Summer Days Ain't Coming Back
Childhood is like a dream, I once thought. Like one very long and perfect summer day, filled with barbeques, adventures and explorations, and the overpower smells of trees, flowers, cut grass, and the river to the east to flood your senses.
Then I woke up to the grand nightmare that is growning up, playing a starring role in a badly written soap opera. Suddenly the people I've known all my life are strangers to me. And thrust upon me day after day is the realization that I control nothing. The world has no trouble turning itself with or without me in it.
But then I think back and see that childhood sucked, too, only I was too young and naive to realize it. That wonderful innocence that protects you in your youth quickly abandons you when you grown up.
But that's okay. Because no matter how stupid and redundant soap operas are, they are amusing. And hell, I'm easily amused.
Characters
Kella Coffield: Our protagonist.
Age 12 at the beginning. She turns 13 a week later. Long curly black hair she always has in a ponytail and
light blue-grey eyes. Somewhat pale. Very pretty. Everything is told from her point of view. She is a
very quiet girl who, rather than be the center of attention, would like to sit back and observe. Her
mother’s apparent suicide when she was seven had a profound affect on her. She doesn’t like to think about
things that upset her, yet she doesn’t pretend they don’t exist. She has to be in control of everything and
everyone around her. She has prophetic dreams but is very frustrated by her lack of ability to interpret them
until it's too later.
Model:Mila Kunis
Sarah Carsen:
Kella’s best friend. Age 13 at the beginning. Medium blond hair down to just past her shoulders and dark
brown eyes. Pretty. She is an energetic and lively girl with low self-esteem who lives to be there for the
people she cares about. She has a large crush on Vic. The middle child of seven kids (all of whom are boys
except her), Vic is the only guy who’s ever treated her like she’s not a guy and is worthy of a lurid glance
or two. She is also very envious of Kella’s figure, because she has not hit puberty, therefore has no
chest. She comes up with unique methods of making fake breasts, which often puts her in humiliating
situations, lowering her self-image even more.
Model:Hayden Panettiere
Vic Abernathy: Kella’s friend and Jimmy’s best friend. Age 13 at the beginning. Light blond hair about to his shoulders and grey eyes. His features are more pretty than handsome. When he was a kid people always thought he was a girl. He acts very immature and moody and is always making sexual references. Underneath his childish antics is a very intelligent and depressed boy. His father is abusive, and his mother is an alcoholic and a drug addict who bounces from boyfriend to boyfriend, dragging her three youngest children with her. Vic lives with his father, but spends most of his time at his older brothers. He is very complex. He has been going out with Pamela Young for seven months (though he spend six of those months in juvenile hall, and it’s obvious he isn’t the same Vic that came out that went in.). He knows he doesn’t love Pamela or really even care about her, yet he doesn’t understand why he doesn’t break up with her, or why he cheats on her very often. He also knows that Sarah has a crush on him, and while he doesn’t try to lead her on, he does. He sees Kella as very sheltered, and she both amuses him and disgusts him at times. Her naiveté draws him to her, though, and as time goes on, something more develops…
Jim Harris: Kella’s friend and Vic’s best friend. Age 13 at the beginning. Shaggy light brown hair and light green eyes. The boy-next-door kind of looks. He is very laid back and calm. He honestly doesn’t give a damn about what anybody thinks of him except for his friends, and perhaps, his younger sister Melodie. He has a wry sense of humor and plays the guitar. His mother’s failed marriages have led him to believe there is no such thing as real love and he bounces from girl to girl much like Vic does, but different girls (^_- Vic mostly goes out with whores), and he is still a virgin. He doesn’t really think it’s a big deal but he wishes Vic and Bobby would stop teasing him about it. Besides, he thinks he’s too young to be having sex, and that they are, too. He knows Vic very well and has learned when to leave him alone. He has a bit of a crush on Kella. Not really wanting to go out with her, but would like to make out with her or something.
Bobby Valentino: Kella’s friend and Genni’s boyfriend. Age 14 at the beginning. Short dark brown hair and brown eyes. He’s not handsome, but he’s nice looking. He’s very mischievous and scheming. Like Kella, he doesn’t like to dwell on the unpleasantries of life, yet he doesn’t just not think about them. He accepts them and moves on with his life. He believes people should live their lives to the fullest and take chances so you never have regrets. He never wants to have regrets. When he saw his chance with Genni he took it. He belittles his relationship with her and "tells all" but he really does love her. She’s making him grow up a bit faster than he would have otherwise and he’s not too thrilled with that. He cares about his friends very much and pressures them to do a lot because he kind of wants them to understand that you have to act in order not to have regret, but he does understand that some people have their limits.
Genni Coffield: Kella’s older sister and Bobby’s girlfriend. Age 15 at the beginning. Long straight black hair and dark blue eyes. He features are sharper than Kella’s. She is very pretty. She is very temperamental and insecure. The Coffield’s have a lousy reputation in New Haven and she was tormented as a child, but unlike Kella, who had her friends, Genni was pretty much on her own. All her friends were boys who were years older than her. She’s always tried to fit in with the popular crowd but has always failed miserable. When she was older she got it into her head if she was lose with guys she’d at least be popular with them. And she was, except the guys had a thing about tormenting her in public, and then expecting her to sleep with them in private. She is incredibly lonely. She loves her sister very much but they’ve never been close, and she doesn’t know how to bridge the gap between them, and Kella certainly seems to not want a relationship with her.
Pamela Young: Vic’s girlfriend and a girl Kella can’t stand. Age 13 at the beginning. Long wavy honey blond hair and deep blue eyes with a nice tan. She is very pretty. (Pam’s not really a main character but she’s Kella’s foil so she deserves to be mentioned) She is very unsure of herself and somewhat neurotic. She was molested by both her father and older brother (very few people know this, Vic is the only one out of the main characters, and I don’t think it’ll ever be mentioned) and is very screwed up because of that. She hates men and sleeps around to feel that she has control over them. She tries to keep control over Vic and clings to him relentlessly. She despises Kella and Sarah because they seem to have a bigger affect on him than she does.
Comments
The oldest of my stories. I began this when I was ten and it's been through three different titles and countless revisions. Kella and Jimmy are the only characters left out of the original bunch, though Bobby is an older character that starred in a story I made up when I was nine and I stuck him in this story because I liked him.
This is more or less on hold. Out of all my stories this is most dear to me and when I write it I want it to be perfect, which I why I'm setting it aside to work on other things that don't run as deep with me. And there may be more than one book. The initial story takes place when they're in eighth grade but I know everything they do from the day they're born till Kella and co are 27. I'm undecided. ^_^