In Between the Lines

Chapter 3: The Assignment - and Other Matters

"Very excellent, Miss Callaway. Thank you." Mr. Neibs smiled and turned to everyone else. "Okay, now let's say you decide to characterize the boy from this story. Your task would be to tell me what this boy's motives were for lying. Was it for attention? And if so, think about why he cries for attention. Did he feel remorse after seeing the dead sheep? Do the wolf and the boy already know each other? What is their history?"

Mr. Neibs turned to Arthur. "And now to answer your question, Mr. Faller, the point of this assignment is to understand that there is more to the characters than what we read on the pages. The craft of writing is an art that requires thorough development and while the stories and plot-lines themselves are entertaining, there would be no stories if these characters did not exist. You have to see how those very characters exist not just on the pages—but in between the lines."

I was assigned The Princess and the Dragon. It was the most common trope of fairy tales: a beautiful young princess is locked away in a tower, guarded by a ferocious (usually fire-breathing) dragon, awaiting for her prince to rescue her.

Suffice to say, it was going to be a piece of cake.

The rest of the day went by pretty quickly after that. I'd agreed to meet Olivia and two of our other friends, Alyssa and Reed, after school at a Mexican restaurant just outside of town. Apparently they had a new Monday special involving half-priced enchiladas, which—according to Reed—was a deal that only an idiot would turn down.

Despite our exchange at Crooked Shelves, I didn't once see Dez at school.

The restaurant was bigger and way more beautiful than I'd expected for a place that sold tacos for only two dollars. Although the outside of Lupe's Cocina was plain and could have easily been mistaken for any other ramshackle restaurant, the interior was vibrant—its walls splashed with brilliant shades of greens, deep reds, blues, and golds. Even the booth we sat in was colorful, with an impressive design of sweeping grasslands embedded onto the glass table-top.

Alyssa, Olivia, and I were seated in the back corner of the restaurant. We were still waiting for Reed because he had to stay after school for a brief meeting with one of his teachers about his "slipping grades," so we placed his order in for him. After our server brought us our drinks and took the orders, Olivia turned to me. "Hannah told me about your little exchange with a certain somebody at work on Saturday."

I took a casual sip from my Sprite.

"My what with who?" I said, pretending to be oblivious.

"Your run-in with Dez?"

"Hold on right there, missy!" Alyssa's dark eyes widened as she looked from me to Olivia—and then back to me. "Dez? As in Desmond-sexy-sex-six-pack-beautiful-everything-Warren? That Dez?"

Olivia nodded gleefully.

"Okay, bitch." Alyssa slapped her hands onto the table as if she were holding invisible cards. "Spill."

"There's nothing to spill." I took another sip of my Sprite to bide some time. "I helped him find books for a class. That's all."

"That's so not all." Olivia grinned. "Hannah said she saw them together. Well, she didn't technically know who Dez was since she doesn't go to our school, but she was talking to one of his friends and he'd mentioned Dez's name and Lyra's. She said they looked like they were flirting hard—er, more that Dez was trying hard to flirt with Lyra."

Alyssa squealed, bouncing in her seat—which caused me to bounce in mine considering we were sharing the same side of the booth.

"Hold on," I said. "Lewis? He mentioned my name to Hannah?"