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I'm currently writing
I'm currently writing a story, and I would like to post it here. Unfortunately, on the first thread I made about it, someone impersonated me and told the Admins to delete it. So I'm going to repost everything.
I'm too salty to rewrite the whole original introduction, but I would like to point out that many of the main characters in this are LGBTQ+. If that was the reason whoever the impersonater was told the Admins under my name to take it down, then I cannot say how awful that is.
Please don't do it again. To me or to anyone. It feels super, super, super bad. It feels like you're being taken advantage of. Like you're not being regarded as a person.
If you don't like this story, don't read it. That doesn't mean you should steal someone's identity and demand for someone else's hard work be deleted.
Thanks. Here's part one again.
-----
It was one of those things that he never expected to change.
Suddenly it did, and it felt so right that he didn’t question it. And it changed again and again, but he scarcely noticed that everything was different because he was all caught up in the swirl and excitement and joy of living.
Then one day, he was hanging upside down from a branch on that big tree in the backyard that Liza joked would never stop growing and one day swallow up the house and all of Los Angeles. He was holding his phone (tightly, lest he drop it) and laughing as he typed out a text to Jack and Adri and Theo, when he realized that, indeed, he and his life had become very, very, different since the day three years ago that cute, red-haired, freckle-faced boy had come up behind him after Math and asked if he could draw him.
“You want to know if you can… what?” Alex blinked, bewildered, at his questioner.
“Draw you. Oh, sorry—” The boy said sheepishly. “That was weird, wasn’t it? I mean, you seem like a nice person, and you’re really interesting.”
Alex was at a loss for words, which he thought with a kind of amused awe. Alex Quinn, he had been told and acknowledged himself, was very difficult to shut up.
“No! No! Ugh, human interaction is hard, gosh, I’m sorry— Can we start over?” Flustered, the boy ran a hand through his long auburn curls, the other pulling nervously at the edge of his too-large “Black Lives Matter” t-shirt.
Alex grinned. “Sure. I’m Alex Quinn. Pleased to meet you.”
“I’m Jack.”
They shook hands. Jack’s palms were soft, and even they were covered in freckles, like someone had dumped cinnamon sugar on him.
Alex gathered his binders and notebooks, carefully stacking them in size order. It was a habit, he supposed, but he wasn’t sure where it had come from— Only that it made him uneasy to have it any other way. It was just one of those things.
“So, why did you want to draw me?”
Jack’s hands started fidgeting, fingers tapping his sides in some sort of rhythm. “I’m an artist, I guess, and I’m best at drawing people, and you seem like… I don’t know.” He paused. “You’re really alive, you know.”
Alex paused at his locker, dumping his supplies in it and kicking the blue metal door shut. After considering a moment, he replied, “I’ve been told it’s really hard to get me to stop talking and moving. Or doing anything I want to be doing, really.”
Jack opened his mouth, seemingly struggling with deciding whether or not to elaborate on that, for a moment before closing his mouth and saying, “That’s kind of what I mean.”
Alex could tell that it wasn’t all that Jack had to say, but he left it be.
They walked in silence for a bit, and Jack glanced over at Alex, trying to commit his appearance to memory, all of his expressive hazel eyes and baggy blue sweatshirt and scuffed up converse and easy posture, the way his mouth upturned slightly as if preparing to say something, and that when he did you’d gosh darn better listen.
“Are you new here?” Jack said finally.
“Yeah,” Alex said as they neared the dark oak double doors that led to the dining hall. “This is my first year at this place. I moved during the summer.”
“From where?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Alex replied, a little too quickly.
Jack also took note of the way Alex bit his lip and ducked his head so his dark brown hair fell into his eyes when he said this, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Catch you later, okay? I have work to do.”
“Okay.” Jack said, and Alex had turned and walked away, hurrying out of the cafe and towards the direction of the library.
Lunch was quiet. Jack sat at a corner table by himself, just like usual, and took out his sketchbook to draw, just like usual. He would sketch people, just glance around and pick the first person his eyes fell on, but this time he drew Alex.
In the first attempt, he penciled out the boy’s profile, trying to capture the peaceable line of his jaw and the way his hair hung down the side of his face, tucked behind his ears. He stopped to analyze it. It wasn’t a bad drawing, but it wasn’t... Alex.
