An Excerpt from a Writing Project

From Rockybado 4: Running Up a Hill

It was 9:30 in the morning, and both boys were obviously still sleeping. The typical lives of two young men on a weekend. However, Brody Ingram slowly woke up to the sound of his phone. It must have been ringing for quite some time. He lifted his head out of the pillow, and he put it down again. Brody really did not want to wake up. But it was either his alarm going off, or someone was trying to get ahold of him.

Brody slowly grabbed his phone and saw that his own girlfriend was trying to call him. He felt obligated to answer the phone since Candace Seales was hoping to hang out with him on this beautiful day. 

“Hello?” Brody answered his phone sleepily.
“Hey, Brody,” the voice answered on the other end.
“Candace?”
“Yes! Who else do you think it is?”
“Candace,” Brody replied with a smile.
“You’re too cute,” Candace remarked, laughing.
“So, when can I come over?”
“Whenever. It’s already 9:30.”
“I’ll probably ride my bike over if that’s cool.”
“If it works for you, then go for it.”

Okay, then. Brody tried to go back to sleep for thirty minutes, but it didn’t work. At ten o’clock in the morning, he finally got out of bed and got ready for the day. When he stretched and did fifty push-ups, he noticed that David, his brother, had gotten out of bed earlier than he had.

Of course.

David almost always gets out of bed at least thirty minutes earlier than Brody. It was probably a big brother thing. Or David just woke up to Brody’s phone going off. Nonetheless, David beat Brody to getting out of bed earlier. Brody eventually came downstairs, got himself a toasted everything bagel with plain cream cheese, and saw David sitting at the dining room table, eating some watermelon. 

It took a few minutes for David to fully acknowledge Brody’s presence, since he was very hungry for watermelon. Brody even took a piece of watermelon from David’s bowl, and he didn’t even notice that. However, two minutes later, David looked up and gave Brody a goofy smile. 

“Hey, Brody,” David said as his face returned to normal.
“Hey,” Brody replied, somewhat amused.
“Going over to Candace’s?”
“In a bit. What are you up to?”
“I’m going to practice with The Hawaiian Geeks today,” David answered.
“Sounds fun. How’s Olivia?” Brody asked his older brother.
“She’s doing pretty well. I’m hanging out with her tomorrow.”
“Cool. When are you practicing today?”
“Probably in a couple hours. Toby’s coming with.”
“He likes sitting in on your rehearsals.”
“Yes, he does. Toby just likes listening to The Hawaiian Geeks play.”

And it is true. Toby, the youngest of the Ingram's, has always liked listening to rock music, no matter which band. But, of course, he prefers the Hawaiian Geeks over any other band that he has heard of because….well, Brett, the second oldest brother, is in the band. And his other bandmates are pretty chill. 

Especially the keyboardist, whose name is Tony Rossi. 

Even though the Ingram’s have some family members with the last name Rossi, Tony and the Ingram’s are not related. Tony is just the chilliest dude on the planet. His long straight brown hair, his neon blue beanie, and his relaxed demeanor are all a dead giveaway.

Toby wanted to wear a beanie today, so he wore his favorite green beanie to the rehearsal.

Brody just wanted to spend some time at Candace’s, so he got his bike out of the garage and started to head over to Lowell when Brett, David, and Toby eventually approached him in Brett’s car. Brett had just arrived at the Ingram’s house to pick up David and Toby. David has a car, but he has always preferred taking a ride with Brett. Makes sense because the family’s house is technically on the way to John Coolwood’s house, where Brett, David, and Toby were planning to go.

“Do you want us to give you a ride?” Brett asked Brody.
“Nope. I’m going to ride my bike over to Candace’s,” Brody remarked.
“Okay. Suit yourself.”
“Besides, where are you going?”
“Coolwood’s,” Brett replied.
“That’s kinda out of the way,” Brody said.
“Maybe a little.”
“And I like riding my bike to Lowell. There’s something relaxing about it.”
“We would walk or ride our bikes, but we have some heavy equipment that we have to bring with us.”
“Well….”

The three boys drove off, and Brody watched the car take a left at 93rd Place from Garfield Court. He took a couple puffs on his inhaler, and then pushed his feet on the bike’s pedals. He then took off toward Candace’s house on Willowbrook Drive in Lowell. He knew that it was going to take about forty-five minutes to get to her house by bike. But he didn’t care. It was too nice of a day not to do something productive. 

Brody rode his bike through downtown Crown Point, a very liberating place for him. He could feel the breeze in his face. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest. And he could breathe in and out peacefully. 

The ride to Candace’s was just what he needed today.

The bike ride, of course, only seemed like a minute to him when it was really about an hour when he had finally reached Candace’s house. Brody might have been a little sweaty from the bike ride from his own house, but he didn’t think he sweated too much. He got off his bike and walked it to Candace’s front door. Brody rang the doorbell, and Candace came out to greet him within seconds.

​“Hey, Candace,” Brody greeted his girlfriend.
“Hey, Brody,” Candace answered. “How long did it take you to ride your bike here?”
“Forty-five minutes. Not too bad.”
“That’s good, actually.”
“I brought some video games,” Brody remarked, not quite sure what else to say next.
“We could play video games, but we also just set up our built-in pool,” Candace said, sounding very excited.
“Anything works for me.”
“So, what would you like to do?” 
“I’m the wrong person to ask. What would you like to do?”
“We could play your video games!”