Happy
Thursday everyone! Today marks day 4 of Science Geek Appreciation Week. I hope
you're having as much fun with it as I am. So far we've been introduced to The
Avery Shaw Experiment, we've been teased about the upcoming The Libby
Garrett Intervention, and we've gotten to know a little about the author
behind all the geeky goodness, Kelly Oram. Today, it's time to get to know the
stars of the Spanish Fork High science club a little better with a peek in
their personal journals.
If
you missed any of the previous posts about The Avery Shaw Experiment or The
Libby Garrett Intervention, be sure to stop by the Facebook event.
Along with the posts, there are all kinds of extra bonus material, games and
giveaways going on. Lots of chances to win signed books and swag, talk to the
author and just have fun with other science geek loving friends. There's a new
giveaway every day. CLICK HERE TO JOIN THE PARTY!
As
part of the Avery Shaw Experiment, Spanish Fork High science club president,
Avery Shaw, and her new recruit, Spanish Fork High basketball star Grayson
Kennedy were required to keep journals throughout their study. I happen to have
a few of those journal entries, and am very excited to share them with you.
Before I do, just in case you haven't read the book yet, (For which there is no
excuse because it's on sale for $0.99 this week. ;) ) I believe I should give
you a tiny bit of insight as to what, exactly, The Avery Shaw Experiment is.
But since this is the day to get to know Avery and Grayson, I'll let them
explain it in their own words.
So,
now that we know what kind of experiment Avery and Grayson have embarked on,
lets get a peek inside those journals...
The
following is a short story written as bonus material for The Avery Shaw
Experiment. It is not an excerpt from the book and is spoiler free. Enjoy!
"I See London, I See
France"
(Avery)
Dear Diary,
Though I am clearly past the shock, denial, and bargaining
stages of grief, I have not attained guilt yet. If I had to describe myself as
anything right now, I would say I’m simply empty. Sad, hurt, and empty.
What happened between Aiden and myself was tragic, but, really,
it was nobody’s fault. Aiden has as much right to his feelings as I do mine. He
did what he did because it’s what he needed, not because of something I’d done.
Even Grayson agrees that I did nothing wrong. He’s told me a hundred times
already that I have nothing to feel guilty about.
Grayson’s right. I have nothing to feel guilty about. And I
don’t. Feel guilty, that is. It’s been days and still the guilt won’t come. I’m
not even sure what I’m supposed to feel guilty about. I just know it’s the next
stage in the grieving process.
As part of the Avery Shaw Experiment, I have decided to try and
let the stages of grief occur naturally. However, that doesn’t mean that I will
sit around waiting for acceptance and a cured heart to find me. No one has ever
achieved results by being stagnant.
I’ve decided that the best thing for me to do is that which true
mourners do—try to move on with my life. I need to stop dwelling on the past. I
need to accept that my relationship with Aiden will never go back to the way it
was, and that my life has changed in a very permanent way. I will never be the
same.
I figured step one of “moving on” was to purge my life of all
things Aiden Kennedy. Tonight I had Grayson come over to my house and help me
remove everything that reminded me of Aiden. My theory was that if I see
nothing that sparks a memory, then I would be able to think of Aiden less and
it would be easier for me to forget him.
This experience was much harder and more painful than I thought
it would be. I never could have done it without Grayson’s support and
encouragement. Crying in front of him was embarrassing, but he didn’t seem to
think any less of me for it. I’m grateful to have such an understanding
partner.
After it was all over—Grayson had to pry the garbage bag full of
memories from my hands and drive away with it, or all of that stuff would have
ended up right back in its place—I expected to feel better. I expected some
sort of closure or sense of relief. Instead I looked around at all the bare
walls and dust outlines on the dresser and cried even harder.
The empty spots where the pictures and souvenirs once were now
stand as reminders themselves—big empty voids just like the one in my heart
that used to be filled with my best friend. Part of me is missing. It’s as if I
am an amputee missing an arm or a leg.
