Tonal Travesty Tales: A Dearly Murky Summer (Part I)

(Hello, welcome to a new series in which I write simple short stories, but there’s a twist! I start the story with a beginning, middle, and end as usual. Except with the continuation of each short story something must change drastically. For example, I could write a story about a business manager running a peanut butter factory. For the first part of the story nothing changes since it is the introduction.
However, for the next part of the story I must make one of several noticeable changes. Those changes could involve adjusting the genre, characters, backgrounds, or maybe how a character pronounces certain words. The possibilities are endless so long as they garishly clash with the tone of the story. Hope you enjoy, or at least find this idea interesting enough to keep reading!)

It was summer at Olive University, a time of rejoice for the youth. The beaches were open and featured a brimming variety of hot summer bods. Parties were thrown in the mountain top just north of the university, but only the famous and rich were invited. Enter Veronica Idelson, a freshman turned sophomore in college who aced her interview with the campus administrator to get into OU A girl with a smart head on her shoulders and the free spirit she maintained since living in a small town all her life.
Veronica knew three of her childhood friends at OU These three friends were Cassie, Henry, and Evan. Cassie was Veronica’s fashionista friend who always had her back. Henry was the quarterback for his high school team who is now hoping for lightning to strike twice as he gets into the OU football team. Then there’s Evan, the dork of the group who is really into computers and helps Veronica out with her homework.
These friends were inseparable and they all managed to get into OU together. During the first day of summer the gang went out to go celebrate at Henry’s favorite spot, a diner called ‘Terry’s BBQ Eat-Out!’ Everyone was having fun, jesting at each other. Cassie was pointing out how Evan’s tie looked tacky, and Henry reminiscing about some of the best plays he had in high school. Then there was Veronica, gazing through the window and daydreaming. Henry smacked the football in front of her face to get her attention, “Hey, is Veronica in there?”

Veronica tossed her fry at Henry as she says, “Yes and she sees a jackass trying to get her attention.”

“Don’t blame me for trying to get your attention when you’ve been saying nothing for the past five minutes.” Henry had the brain of a goofball, yet maintained a premium body forged by the Greek god Hephaestus himself. He wore his stainless varsity jacket proudly but underneath that jacket he had the same fashion sense as any farmer boy. White short-sleeved shirt, with dusty jeans, and with muddied boots. The most distinct feature about Henry had to be his long flowing blonde hair which never seemed to stop glistening.

Cassie devolved her attention from Evan as she then said to Veronica, “You have been acting really weird, Veronica. Was it the nail polisher I gave you? I know the chemicals are super strong, but you totally can withstand the after-effects.”
There was never a day where Cassie wore something boring. Whether it be using vibrantly colored nail gloss or wearing dolphin shaped earrings, Cassie refused to be anything but ‘loud’ about her fashion choices. During the week she would always tie her hair in a single bun-knot. However during the weekend she would let hair down with thoroughly flattened curls.

Evan raised his glasses as he tried to comfort Veronica, “Did your computer need some rebuilding? I have the tools needed to soup up your PC, and the specs look delicious.” For a rigidly smart person like Evan he also was quite unorganized with how he presented himself. Wearing mismatched shoes and unproperly fixed ties, as well as wearing his shirt backwards. He even had his previous two glasses broken and made a new pair by using duct-tape and Gorilla Glue to combine two separate lenses together.

“Quit stealing my personality, Evan. You know I’m infinitely more charming than you, maybe stick to being a cube made of dork.”

“Is that your best comeback? I can think of a million more comebacks better than a ‘cube made of dork.’”

Slightly frustrated, Veronica turned to everyone as she said, “That’s enough, I’m just having…inner problems.”

Henry asked, “What’s wrong, beachball?” That was Henry’s cute nickname for Veronica whenever she seemed pouty.

“I don’t know, somehow I’ve just been feeling less unfulfilled with my life. Like I’ve been missing out on something important, do you get that feeling?”

Evan said with an agreeing nod, “You’re right, I did miss out on something. It was Cassie downing that entire plate of hot wings by herself.”

Cassie scoffed at Evan as she retorted with, “You know I was going through a serious dieting phase.”

“What diet involves eating off the entire entrée menu at a Buffalo Wild Wings?”

“Well I guess when I’m super frustrated and can’t pig out, I’ll take that frustration out on you.” She viciously slaps Evan across his noggin as he recoils in pain.

Henry elevates his voice as he demands everyone’s attention. “Hey, this is Veronica we’re talking about here. She’s done so much for all of us. Like what about that one time she looked after your pet gerbil, Evan?” Evan nods his head as Henry pivots the discussion to Cassie.
“And Cassie, you brag about how much you were there for Veronica her entire life. What about when she spent a whole month modeling outfits you designed for that local fashion show?”

Cassie looked down at her half-full plate of food, takes a deep breath, and looks over at Veronica. “Henry is totally right, Veronica deserves our utmost attention.” She turns to Veronica, “So what is it that doesn’t make you feel fulfilled about your life, girl?”

Evan says, “You practically have everything you wanted, what more could you even want?”

Henry chimes in with, “An escape from being ordinary.”

Veronica focuses her eyes on Henry’s dreamy waxed eyebrows as she says, “Yes.”

The night from there was livelier thanks to Veronica’s friends listening to what was on her mind. When the restaurant closed for the night everyone went home. Cassie was picked up by her mom, Evan took off on his electric scooter, and Henry rode on a bike coated with faded blue paint. Veronica however used her phone to contact an Uber, sitting on a bench near the sidewalk as she waited. The night grew darker as she continued sitting there, her nervousness kicked in.
Suddenly in the corner of her right eye she sees someone walking behind her in the shadows. She couldn’t tell who this person was, but he was fit and had broad shoulders. The mysterious figure walked underneath one of the streetlamps as he crossed the street. It was revealed that it was a boy wearing a black biker jacket, torn jean leggings along with a belt that had a chain, and a silver wolf emblem on the center. But that face when Veronica saw him…that gaunt facial structure with a powerful jawline.
His nose was small, but sharply pointed just like the tips of his hair strands that crept from his hairline. The hair itself was slicked back with each strand of hair perfectly drawing down from the back of his head to the neck. Eyes not that of a human, but an undomesticated animal who howls at a full moon. He wore no shirt underneath his jacket either, just a beaded necklace with white, green, and yellow colored beads. Veronica was alarmed and heavily breathing as she could not stop staring at the gorgeous mysterious boy.
Then the mysterious man noticed Veronica gazing at his impressive visage. He walks toward Veronica with a scowl on his face. At this point Veronica was a deer caught in the headlights, unable to move and observing this boy menacingly walking toward him. Before she could yell for help, the mysterious boy moved his lips and opened his mouth, speaking his first sentence…

End of Part I

For part II, click here!