Day 1
SLASH AHOY! You have been warned. Now then, the first of hopefully many thousand-words-a-day updates:
February 1
Words written: 1,430
Target words to date: 1,000
Current word count: 1,430
Piece worked on: A drabble for an original concept I'm working on (see this post), which you can read here.
Ring. Ring.
"Hello?"
"Liz? It's Jason."
"Hey, Jason. What's wrong? You sound a little off-"
"Shit, shit, shit!"
"Jason?"
"Liz, I've just done something really stupid - god dammit, it was stupid! Why did I -"
"Are you all right?"
"No, no, I'm not, I'm not. I just did, I did something really idiotic and I really need to talk to someone and you were the first one I thought of who wouldn't-"
"Tell me, Jason. Just say it."
Pause.
"Okay, well, you know how I've had that crush on Jake for ... pretty much ever?"
"...Yeah."
Pause.
"Right, well, I went over to his room tonight. I didn't really have anything in mind, it was just to hang out -"
"Are you sure about that?"
"I don't know, I don't know! I don't know much of anything anymore..."
"Okay. Right. Sorry. So you went over to Jake's room. To hang out."
"Yeah. And after awhile we kinda got to talking. We must have gone on for like an hour or something..."
"About what?"
"Normal stuff, stupid stuff, like what movies we've seen and the people we know and which comic strip is the best. Meaningless stuff. And, Liz, at one point there was this lull in the conversation..."
Pause.
"A lull?"
"Right, and, well, it was really quiet and no one was around and all I could think about was how close I was to him - we were, we were sitting on a couch and we were looking at each other and we were right next to each other on the cushions. And all I could think about was how he looked, how he smelled like grass and cinnamon and right guard, and everything we'd been talking about and how good a conversationalist he was and how we were getting along so well and how everything rushing through my head at that moment pointed to how much I wanted to -"
Long pause.
"You didn't."
"I leaned in and I kissed him full on the lips, Liz."
Pause.
"Oh my God."
"Yeah."
"...What did he do?"
Pause.
"...I don't really know."
"Huh?"
"Well, I - it lasted for like two seconds and then all of a sudden I was aware of what I was doing, and I gasped and leaned back and glimpsed his face for like a millisecond before I grabbed my coat and sprinted out the door. He didn't follow me, thank God, so now I'm sitting here outside in the grass in front of the dorm hall and trying not to think about how furious he must be, or how much he must hate me now..." Pause. "God dammit, we were getting to be such good friends and now I've screwed it all up..."
"Okay, Jason, wait. You said you saw his face for a second. How'd he react?"
"He looked bewildered as hell, I mean, I've never seen someone look that shocked before, but that's all I saw before I ran. He didn't even say anything, I didn't give him a chance."
"Was there anger in there somewhere?"
"I don't know, Liz, I don't know!" Pause. "He must hate me so much right now, I can't even imagine. And I have like four classes with him; how's it gonna be when we see each other tomorrow? For all I know he might beat me up just for being a fag -"
"I think that's being a little extreme, Jason."
"Oh, when will you wake up, Liz?" Harsh. Bitterness. "Jake's a conservative Christian who spends all his spare time playing football and working out. He's as straight as straight can get, and if his background is any indication, he wants people like me put to death. And yet I still kept hoping that there was some way, some slim, minimal chance, that something could happen between us and now I've gone and acted on it and look where it's got me. I'm outside the dorm shivering in this forty-degree weather and seriously contemplating switching schools." Long, bitter pause. "I never should have told you I was crushing on him. If anything, you only made me more hopeful."
"Believe what you want, Jason." Not unkind. Sympathetic. "But to be fair, you still didn't give him much of a chance to react. Maybe he understands."
A snort. "I doubt that."
Long, contemplative pause.
"Jason ... you should talk to him about this."
Heavy breathing on the other end.
"Jason?"
"I'm here. I'm just ... thinking."
"You don't have to do it right now, Jason. But sometime soon. Otherwise all this stuff is just going to fester."
"My stuff or his?"
"I was thinking of you. But if you want to be like that, then both of y'all."
"Great."
"Does that mean you agree with me?"
"I don't know." Short. "I guess."
"You guess?"
"All right, fine; you're right. But not now. Probably not tomorrow either. Give it a few days."
"What are you gonna do about seeing him in class tomorrow?"
"Are you kidding? I'm gonna ditch. No way I'm seeing him if I can help it."
"Uh huh. And what do you think he'll think if he comes to class and you're not there?"
"He'll probably be relieved."
"Or he'll think you're scared of him."
Pause.
"Well, then he'd be right."
"Jason, come on. Do you want Jake thinking you're a coward?"
Pause.
"...No."
"That's right. Heck, for all you know, he's just as wigged out as you are."
"Doesn't that go back to the whole 'being relieved I'm not there' thing?"
"No, I meant that he wants to talk about it just as much as you do."
"I never said I want to talk about it."
"But you do."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
"The point is that I'm an idiot, Liz!" Shouting now. Angry. "I was as close to Jake as I could possibly hope for. And now there's this big ... thing between us because I let my hormones get in the way. Jake was seriously, legitimately a good friend and now ... now, I don't know what he is."
