The First Draft

Chapter 1

"Spencer! Eat your dinner, right now!"

There it was. His annoyingly loving mother's voice. He ran his fingers through his hair. This was a habit he picked up lately. It meant either he was tired or he was irritated.

He knew he had no choice so he decided to eat dinner after all. Closing his computer, he went to the dining room.

His younger brother, John who was playing with his food looked at him. Nothing special was served for dinner today. It was the same old menu. He glanced around the room and saw an ancient Egyptian showpiece. "Another one is here..." He thought.

John saw his brother and screamed, "Hey, mom! Look who's come out of hibernation."

Giving his brother an "I will kill you " look Spencer side hugged his mom.

His mom tried to move away from him. "Leave me. I don't want to talk to someone who hasn't left the house for the last 2 years."

He protested," But, mom... I went to the grocery store that day ." Then, he hugged her from behind.

His mother didn't return the hug, "Which was 3 months ago. Don't try to defend yourself."

John found this funny. He mocked Spencer," Yeah. Don't try to defend, Spencer!" And then started to laugh loudly.

Spencer was fed with John, "Don't call me Spencer! I told you I don't like this name. Call me Nick or something. I don't care. Just not Spencer. It's old fashion."

His younger brother remarked,  "Someone's in a bad mood."

Their mom tried to break the fight, "OK. OK! No fighting at the dining table."

Saying this, their Mom started to work.

Spencer was eating when he heard a buzz like a mosquito. He looked up to see John making the sound.

He raised his eyebrows.

John whispered, " I have an offer for you." He opened his phone and showed Spencer an ad.

He continued, "A famous publishing house is hiring an illustrator for a project. You should apply. You need money, right? You want to move, don't you?"

Spencer looked at John and wondered how he knew that.

Even though he needed money, he protested. "I can't communicate with people."

John gave his mischievous smile and said,  "Too bad. I already applied."

Spencer couldn't control his temper anymore," You little...."

However, their mom managed to save John from Spencer's wrath.

After the dinner, Spencer returned to his room. He read the ad carefully.

"Be the illustrator for a famous author, huh?" He thought to himself. There were so many ways this could go wrong but it was too late. So, he decided to go with the flow.

"I hope it's not a girl. I haven't talked to a girl in years. Or a worse, an old man..." He thought.

Just then, John entered.

"Yo, bro. Where is the book I lent you?"

"By Mr. Brown? It's on the table."

"Thanks."

John picked up the book.

"So, did you like it?" He asked.

Spencer replied," It's great actually. But the character appearance description is a bit vague. I can't draw any sketches with that."

John became a bit irritated," All you care about is appearance. What about the actual content?"

Spencer argued," I am an illustrator. What do you expect? Also, the actual story is really good."

John leaned against his table," I want to meet him. "

Spencer smirked," Keep dreaming, dumbo! There's no way he would meet you."

John stuck his tongue out and teased him.

He simply laughed.

Meanwhile

"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, CHOOSE ONE!!!" Screamed Penny.

Eleanor looked at all the forms with a puzzled expression," But I don't want to do this, Penelope! I am a mystery writer!"

Penny screamed again," I know! But you need to change to get your popularity back."

"But you are not even worried about me."

" Yes, you are right. I haven't got my paycheck yet. And they won't give me my paycheck until I give them updates about you."

Feeling defeated, Eleanor sighed. Penelope was the only person she could call a ' friend.' So, she had to help her.

She started checking the forms carefully. One particular form caught her eye, "Nicole. A shut-in for 2 years. Before that used to work with the MZ Company. Resigned due to some issues."

"This sounds interesting," she thought.

There were three cons-

1. Nicole is an unfriendly person.
2. She can't bring her ideas to life.
3. She simply rejects to be her illustrator.

And three pros-

1. Nicole is a nice person and turns out to be her bestie.
2. She's an amazing illustrator and can help her with stories.
3. Nicole must be a girl so it will be easier to talk to her.

Finally, Eleanor made up her mind.

"Penelope, I have decided. I am choosing Nicole." She said out loud.

Penny jumped in happiness.

" I am so happy. I will fix everything. Don't worry. Let's have the meeting on the day after tomorrow. "

Eleanor nodded. She realised that she was really tensed after all.