Three Dares at Once
Because I'm insane:
Have one of your characters obsessively read Readers Digest for the anecdotes.
Make reference to a specific event/incident that happened in the novel you wrote for last year's or a previous year's NaNoWriMo (even if the novel isn't finished). [I'm using one of my WIPs, a romance novel about a teacher who falls in love with a rock star. I technically started it last November even if it wasn't really a NaNovel, but I figure it still counts].
Actually make your character use the toilet!
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"Who is Mrs Edith J. Gordon?" David asked as soon as he opened the front door to the house.
"Who?" Tara didn't bother looking up from painting her nails.
"Isn't that the old woman from down the road who keeps filling out applications with our address?" Lottie replied, shutting her laptop and placing it on the coffee table. "She's number 13 and we're 23, but she seems to keep getting it mixed up. We actually a birthday card for her with a cheque in it the other day."
"Do you want me to go drop these off at her house then? We've got two bills and a copy of Reader's Digest magazine," David said, holding them aloft.
"It's fine, I can do it." Lottie jumped up out of her seat and took the letters out of David's hand. "You just got home. I imagine you probably want to rest."
David looked at her suspiciously. "Yeah, I guess, but it's not much fuss for me to walk back down the street again." He narrowed his eyes. "What are you up to?"
Tara shook her head. "My baby sister is addicted to reading those anecdotes at the bottom of the articles in Reader's Digest."
David raised his eyebrows in surprise, and Lottie coloured. "What? They're funny. I wish I had an interesting enough life to warrant writing some witty story about it." She flopped back into the armchair.
Just then, Ryan ran down the stairs and barrelled into the room, clad in a pair of blue striped pyjama bottoms and a Slipknot hoody. His blue hair stood up on his head in all directions.
"I don't know, I think our life is pretty interesting," David replied.
"You guys will never believe this!" Ryan said excitedly, his voice nearly high enough to be considered a squeal. "So, you know that band I really like, the one from Finland?"
"Which one?" Tara replied dryly.
Ryan rolled his eyes. "Edacity? The one I made you all enter contests for, so I could win backstage passes?" Lottie nodded vaguely, already leafing through Edith's copy of Reader's Digest. "Well, I was just looking at one of their fan blogs--David, don't you dare laugh--and there's this rumour going around that the lead singer's got a girlfriend." Ryan held out his phone and waved it at the group assembled in the living room. "There's at least a dozen pictures of him with this girl, and I swear, she looks identical to the woman I had a substitute History teacher last year."
Tara finally looked up from her nails and rolled her eyes. "Really? Some Finnish rock star is dating a high school history teacher from Minnesota? That's a bit of a stretch."
"Look, here's the picture on the blog. This is the best one," He shoved his phone at Tara and she obligingly glanced at it and nodded. "Now, here's the picture I found of here on the website of some private school where she teaches now." He pressed a few buttons and returned his phone to Tara.
"Huh," she said, giving him an impressed nod. "I will concede that it does look like the same woman. Go Abigail Reynolds, you caught yourself a...well, rather hairy and tattooed man, but go you anyway."
"Hey, some of us like our men with more hair," Lottie said from across the room.
Tara tutted. "You'll grow out if it, trust me. Men with short hair are statistically more stable."
"Where does James fit in then?" David asked, finally dropping his laptop bag to the floor and tugging off his coat, obviously conceding that he wasn't going to deliver Edith's mail any time soon.
Lottie and Tara both looked confused for a moment. "I figure he'll cut his hair at some point," Tara said finally, screwing the lid back on her nail varnish. "Plus, he's only just outgrown his 'player' phase. That probably accounts for the hair. He's still in transition," She blew on her hands, then winked at her sister. "What about it, sis? Is James your type?"
Lottie laughed, but even to her it sounded a little forced. She might have had a massive crush on James when she was twelve, but now? "Um, I don't know," she said a little nervously. "I can't say I've really looked at him in that way."
Just then, the front door swung open and James stepped in, brushing his hair back from his face.
"What's up, kids?" He said, grinning broadly at them. "I come bearing more mortgage forms for the ladies to sign." He waved a folder at the group.
Tara raised her eyebrows at her sister. "Now's your chance."
Lottie glanced up at James, who was still smiling, but now looking a little perplexed. She had to admit, he still had that rugged, bad-boy look she'd been so fond of as a teenager. In fact, if he wasn't that jokey guy who always teased her like a brother and treated her like an irresponsible kid--if she'd just run into him in a bar--she might be tempted. She felt her cheeks colour again, and lifted her magazine up to cover part of her face.
"Maybe if I were really, really drunk," she told her sister.
"Did I miss something?" James asked, glancing between the people gathered in the room.
David slapped him on the back. "I think you just got complimented," he told him.
Lottie glanced over the top of her magazine again, and David stuck his tongue out at her. Evidently he was the only one who had picked up on her genuine feelings regarding James. Crap.
"Whatever," Tara said, easing out of her chair. "I need to pee. This baby is sitting right on my bladder today."
Word count: 955