"Your potential crush."
"Potential? Try 'blown-up-in-my-face."
"Regardless. If you care about him - and it's obvious you do - you won't leave him hanging like this. I've met Jake, Jason, and he's a nice guy. He's not gonna beat you up for being a 'fag', as you put it. You owe him an explanation."
"What's there to explain? I'm gay and I want him and now he knows it. Probably the whole school will know by tomorrow."
"You really think Jake's the type to spread gossip?"
"Hell no, but there's no secrets here, Liz. Something happens, it gets out. No one has any idea how the heck it happens, but it does."
"Maybe it won't get out."
"Except it will."
"Aren't you usually the optimist in these conversations? I feel like we're playing role-reversal."
"That is the optimistic view. The pessimistic one is that everyone I know and love will ditch me as soon as said secret spreads throughout school."
"To be fair, Jason, it wasn't a secret to begin with. Not for me, at least."
"I can't help how good your gaydar is."
"My point, Jason, is that you're blowing all this way out of proportion. Your friends aren't gonna ditch you; I've known you were gay for years and I'm still here. School tomorrow will in all likelihood proceed as normal. Just you watch."
"And when I see Jake?"
Long pause.
"Well, not normal there. But if you talk to him, you can help set yourselves on the path back to said normality."
Another, tentative pause.
"What if he beats me up, Liz?"
"Then I'm getting a shovel and coming the hell after him."
Short pause. Then ... a laugh.
"You always can make me feel better, Liz."
Appreciative laugh. "Seriously, Jason, that's not going to happen. But you don't want to do this to him, do you?"
"I guess not."
"Of course you don't. So talk it out. See where the both of you stand. A large part of your relationship is out in the open now. If that's what it takes to end it, then your friendship wasn't meant to be."
Pause.
"It's just kind of disappointing that the whole romance side of it was never meant to be from the start."
"Well, you can't have everything."
Another short laugh.
"All right, Liz. I'll ask him to talk as soon as I next see him."
"Glad to hear it, Jason."
A pause.
"Hey, Liz?"
"Yeah?"
"...Thanks. For, you know, being there, and everything."
A laugh. "Just what friends do, Jason."
----
I'm thinking this would be part of a scene that establishes the characters early on. I'm still playing around with situations and personalities, but I've got the core ideas down. There's no real reason that it's just dialogue with minimal emotional description, other than I thought it seemed natural for a telephone conversation. Also, it's a rough draft, so if it is terrible, please tell me so I can fix it. :P
This should also answer your question about slash, devilwearsjeans : I love it. ;)
February 1
Words written: 1,430
Target words to date: 1,000
Current word count: 1,430
Piece worked on: A drabble for an original concept I'm working on (see this post), which you can read here.
Ring. Ring.
"Hello?"
"Liz? It's Jason."
"Hey, Jason. What's wrong? You sound a little off-"
"Shit, shit, shit!"
"Jason?"
"Liz, I've just done something really stupid - god dammit, it was stupid! Why did I -"
"Are you all right?"
"No, no, I'm not, I'm not. I just did, I did something really idiotic and I really need to talk to someone and you were the first one I thought of who wouldn't-"
"Tell me, Jason. Just say it."
Pause.
"Okay, well, you know how I've had that crush on Jake for ... pretty much ever?"
"...Yeah."
Pause.
"Right, well, I went over to his room tonight. I didn't really have anything in mind, it was just to hang out -"
"Are you sure about that?"
"I don't know, I don't know! I don't know much of anything anymore..."
"Okay. Right. Sorry. So you went over to Jake's room. To hang out."
"Yeah. And after awhile we kinda got to talking. We must have gone on for like an hour or something..."
"About what?"
"Normal stuff, stupid stuff, like what movies we've seen and the people we know and which comic strip is the best. Meaningless stuff. And, Liz, at one point there was this lull in the conversation..."
Pause.
"A lull?"
"Right, and, well, it was really quiet and no one was around and all I could think about was how close I was to him - we were, we were sitting on a couch and we were looking at each other and we were right next to each other on the cushions. And all I could think about was how he looked, how he smelled like grass and cinnamon and right guard, and everything we'd been talking about and how good a conversationalist he was and how we were getting along so well and how everything rushing through my head at that moment pointed to how much I wanted to -"
Long pause.
"You didn't."
"I leaned in and I kissed him full on the lips, Liz."
Pause.
"Oh my God."
"Yeah."
"...What did he do?"
Pause.
"...I don't really know."
"Huh?"
"Well, I - it lasted for like two seconds and then all of a sudden I was aware of what I was doing, and I gasped and leaned back and glimpsed his face for like a millisecond before I grabbed my coat and sprinted out the door. He didn't follow me, thank God, so now I'm sitting here outside in the grass in front of the dorm hall and trying not to think about how furious he must be, or how much he must hate me now..." Pause. "God dammit, we were getting to be such good friends and now I've screwed it all up..."
"Okay, Jason, wait. You said you saw his face for a second. How'd he react?"
