Novels by Shewrites

"I pushed open my front door, keys in one hand, noodles in the other. Finally, it was Friday night, and I felt I deserved it after the week I'd had. "Jessica!" I heard my upstairs neighbor Janet call. She'd lived here longer than I've been alive. I left my food by the door, heading towards the stairs."Hey Janet, everything okay?""Yeah, something arrived for you today, one sec." I caught her halfway down the stairs. She handed me a huge brown box."Thanks, Janet," I said, puzzled. I dropped it in my tiny hallway, taking up most of the space, and, using my keys, ripped it open."Oh my god," I chuckled, pulling out an oversized brown teddy bear and burst out laughing."What the hell?" I asked myself, flicking open the tag attached to its ear.Jess,Hope he cheers you up. I'm sorry I'm a dickAlex xLaughing through tears, I marveled at Alex getting a shop to write 'dick' on a note. My heart smashed into my chest. I put my new friend under my arm, grabbed my food, threw on a new tank t

Alex and I had been playing for a couple of hours without much conversation. As he was killed yet again, I could hear a sigh through my headphones. It made me chuckle, and he spoke softly, apologizing for pushing me to talk. Tears welled up in my eyes, and I sniffed to control them."It's okay, I shouldn't have hung up on you like that. I just don't like discussing my dad," I admitted."And that's your right. But I want you to know that I'm here for you, if you ever want to talk," he reassured me.I replied softly, uncertain if I actually wanted to open up. I groaned, feeling like he deserved to know at least a little. "He was shot," I said matter-of-factly."Fucking hell," Alex gasped. I nodded. "We were robbed at gunpoint, and he got shot," I explained, throwing my controller aside and closing my eyes."At your home?" he asked gently."No, at a gas station. It was just my dad and me. He had taken me to a gaming convention. I always feel like my mom..." I stopped talking, my voice br

I breezed through work the next day, anxiously anticipating Alex's call. Just before it was time to go home, my office mate Drake looked up at me and chuckled."What's got you so happy?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. Sharing an office with Drake was a stroke of luck. He was the nicest guy who always knew how to lift my spirits.I shrugged and replied, "No reason.""Bullshit," Drake laughed, and I gave him a side-eye. "Tell me, what's going on?""I met someone," I sighed dramatically before adding, "online, while playing Call of Duty.""No way!" Drake exclaimed, and I threw my head back, laughing. "Damn, Jess, it's about time. Where did you meet him?""Online," I whispered. "He knows I'm a woman, Drake. I'm not a girl anymore.""Where does he live?" Drake asked, packing up his bag."Liverpool. I don't know how it's going to work," I shrugged, knowing I was getting ahead of myself. Drake stroked his beard, looking around the room."Well, it's not that far, just a different country. Have

I was snuggled in my bed, the covers pulled up to my neck, almost drifting off to sleep. After a quick dinner, I was eagerly awaiting a call from Alex. Although I didn't know exactly when he would call, he was usually online around this time at night. The temptation to log onto my PlayStation to check if he was online there was strong. However, just as I was about to get up, my phone rang. I quickly jumped back into bed, taking a deep breath."Hello," I spoke quickly, getting comfortable."Hey," Alex breathed out, and his voice sent shivers down my spine. "It feels so strange to talk to you like regular people," he chuckled, and I couldn't help but grin."We are regular people," I laughed. "It is weird to hear your voice though. How long have we been playing that game?""Feels like forever, like four months," Alex paused as I lay back down, balancing my phone on my face. "So, you like my voice, huh? Do I have a sexy voice?" I rolled my eyes at his obvious attempt to flirt, although s

As my PlayStation loaded, connecting agonizingly slow, my heart pounded against my chest. "Please be on," I mumbled to myself, relief washing over me as the home screen finally appeared. It was a bit pathetic, really. I had never seen Alex's face before, but every time I logged on, I silently prayed that he would be online. For the past three months, I had been playing this online game with Alex. We had communicated solely through messages, never hearing each other's voices or seeing each other's pictures. I knew he was thirty and lived in Liverpool, which was quite a distance from my tiny one-bedroom flat in London. Yet, there was something about him that consumed my thoughts. My imagination had conjured up an image of Alex in my head – strong, handsome, and mischievous. One thing was certain, he had a great sense of humor. His messages never failed to make me laugh on a daily basis. Having been an online gamer since the age of fifteen, I had accumulated a wealth of experience by