part one: the morning

Frank busts into my room like he’s got something to prove.

“Joely,” he says, “we are going to get you a girlfriend.”

And I say, “Joely?” because nobody has ever called me Joely before, and upon consideration, it is not a nickname I like having. So I glare at Frank for two reasons: one, the nickname, and two, the insinuation that I am not happy with my life and therefore need a girlfriend to make my happy. Because I am happy with my life, no matter what Frank thinks. And Frank thinks that I am unhappy.

“You need to stop moping about Tessa,” Frank says, apparently assuming that I am moping about Tessa. Which I am not. I am playing Guitar Hero, and that requires a certain amount of concentration, so I don’t answer Frank. Instead, I grin at the television screen, because I’ve lost.

“Why are you a girl?” Frank asks, staring at the screen in disbelief. I glance at my character. Yes, it’s a girl, scantily clad, as they all are, and she absolutely sucks at the guitar. I’m waiting for the inmates to begin rioting, but it never happens.

“It’s Tessa’s,” I explain.

“Are you trying to sabotage Tessa’s game? Joel. That’s impossible. You can’t sabotage—you just keep playing the same song over and over! Joel, shit, man. We need to get you a girlfriend fucking tonight, dude. Or at least laid.”

“I don’t need a girlfriend, Frank,” I tell him, pressing the wrong note on my guitar. The television speaker emits a satisfying shriek. Frank winces.

“Look, let’s turn it off, okay?” he cajoles, taking the guitar from my hands. A brief struggle over the neck strap ensues, but eventually Frank has complete control over the guitar. He presses a few buttons experimentally before shutting the X-Box off.

“Good,” he says. “Now come on.”

And thus begins the longest day of my life.

a/n: so i know i'm not done with my other story yet, but that's got one chapter left and i just really wanted to get this one out there. i am so excited about this story that it’s kind of ridiculous. this part’s short, but it’s just sort of an introduction before we ramp up into the real action. the awesome action, if i do say so myself.

this is gonna be a short one, i think. i’m not sure about the length yet, it really depends on where i want to take it, but i’m definitely sure it’s not going to hit ten chapters. however, the chapters are definitely not going to be as short as this one. and just so you know, this story is gonna be a lot different from both james nathan and that same mistake. i mean, the main character's a guy--it's bound to be.

oh, a note: frank is going to suddenly morph into a huge potty mouth in these next few chapters. liberal use of the f-bomb from both my lovely main characters. but they’re both college guys, so i think we can cut them some slack, alright?

anyway, hope you guys love this as much as i already do, and please drop a review!