A leap of faith
You guys have no idea how hard it is for me to do this. But since i've already told you about my family, my crushes, my jobs... i might as well tell you that deep down inside i'm a romance novalist. And as of last summer i began writing a lovely (in my mind) story. So far it's about 50 pages and right now it's called prologue. Here's the first three pages (slow start to introduce the characters). So if you've been reading my journal, tell me how i'm doing. No matter how bad it is so far. I need you to be honest... even if it breaks my heart.
Prologue
She was late again.
The sound of her roommate, Joanine yelling at her, echoed up the stairs. Quickly, she squirmed into a T-shirt, and some pants. She grabbed her bag and raced down stairs. Sliding into the kitchen, and nearly falling, she quickly gulped down some orange juice and grabbed a brown bag containing her lunch. "HURRY UP!!!!" Joanine yelled her shrill voice raising unholy torment in her mind. She slammed the door behind her as she slid out on the front porch.
"You're late again." Joanine snarled. Her roommate had been standing outside in the rain, and her hair was now completely soaked. The girl knew Joanine was going to make her pay for that. She removed the bagel from her mouth so she could answer Joanine.
"I know, I know." She said diplomatically, as she watched Joanine’s nostrils flare. Joanine began striding towards the car, the girl obediently followed her friend through the rain. The cold drops splashing on her shoulders. She sat in the car, fastened her seatbelt and waited. Joanine sat perfectly still for a minute, her back sitting bone straight. The rain started coming down harder, and lightening flashed above their heads. Joanine suddenly snapped her head around at her. Her eyes looked as if they were about to poop out of her head.
"How could you, Charlie? I woke you up this morning! I told you to be ready by 8, so I wouldn't have to wait for you. But being the good person I am I waited anyway. You know I have a presentation today. I woke up early so that I could do my hair and make-up. So I would look nice! But no! I waited for you and now look at me! LOOK AT ME!" Charlie slowly turned her head to face her raging friend. Joanine did look awful, but there was no way she was about to admit that to her. Joanine's hair had gone completely flat, and her mascara had run down till to the middle of her cheeks. She looked like a possessed raccoon, and the red veins in her eyes seemed to be growing by the second.
"You don't look that bad" she said, with feigned sincerity. "I've seen lots of people with styles like that…" Joanine began shaking and her eyes started to twitch the little red veins danced closer to her pupils.
"How am I going to cover this up?" Joanine said as her eyes started twitching faster. Charlie, careful not to make any fast movements, reached over and handed her her brown paper bag. The vein on Joanine's forehead started bulging. Joanine hit Charlie's hand away, but Charlie smiled at her, and Joanine started shaking harder. Charlie opened the bag, and tried to place it over her head, when Joanine started having what appeared to be a seizure. Charlie took back the bag, and waited quietly for Joanine to stop twitching. It usually took her a while to recover from one of her "fits". And the best thing to do in those situations was to be very quiet.
"So are you gonna be okay?" Charlie asked. She never could follow her own advice. But by then Joanine had counted to one hundred, and was calmer. She reached down, and started the car. Joanine had no one to blame but herself, Charlie thought, she tries too hard, it’s that simple. Therefore she had spasm attacks all through the house, all through out the day. It was kind of sad, because most of her stress was caused by her fiancé. See what love does to a person… Joanine used to be fun she was just pathetic now. Charlie looked at her deranged friend, and shook her head. Joanine must have felt Charlie looking her, because she snapped her neck right back at Charlie, and almost drove them off the road. From then until her stop, Charlie sat perfectly still and didn’t make eye contact.
Joanine drove off like a madman after Charlie got out. She opened the umbrella over her head, and started walking towards the park. Lightening flashed above her as she started walking faster. She didn't run, because she was terrible clumsy. Well… that's what she's always been told, but she never really listened anyway and besides her glasses were covered with raindrops so she definitely couldn't see. It was better to play it safe. She stopped underneath a tree and attempted to clean her glasses. She placed them back on her nose, and continued walking. She could see it from across the street…her bookstore. Well it wasn't actually hers, she just worked there, but anyone who came in could see that she ran the place. She flashed a smile, and ran to her store.
