Storytime

Actors part 5

[ It’s been a freaking long time. D:

This one’s going to be really really long because I could either break it down into small little pieces or get it over with. I’m kind of rushing this story because I came up with it a while ago, and I just want to put it down more for myself than for anyone else (sorry guys xD) but I might as well let someone read it. I just want to get the main events down, so there will be very few supporting scenes. ]

Win was walking across campus with Opal, talking.

“So are you going to that party?” Opal asked, brushing her dark curly hair back out of her face.

The smaller girl sighed. “I don’t think so. I’m not much of a partygoer…”

“Oh come on, it’ll be fun!”

It was a familiar conversation. There was a big party coming up, and most of Win’s friends were going, including Opal. She really wasn’t the best party person, though when she did go it was usually fun, and Opal thought that this was ridiculous. She didn’t seem to understand why somebody wouldn’t want to go.

“I know, just…”

Opal rolled her eyes. “Come on Win, I’d love to see you there.”

Sighing again, Win closed her eyes. “Alright, alright, I’ll think about it.”

“Great!” Opal grinned at her, she had the most infectious smile…Win couldn’t help but smile back. “Is Jack coming?”

“I don’t know, I’ll ask him if he wants to.” Shrugging, Win looked at her watch. “I’d better be heading home.”

“Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then!” They hugged, briefly. “And at that party, because you’re definitely coming.”

“I just said I’ll think about it,” Win replied. “But we’ll see, hm?”

Nodding, Opal waved and hurried off. Win turned in a different direction, heading home.

Jack was standing in the center of the main room, a laptop open on the couch and a mirror propped up against the wall. In his hands he had his three linking rings, and he was practicing some new trick. When the door closed he was in the middle of tossing one of them in the air, and it slipped out of his fingers and fell on the floor, clanging loudly.

“Sorry,” Win said.

He bent over, picking the ring up and dropping all three of them on the couch by the computer. “Not your fault. I’ve been dropping these things for almost an hour now. I was going to take a break anyway.”

“An hour? When did you start?”

Screwing up his face in thought, he said, “Three…?”

“Jack, it’s been two hours.” Win smiled, shaking her head slightly and putting her bag down by the couch.

“Really? Shit.” Jack searched around for a bit for the box. It was plain cardboard, and rather beat up. Win had always wondered why he never got a new one. “I don’t like spending so much time on these things, but I was so close to getting it…”

She flopped down on the couch, sighing. “I still don’t get why you don’t like them. Is it because every magician has them?”

Shaking his head, Jack picked up the computer and sat down next to her. “No, when I was younger I used to think that I couldn’t be a real magician until I got a set. I don’t like to talk about them though.”

Win lifted one eyebrow, she was dying to know. Jack never spoke about his past, not a mention of his family or high school life apart from one person that he brought up every now and then, and it made Win curious. But she wasn’t going to push it, and to take her mind off of the problem she started on her homework.

It was only when she curled up next to Jack in order to go to sleep – they had two bedrooms, but there was something comforting and nice about sleeping with another warm body next to you – that she mentioned the party.

“So…you know that party so many people are going to?” she asked, looking up at his shadowy face.

“Mmm? What about it?” Jack put an arm around her, shifting slightly into a more comfortable position.

“I was thinking of going. Opal’s been working on me all week. Do you think you’ll come?” If he went it would be like a lifeline, someone to cling to if she felt out of depth, but she wanted to spend time with Opal while she was there…

“Nah. I’m not much of a party person, and I’m surprised that you’re thinking of it. You don’t really strike me as one.” There was a smirk in his voice, and Win knew that he understood exactly what she was thinking…

“I can like parties,” she said indignantly. “Anyway. That’s cool, you don’t have to go. I’m just thinking about it.”

“Mmmhmm. Opal’s going.”

“Shut up.”

There was a quiet chuckle, and she received a kiss. “Goodnight, Win.”

“Goodnight Jack.”

Actors part 4

[ Okay okay, an update. Hastily written in between homework assignments because I felt bad for not posting to the like…one person who reads this. Make that none. ><; Hasty introduction of a new character. ]

Opal was in her dancing class.

She was smart. And pretty. And more like Win than anyone else Win had ever met. She had lots of friends, because people just seemed to get along with her. Now Win was curious about this girl, but didn’t really get to be friends with her until they’d been in the same class for a few months.

She was sitting with Jack under a tree on campus, and they were talking. Jack laughed. “Honestly, I’d better meet this girl soon, before I know absolutely everything without getting to find out for myself. It’s like you have a crush or something.”

“I don’t have a crush on this girl.” Win was embarrassed, she didn’t realize that she’d been talking about Opal so much. “I’m asexual, remember?”

“You’re starting to think like the masses,” he said, shaking a finger at her. “Most people just assume that because you don’t like sex, you can’t have a crush. You can’t fall in love. But that’s not necessarily true, now is it?”

In the face of his smile, Win didn’t know what to say. It was true. She’d just assumed…

Jack chuckled, leaning forward and giving her a small kiss. “See, you don’t mind kisses. Or hugs. Or any other cuddles. So if you can stand to be kissed by me, your best friend, I think you can stand to kiss someone who you actually care for.”

