Write Off (On Hold)

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Angelo and I haven't really spoken since our last lecture together. I didn't know how that was possible since we were roommates but it happened.

He had early classes for the rest of the week while I had late classes. By the time I decided to eat lunch on my favourite picnic table outside of the study hall, Angelo had bombarded my sight with piles of paper.

"I don't get it!" Angelo yelled with his hands in the air. "How is my premise not horror?"

His exclamation seemed to have turned some heads but they seemed to go back to minding their own business when I shot them back a glare.

"I don't understand how the hell you wrote so much in less than a week," I mumbled as I flipped through the pages. "I didn't even write my first sentence."

"You didn't answer my concern," he replied flatly.

I sighed before flipping to the first page and placing it on the table so he could see what I was going to point out.

"You have vampires." I tapped the page with my pencil before underlining the word.

"Which are scary." He wiggled his fingers to indicate the spookiness of his story and I waved it away.

"Yes, but—" I circled the description of the vampires with a pen. "—you made them sexy."

"Hey, being sucked by a vampire is very scary!"

"The only thing scary about what you wrote so far is how you had to explain how a vampire could suck someone off."

"Yes! That's the scary part! No one wants to have their sensitive area being mangled by some fangs like, ugh." He made a gagging sound.

"Oh god, please don't make that sound again." My face twisted into a grimace. "I hate it so much."

"What?" Angelo's eyebrows knitted together as he processed what I had just said. "You hate the sound of gagging?"

"It sounds like someone puking and when I hear someone puke, I want to puke."

"Anyways, how can I improve my story?" Angelo huffed.

"I mean, if you want to keep it a romance, you totally can." I doodled a heart onto the page and he became even more visibly annoyed. "It got you out of a writer's block, didn't it?"

"No, I just feel like I'm doing homework." His eyes were downcast and his shoulders were hunched forward. "I don't even think there's any good romantic tension. I just... jumped straight into the sex scenes."

"Because that's what people demand of you from your writing?"

His silence said everything.

I tapped the pen against the paper. "Okay, obviously the first rule to horror is tension— and not the romantic kind." Angelo didn't seem to argue with me on my statement. "You have to figure out what your character is scared of and increase it tenfold into some kind of physical manifestation in the story. If they're scared of being watched, put eyeballs everywhere and if they try to hide themselves in a box, forcefully make holes in it."

There was a chortle. "That sounds perverted."

"Are you serious?"

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He held his hands up in the air. "I won't say anything else but I do have a question."

I rubbed my forehead with my thumb. "What is it?"

"Why do the main characters stay and keep getting involved rather than just running away? Skedaddling? Vamoose? Go bye-bye?"

"That's enough, I don't need you to—" I struggled to verbalize what the hell I just heard. "—show off your literary knowledge."

He didn't seem entertained by my sarcasm. "Like as if you're any better."

"I am plenty better, thank you very much."

I began to start another doodle on the page. Even though it was only a blue pen, I was doing my best to make a ghastly-looking creature on the page but with my art skills, I had no clue whether I was excelling since it looked so horrible or failing.

"The horror, or in many cases, the monster of your story has to appeal to your main character somehow," I said. "If the monster was cast out due to being ugly, like a scar or whatever, the main character should have insecurities about their appearance and be cast out as well. You never see a horror movie where the main character gets a team that believes their crazy ramblings and defeats the monster together. They tend to go in alone."

Angelo perked up. "So, like romance? They're attracted because there's a commonality."

"I guess, except instead of making out, they try and kill each other."

Angelo furrowed his eyebrows. "I don't know how I can write this without it becoming a romance."

I turned around so I could have my back lean against the table top's edge as I thought over what his next step would be. "We can rectify that."

"How?"

A large grin spread out on my face. "Horror movie marathon."

"Oh my god, no." Angelo's face was scrunched up in disgust. "No, no, no."

"Oh my god, yes you mean. How the hell are you going to write horror if you don't know it?" I tilted my head to the side with a raised eyebrow.

"Why do I have to do homework? What about you? Don't you need more study material than me when it comes to writing romance?" He pointed a finger at me.

"No," I said quickly. "I'm totally fine."

"Really? Then what's your premise?" Angelo's eyes became sharp as the situation seemed to have turned on its head.

My eyes suddenly found the flock of geese from the other side of the clearing to be very interesting. "Two people fall in love annnnd they get married. The end."

"Ha! You got nothing! If I have to sit through a horror movie marathon, you'll have to sit through a rom-com movie marathon with me."

I groaned. "Seriously?"

"Yes! How the hell are you going to write romance if you don't know it?"

My own words were thrown at me like a slap in the face and I let out a loud sigh.

"I'll make sure to clear out my schedule this weekend."

I suggest you check out Vegas Knot by @authorelizasolares if you want to read more fun romance comedies!