LOOKOUT

PART 7 - RING MY LINE

I woke up mid-afternoon the next day, and I'm thankful to past me for thinking to turn off the alarm so I can properly catch up on my sleep. I stretch as I get up and quickly get ready. I don't bother changing out of my pjs since I'm not stepping out today. I need to sit down and churn out a few more chapters.

I hate to complain about being a writer. I know so many people work strenuous jobs and can't decide to sleep in until the afternoon whenever they feel like it. It just overwhelms me sometimes, writing is fun and therapeutic, but when my books became popular and my publishing company encouraged me to turn Lookout for The Emeralds into a book series, I realized how talentless I really am. I don't mean to be self-deprecating, but once I started releasing my first few books, I had to scratch every surface of my brain for something to make full-length novels, and I quickly realized that I don't have that many ideas. It fucked me up for a while, realizing I'm not that creative or unique.

I go to the kitchen to make my first coffee of the day. I see Nora sitting on the small dining table cross-legged, scrolling on her phone. She looks up when she hears me and smiles. "Okay, tell me everything!" she says excitedly, I switch on my kettle and grimace, shaking my head. "Not much to tell, it was a fun night, and I met his friends," I say. She groans. "C'mon, you came back at two AM! Something must've kept you up that late," she says. I give in and share more details about the party, telling her about meeting all his friends, and how I was the last one to leave. "He walked me home," I say, sounding a bit embarrassed. She makes a childish "Ohh!" sound at that. We talk some more, and I tell her that no, we didn't kiss, and she insists that we probably will at some point. "Wait, I just realized you never told me London boy's name," she says, sitting up. I walk over to grab my mug and put a spoonful of instant coffee in it. I hum, trying to think of a way to avoid what she said. I already had to tell Andy because he figured it out. Surely, she will too as soon as I tell her. I decide I will tell her about it eventually, I just can't deal with the embarrassment as soon as I wake up.

I cringe. Why didn't I just change his fucking name? I think to myself.

"Uhm," I say, thinking of something to say while filling my cup with hot water, clutching the handle of the mug tightly. Thankfully, the doorbell rings, causing her to snap her head to the sound. "Fuck! Why is that thing so loud? I'm still not used to it," she says, getting up to go get the door. I take this opportunity to turn back around and go to my room. "Hey, I'm gonna go in and do some writing, okay?" I say loudly, she nods her head, opening the door to a delivery driver holding a large parcel. I sigh in relief. Since Nora and I are both writers, her being a popular lifestyle blogger, we both let the other know when we're writing, which is essentially code for "please don't bother me until I leave my room or am in there for way too long."

I shut the door, glad to have dodged that situation. I walk over to my desk and set my coffee down, then I open my laptop, waiting patiently as it whirrs softly while the system sets up. Finally, it opens, and I don't have to bother opening the word document as it's sitting there from the last time I was writing. I grab my notebook that's in a drawer to look over my written notes. Apart from the party last night, I always carry it around with me just in case I come up with something to add to the story. I look over the rough plan I had written in there as well. I'm currently on the eighth chapter, at this point the witch and King Aubrey make their way to a neighbouring kingdom to form an alliance with their king in order to defeat Aubrey's tyrannical younger brother.

CHAPTER 8 - THE CAVE

I walk slowly as I try to catch my breath. My head is down as I move along the green path, the hot sun giving me an ache. The enchanted forest is filled with life and almost drowns me, but I use my magic to slice through the moving vines and branches. I look up and see Aubrey a few steps ahead of me, whistling to the tune of an old human folksong. He turns then, smiling wide. "Can you move faster, darling?" he says. He's not paying much attention to where he's going, not even looking ahead. He probably assumes I will clear the path for him. I roll my eyes at this. I use my magic to slice the branch he was about to hit. "We're hoping to reach Envia before my kingdom is destroyed," he says sarcastically, still walking backward. I glare at him, and I chose to ignore the next branch in front of him. His eyes widen as he trips, head hitting the muddy ground. He groans loudly in pain and I let out a laugh. Serves him right.