A group of three stood in the front room of a gorgeous mansion one girl with brown hair and two boys one with blond hair and the other with Red. From time to time they would look to the stairs waiting for the last member on their group to join them. “oh for the love of..... Cynthia hurry up you've been brushing your hair for hours!” the brunette called up the stairs. “Oh but Yoyo it takes hours for a woman to be ready to go anywhere you should know that.” the red head teased. Yoyo glared at the red head coldly. “One more word Markle and your going to regret it.” Yoyo said. “Clyde did you hear what she said to me.” the blond watched the scene going on with little interest. “and your point is you know better than to irritate her when she's like this.” Clyde said sighing. “Finally!” Yoyo said watching as Cynthia descended the stairs. “Just because you don't know what fashion is doesn't mean the rest of us don't.” the blond girl said glaring at the brunette. The boys both ran holding Yoyo back who looked as if she was going to attack the blond girl in front of her. Now really wasn't the time to be killing each other they needed everyone to be in one piece not tearing each other apart. “We can't be killing each other yet so calm down.” Clyde called to the arguing girls. Though his words had no effect both girls kept bickering. Markle used his free hand to pinch the bridge of his nose. “We are never going anywhere with the way these two are fighting.” he said looking at Clyde. Clyde smirked. “Hey shut up and listen!” he yelled. He got the girls attention but now they were yelling at the boys. They just could not win no matter what. “Girls we need to get going.” He tried but the girls were not hearing a word he was saying. With an annoyed growl he and Markle turned around and started walking out the door. “hey wait!” the arguing girl called running to catch up with the boys. The group of four made their way to their secret spy car that was going to take them where they needed to go. “well it took long enough for us to head out on this mission.” Clyde said sounding irritated. He glared around at the rest of the group who all chuckled nervously. Quickly the other three piled into the car and waited for Clyde to get in the drivers seat. Walking around he slide into the car behind the steering wheel. He inserted the key into the ignition. “OK lets go kick some bad guy butt!” Markle yelled ready to get this mission on the road. The others laughed at him as they drove to their destination. Finally they made it to the abandoned warehouse and got out of the car. The group ran for the front door unaware of the bucket of mud on the door. Markle opened the door and the bucket fell off the top of the door.


Clyde sat down on a bench and thought about sky diving. He wondered what it would feel like to soar through the air. Everyone he talked to said it was a great experience. He was bit wary about it, but it was great way to show Yoyo that he wasn't scary cat. He had to proved to her that he was brave! He stood up and went over to his car and headed over to the skydiving place which was located outside of the city.

When he got to the skydiving place, he felt his stomach drop when he saw planes going high up into the air. Clyde took a big gulp and got out of his car and closed the door. He walked toward the building and went inside. He saw a lot people getting on their skydiving suits. He saw an information booth and went over to it to sign up for today's lesson. The person behind the desk then handed over a suit and he walked around the desk to got ready for his lesson.

After Clyde got ready, he saw Yoyo entered the room with her sky diving suit on. She noticed him and gave him a smug looked. She walked over to him and slapped him on the shoulder.

"So you decided to stop being a chicken!"

Clyde moved out of the way so she couldn't slap him anymore. "I will prove to you that I can be brave."

"Well good luck with that!" she said still with a smug look on your face. "Just to warn you the plane goes high up into the air!"

"I will be fine," Clyde snapped back at his friend. He wished she would stop picking on him.

"Alright, everybody!" said a voice. Clyde and Yoyo turned and saw the instructor was speaking. He began telling the people about the rules about skydiving and safety tips. After that, he explained the process of skydiving and the group of people went outside to the plane.

Clyde felt butterflies in his stomach as he approach the plane. He wished he could turn back, but he already paid for this and Yoyo would tease him about chickening out for the rest of his life. The instructor opened the door when they go to the plane. The group of people then got in and instructor closed the door after the last person go in. They all buckle up on the seats and the plane took off into the air. When the plane got high enough into the air, everybody got up from their seats and the instructor opened the door. Then one by one everyone jump out of the plane. The last person to jump out was Clyde. He basically took a leap of faith and went soaring down to earth. The butterflies faded away from his stomach as he was heading toward the ground. He felt free and loved every minute of it. He felt excitement and thrill rushing through his vains.

When he got closer to the ground, he pulled out his parachute and landed safety on the ground. As he was taking off his parachute Yoyo approached him.

"Well, I'm proud of you," she said. "I can't believe you did it!"

"I can't either," Clyde said with a smile. "I'm going to do it more often!"

"Well good for you."

Clyde and Yoyo then went inside the building to return their skydiving suits.


Cynthia walked down the hallways of Hillwood High School. She carried her books close to her chest trying to her best to avoid colliding with the other students. The school was crammed tight with students. The county needed to build another one very badly, but they were too preoccupied with more important matters like building a new community center in the better part of town because the rich had demanded it. The only community center was on the poor side of town but everyone used it.

