18 November 2013

Another excerpt!

I passed the 30,000 mark while on mini-vacation in Steamboat Springs this past weekend. I'll post about that next, but in the meantime, here's a snippet from the most recent batch of 10,000 words!
Lis and Will, our main characters, have discovered each other's deceptions. Lis is willing to overlook Will's mistake; he doesn't feel the same way. This is how Lis decides to cope.


I take Tiffani’s advice and spend the weekend getting over Will in the cheesiest way possible. I watch every romantic movie I can find on Netflix’s Watch Instantly list. I buy four different kinds of Ben&Jerry’s and eat about half of it. I can’t bring myself to eat all that ice cream, though, because come on. I’m not crossing the line into completely pathetic. I just want to have some fun with my sadness. At one point I try watching Star Trek because it’s my usual go-to whenever I feel sad, but when Captain Kirk shows up on my screen I burst into tears. I can’t watch Next Generation, either, because every time Riker sits down I think about how funny it is that Will copies him and I start doing this weird laugh-cry thing that always ends in choking on my own snot. So no Trek.
Adele calls me Sunday evening. She hasn’t called me since the whole Wyatt thing happened two months ago. I can barely believe my eyes when I see her name on the screen when my phone rings.
“Hi, Lis.”
“Hi, Adele.”
Pause.
“How are your vet school applications going?”
“I finished them a while ago. I’m just waiting to hear back.”
“Oh.”
Normally I would make more of an effort to talk to my sister, but right now I feel pretty self-absorbed.
“Can you do me a favor?”
“Sure.”
“When you come up for Thanksgiving, can you bring some yarn for me? I can’t find the kind I want here in Laramie.”
That’s a common problem for the residents of “Laradise”, but the usual solution is to go to a craft store in Cheyenne.
“Do you really want to wait that long? Why don’t you just go to Cheyenne?”
“I, um, I can’t.”
“Why not?”
Long pause this time. “I got banned from the craft store.”
“What?” Adele finally has my full attention. “What did you do?”
Adele’s voice wavers. “Mom drove me there last weekend, and I found everything I needed but, um, Wyatt was there.”
“In a craft store?”
“He was there with his new girlfriend,” Adele whispers. “And I just got so mad, I started yelling at him and telling his girlfriend she should dump his ass, and then I may or may not have started throwing skeins of yarn at him. Spoiler alert: I did. I hit him in the head.” She pauses. “And the balls.”
“He deserves it.”
“Well, the manager didn’t agree, and now I’m not allowed back in. Neither is Mom, because she didn’t try to stop me.”
“I’m surprised she didn’t throw a few balls of yarn herself.”
“She was busy holding my purse so I could use both hands.”
“Wow, Adele.”
“Yeah. So I need you to bring me some yarn.”
“Well, yeah, sure, but what do you need it for?”
“Oh. Um, I learned how to crochet. You know, while I was spending so much time in my room. So now I make blankets for the kids in the fostering program. I can teach you how when you come home.”
“That sounds great, Delly. I’d love to help you with that.”
She gives me the list of all the yarn she needs before hanging up. I stare at the list in shock for a few minutes. So this is how my sister is getting over Wyatt. Making blankets for kids. Wow.
I’m proud of Adele. It may have taken her weeks of hiding out in her room, but the way she’s chosen to come back to normal life is admirable.
As much as I’ve enjoyed my weekend shotgunning ice cream and sappy movies, I can’t wallow forever. It’s not in my nature to sit around and do nothing. So… what should I do? Move on, find a new guy to fool around with? Resign myself to spinsterhood until I graduate from vet school?
What I really want, though, is Will. And maybe this isn’t the best plan, because my brain has been warped by too many romantic comedies, but I am going to get him back.

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