Hello everyone and welcome to my blog! For the ENTIRE month of December, we'll be seeing content like this from both myself, and from the Featured Authors (going all the way back to the beginning!). Along with each of us sharing first chapters from our novels (all on, or soon to be on, Wattpad!), we'll also be getting an inside look into everyone's writing process, book reviews, and even better - getting to know the contestants trying for Featured Author of The Year 2019! Stick around for the fun!
But what do we have here today, you ask? As most of you know, I've been in the process of rewriting my Chick-lit chart topper, Something Real. This new and improved draft will be coming to Wattpad in January of 2019 - but, because I would love everyone's reaction - I'm sharing the first two chapters on my blog along with the Featured Author's Get Together!
I hope you all enjoy chapter 1 - chapter 2 will be posted tomorrow!
Also posted today: First Chapters from Caroline and Fernando!
© Shay Spencer. All rights reserved.
Something Real #NaNoWriMo
Chapter 1 [ Scarlett ]
THERE WERE FEW THINGS that made my heart race in this world: Zane Mirada wasn't one of them.
"I mean come on," he wagered with the television in the far corner. Zane's breathing was quick as he mumbled at the ref and his eyes were more focused than I'd ever seen them in our four months of dating. With the blow of the whistle he fell back into the leather sofa, his grey slack-clad knee brushing up against my bare one, leaving me itching to scratch the skin.
It wasn't that he was bad looking, or that he had a less than likable personality; Zane Mirada was the epitome of everything a girl wanted. I nearly felt as though I'd peaked when meeting him, like every other guy on the planet would never measure up to him; and yet, as my eyes gazed over his chiseled cheek bones and pristine black hair that had been swept back in a practically effortless fashion, I felt nothing but kinship for the man.He was a companion, a friend, if nothing else; a friend with eyes blue enough to loose yourself in, but a friend nonetheless.
"I'm need a drink." My comment was tossed aside as though I'd said nothing at all. The plush purple rug knitted itself between my toes as I stood up, glancing back at my so called boyfriend before making my prompt movements towards the kitchen. The loose thread on my seemingly casual red dress caught on the edge of the counter, stopping me in my tracks. I bit my lip, noting the tacky flavor of my strawberry lip balm when I tugged at the thread until it broke.
I was starting to think it wasn't my night.
The cool air of the refrigerator ghosted over my face as I leaned down to get a closer look at the few items my best friend and I had actually bought from the store this week. It seemed all our money had gone towards campus housing this month, as we had only a few bottles of water and a box of three day old pizza.
I shivered at the touch of the chilled bottle of water, glancing back in the direction of the living room when I gently shut the fridge door. Zane's attention was still utterly captured by the soccer game, an activity that I narrowly understood, enough to leave me wondering why the hell he'd shown up here in the first place.
Tonight, different to most, was our four month anniversary.The dark granite counter-top left goosebumps against the lower part of my thighs when I hoisted myself up onto it; the simple action was enough to finally catch Zane's eye.
"You okay?" The phrase hung in the air, Zane taking his time getting up from the couch when he spoke. His body blocked the light from the television for a solid ten seconds before he emerged from the compact living room and into the kitchen.I nodded, offering him a small smile. He stopped just in front of me, stepping between my legs and placing his hands on either side of me. The stiff material of his white dress shirt rubbed me the wrong way, though he didn't make any move to increase the distance between us.
"Happy four months," I said.
Zane's smile was a mere reflection of mine, "happiest four months." His eyes gleamed in the most mischievous way, pulling me in before I had a chance to think twice about it.
The warmth of his lips was the first thing I felt, and before I knew it, his hands were on either side of my waist. He tasted like the off brand beer he insisted on drinking and the fake popcorn he'd been snacking on throughout the night; he'd have never let me hear the end of it if I'd bought the kind with kernels small enough to get stuck in his teeth. His fingers gently grazed my skin through the thin material of my red dress, spiking heat whenever they skimmed across my body. The longing he felt for me was carried through the quick peck in an effortless fashion; it left me wondering if I had conveyed the same thing.
I was pretty sure I didn't.
"You sure you're alright?" Zane asked. His eyebrows knitted together before he let his eyes glide over me. I felt like I was standing on stage naked, front and center, the way he was looking at me. Deep down I knew he could see right through me. I think that's what scared me the most.
"I was wondering the same about you," I said. "It's our four month anniversary and you wanted to watch a soccer game?" Zane merely shrugged and took a large step back, like he was trying to ward off the subject at hand. He had never been great at the more sentimental moments, but that made two of us. "We've had more romantic dates when you're putting in overtime at the hotel. What's so different about tonight-"
"Scarlett," Zane interrupted, "I get it. This isn't exactly a weekend in Paris, but this is important to me. The game is important to me. I thought you'd understand."
