Welcome to the Fifteen Minute Novel. Each morning I spend fifteen minutes writing on a singular story line. Each morning starts with the last line of the previous day. The goal is to get a (very) rough draft out of the simple story idea and to avoid letting the story idea languish in limbo forever, actually writing it out. This is the third year I have done this writing experiment and each year I learn just a little bit about myself and the way I write as well as creating a framework for the story. But without further ado…
Day 11: She didn’t want to see anyone.
She didn’t want to see anyone. In the early afternoon, calls and messages began arriving. Lisa texted her about the hair dresser’s and asking what time their appointments were for. Gwen didn’t answer. A little while later, Lisa texted about the spa and then again about the nail salon. Gwen ignored them all.
An hour before the dance the phone rang. Gwen was nibbling on the sandwich she made earlier and brought up to her room in an effort to avoid dinner. She looked at the screen and saw the call came from Toby. She ignored it. The screen went dark and a second later the phone beeped as a text message appeared.
Gwen glanced at the screen and couldn’t help but smirk. The message was from Toby.
‘What time will the car be here?’ the message read. Gwen thought about answering it. Thought about saying or texting something snarky. She even reached for the phone, already composing something smart to say to him. Her hand stopped before it could lift up the phone from the desk top. She left the message alone. The screen went dark.
‘He’ll either figure out the car isn’t coming or he won’t.’ she decided. A part of her wondered how long it would take him to realize that the car she booked for the night wasn’t going to arrive. Gwen leaned back and wondered if he would call Lisa. She realized that would be hopeless as well. Since she and Lisa were both going to the dance they scheduled all of their appointments together. Lisa asked that Gwen take care of it because she was so much better at arranging things like that. So Gwen had. She made all of the appointments.
In fact during their friendship, Lisa always had Gwen arrange things. It was why she needed to send so many texts earlier. ‘She doesn’t know where or when anything was booked,’ Gwen realized. “She was just counting on me to pick her up and take her to where she was needed.’
Gwen wiggled a piece of cheese out from her sandwich and nibbled on it. ‘Ron would have booked the car for him and Lisa,’ Gwen realized. When Lisa was with Ron, he took care of the details. When he went out with Toby, Ron also covered the details for the pair of them when they went off to do guy things. When she and Lisa were together Gwen took care of the details and when she was with Toby she took care of the details.
“huh,” she thought. ‘The two of them have gotten rid of their planners.’
She wondered how that would make their night play out but decided she didn’t want to think about it. She finished her piece of cheese as a soft knock sounded on the door. Gwen knew her father was out so it could only be Sharron. She was still mad about the dress and didn’t want to talk to her.
Gwen ignored the knock and picked up her sandwich. The door creaked open and Gwen felt a presence behind her. She took a bit of her sandwich and ignored Sharron. There was the sound of a step or two behind her.
“This should cover the dress,” Sharron said stiffly. There was a soft thump and then Sharron turned and Gwen heard a few steps. Her bedroom door closed and Gwen knew she was alone again.
Ten til Midnight 