Half an hour and four abandoned doodles of Alex later, he slammed his book shut in a fit of rare frustration. There was something about the guy that he couldn’t quite ensnare, something deep and quiet and real and ragingly beautiful.
Jack was determined to find it.
Keep writing, Abi! We're excited to see the rest. To the impersonator, we do not tolerate that type of behavior. ~Admin
submitted by Abigail S., age 12, Nose in a Book
(December 22, 2016 - 12:21 pm)
(December 22, 2016 - 12:21 pm)
Oh my gosh, thank you SO much! I can't tell you how much that means to me. <3 I'm really glad you like my story. :) It inspires me to keep going when I get nice comments like this. Thank you.
(May 13, 2017 - 9:48 pm)
Please keep writing!!!
(May 13, 2017 - 3:09 pm)
The three made it up to the front steps, and Angie raised a hand to use the door knocker, gold-painted metal in the shape of a roaring lion’s head.
Angie’s outline flickered, and Ben could almost see a younger version of himself in her place, reaching up to grab the handle and clink it three times in a rhythmic cacophony.
Knock, knock, knock.
Jared placed a hand on Ben’s shoulder. “Hey, you okay?” He asked in a near-whisper, voice quiet enough that Angie couldn’t hear.
Ben nodded mutely. Jared squeezed his arm in a momentary gesture of comfort before letting go, hand sliding back into his sweatshirt pocket.
There was a couple muffled yells from inside the house, then the sound of footsteps. The door swung open to reveal Jack’s little sister, Moriah, looking considerably miffed.
“Can I just say,” she grumbled, more to herself than anything, “I don’t understand why Jack didn’t get the door since he was, like, twice as close as me, but okay.” She then brightened considerably, slapping on a thousand-watt grin. “Welcome! I’m not exactly sure who you people are, sorry— Except for you, Ben, hello.”
Ben waved at her. Moriah beamed.
“Anyway, come in.” Once the three awkwardly entered the house, Mo slammed the door shut and dashed out of the foyer without so much as a backward glance.
Jared blinked. “Is all of Jack’s family this… uh, strangely exuberant?”
Ben popped out his fangs again, ignoring Jared’s disgusted shiver. “Nah, it’s just her.”
“Good to know.”
Angie sighed, exaggeratedly exasperated. “C’mon, are you guys just going to stand there? Let’s move or something.”
“Oh yes, how could I ignore the wishes of the grand exalted Angelina,” Jared said, deadpan. “Lead the way.”
“I’m glad you’re finally recognizing my greatness,” Angie said, striking a pose as she skipped away down the corridor into which Mo had disappeared moments earlier.
“Wha did ah san ah fah sis?” Ben groaned.
“I have no idea what you just said,” Jared informed him, ever helpful.
The hallway led into a wide-open space that appeared to be a combination of typical of living and dining rooms. It was noticeably decorated for the holiday, to the point that it toed the line of being tacky but didn’t quite cross it. A plastic skeleton was propped up in a chair next to the entrance. Angie mimed shaking hands with it.
As they headed farther into the room, towards the table that contained the food, Jared and Angie begun a conversation, something about which would be scarier to become— a zombie or a ghost.
“Yeah, maybe,” Jared was saying, “But if you’re a zombie, you lose all control of yourself, and that seems way worse than… “
Ben tuned out, scanning the area for anyone he knew. Moriah was nowhere in sight, but he recognized Jack’s other sister, Rachel (it took him a minute— last he had seen her she was about five), and a few adults that he thought he might’ve met at dinner parties.
Adrienne, the bossy blonde girl from Ben’s English and History classes was there, too, sitting cross-legged on top of the kitchen island and talking animatedly to— Ah.
Jack, perched on a bar stool and laughing at something that Adri had said, came into earshot of Jared and Angie’s increasingly heated argument. He swiveled around to glance at them and the smile slid right off his face.
“Hello!” Adri called, waving them over. Jack hissed something at her, jerking his head in Ben’s direction, and she gave him a half-apologetic shrug.
Jared and Angie redirected their path, making their way over towards the other two teenagers. Ben didn’t move.
