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 149: Gwen heard the whispers and suspected that she was the topic of much of the conversation.
Gwen heard the whispers and suspected that she was the topic of much of the conversation. She tried to ignore it. ‘You are just being conceited,’ she told herself. ‘I’m sure they have way better things to talk about than me.’
Unfortunately as the class passed she heard her name mentioned often enough that she knew it wasn’t true. Today she was the topic of conversation. Class ended and Gwen felt relieved. She lagged behind, gathering her things as the others left the room. As she waited their instructor stayed behind as well.
“I wouldn’t worry about it,” she said. “They don’t stay focused on much of anything for long. Soon enough they will have forgotten all about whatever it is you did to stir them up.”
Gwen smiled. “Thanks,” she said. “I was meaning to ask about the other classes.”
“Are you thinking of taking others?”
“I was,” Gwen said. “I thought I was just going to be here for the summer but it turns out I will be staying longer, I think. So I thought more classes might be fun, um,” she looked to the door. “Do they take the same classes all year?” she asked
She laughed. “No,” she said shaking her head. “This is the summer bunch. They have been taking this same drawing class since they were in middle school and their parents found out this was a great place to drop them off where they could get rid of their creative urges. It is the only class they take here.”
“Oh,” Gwen said. She wasn’t entirely certain what to say to that. She knew they were far more artistically dressed here than when they were out in the museum event, but as it was a museum event Gwen was pretty sure there was some sort of dress code even if it was an unofficial one. “What do they do the rest of the year?”
“I don’t know,” she said. “However if you are looking for more classes in the fall, the new schedule was just posted. It should be on line. If you have any questions let me know and I will do my best to get answers.”
“Thanks.” Gwen said. “I’ll check it out.” She realized she needed to get out and meet Sebastian. Even though he was there to pick her up, she didn’t want him waiting.
Gwen slung her bag over her shoulder and headed back down the stairwell and out of the door. Once outside the museum doors, she found Kelly, Nico and a couple of the others waiting for her. She blinked.
“Hey,” Kelly said. “There’s this café where we hang out after class if you want to join us.”
“Yeah, it’s cool if you come,” Nico said.
“Thanks for the offer,” Gwen said. “But I have other plans. Maybe some other time.”
Ten til Midnight 