Not Quite There

Sleepless Nights

Title: Sleepless Nights

Genre(s): Fantasy/Humor/Romance

Main Character(s): Shelby Jones 

Love Interest(s): Daniel Morris 

Side Character(s): Max Airo (Shelby's best friend)

Basic Plot Line: Shelby - a 17-year-old high school junior - is a writer. She's a pretty basic girl with a best friend, a crush, and a habit of binge-watching Netflix shows for hours in a row. But everything seems to change as she notices her stories coming to life. It started off with her first sleepless night - the night that she wrote about the kidnapping of a fictional character named Cassandra. The next day she woke up to the news of a fresh kidnapping of a girl they called Cass. Alarmed and slightly confused, Shelby brushed it off and kept writing her fictional stories. Her next story - one that includes a bear and a portal to a mystical dimension - comes true the next week when scientists become baffled by a mysterious hole opening up in the ground and several bear attacks around the city. Shelby finally figures out what's going on and takes a cruel advantage of her skills as she writes about her beloved crush falling in love with her at a day's notice. Closer towards the end of the book, Shelby realizes all her mistakes and deletes all her fictitious writings forever. The book ends with everything being alright and a sad Shelby right before her crush, Daniel walks up to her and strikes up a conversation.

Unfinished Excerpt: 

"She ran with fear-stricken eyes as the sound of footsteps grew louder behind her. She turned the corner with a skid and picked up her pace to get to the door at the end of the hallway. She jiggled the doorknob but it remained sealed shut as a menacing laugh was heard from behind. Her eyes slightly peered up as the shadow stared at her, ready to pounce at any moment. She let out a bloodcurdling scream as she figure started walking towards her and--"

I slammed my computer shut as my eyelids fell. I was absolutely exhausted. I thought that after I came home from school I would still have the spirits to write a little and cheery story to brighten up my mood after a horrible day, but I was wrong. As soon as I had sat down at my desk, my fingers started typing furiously about a horrible kidnapping. I honestly had no idea what led me to write something so gruesome. Maybe I was mad; mad at the world and everything that lived in it. At the moment, I was mostly mad at my best friend, Max for putting me in such an awkward situation today. My mind replayed the scene over and over, making me shudder under the thoughts.

I rubbed my tired eyes. I couldn't write anymore; I was far too exhausted. Maybe tomorrow? Maybe. 

Before climbing into my comfortable bed, I peered out my window to see a sticky note hung on the glass. My fingers lightly traced the letters as a smile came to my face.

"I'm sorry
~your most favorite person in the whole wide world (max)"