The spot on my wall where I used to hang a poster of Albert
Einstein that Aiden had given me after I’d dressed as the brilliant physicist
for Halloween in middle school was the most obvious gaping hole. I took one
look at that spot and broke down.
When I lost it, Grayson wrapped his arms around me, told me he
knew how to fix the problem, and then disappeared slamming my bedroom door shut
behind him. After a minute, he came back and I watched, bewildered, as he
pinned a pair of smiley face boxer shorts to my wall where Einstein used to
watch over me.
I
couldn’t help the way my horrified gaze dropped to Grayson’s pants. He burst
into laughter, knowing what I’d been thinking, and insisted that the shorts now
on my wall were his emergency pair—clean and washed—that he kept in his gym
bag, and that this was most definitely an emergency.
I asked why he tacked his underwear up on my bedroom wall and he
told me because now every time I looked at that spot I would think of him and
laugh instead of thinking of Aiden and crying. He was right. I can’t help
smiling at the ridiculous smiley faces.
He also told me that they would help me have good dreams. When I
asked why he said because I would dream about him being mostly naked instead of
having nightmares of Aiden leaving me. I’d freaked out so badly that he’d had
to prompt me to breathe again. I don’t know that I’ll have any dreams at night,
but the daydreams are already ridiculous. I can’t stop picturing him in those
shorts! I’m going to have to get something to replace them. Soon!
"Purging"
(Grayson)
Avery is crazy. Girls are slightly insane in general, but Avery
is especially nuts. She called me up tonight and asked me to help
her purge Aiden from her life. I have been asked by a lot of
girls to do a lot of things, but never to help them purge. Whatever
she meant, I was sure it wasn’t going to be all fun dates and playing like
she’d promised me when I agreed to this whacked-out experiment.
Apparently purging was smart-girl talk for
throwing out your ex’s junk. I know this is like some kind of sacred ritual
among chicks—they have scenes about it in movies and everything—but I don’t get
what the big deal is. It’s just stupid crap. Pictures, CD’s, lame stuffed
animals, and in Avery’s case, old science projects, reports, and even a Civil
War diorama that she and Aidan had done in the 3rd grade.
The thing was practically biodegrading and yet Aves nearly had a panic attack
when I shoved the old shoebox into a garbage bag.
Avery was a freaking train wreck through the whole thing. I had
to do all of the actual throwing out because she wasn’t really capable of
anything more than pointing at stuff and bursting into tears. She couldn’t even
explain why half of that crap reminded her of Aiden. (I’m still at a loss with
the Diana Ross CD.)
I thought her attachment to all of it was stupid, but I have to
admit the concept had merit. She needed to get over my idiot brother already.
The dude was not worth the emotional pain Avery was putting herself through. If
I could, I’d wipe Aiden clean from the Earth, but since murder is a felony and
I’m too hot to go to prison, purging him from Avery’s life was
the next best thing. Aves may have found the evening emotionally scarring, but
I thought it was mildly satisfying. Punching Aiden in the face would have been
more satisfying, but there was some consolation in burning his
pictures.
The more stuff we got rid of, the better I felt. When I carried
the garbage bag out of the house—I had to pry it from Avery’s fingers—I thought
Aves would feel better too. I thought for sure there would be some kind of
relief for her.
Not so much.
I came back inside and found Avery staring at her bedroom wall
like some kind of mental patient. When I walked in the room she
turned to me and my heart almost broke for her. Her tears were pouring down her
face again and the look in her eyes was so devastated that I felt her pain with
her.
In a single stride I pulled her against me and wrapped her
tightly in my arms hoping that feeling her there would stop the throbbing in my
chest.
Crying girls have always been my biggest weakness. I pretty much
hate this about myself, because it makes me vulnerable to them. But I seriously
cannot stand it when girls cry. It’s like there is something in me, some kind
of physical part of me that reacts when I see a girl cry. It makes me crazy and
the feeling doesn’t go away until I’ve made them stop. I have to
make them stop. I have to do whatever it takes to put a smile on a sad girl’s
face no matter what it does to my dignity.