It was a charming bookstore run by experts on everything from geography to romance novels. Charlie dabbled in a little bit of everything; she never bothered becoming an expert in anything. What's the fun in that? You’re much more valuable if you knew a little bit of everything. You tend to have better conversations. Not to say that she didn’t have more knowledge in some subjects than others. She walked up to the counter, and looked around. All the shelves were made from stained cedar, and the store smelled like lilies. Charlie had put a stop to the old book smell immediately, and she was very pleased with her work. She looked on the desk; it was littered with books, and newspapers. She lifted the newspaper and looked for the bell. After about five minutes of searching she found it. It was a very old bell although it shined like it was made yesterday. She grabbed it and started to push on the button. She did so repeatedly and after a few rings a person came downstairs, and covered the bell with her hand.
"Good mornin', Caryn, how was your bus ride?" Charlie said sweetly to her roommate at the opposite side of the desk. Caryn laughed, and her brown hair swayed at the sides of her face.
"I assume Joanine had another breakdown then?" She said, while trying to keep a straight face. Caryn’s tawny brown eyes beamed. Charlie sighed deeply as she walked to the other side of the desk, and set her bag down.
"Unfortunately…I'm afraid it might have been a little my fault." Charlie said.
"No! You can't be serious…not your fault. Never!" Caryn said sarcastically, while clasping her hands over her mouth.
"Yep," Charlie said. Then she told Caryn what had happened. By the end of her story Caryn was in a fit of laughter. "I mean, good sense would have told her to wait inside, instead of in the rain" Caryn had now recovered from her fit, and was now able to stand up straight again. Caryn ran her hand through her perfectly styled brown hair, and straightened her shirt. Charlie reached down and picked up her bag. "I'll go put this in the back." Charlie said calmly. She proceeded back, and entered the "employee lounge", as her boss like to call it. She walked over to chair, and dropped her bag down on it. Before leaving the room she hissed the newspaper clipping that proclaimed: "Bush wins election!" Her boss had had it framed, despite Charlie's pleads. Charlie entered the room again, and continued talking to Caryn. The two had been friends since before High school, and now they were roommates. Caryn had made the smart decision, and started taking the bus to work. Charlie had also been a friend of Joanine's for just as long, but they had grown apart since her engagement. Joanine had been acting strange ever since that day. She’d been practicing acting like the perfect wife for the past six months, six very long months. Charlie would rather kill herself than let someone domesticate her like that. Charlie had come down stairs in the middle of the night and found Joanine making steaks, and talking to her "husband", which that night was a hollowed pumpkin. She had also caught her, more than once, stuffing a pillow in her shirt and acting like she was pregnant. That's when Caryn had made the decision to start taking the bus to work.
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Prologue
She was late again.
The sound of her roommate, Joanine yelling at her, echoed up the stairs. Quickly, she squirmed into a T-shirt, and some pants. She grabbed her bag and raced down stairs. Sliding into the kitchen, and nearly falling, she quickly gulped down some orange juice and grabbed a brown bag containing her lunch. "HURRY UP!!!!" Joanine yelled her shrill voice raising unholy torment in her mind. She slammed the door behind her as she slid out on the front porch.
"You're late again." Joanine snarled. Her roommate had been standing outside in the rain, and her hair was now completely soaked. The girl knew Joanine was going to make her pay for that. She removed the bagel from her mouth so she could answer Joanine.
"I know, I know." She said diplomatically, as she watched Joanine’s nostrils flare. Joanine began striding towards the car, the girl obediently followed her friend through the rain. The cold drops splashing on her shoulders. She sat in the car, fastened her seatbelt and waited. Joanine sat perfectly still for a minute, her back sitting bone straight. The rain started coming down harder, and lightening flashed above their heads. Joanine suddenly snapped her head around at her. Her eyes looked as if they were about to poop out of her head.
"How could you, Charlie? I woke you up this morning! I told you to be ready by 8, so I wouldn't have to wait for you. But being the good person I am I waited anyway. You know I have a presentation today. I woke up early so that I could do my hair and make-up. So I would look nice! But no! I waited for you and now look at me! LOOK AT ME!" Charlie slowly turned her head to face her raging friend. Joanine did look awful, but there was no way she was about to admit that to her. Joanine's hair had gone completely flat, and her mascara had run down till to the middle of her cheeks. She looked like a possessed raccoon, and the red veins in her eyes seemed to be growing by the second.
"You don't look that bad" she said, with feigned sincerity. "I've seen lots of people with styles like that…" Joanine began shaking and her eyes started to twitch the little red veins danced closer to her pupils.
