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 186: “I don’t know what has gotten into you,” Toby said.
“I don’t know what has gotten into you,” Toby said. “You used to be so sweet.”
Gwen snorted. “And look where that got me. A really horrible boyfriend and a best friend who didn’t actually care about me at all.” Gwen shook her head. “I am done with both of you. Now please leave so I can pull into the driveway and continue with my packing.”
Lisa opened and closed her mouth a few times as though she didn’t know what to say. Toby frowned and looked like he would give another argument. Gwen turned and walked back to her car. Inside she was fizzing like a can of soda shaken violently. She felt as though her own head was going to blow off.
She never spoke to anyone like that. Ever. ‘But it was true,’ a little voice inside her said. ‘All of it was true.’
Gwen couldn’t deny it. She turned the key in the ignition and waited with her hands on the steering wheel for Toby and Lisa to get back in their cars and drive away. The fizz started dying down as they left. She watched them back out of the drive and pull away. She took a deep breath, backed up until the front of her car was even with the driveway and then turned in.
Gwen turned off the car and for a moment just sat there. A part of her felt good about finally getting to tell them both off. She hadn’t really gotten a chance to do so. When she left she was so hurt by what they did that to face them would have been too much. She would have cried and under the hurt she was too angry to cry. She didn’t want to let them see her cry. To know that they really didn’t care about the pain they caused would have been worse than feeling the pain.
Now, the pain was faded. She remembered it but it was more of a memory of pain rather than actual pain. ‘And I didn’t feel like crying.’
Gwen smiled a little at that. She didn’t feel like crying for what was lost because now she realized what was lost was not worth keeping. It was not worth crying for and missing. She thought of all that she had waiting for her when she got back to her grandparents. She had a place to live where people were actually interested in her day and what was going on in her life. She had a part time job she was looking forward to for more than just a paycheck. She was signed up for classes and before that she had the grand adventure of a road trip waiting for her.
Gwen’s smile widened and she realized it was more than time to focus on that and forget Toby and Lisa and whatever drama they planned to bring. Gwen opened the car door and walked to the trunk to get her new purchases out. It was time to finish her packing and get on with the rest of her life.
Ten til Midnight 