I’m such a sucker.
Tonight was no exception. Actually, it was one of my least
dignified moments ever. Curse my stupid hero gene.
Aves was falling apart and I had to make it better. While she
buried her face in my chest, my brain spun frantically searching for some sort
of solution. I wasn’t even sure what had set her off this time, but then I
looked up at the wall and everything fell into place.
Avery had had this lame poster on her wall of an old dude with
crazy hair. I think it was Albert Einstein or someone. I’d taken it down, but
it had been in that same spot for so long that you could see the outline of it
where the sun had bleached the paint around it over the years.
The big empty rectangle spot was worse than the poster. It was
practically jumping off the wall, mocking me in the worst way. I may as well
have painted the words AIDEN LEFT YOU in the poster’s place when I took it
down, because now it was obvious that it was gone. Just like Aiden was.
I had to fix it. I had to get rid of that spot. But I couldn’t
put the poster back. I had to put something else there. Something that wouldn’t
remind her of Aiden. More than that—it had to be something that would cheer her
up and put a smile on her face when she saw it. It was the “smile” thought that
gave me the idea.
Now,
this is the part where my dignity comes into play. I was so desperate to cheer
Aves up that I’d have given her the shirt off my back if I thought it could
help. Unfortunately, in this case, my shirt wouldn’t do any good. But my underwear…
That’s right, I gave Avery Shaw my underpants. The stupid, dorky
ones Aiden got me for Christmas a couple of years ago because he’s a tool like
that, that I kept in my gym bag. They were white with rainbow smiley faces all
over them. Ridiculous. But they would make Avery laugh.
Before I could think better of it, I strolled into Avery’s room
and tacked those dumb shorts right over that stupid poster spot. After they
were securely fastened to her wall I turned around and grinned at her as big as
I could. The trick was confidence. I had to act like I thought this was totally
normal, and the most brilliant idea ever or Avery would know how stupid I
suddenly felt and then she’d get embarrassed.
Avery looked slightly horrified and her eyes dropped to my
waist. I burst into laughter and pulled up my shirt, exposing the band of the
boxers I was wearing as proof that I was still dressed beneath my pants. Once
she was assured that the shorts on her wall were at least clean she, of course,
asked me why I’d just decorated her room with underwear.
I explained my theory of them making her laugh and think of me
instead of the Einstein poster making her cry over Aiden. It worked. She looked
up at my shorts and actually smiled. It was the first smile I’d seen on her
face since I’d arrived. I felt five hundred pounds lighter all the sudden and
my smile reached goofy status.
Then, because I’m a jerk and couldn’t help myself, I made a
comment about her dreaming of me in nothing but those smiley faces. She totally
freaked of course. I knew I shouldn’t have done it, but I love watching her
blush too much. She turned so red that I was sure she had a very clear mental
image stuck in her head.
I
waited until she started breathing again, then I kissed her bright red cheek
and told her to have pleasant dreams tonight. It was classic. There is no one
on the planet more adorable than Avery.
To
read the rest of The Avery Diaries, and find other fun bonus material visit the
"extras" page on Kelly's website.
The Avery Shaw Experiment is on
sale this week only for just $0.99.
I promise, it's worth the
dollar!
And The Libby
Garrett Intervention is now available for preorder at the early bird price of
$2.99.
(Regular listing price $4.99
after it goes on sale, so order now and save yourself some money!)
Amazon * iBooks * Kobo
Kelly wrote her first novel at age fifteen--a fan fiction about
her favorite music group, The Backstreet Boys, for which her family and friends
still tease her. She's obsessed with reading, talks way too much, and likes to
eat frosting by the spoonful. She lives outside of Phoenix, Arizona with her
husband, four children, and her cat, Mr. Darcy.
Connect
with Kelly
