1st 5 Pages Oct Workshop - Helt Rev 2

Name: Julianna Helt
Genre: MG Contemporary
Title: Slime Wars

Pitch

Slime-obsessed ten-year-old Maycie and her two best friends, Shelby and Lexi spend the end of summer selling their homemade goo from the sidewalk. Maycie wants new lacrosse gear to fit in with the elite team she made in the spring. When the first attempt at selling slime ends in no sales and a giant mess, Maycie decides it’s a bad idea.  

But when her dad loses his job she starts to think a slime business might be the only way to help her parents, who might not be able to afford the elite lacrosse team’s tuition let alone new gear. To make matters worse, new girl, Aubrey, steals her best friend away after Maycie is too distracted starting the business.

When school starts, a slime war begins! Maycie’s business takes off, but Aubrey and Lexi have been selling their own slime and attempt to sabotage Maycie. Maycie has to decide to engage in revenge of her own and risk losing her friends or fight for her business to stay on the team.

Pages

I waved my sign at a passing car. “Get your slime,” I shouted. My BFFs Shelby and Lexi and I all stood in Shelby’s yard, behind an old fold-out table we lugged from her garage with plastic containers lined up on top, each filled with a different color of our awesome homemade goo.  

We spent all summer making slime and it was taking over all our houses. Lexi’s mom threatened to throw it all away if something wasn’t done. Lexi decided a good old-fashioned stand like a lemonade stand was the way to go.  But, no one stopped at our table all afternoon. Some cars slowed down but when they realized we weren’t selling lemonade on this hot day, they sped up and drove away.  

My sweaty hands slipped on the poster board with, “SLIME FOR SALE,” emblazoned in large red letters. I really wanted this plan to work. I had my eyes on some new lacrosse gear my parents said they wouldn’t buy me because my old stick was “just fine for now” even though all the girls on the elite team I made in the spring have brand new equipment.

Lexi held up her poster board with “SLIME $2” written on it. She messed up the dollar sign and scratched it out with a black marker. 

Shelby laid down on her sign, “It’s so hot,” she whined, “Can we go inside?” She decorated her poster board with hearts and stars instead of anything to do with selling slime.      

“We might as well! No one is going to want our slime!” I laid down next to Shelby, closing my eyes against the blaring sun. This was a bad plan! I’ll never get new lacrosse gear now.

Then a car door slammed.

“Hi,” Lexi said. I squinted my eyes at a boy standing on the sidewalk with a crisp five-dollar bill. His mom waited with the window down in a gray minivan.

“Maycie,” she whispered, kicking me. “Get up!”

I stood up off the grass to greet our first customer.  

“Hey, you made all this?” he asked waving at the containers on the table.  

“Um, yeah. did you want some?” I mumbled pulling the end of my ponytail into my mouth. This seemed like a good idea until someone actually wanted to buy slime. Talking to customers made my already hot body become drenched in sweat.

 “I don’t know.” The kid studied the merchandise. “Do you have blue?” He peered at the slime on our table.

“Of course.” Lexi picked up a container opening the lid.

“Ew.” She dropped it squishing her face up in disgust.

“Um, never mind.” The kid backed away his eyes wide.

“Wait!” I called, desperate to make our first sale, but he was already back in the car. It sped away as I looked in the container in Lexi’s hand. 

“Gross.” What was once a blue masterpiece was now a pool of glue and laundry detergent. It didn’t look anything like slime.

“They’re not all like that are they?” Lexi asked opening the other containers. They were. All the slime had melted in the sun.

Lexi let out a deep breath and threw herself down in the grass.

“This is terrible!” She buried her face in her hands in a dramatic pose of defeat. But I had an idea! We needed something to thicken the slime in this heat. Maybe flour?

“I’ll be right back!” I ran across the street to my house thinking about the first lacrosse practice coming up. I didn’t want to bring my old second-hand stick. The thought of running down the field with a new stick made me run across the street a little faster.

“Mom!” I screamed as the front door banged open. A blast of cold air hit my face, but I didn’t pause to enjoy it. Mom wasn’t in the living room or the kitchen. She must be in the backyard with the twins. Since she’s usually ok with me borrowing stuff and I was in a hurry, I grabbed the bag of flour and carried it back to slime headquarters. 

“What are you doing?” Lexi asked as I sprinkled some flour into the first container of blue slime stirring it with a plastic spoon. More and more flour went into the mixture, but the goo didn’t thicken like I thought it would. Flour covered the front of my #laxgirl shirt.

“Borax!” I yelled to no one in particular, picking up the bag of flour to run back home with it. As I made my way across the front yard, my sweaty hands lost their grip on the bag of flour. It slipped through my fingers exploding on to my front yard like a flour atomic bomb.

“Oh no!” I yelled. Lexi and Shelby came running.

“Look at you,” Lexi tried to brush the flour out of my hair and clothes. It only smeared it in more. Her sweaty hands now white with flour. She wiped them off on my shirt instead of her own.   

Shelby smiled. I knew she was trying not to laugh. She sniffed. Any second she was going to explode in fits of giggles.

“Don’t do it,” I warned her, putting my hand up to stop her. That just sent a whiff of flour dust in the air. I couldn’t help but crack a smile.

Shelby covered her mouth with both hands, but the sound burst from her lips under her fingers. Peels of laughter exploded across the lawn. I grabbed a handful from the bag and threw it in the air. It rained down on the three of us.

“No, don’t!” Lexi cried in horror while Shelby spun around in the flour rain

I threw another handful of flour in the air and danced in it with Shelby. Lexi laughed, streaking through the yard to escape the mess.  She’d be in so much trouble if she got flour all over her clothes. I knew this but I chased her anyway.

She stopped running, out of breath, facing me, “Please stop, Maycie!” She put her hands out in front of her.

A fistful of flour in my hand, I held it up threatening to throw it. She cowered.

“Don’t, Maycie,” A stern voice said behind me. Lexi relaxed, triumphant, looking passed me to the owner of the voice.

“Hi, Dad,” I turned, smiling my sweetest smile.

“What in the world are you doing?” he demanded. My sweetness having no effect on him whatsoever.

“I could ask you the same thing, you know. Did you skip out of work early?” I gave him a playful look, shaking my finger at him.

I expected him to have some witty comeback and we would exchange banter like we usually do. Instead, his face darkened, and he turned away.

“Just put the flour away, Maycie, and clean up. You’re a mess!” He opened up the backseat door, lifting out a box. “Can you close that door for me?” he said as he walked past.

I nodded, watching him walk toward the house, balancing the box on his hip as he opened the front door. I let go of the clump of flour in my hand, letting it fall to the ground, painting the grass with white specks. Using my hip to avoid touching Dad’s car and getting flour on it, I slammed it shut.