Good morning to all you lovelies!! This weeks WIPpet comes from my newest novel that I’m writing, ASHES FALL. It’s the third and final to the trilogy about James Matthews and is the sequel to FOREVER BURN.

Enjoy!!

This is the last 19 paragraphs (though most are really short because they’re dialogue) to the prologue. 19 because today is June 19. Feel free to join in for WIPpet Wednesday’s peoples! It’s a total blast. Just check out all the others here, or if you participate, add your post! Also, this is the first draft…so I’m 1) sure it will change 2) sure there’s grammar that will undoubtedly be incorrect.

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Sliding her hands over her jeans, Lily looked around the room. Her mom was right; it did need to be cleaned. She moved to her desk and picked up a plastic bag. Shoving some pieces of trash and extra papers into it, she cleared off her stereo. Music would make this go faster. Gnawing on her lip, Lily put her iPod on shuffle and waited for the first song to ring through the speakers. Joan Jett’s Bad Reputation burst through the room. Lily smirked and pressed the volume button repeatedly until she could hear nothing other than the lyrics and notes.

“Much better,” she said to herself.

Picking the clothes up off the floor, she deposited them into the laundry basket without checking to see if they were clean or dirty. Her floor was picked up in no time. Starting on her desk, dresser, and nightstand tops, she threw most everything away. She paused when she found a notebook set on the corner of the desk. Opening the cover carefully, she smiled. The book was her diary from years before. She read through the first few pages, but set it aside. She would finish cleaning first.

Twenty minutes later, she sat on her bed and opened the notebook. The cover had pink and purple sweet peas painted on the front. They had been her favorite flower for a few years. The first page contained a “This Book Belongs to Alyssa Stanton-Matthews” written carefully with a swirl just under the last line. The words were written in bubbly letters, and she’d used her full name—Lily remembered when she had wanted to go by it and shook her head. No way was she an Alyssa. She had scrawled about the boy she liked in middle school and the teachers she hated. A few years later and the boy and she were best of friends, no dating happening in between.

Lily smiled at the memory and reached into her nightstand for a pen. Opening the book to the first blank page, she started to write.

My mom is dating someone new. I don’t like her, and I think my mom suspected that I wouldn’t. They met on a dating website of all things. I never thought my mom would go on one of those, but I also never thought she would date again either. Not after Addy. The new chick is a bitch. All she does is glare at me. She hardly ever speaks to anyone other than my mom, and she never has any fun. Not that a pharmacist would have fun. She also never leaves. She’s always here. I’m pretty sure she’s even coming to our dinner tonight. I don’t like her at all. I miss Addy. She was great, and now, I’m stuck with queen-B and her attitude. My mom deserves so much better than her.

Lily paused and read over what she had written. The words were like a real diary entry, and they satisfied her. Tapping the pen against the paper, she heard her door open again, and looking up, she watched as her mom walked into the room and turned the stereo down.

“Looks good.”

“I try.”

James rolled her eyes. “Are you done then?”

“Yeah, just have to take out the trash, and I’ll vacuum tomorrow.”

“Sounds like a plan.” James stood awkwardly halfway between the stereo and the bed where Lily sat. “Want to come down and help make dinner?”

“Sure, what are we having?”

“Butternut squash and parmesan breaded chicken.”

Lily grinned. “My favorite.”

“I thought you’d like it.”

“I’ll be down in a second. I’m just going to take the trash out.”

She watched as James nodded and left the room. Lily opened her book up to where she had written her previous entry and scribbled down a quick sentence before grabbing the small grocery bag filled with trash and heading down the stairs. Leaving the book open on her bed, Lily gave it one glance before exiting the room. No one would see what she had written. She fully believed what she scrawled was truth, even if someone did see it, they probably wouldn’t think she was serious.

Darcy Greystone must die.

***

Well, there you have it! Now back to writing. This is my camp Nano project for July!