“Are you just going to stand there, or are you coming?” Angie asked, impatient.
Ben followed her. What else was there to do?
“... So you’re in my Latin class, right?” Adrienne asked Jared, pointedly ignoring the annoyed, accidentally-on-purpose pokes that Jack was giving her shoulder.
“Yeah, I think so,” Jared said, and they started talking about dative nouns or something and Ben inwardly sighed. Angie nudged him and rolled her eyes.
Ben got the sense that someone was watching him, and he turned back to glare at Jack, who was clearly studying him out of the corner of his eye. It was unnerving. “Stop that,” Ben mouthed. Jack stuck out his tongue at him.
Very mature.
Ben squinted and scrutinized Jack right back. His curls were tied back into a sloppy bun at the base of his neck, a few frizzy strands escaping and hanging around his face, halo-like. Ben never remembered them being long enough for that.
Jack sat loose and sprawling, long legs stretched out in front of him, arms resting behind on the countertop right next to Adrienne. Even though his posture was outwardly relaxed, his shoulders were tight, like a dog with hackles raised.
A minute or so passed. Jared and Adrienne were now debating the merits of teaching mythology in a language class and appeared to be enjoying themselves. Angie was picking at her fingernails, bored.
It was at that moment that Alex Quinn entered the room, with surprisingly little fanfare for a guy who lived off attention, positive or otherwise. Ben probably wouldn’t have even noticed his appearance had he not been watching Jack.
In an instant, the other boy’s entire being positively brightened, face spitting into a wide grin. He leapt up from his seat, practically throwing himself across the room.
Adrienne sighed. “And so it begins.”
(May 13, 2017 - 9:50 pm)
Wow, you are an absolutely amazing writer!
(May 14, 2017 - 6:37 am)
I've now had almost two years of high school English and I'm positive I can't write this well. Holy King Fluffybuns, Abigail, this is AMAZING!! I'm a supporter of LGBTQ+ rights myself (and an avid reader of fanfic with LGBTQ+ people in it), and while I can understand some people finding queer topics distasteful, that doesn't mean they have to inflict their views on others. Abigail Impersonator, that was not okay.
Do you have this story up on any writing site, say, AO3? If you do, I need to go find it and give it all of the kudos right now.
(May 14, 2017 - 1:14 pm)
YES!!!! There is more!
I love this story! I love how you learn more about the characters with each successive new part, and the way Adri said 'And so it begins' was AWESOME!
Keep writing, c'est vous plais! :)
-Nianad
(May 14, 2017 - 1:30 pm)
THIS IS SO AMAZINGLYSPECTACULARLYTOTALLYINCREDIBLYWONDERFULLYAWESOMELY*pause for breath* FANTASTICLYGOOD!
I just read through all the pages, and it is, well, read what I wrote in all caps above. Maybe we should gather the best solo writes, stories and RPs and get them published.
LilyCat says zext. What? Zebra Text?
(May 14, 2017 - 4:08 pm)
@Abigail:
Yaaay! There's a new part out!!! Ever since I found this thread, I've been checking AT LEAST (usually more :) ) once a day for new parts. I know this was a few parts back, but I love love LOVE the way you slipped in that Theo is transgender! (Assuming I read that right) So many other young writers I know, and even more experienced ones, would have said something like, "Hi. I'm Theo. I'm transgender." Ok, well, maybe not that direct, but still. I love the way you just slipped it in there! I love this so much! Never stop writing, Abigail. You have true talent. Have you thought about self-publishing?
~Starseeker
(May 14, 2017 - 7:57 pm)
Top for the next part of this beautifully amazing story!
(May 15, 2017 - 5:35 pm)
THEREISMORETHEREISMORETHEREISMORETHEREISMOREASDKALHSDLKASHD
Aaaah! Abi, it's amazing.
(May 15, 2017 - 7:08 pm)
This is amazing, Abigail! Please keep writing!
(May 16, 2017 - 10:21 am)
Top for amazing stories!
(May 17, 2017 - 10:13 am)
(May 17, 2017 - 3:51 pm)
This is amazing!
(May 20, 2017 - 1:32 pm)
(May 22, 2017 - 10:34 am)