When the Clock Ticks [Shourtney]

Author's Note and Prologue

Guess who's back? Back again? Amy's back! Tell a friend.

My name's Amy, and I'm an 18-year-old communications student from the Philippines! I have not much to do right now because of quarantine, and since February, I've been writing Smosh fan fictions. You may know me from some of them:

1. A Wrench in the Gears [Damien Haas]
- Damien Haas falls in love with reporter Jade Greene whom he meets in a stuck elevator, only to discover they'll be working together on a collaborative project. Somehow, destiny works perfectly for them.
- Damien x OC (Jade Greene)
- 2200+ words per chapter
- 25 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue

2. See You at Seven [Shayne Topp]
- After dying and arriving at the purgatory called the Middle, Shayne Topp teams up with renegade lawyer Alex McConnell to save the afterlife and falls in love with her in the process.
- Shayne x OC (Alex McConnell)
- 2200-3200+ words per chapter
- 15 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue

3. The Three Laws of Motion [Damien Haas, Shayne Topp, and Ian Hecox]
- Three Smosh boys with fifteen different short stories of falling in love with the reader.
- Damien x Reader, Shayne x Reader, Ian x Reader
- 2200+ words per chapter
- 15 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue

4. Almost, But Not Quite [Damien Haas]
- By using an app of 90s style communication, Damien Haas falls in love with his neighbor Jade Greene, who happens to be on the other side of the screen. Both of them have no idea they're talking to one another.
- Damien x OC (Jade Greene)
- 3000+ words per chapter
- 20 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue, 1 epilogue

5. Here's To Us [Shayne Topp and Courtney Miller]
- Shayne Topp and Courtney Miller get married drunk and spend an entire year fixing their mistake, not knowing they would fall in love with each other in the process.
- Shayne x Courtney (Shourtney)
- 2200+ words per chapter
- 20 chapters, 2 author's notes, 1 prologue

You may also know me as @/shourtney.longknee on Instagram! If you do, then heyo! If you don't, give me a follow. I just post a bunch of Shourtney memes there and also TNTL Characters x Zodiac Signs!

So this is When The Clock Ticks! I asked people from Instagram whether I should make an x Reader or another Shourtney fan fiction, and the results came in with Shourtney again. This will be much shorter than the usual and possibly my last fan fiction for the time being because I'll be having online classes some time at the end of August and I have to prepare a lot of stuff for that. Here are some reminders for this fan fiction:

- This book shall have 12 chapters with 2 author's notes, 1 prologue, and 1 epilogue.
- Each chapter shall have 2200+ words.
- Update schedule shall be every other day until August 6, 2020 (Thursday)!
- Points of view shall alternate between Shayne and Courtney starting this prologue until the epilogue.

This book is a little personal for me, since I recently lost someone very important in my life and I haven't really come to terms with the grief I feel inside of me. Also, I've been reading "The Little Prince" by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry again, which has inspired many parts of this book. I hope that somehow, this hits close to home to you guys too to make this book much more enjoyable.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this even though it'll be shorter than my other stories. I'm very much open to criticisms, but no mean comments hopefully! Let's start with Courtney's POV, and see ya!

-/-/-

19 June 2020

Dear Joe,

I'm having extreme flashbacks right now of my teenage self just straight up writing on plain notebooks. I can't believe I'm writing on a diary again after so many years! A therapist friend of mine said that this really helps in dealing with one's emotions in a peaceful way, so here I am.

It's my 25th birthday by the way, so I guess happy birthday to me? It's not like a diary can greet me, but since I am writing a birthday greeting for myself, technically you can. This is also another reason why I started writing in diaries again. I've turned 25, and life is just so different from when I last wrote ten years ago...

Wow. 25. Literally a quarter of a century, and I don't think I've changed the world the way I wanted to. Clowns are still in the government, the environment's still being damaged, inequality and racism are prevalent, and it's kinda sad to be alive in times like these. But of course, I think it's also the best time to be alive, because we now get this chance to tumble the old systems and traditions down. Not everyone gets this chance, and I'm glad I'm one of the people who gets that.

20 years ago though, I would have wanted different things. I would have wanted a unicorn and a really pretty dress and a prince in shining armor. Unicorns aren't real, so they're crossed off the list. I do have several pretty dresses now, so that's a check. But a prince in shining armor? Well, it can also be a princess now, but neither of them have really arrived. I'm growing older by the day, and I don't think I've found anyone I want to spend the rest of my life with, riding into sunsets on horses with...

But anyway, it's okay. It's not like there's a due date or anything for marriage. I'm really happy that I'm doing this again though. Shayne got me this notebook for my birthday, it's all personalized with my name in a cursive font splashing all over the cover. I don't know where he gets these done, but I'm just gonna ask him tomorrow. I'm not that much of a custom design kind of person when it comes to my belongings, but when I opened this earlier, it really warmed my heart. I would have loved this when I was 14 years old, I swear.

Update on other parts of my life: everyone in the family's doing okay. Had some boyfriends a while back, but I'm single and ready to jingle bells even though it's just June. I joined Smosh, that group I had been watching on YouTube for a while now, and Ian's a brother to me. It's undeniably the best decision of my life. My apartment's hella nice too, too bad I can't really put a picture of it here.

Unless... no, I'm too lazy to take a photo and get it printed. I'll describe it next time. I'm getting a little bit sleepy, because it's almost midnight and my body's acting like a mom right now, telling me to go to sleep earlier than usual. This was one of the best birthdays I've ever had, and as they say... more birthdays to come! No due dates, no stopping now.

Love ya,
Court Bourt xx

-/-/-

ATTENTION: First chapter will be published on July 15, 2020 (Wednesday midnight), Philippine Standard Time.