would most likely settle down with Jesse and enter law enforcement, specifically the FBI or CIA.
Brist gasped and realized that she was still doing it. She was still picturing Jesse as her life partner. She realized that everyone had been right when they told her that the guy she started dating just before her 17th birthday probably wasn’t going to be the same one she spent the rest of her life with. Brist sobbed deeply for a few moments before telling herself that she was wasting tears, and that if Jesse Muskles didn’t love her, he didn’t deserve her.
She took a mental inventory of the contents of the bag and realized that it was missing something. She grabbed what almost appeared to be a mini brief case – but was actually just a decorative carrier – off a shelf above one of her dressers. Inside it was every CD she owned, which surprisingly wasn’t as many as one would think a spoiled teen would own – only about 200 or so.
Once her bag was packed to her satisfaction, she carried it over to the door, setting it down on a chair next to the door. She looked at the bag wryly and mentally thanked Jesse for making her stay in strength training class. As a result, the rather heavy bag was not a problem for her to carry. Tears welled in her eyes at the thought of Jesse, and she stood moping over their breakup for a few moments.
“I am not going to cry over him, I’m not!” She vowed. “If he can’t see what is good for him, then that’s his problem. Brist, girl, get a hold of yourself! If we don’t cry over him now, we will hopefully be less tempted to kill his new girlfriend when we find out who she is. OH GOD! Now I’ve resorted to talking to myself as if I were two people! Two CRAZY people at that!”
Just then Brist’s mother walked in, “Are you okay Brist?”
“Don’t worry mom, I’ll be just fine.”

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