"I do. But you've been blatantly ignoring me for the last hour-"
"-Which is how long the game has been playing-"
"-and I keep thinking you're hiding something," I finally finished.
With my rather untimely confession, silence loomed around the apartment; that, and the now tangible feeling of awkwardness that followed. I felt the phrase 'you could cut the tension with a knife' justified anything better than this moment.
The exaggerated huff that came from Zane's mouth brought me back to reality. "I didn't want to tell you this tonight."
My frown worsened, and even from where I was sitting, I could hear my best friend pressing her ear against her bedroom door down the hall. I didn't have to picture the scene taking place back there, I could see it. She was most likely bored out of her mind, and finding out that a conversation like this was happening just twenty feet away... I hadn't been expecting a huge amount of privacy for the night, but a little would have been nice.
"We've found someone to take my place as regional manager. Axel wants me in New York by next week."
"Then tell Axel you're staying." My words felt as pitiful and empty as they sounded. At the end of the day, I could care less where Zane was at, and I nearly thought he felt the same way about me. The two of us hadn't exactly built a long lasting relationship over the last few months since our Hallmark Movie meeting, but a little warning would have been nice.
When I received no response, I decided his silence was answer enough. "How soon, next week, do you mean?"
A curl fell from his perfectly manicured head of hair, lobbing itself just above his right eyebrow as he dared to meet my gaze. "My flight leaves pretty early Monday morning."
My body felt numb in more ways than one as I mulled over the information, though I had reason to believe it wasn't love or even lust that caused my reaction; I would soon miss the idea of my perfect boyfriend.
I wouldn't miss Zane.
"I guess that's it then," I said, "we're over, you're over me, whatever it is. It's done?"
"Scarlett." Zane's tone was gruff, stern even. The impact of him merely uttering my name seemed to pull me deeper into my newly discovered bad mood. "I don't want to break up. That's the last thing that I want."
"I'm not moving to New York, Zane."
"I'm not asking you to," he corrected. "All I'm asking is that we-"
"Try long distance," I finished for him. The words felt like poison in my mouth. The air felt thick and utterly stifling as I attempted a breath in, feeling it quickly getting lodged in my throat. "I don't know."
Zane nodded, "I know it's a long shot for everyone. But it's a shot, at least." Despite how sweet his words sounded, I couldn't help but to notice the lack of empathy, or the lack of any feeling really, in his voice. His heart wasn't in it, and neither was mine.
"I'll think about it," I agreed. "But for now I think you should go."
As if on cue, Wren Manny made her entrance into the kitchen. She managed a weak smile before scurrying between us to the refrigerator. Anxiously, she tapped her newly painted toes while absentmindedly swinging the untied belt of her robe around in circles, my best friend unable to make up her mind. Though this was something she did often, I knew it was her tactful way of ushering my boyfriend out of our Beverly Hills apartment.
Zane's sigh could be heard around the globe before he begrudgingly took those ten or so fateful steps towards the door. Upon reaching his temporary destination, his fingers danced over the gold doorknob and he himself leaned back against the red door out of habit. He was waiting for a kiss goodbye.
"I'll call you," was all I said as I hopped down off the counter-top. My feet burned with the impact on the hard tile, but it was worth it to watch him leave.
He pursed his lips together, glancing between myself, as I pulled my dirty blonde hair from it's ponytail, and Wren, as she continued waving goodbye.
"She'll call you," Wren echoed my words before flipping her straightened brown hair over her shoulder. "Night, Zane."
He huffed a third time, his obvious discontent noted, before finally popping open the door. It seemed his exit would stretch out for hours, and then, he was out and had shut the door almost as quickly as it had taken him to enter an hour prior.It was the sweetest relief I had ever know.
In the background as this whole scene had taken place, the soccer game had come to a rather violent end with one of the players being wheeled off the field. I hadn't the slightest idea how it'd happened, but I nearly felt the same as the player looked as I watched them carry him off the field. The highlights enticed me more than I cared to admit before Wren caught my attention with the closing of the fridge door. She had since decided to drop her 'looking for something to eat' act along with Zane's exit, leaving the two of us alone on our apartment once more.
"I know that sucked, but you've got to credit him with something." Wren smiled wickedly.
"Like what?"
"That ass," she said, coaxing a laugh out of me. "He looks great walking away."
There we have it! Tomorrow we'll see the second chapter coming from Hayden following his official explosion from UPenn. If you guys are liking this version, remember to check out the book where it all started - Something Real (Old Version), and keep in mind that this story will be posted to Wattpad in January 2019!
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