Don't Go Crankin' My Heart

Chapter 1.3

"Alrighty class, today we are just going to be writing short stories. But here's the catch, I'm going to assign each of you an image, and I want you to write me a short story about the said image. Now it is October, so these images will be horror related, spooky, creepy, scary, uneasy, all those words, got it?" they finish. We all nod in agreement. Man, I think to myself. I hope I get something good.

"Oh, and one last thing" the professor adds, "this is a timed assignment. You'll be given 30 minutes to write your heart out. Then, you will get together with a partner and read your stories together" They finish. Sounds good to me, I think. Ethan and I glance at each other and give a subtle nod. We always team up for things like this.

The professor makes their way around the class, giving each student a picture placed face down. They return to the front of the class, "okay guys, you may now begin." After starting a timer, the professor puts on The LivingTombstone's playlist on Spotify and sits in their chair, adjusting the classroom speakers to a comfortable volume. I immediately turn my paper over. "Yes!" I shout in a whisper. I got a dead tree with misty gray background. The room is filled with other hushed reactions from the other students. Excited by my picture, I looked over to Ethan to see what he got.

Ethan stares down at his picture, which is a picture of Nightmare Freddy Fazbear from the Five Nights at Freddy's Franchise. It's an indie horror game, you wouldn't know if you weren't alternative or emo. Ethan's face was priceless, it was like he had struck the jackpot. Which of course, he did! Ethan was a heavy gamer, he even had a YouTube channel dedicated to gaming, CrankGamePlays was his username. I was subscribed to him. I patted his shoulder and exclaimed, "Whooo! Awesome pic for you! Huh, Ethan?" He nods very fast and a sly smile creeps onto his luscious lips. I just know this is gonna be good.

I turn back to my picture, reopen my laptop, and create a new document, and I get down to business. I knew exactly what I was going to write.

~ 25 minutes later ~

I place my hands into my lap, my eyes skim over the three carefully written paragraphs before me. Professor wanted a short story, and a short story is what they got. My green orbs travel across the room, checking on everyone else's progress. Some have finished, and others are still frantically typing or writing. I look over to our professor, who was just on their phone, probably scrolling through FaceBook or something. Finally, I look beside me to Ethan. He's still typing. I sneak a peek at his laptop screen and see that he's just adjusting his final sentences. He'll be done very soon. I change my gaze from his screen to his face. His full eyebrows are furrowed in concentration, his pink lips slightly pursed. I shift my eyes down to his knee which is slightly bouncing, before looking back up at his face. I turn away seconds before he looks over at me, crossing his arms across his chest and saying "done!" in a very satisfactory tone. He didn't notice me staring, good. I smile at him and we both wait for our professor to give us the times up.

"Times up guys," Professor says. "Alrighty, now you guys talk amongst yourselves about your writings. We have about 15 minutes of class left. I know we don't get out until 5:45 but I'm feeling gracious and decided to let you guys out early on this beautiful, cloudy day. Just make sure you email me or turn in your papers before leaving." The classroom was quickly filled with thank yous, slight applause, and head nods. Ethan and I look at each other and we both say "epic" at the same time. We chuckle together and focus our attention back on our creations.

"You first," Ethan says in a giddy voice, his eyes squinting into a cheesy smile. I love that smile of his. "No, you!" I poke back. "Ugh Fine," He says as he rolls his ocean eyes jokingly. Ethan began reading his short story over Nightmare Freddy Fazbear, it was really good no joke. "Wow," I said after he finished. "That's so good. You really know your lore, that story gave me chills." "Really? I thought I was being a little corny," Ethan responded shyly. "No way, this is really good Ethan," I say back to him while nodding. Ethan smiles at his accomplishment, feeling proud that he impressed me with his writing, which wasn't an easy task. "Okay, now you go!" He says cheerfully and eagerly. Ethan adored my writing, he adored everything I created actually. I take a deep breath and nod. I begin to read my short story. I made it short and creepy. Just unsettling enough to leave you begging for more context and an ending. Ethan reads the screen as I read aloud. I watch as his eyes skim from word to word, paragraph after paragraph. Until we both finish. He looks over at me, "damn Mav, that's really, really good. You're always so good at writing in that creepy style." I blushed at his compliment and looked away as a smile crept over my lips. He called me Mav! He's never called me that before! Ugh! I always embarrass myself! Why does Eefy have to be so damn cute! I yell at myself mentally.

I quickly looked back at him, hoping my blush towards his compliment wasn't too embarrassingly obvious. He giggles at me and puts his hand on mine. "Hey, it's true! you have such a way with words when you're writing in your obviously favorite styles. I saw the way you lit up when you flipped over that picture. It was adorable" I blush again, even harder this time. Ethan chuckles again. He knows what he's doing. I came to my senses and playfully smacked his hand. "Hey! Stop buttering me up, Ethan!" I say jokingly, and we both laugh at each other. We agreed that both our stories were good and we both submitted them to our professor before leaving.