Win didn’t like being lectured, especially by Jack who was bound to be smug about it later, so she countered, “You don’t know that I have a crush. In fact I don’t. But you’re the one who suggested we pretend like we’re dating, so unless you want to give up on that approach, you’d better cut it out.”

This earned her a smirk as Jack put his hands behind his head and leaned back. “Oh, I’ll be proved right eventually. Just you watch.”

Actors part 1

[ Thought I’d start posting stories. Here’s a little story I’m writing about the college experience for one of my main characters (right now) from someone else’s point of view. So even if you don’t know him, I think you’ll be able to understand. ]

They met in acting class.

It was Winnifred’s second year of college, and she was enjoying it. But she didn’t recognize anyone in this class, so when they were told to partner up with someone, she went with the friendliest looking person.

He waved, smiling. “Hey. I’m Jack.”

Winnifred held out her hand. “I’m Winnifred.”

Jack shook her hand. Damn, it was tall people like him that really made her feel her height… “Winnifred,” he said, as if testing out her name. “It’s a bit of a mouthful, if you don’t mind my saying. Do you have a nickname, like Winnie…?”

Winnifred made a face. “You can call me pretty much anything but Winnie, as long as I know that’s your name for me. Fred, Angel, Bob…it doesn’t really matter.”

“Fred? Well, I guess it’s something…” Jack shrugged. “But it doesn’t seem to match. What about…Win? Is Win okay?”

Win smiled, nodding. “Yeah. That works.”

And after that, they were soon good friends.

The two friends grew closer. Jack was an amateur magician, and had a way of capturing your attention that drew your mind away from the trick. From what she understood, he never had much of an ambition to go to college, but somehow he’d ended up there. He’d always loved doing magic tricks, and so a performing arts college seemed the best place to go. And that was how he ended up in New York.

Winnifred herself was an aspiring actress. She wasn’t very good at it, and she knew it. But she could sing, and had a high pitched voice due to her small stature. But how she made most of her money was through writing.

It wasn’t that she particularly enjoyed writing. There would just be a story sitting around in her head, and if she didn’t get it out, it would sit in her head and irritate her until she wrote it down. Then she could save it on her computer and forget about it.

This wasn’t good enough for one of her friends, though. One day she borrowed Win’s laptop and submitted a short story to a literary magazine. Win was angry, she didn’t expect anyone to actually read her work – but the magazine liked it and published it. Apparently the readers had a good reaction too, and soon they were asking for more.

Win wouldn’t have it. She politely declined the offer, and went back to job hunting. They asked her a few more times, saying that some very high up people were interested in this young, previously unknown writer. The only thing that finally convinced her to publish again was the offer of pay.

So with a promise of money, Win sent in part of a story she was writing. It was totally cliché – the story of a man who became an agent in a secret branch of government – but it caught. It was published, after a little revision, and people demanded the second part.

And that was how Win got her job as a writer. This meant that she had time to act on the side, which was all she wanted to do. She would write the stories anyway. All she had to do was edit them a bit and send them in, and after a while it gave her more money than if she’d had a normal job. 

Can’t say ‘No’ to him

So this is a really short scene based off of a roleplay I was doing with my friend. Basically my character runs into her character, and they used to be great friends but it’s been three years since either one of them spoke to each other. They go out for a drink, spend the night in a hotel, and now my character is returning back to where he lives with one of his friends. Yaaaay, stories. :B

Jack’s head hurt, the vodka was a really bad idea, but it was worth it. Quin was back in his life, someone that he’d never thought that he’d see again. And Jack had been able to hold him again, even if it was for the last time. And if it meant that Winnifred was going to get on his case for drinking eight or ten shots of vodka, well then…

He smiled at the small house. It was smaller than the one he’d grown up in, and had all sorts of problems with it, but it was cheap, and it was free standing, and it was a place for him to live with his two friends. It was home.

Jack unlocked and opened the door as quietly as he could. Opal wasn’t there, she had an early class. Win had one in about an hour, maybe more. Jack could hear the shower going, and wondered how long she’d been in there.

It was when she shut the water off and opened the door to let out the steam that she struck up a conversation through the door. “Don’t think you can hide from me, Jack. Where were you last night?”

“With a friend.” Jack felt like he had to elaborate. “I ran into an old friend. We had some catching up to do.”

Win, hair wet and wrapped in a bathrobe, came out of the bathroom. “Have I heard about this old friend?”

“Not in name. I’ve mentioned him several times.” Jack smiled, a little dreamily, and then winced because his head hurt.

She rolled her eyes. “So this catching up included drinking?”

He shrugged. “We’re college guys. Of course.”

“Then you deserve that headache.” She went back into the bathroom, retrieved a brush, and started on her hair.

“I knew this would happen,” Jack said, snorting. “I swear, you’re like an overprotective mother.”

“Oh you know it,” she said, smiling at him. “But as long as you know that it’s entirely your fault.”

“Hey, he was the one who suggested getting drunk off our asses.”

“Yes, but you have free will.” She folded her arms. “You could have said no.”

Looking aside and smiling a little distantly, Jack shook his head. “No,” he said, his voice just as distant as his smile. “No, I don’t think I could have.”