Cynthia’s parents weren’t poor, but they’d had trouble making ends meet the past few months when her father lost his job because it had moved to Mexico. The bills were tight, so she had taken a job at the diner for a little extra money to help out with utilities. She worked almost every night and was glad to say she only had a few more months left before she went off to college.

She wasn’t paying attention to where she was going and collided with a boy a few inches shorter than her. She groaned when she felt one of her books land on top of her head. She was about to give whoever ran into her a piece of her mind but stopped when she seen a hand reaching out to her.

She took it cautiously and felt a small blush redden her cheeks almost as red as the boy standing in front of hers hair. He handed her her belongings and smiled causing his big blue eyes to light up. He was gorgeous.

“Hi I’m Markie! Well Mark for short…Sorry I ran into you like that.” he apologized reaching out his hand.

She took it and shook it gently, “I’m Cynthia and it’s okay. Thanks for helping me up.” she stated smiling shyly.

“Well I better get going…See you around!” he grinned walking the opposite direction. Cynthia felt her hand tingle from their sudden contact. She felt a spark run all over her body when he’d touched her like there was some special type of chemistry there.

She just shook her head telling herself she’d been working to hard and walked towards her first period. She’d never seen Markie before but Hillwood high school was full of new faces every year and the school that comfortably held around 7000 students was bursting at the seams. The freshman class was bursting at the seams with the extra 500 students it had brought with it this year alone.

~X~

Cythia was thankful it was last period and that she didn’t have to work at the diner today. She took a seat in the back of her art history class but was startled when a familiar face entered the room. She felt her heart beat speed up when his blue eyes connected with hers.

“Hey Cynthia.” he greeted warmly taking a seat opposite from her.
“Hello Markie…You know it’s funny because I know almost all the seniors in my class, but I’ve never seen you here before, and I know that you’ve got to be a senior since seniors are the only ones allowed to take this class.” she remarked studying him a bit.

“I just moved here from Chicago actually…My dad just got a new job as the bank manager down at Western Union.” he informed her giving her another curious look.

“You mean your parents pulled you out of your old high school right before senior year?” Cynthia questioned feeling sorry for the boy.

Markie just shrugged in response, “Yeah but after today I think things are beginning to look up.”

He gave her a wink, and she felt herself begin to blush. She was about to ask him another question but their professor walked in and was passing out the class syllabus. Today had been one interesting today and she had always heard the first day of school determines the rest of the year. She was certain that this was just the start to one very interesting school year


Cynthia squeaked and froze in place, her brother posing oddly to keep from hitting her, causing their whole train to come to a standstill.

“What’s the matter?” Clyde asked, and immediately Cynthia turned around and put her hand over his mouth, silencing him, and attempted to push them all back the way they had come, out of the faint and mysterious light leaking around the turn in the tunnel.

Understanding, I grabbed Markle’s hand and jerked him backwards, making him move rather than stand there starting at Cynthia and Clyde looking for all the world like he was just about to shout out another inane question. “Quiet!” I hissed in a whisper as he turned his angry little blue eyes on me and we crept back down the tunnel until we reached a wide enough area that we could turn and talk to each other. The stalactites weren’t nearly as long in this section, and barely dripped any water, unlike the tunnel we were just in, where it was almost like it were lightly raining on us. I reached back and rung out my long ponytail and waited for Cynthia to elaborate, but the way that the girl was nearly shaking I figured a question was probably in order. “What’s up, Cynthia?” I asked quietly, knowing how caves liked to echo. Her expression was almost weirding me out, making my senses go crazy. Did I just hear something? Was someone right behind me? I was being stupid.

“There’s something up there,” she whispered.

“Something? What kind of something?” her twin asked, looking perplexed.

“A –“ she seemed to choke on the word, “A monster.” And now I knew why. A monster? That’s preposterous. Rolling my eyes, I waited for her to continue, putting my hands on my hips in an attempt to shake off the creepy feeling I was getting. Monsters weren’t real.

“What kind of monster?” Markle asked, nearly shaking in his boots, his whisper as quiet as hers, and immediately I had to say something. It was bad enough to have one kid believing she saw something, but another entirely to have the youngest believing he would be eaten by a monster at any moment.

“There’s no monster,” I reassured him, “Cynthia probably just saw something weird in the light. There’re a ton of stalactites here, so she probably saw shadows playing with stalagmites up ahead.”

Cynthia’s wide eyes stayed on me as her head shook ‘no’, but Clyde seemed willing enough to agree with me. “Yeah, you probably just saw something,” he seconded, even as she reached out and took his hand, like they used to when they were little. That seemed to shake him just a bit; I’d have to end all of this.

“Look, I’ll go up there and see what’s up, okay? When you hear me whistle come and see the scariest monster possible, ‘cause I know shadow puppets, too,” I added with a touch of humor, fluffing Markle’s hair before creeping off down the tunnel.  I meant it too; when I got up there I’d find the rock formation that made the monster shadow and stand on it or make bunnies have a talk-show for a minute. Nothing like bunny shadows to chase away nightmares. I tried to ignore the water that fell all around me as I walked back towards the light, but I had to wipe my face at least once before I got to the end of the tunnel – after this, I’ll demand a warm bath. And a babysitter of the year award. How did they end up in these caves, anyway?