"He looked bewildered as hell, I mean, I've never seen someone look that shocked before, but that's all I saw before I ran. He didn't even say anything, I didn't give him a chance."
"Was there anger in there somewhere?"
"I don't know, Liz, I don't know!" Pause. "He must hate me so much right now, I can't even imagine. And I have like four classes with him; how's it gonna be when we see each other tomorrow? For all I know he might beat me up just for being a fag -"
"I think that's being a little extreme, Jason."
"Oh, when will you wake up, Liz?" Harsh. Bitterness. "Jake's a conservative Christian who spends all his spare time playing football and working out. He's as straight as straight can get, and if his background is any indication, he wants people like me put to death. And yet I still kept hoping that there was some way, some slim, minimal chance, that something could happen between us and now I've gone and acted on it and look where it's got me. I'm outside the dorm shivering in this forty-degree weather and seriously contemplating switching schools." Long, bitter pause. "I never should have told you I was crushing on him. If anything, you only made me more hopeful."
"Believe what you want, Jason." Not unkind. Sympathetic. "But to be fair, you still didn't give him much of a chance to react. Maybe he understands."
A snort. "I doubt that."
Long, contemplative pause.
"Jason ... you should talk to him about this."
Heavy breathing on the other end.
"Jason?"
"I'm here. I'm just ... thinking."
"You don't have to do it right now, Jason. But sometime soon. Otherwise all this stuff is just going to fester."
"My stuff or his?"
"I was thinking of you. But if you want to be like that, then both of y'all."
"Great."
"Does that mean you agree with me?"
"I don't know." Short. "I guess."
"You guess?"
"All right, fine; you're right. But not now. Probably not tomorrow either. Give it a few days."
"What are you gonna do about seeing him in class tomorrow?"
"Are you kidding? I'm gonna ditch. No way I'm seeing him if I can help it."
"Uh huh. And what do you think he'll think if he comes to class and you're not there?"
"He'll probably be relieved."
"Or he'll think you're scared of him."
Pause.
"Well, then he'd be right."
"Jason, come on. Do you want Jake thinking you're a coward?"
Pause.
"...No."
"That's right. Heck, for all you know, he's just as wigged out as you are."
"Doesn't that go back to the whole 'being relieved I'm not there' thing?"
"No, I meant that he wants to talk about it just as much as you do."
"I never said I want to talk about it."
"But you do."
"That's not the point."
"Then what is the point?"
"The point is that I'm an idiot, Liz!" Shouting now. Angry. "I was as close to Jake as I could possibly hope for. And now there's this big ... thing between us because I let my hormones get in the way. Jake was seriously, legitimately a good friend and now ... now, I don't know what he is."
"Your potential crush."
"Potential? Try 'blown-up-in-my-face."
"Regardless. If you care about him - and it's obvious you do - you won't leave him hanging like this. I've met Jake, Jason, and he's a nice guy. He's not gonna beat you up for being a 'fag', as you put it. You owe him an explanation."
"What's there to explain? I'm gay and I want him and now he knows it. Probably the whole school will know by tomorrow."
"You really think Jake's the type to spread gossip?"
"Hell no, but there's no secrets here, Liz. Something happens, it gets out. No one has any idea how the heck it happens, but it does."
"Maybe it won't get out."
"Except it will."
"Aren't you usually the optimist in these conversations? I feel like we're playing role-reversal."
"That is the optimistic view. The pessimistic one is that everyone I know and love will ditch me as soon as said secret spreads throughout school."
"To be fair, Jason, it wasn't a secret to begin with. Not for me, at least."
"I can't help how good your gaydar is."
"My point, Jason, is that you're blowing all this way out of proportion. Your friends aren't gonna ditch you; I've known you were gay for years and I'm still here. School tomorrow will in all likelihood proceed as normal. Just you watch."
"And when I see Jake?"
Long pause.
"Well, not normal there. But if you talk to him, you can help set yourselves on the path back to said normality."
Another, tentative pause.
"What if he beats me up, Liz?"
"Then I'm getting a shovel and coming the hell after him."
Short pause. Then ... a laugh.
"You always can make me feel better, Liz."
Appreciative laugh. "Seriously, Jason, that's not going to happen. But you don't want to do this to him, do you?"
"I guess not."
"Of course you don't. So talk it out. See where the both of you stand. A large part of your relationship is out in the open now. If that's what it takes to end it, then your friendship wasn't meant to be."
Pause.
"It's just kind of disappointing that the whole romance side of it was never meant to be from the start."
"Well, you can't have everything."
Another short laugh.
"All right, Liz. I'll ask him to talk as soon as I next see him."
"Glad to hear it, Jason."
A pause.
"Hey, Liz?"
"Yeah?"
"...Thanks. For, you know, being there, and everything."
A laugh. "Just what friends do, Jason."
----
I'm thinking this would be part of a scene that establishes the characters early on. I'm still playing around with situations and personalities, but I've got the core ideas down. There's no real reason that it's just dialogue with minimal emotional description, other than I thought it seemed natural for a telephone conversation. Also, it's a rough draft, so if it is terrible, please tell me so I can fix it. :P
This should also answer your question about slash, devilwearsjeans : I love it. ;)