Cameron threw the book across the room, and listened to the satisfying thump as it hit the wall.
“That was the stupidest… Ugh!” She picked up her phone to call Lesley, her dark hair swinging and her brown eyes blazing as they always did when she was upset.
* * *
Lesley’s phone began buzzing. She pulled it out of her pocket, and saw that it was Cameron.
She flipped it open, “Cam!” She said.
Cameron’s voice came through the receiver, “Hey Lesley. I finished that book you gave me.”
“Autumn Sky?”
“Yeah.”
“Wasn’t it incredible? Did Luke remind you of Brandon at all?”
“Um, no not really. I did think Blossom was a bit like you, but I didn’t like it. Not that I didn’t like Blossom, I just don’t like the book.”
* * *
“You didn’t like it?” Lesley sounded disappointed. Cameron shook her head and then remembered Lesley couldn’t see her and said, “No, I really didn’t.”
“Why not? I thought it was kind of cool how it had like a moral sort of without being like a fable, and the writing style was actually pretty okay if you think about it.”
“The author seemed Emo, like she was just trying to depress me. I mean it didn’t even all resolve at the end, if you think about it! She still has all those legal issues and her dad is still not living with her and her mom is still upset, nothing changes!” Cameron was tugging her sleeves, holding the phone to her ear with her shoulder.
“Well I know but that’s the point. Ok, no that’s not the point, but the point is that no matter what happens you should never give up hope. It was a hopeful ending.”
“How was that a hopeful ending?”
* * *
Lesley sighed patiently, tucking a strand of short, blonde hair behind her ear. Cameron was a smart girl but sometimes…
“Cam, it was hopeful because she had a new perspective on things. She had figured out how to turn her life around, and she was working on changing her situation. She had Luke and Blossom at her back and she knew the truth.”
“And just what is the truth?”
“That no matter what you should never give up hope, I already said that.”
“Oh. Well that’s true, but there were some things in the writing that bothered me. Like the fact that the author has obviously never had a near-death-by-drowning experience.”
“You have a point there. But I wasn’t focusing so much on the writing as the meaning behind it. And you have to admit, when it came to describing using the five senses, it was pretty good.”
* * *
Cameron rolled her eyes. “Yeah, but a lot of books do that. Besides, the fact that Autumn and Blossom were still friends even after all those years and all that changing, that’s totally unrealistic. I mean, people can be friends for a long period of time, but not if they are as different as Blossom and Autumn.”
“We’re pretty different,”
“Yeah but not that different. And for another thing, the author made some of the characters be too perfect, like, basically flawless. Take Luke for example, he’s Mr. Luke Perfect, and all the girls like him, and sure, guys seem like that a lot of the time, but they never really are, every guy has flaws, so does every girl.”
“Blossom was the flawless one, not Luke, since Luke did in fact have flaws. But I noticed that, what your saying. I think you might be right, and that the author put people in too perfect a light. That could have been better. But could the emotion have been much better? Think about it? Could it?”
Cameron paused. There had been some very strong, emotional parts in the story, parts that had made her run to the bathroom for a tissue box, that was true. “I guess your right, that was some good writing.”
* * *
“The author is an actor, and she knows how to show lots of emotion without just saying ‘So-and-so was mad’ or whatever.”
“Hmm. Interesting.”
“And, Cam, about the ending, think about it, was it really so bad? Honestly think about it and think about the road that lays ahead for Autumn.”
* * *
Cameron thought. It was true Autumn would have a very difficult time ahead of her, but Lesley did have an excellent point, that Autumn now had hope and something to live for. Cameron knew what it was like to have nothing to live for, and she realized that hope was, in fact, a wonderful thing.
“Ok Les, guess you might be right, it wasn’t THAT bad. I’m not putting ‘Autumn Sky’ on my favorites shelf, but I wont but it in the trash can either, ok?”
* * *
Lesley grinned. “You have yourself a deal.” She picked up her copy of ‘Autumn Sky’ and looked at the cover. It had a girl with red hair and blue eyes looking up at the leaves and the sky above her, and blonde girl hugging her on the left, and a blonde boy with his arm around her on the right.
There was a knock on the door, and Brandon walked in. He saw Lesley on the phone and mouthed “time for dinner”
“Hey Cameron I have to go. But I’ll talk to you later!”
“Ok, later Les.”
“Later Cam.”
“What book is that?” Brandon asked, coming over to investigate.
“It’s called Autumn Sky. Want to borrow it? You can if you like.”
Brandon shrugged. “Sure.”
The Sky and the Roses 