I pressed my back to the wall as I peered around the corner – though I’d never admit it, Cynthia kinda had me spooked, too – and almost immediately pulled back. What was that? My heart pounded with the image that I thought I just saw – the ugliest, most bulbous thing ever. But it was just a shadow, right? This time I’d see what was causing it. Taking a deep breath, I looked around again, my eyes focusing on the dark shadow of what I could only describe as a pig-like troll. Tearing them away, I followed the shadow backwards towards the source of light... and froze.


She ran onto the balcony into the night, because no one could ever understand. The pain was forever stuck inside Cynthia's soul. Uncontrollable sobs racked through her body. Her best friend, Yoyo, was dead, lying in a coffin, and Cynthia, cloaked in black from her funeral. She didn't deserve to die. All she could think of was Yoyo in hospital bed, her fragile body growing colder every second. A tumor was on her lungs. The doctors told her she wouldn't survive very long. Cynthia was there when Yoyo took her last breath. "Don't die on me, Yoyo," she pleaded, tears streaming down her face and in her blonde hair. Yoyo stammered, "C-Cynthia, it's alright." Her best friend gently pushed her brunette hair off her forehead for her. The light faded out of Yoyo's beautiful brown eyes, and out of Cynthia's world. Everything was dark and gloomy.

After the haunting flashback, she looked down from the balcony, three stories high. What was worth living for, now that Yoyo was gone? The blonde contemplated throwing herself off the edge. It would be terrifying, but then Cynthia could be with Yoyo. Dying was nothing compared to losing her. She let down her updo, allowing her long hair to cascade her back, took a deep breath, and began cautiously lifting herself over the edge.


A voice desperately screamed her name. "Cynthia!" She looked up, her brown eyes sparkling with tears and the stars that lit up the evening sky. Clyde dashed to the crying girl and held her tight while she sobbed into his shoulder. "Why?" he asked. "Why would you try to kill yourself?" Cynthia glanced down at her black heels. Her crush for 5 years, her soulmate, didn't understand! Clyde knew Yoyo was dead and that she was her inseparable best friend! They were like sisters and they shared all their secrets! Cynthia pushed him away, infuriated. "She's dead! Yoyo's gone!" she yelled, her voice choked with rage, hatred, and depression. Clyde ran his hand through his blonde hair. He tried to comfort the girl, but she slapped him across the face. Stunned at what she'd done, Cynthia stared at her hand, her eyes widened in shock, while Clyde stared at her with his piercing green eyes.

She looked up into his eyes, clutching her ebony dress, and trembled, "Oh my god, I-I'm so-" He grabbed her hand, intertwining their fingers together. "I know. I'm sorry about Yolanda. But I know how to cheer you up." He motioned for someone to come forward. It was Markle, a redhead with blue eyes and Clyde's best friend. "Whatcha need?" Clyde whispered something in his ear. "Oh…okay," he replied. Markle exited to come back with a guitar. "What's going on?" asked Cynthia, flustered. The boys smiled, not willing to spill the secret. The redhead strummed out the beginning notes to the song "Lucky" by Jason Mraz and Colbie Calliat. He winked at Clyde and then he grabbed her gently by the waist. The couple danced, surrounded by the night. Her heart skipped a beat and she laughed through her tears. He was so sweet, just like Yoyo. Clyde twirled Cynthia around as they spun around the room.


Okay! So that was Popcorn Game One! Static Characters, random POV, random settings, random genres! In future games I'd really like to have everyone guess who wrote each portion as a method of recognizing writing styles, but to start, I'll announce who did what portion so everyone can familiarize themselves with each others' works!


Since this is the Writing and Roleplaying's Guild, now would be the time to offer constructive criticism about pieces - making helpful suggestions to make the writing more vivid, discuss the pros and cons of writing with different perspectives, compare and contrast different formats, praise unique or imaginative ideas, etc.; however, I'd like people to volunteer before their work is combed through and discussed (because I know a few of  you might still be a little bit shy about this!)

So! If you would like to have your portion critiqued, volunteer below! Anyone can comment (even those who didn't participate!), but please reserve critiques for those who volunteer or ask for them.


Possible scenarios for future games:

• Static characters, randomized genres
  
• Regular game; afterwards each player is assigned another's piece to change the perspective (from 1st to 3rd or vice versa) just for practice
  
• Static plot, dynamic characters
  

(if you have a suggestion for future games, please quote it so I can find it easily! XD

PS:

So, the one thing I noticed in each story was how there were tons of typos. I noticed Ari-chan's story kept going from past tense to present tense also. The first entry needs paragraph spacing, and more detail in between talking. 

I kind of lost track of all else while laughing my chibi off about how nothing made sense. 

I hope to join the next game!