"How am I going to cover this up?" Joanine said as her eyes started twitching faster. Charlie, careful not to make any fast movements, reached over and handed her her brown paper bag. The vein on Joanine's forehead started bulging. Joanine hit Charlie's hand away, but Charlie smiled at her, and Joanine started shaking harder. Charlie opened the bag, and tried to place it over her head, when Joanine started having what appeared to be a seizure. Charlie took back the bag, and waited quietly for Joanine to stop twitching. It usually took her a while to recover from one of her "fits". And the best thing to do in those situations was to be very quiet.
"So are you gonna be okay?" Charlie asked. She never could follow her own advice. But by then Joanine had counted to one hundred, and was calmer. She reached down, and started the car. Joanine had no one to blame but herself, Charlie thought, she tries too hard, it’s that simple. Therefore she had spasm attacks all through the house, all through out the day. It was kind of sad, because most of her stress was caused by her fiancé. See what love does to a person… Joanine used to be fun she was just pathetic now. Charlie looked at her deranged friend, and shook her head. Joanine must have felt Charlie looking her, because she snapped her neck right back at Charlie, and almost drove them off the road. From then until her stop, Charlie sat perfectly still and didn’t make eye contact.
Joanine drove off like a madman after Charlie got out. She opened the umbrella over her head, and started walking towards the park. Lightening flashed above her as she started walking faster. She didn't run, because she was terrible clumsy. Well… that's what she's always been told, but she never really listened anyway and besides her glasses were covered with raindrops so she definitely couldn't see. It was better to play it safe. She stopped underneath a tree and attempted to clean her glasses. She placed them back on her nose, and continued walking. She could see it from across the street…her bookstore. Well it wasn't actually hers, she just worked there, but anyone who came in could see that she ran the place. She flashed a smile, and ran to her store.
It was a charming bookstore run by experts on everything from geography to romance novels. Charlie dabbled in a little bit of everything; she never bothered becoming an expert in anything. What's the fun in that? You’re much more valuable if you knew a little bit of everything. You tend to have better conversations. Not to say that she didn’t have more knowledge in some subjects than others. She walked up to the counter, and looked around. All the shelves were made from stained cedar, and the store smelled like lilies. Charlie had put a stop to the old book smell immediately, and she was very pleased with her work. She looked on the desk; it was littered with books, and newspapers. She lifted the newspaper and looked for the bell. After about five minutes of searching she found it. It was a very old bell although it shined like it was made yesterday. She grabbed it and started to push on the button. She did so repeatedly and after a few rings a person came downstairs, and covered the bell with her hand.
"Good mornin', Caryn, how was your bus ride?" Charlie said sweetly to her roommate at the opposite side of the desk. Caryn laughed, and her brown hair swayed at the sides of her face.
"I assume Joanine had another breakdown then?" She said, while trying to keep a straight face. Caryn’s tawny brown eyes beamed. Charlie sighed deeply as she walked to the other side of the desk, and set her bag down.
"Unfortunately…I'm afraid it might have been a little my fault." Charlie said.
"No! You can't be serious…not your fault. Never!" Caryn said sarcastically, while clasping her hands over her mouth.
"Yep," Charlie said. Then she told Caryn what had happened. By the end of her story Caryn was in a fit of laughter. "I mean, good sense would have told her to wait inside, instead of in the rain" Caryn had now recovered from her fit, and was now able to stand up straight again. Caryn ran her hand through her perfectly styled brown hair, and straightened her shirt. Charlie reached down and picked up her bag. "I'll go put this in the back." Charlie said calmly. She proceeded back, and entered the "employee lounge", as her boss like to call it. She walked over to chair, and dropped her bag down on it. Before leaving the room she hissed the newspaper clipping that proclaimed: "Bush wins election!" Her boss had had it framed, despite Charlie's pleads. Charlie entered the room again, and continued talking to Caryn. The two had been friends since before High school, and now they were roommates. Caryn had made the smart decision, and started taking the bus to work. Charlie had also been a friend of Joanine's for just as long, but they had grown apart since her engagement. Joanine had been acting strange ever since that day. She’d been practicing acting like the perfect wife for the past six months, six very long months. Charlie would rather kill herself than let someone domesticate her like that. Charlie had come down stairs in the middle of the night and found Joanine making steaks, and talking to her "husband", which that night was a hollowed pumpkin. She had also caught her, more than once, stuffing a pillow in her shirt and acting like she was pregnant. That's when Caryn had made the decision to start taking the bus to work.
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