My Fictional Boyfriend

Chapter 4 ~ When It All Started

My phone rang while I was sprawled on my bed. It was Jana, my classmate. "Come to my party tonight, El! It won't be that fun without you."

"Hey, Jana. Thanks for the invite, but I have to do something else. Sorry. Next time, maybe?"

"That's too bad but fine. Next time then." She ended the call. Maybe a little disappointed, we weren't that close but she always invited me to her parties.

Just after I putted my phone down, Liam called. "Are you coming?"

"To Jana's another party? Sorry, no. A little busy..."

Instead of disappointment, I heard Liam chuckled at the other end. "Good. It was her second this month. By the way, can I come over?"

"I know! And Aly said it will be a rave," I said.

He arrived ten minutes after the call ended. "What's up?" I asked him as I opened the door to my room.

"I have a gift for you," he said, handing me a paper bag. "I saw that on sale, and I remembered you. You might like it."

I tore the paper bag apart and saw a book. "The cover looks awesome. Thanks!"

"Anytime." He brought another book with him. We plopped on my bed and read the book together, a tradition we've upheld since we were eight. This was what normal was for us: a nice evening with a book on our laps.

The book was amazing, not an overrated sort of compliment. It was indeed inspiring and could let your mind hover in wonder. After a while Liam decided to get snacks downstairs, he already knew where to get. While he was gone, I slid a pen in between the pages where we paused and checked the physical appearance of the book. At that very moment while staring at its cover, I imagined my name written on that front page with my photo at the back. It would be displayed in front of bookstores and people of every age would read it while on the bus, train, at home or in the coffee shop, anywhere possible because they just could not put the book down...

Liam opened the door. "Chocolate or vanilla?"

I placed the book down and helped Liam with the basket of snacks he was holding. "Vanilla," I said.

"Of course," he said and sat beside me. "Have you read what will happen to the notebook afterwards?"

I shook my head.

He leaned closer to get a full view of my face. "El, is there something wrong?"

I shook my head. "I want to start writing."

Liam was surprise as I was to what I had said. "Write what?"

"A novel? Poetry?" I told him about the advice of the stranger online and how the book we had read triggered my brain.

"So," he said after a while of shock and silence. A gentle smile formed on his lips as he asked, "What will it be all about?"

"About me, I guess. Honestly, I'm not yet sure..." I felt creases lining my forehead with confusion. "What I'm sure of is that writing is the literary counterpart of breathing."

"And a trophy goes to Ella Grace Gomez! For being the drama queen writer of the century!" Liam proclaimed, I rolled my eyes at him but then he patted my shoulder. "Goodluck! I can't wait to be your number one fan—Well, you know, just in case I will be the only one." We laughed and although he was mocking, I knew I shared my doubts and excitement with someone who understood.

We went back to reading. Halfway through the ending, tears started to escape my eyes "I hate you!" I told him through sobs. The characters moved me. It was inexplicable, unexpected, and utterly beautiful.

"Why?" he asked, feigning innocence.

"Your book made me cry!" Yes, I was blaming the book, not the author. I was out of words and my mind felt like an emotional roller coaster. I blew my nose and laughed at my reaction. It was one of those crazy episodes I got after finishing a good reading material. I tended to do "craughing"—A term made when you were crying and laughing at the same time. And the reason for it? A combination of two words: Feelings and fangirling.

"That's good. It means I picked a great story." He beamed at me with brilliant sunshine rays.

I had to give Liam a credit for his efforts. I was one heck of a lucky girl to have him as my best friend. He hadn't said it out loud, but I was definitely sure.

~

For a very long time, I had never been so excited like this. I never got so excited in writing something. Before I found it interesting to write an essay or poem for homework, but this time, it was a different form of excitement, something new that I could not explain.

First, I opened the Microsoft Word. A blank empty page...

"So Ella," I said while tapping my fingers on my desk to think. "Here goes nothing..."

Or something that might become a big thing.

First, I started working on my writer's note. It pretty much said how it was my first try, asking for readers to forgive me for the errors that may have gone unnoticed.

Second, I took a while to make an outline of my story. Something easier to follow so that I would have an idea on how long it would be and how it would end.

Finally, I went on another page and typed Chapter One on the clear new space. Every once in a while, I would check the internet for possible synonyms and definitions to make my work neat and error-free as much as I could. At first I would have a hard time thinking of what I would write, but once I opened my laptop and started typing, I just could not stop. Words were suddenly flowing from my mind like I was hypnotized—in a good and productive way.

That went on for days and I told Liam with a big smile plastered on my face. "I published few chapters on-line. First, I got one vote. Then, two. Now, it increases each day. At first, I thought no one would ever read it."

I started my story introducing the main character. Bearing my own characteristics, I named her Mika. While that should have sufficed, I raised it up a notch by giving her friends similar to mine (with different names), and a lifestyle that screamed my own. One day, in the least time and place she could expect, she met a guy and fell madly in-love with him. This guy, I named Marvin Shace. He is the epitome of perfection. Dark brown hair, deep emerald eyes and a smile that will truly make you smile back the whole day. He was my ideal guy, and I'd love to meet him someday—or at least, someone like him.

Okay, I know it was so cliché in the beginning, but I would not let the thought of me, a beginner, to have me troubled in making something extraordinary out of that cliché beginning. I just want to write my own story towards the ending so that everybody would be happy with whatever plot twist I assigned them into.

I smiled every time I wrote about Marvin and Mika. I imagined myself there being Mika with this perfect pretend-boyfriend. It's always been my dream to meet someone as amazing him. Marvin Shace was loyal, smart, sweet and a fanboy too. Whenever I imagined him, he seemed vivid. Like I really could see him in reality, just right in front of me.

For the time I spent writing, I could already say that writing could make miracles. It could bring imaginations in reality and make them somehow alive. Seconds felt like minutes, hours felt like days and days felt like centuries.

And that was how it all began.