Story needs to be completed:
Wanting a cheerful look, the woman chose the striped curtains over the checkered drapes because the

My choice:
curtains were more colorful.

Story needs to be completed:
Joel's friends were all busy while Derrick's friends were available, so

My choice:
Joel went to the concert alone.

Story needs to be completed:
Rachel put up a good defense but Cynthia still won the fight because

My choice:
Rachel was weaker.

Story needs to be completed:
The chemicals that I bought didn't clean the counters well because the

My choice:
chemicals were too weak.