Sidelines Blogfest gives nod to supporting players

A couple of my characters are stepping out for the Sidelines Blogfest today. The fest is hosted by Cheree at Justified Lunacy, and she's been doing posts on characters all week. I really like one in which she pointed out how sidekicks can serve different purposes--mentor, nemesis, comic, trickster, messenger, best friend, guardian.

Choosing a scene was tough. It's difficult to find something that doesn't require a lot of backstory or that doesn't give away too much plot, but I wanted something with voice. I hope I found it.

I've chosen part of a scene from SEA DAUGHTERS where the protagonist, Hallie, gets an emotional pick-me-up from her best friend, Suki. It was hard to find the right illustration for this. Rather than typical California blonds Hallie is part Polynesian and Suki is part Japanese. What's most important, they trust each other.

Even though this is YA paranormal, this isn't a scene with supernaturals or battles or mystery. It's a quiet moment and takes place after someone scratched the letters Ho on the door of Hallie's new car and a day after her first date with a popular surfer named Ben.

Hope you enjoy.

***

Hallie pushed aside the college letters she'd left scattered on her bed and sank down on the edge. Thinking about going to school in the morning made her stomach churn. What if Chad had been the one who defaced her car? What if Ben ignored her?

She looked at her phone screen again. The only message was a text from Suki: Where r u???

Hallie hesitated, feeling vulnerable, but Suki would be all over her at school if she didn't talk to her now. She punched in the number.

“Where have you been?” Suki blurted.

“Trestles.”

“With Ben?”

“No! We’re not joined at the hip all of a sudden.” Hallie wondered if maybe she wished they were. Why was she getting so worked up?

“Touchy much? Jeez. I’m sorry I mentioned his name. Does that mean last night was a fail? I thought you guys really liked each other.”

“I do like him, and last night was great.” Hallie drew in a breath and held it a moment before adding, “He kissed me.”

“Woo-hoo! Did you just die?”

Hallie closed her eyes, remembering every touch. "I wanted to kiss him forever.”

“But? I can hear a ‘but’ somewhere.”

“But he hasn’t called today.”

“Ah. Well, if it makes you feel any better Nathan hasn’t called me either. He told me a bunch of guys were gonna drive up to County Line in Ventura. It’s, like, a guy thing--everybody jammed into Kalani’s truck. No girls. Whatever. I wouldn’t surf that break anyway, although I know you would.”

“Maybe Ben’s with them.” Hallie stretched out, releasing the tension in her back.

“Could be. Don’t obsess. From what Nathan tells me, Ben asks questions about you non-stop. So unless you peed yourself or punched him out, I don’t think he’s backing off any time soon.”

Hallie laughed for the first time all day. “I didn’t do either of those things. But I did cry—a bunch--when he mentioned my mom. He was so nice to me, I fell apart. It was totally embarrassing.”

“I wouldn’t sweat that. Guys like to comfort girls. Just don’t wipe your snot on his hoodie.”

Hallie snorted with laughter. Suki always knew how to take the edge off. "Thanks. I promise to keep my snot to myself."

***