Shaky Hands, Confident Heart
Ally put on a black dress and then traced her angry red scars while looking into the mirror. She saw a thin girl, her eyes both hopeful and full of fear. She was broken, but someone had put her back together.
She was 14, just a young sapling in the world, but ready to be dependent on herself and Aaron.
Ally left the empty house with her little brother, who was sucking on a lollipop. She pulled it out of his mouth and nimbly threw it into the trash can.
"Hey!" He protested angrily. Ally smiled a sweet and sarcastic smile at her beloved brother before replying.
"Mom told us not to have candy in the morning, right? Are you going against her just because she's in the hospital?"
Billy got quiet and then shook his head. Ally offered him a eucalyptus cough drop and he wrinkled his nose and pointed to a car driving around the corner.
"It's Aaron!" He yelled. Ally looked up to see Aaron waving from the open car window, and she grinned giddily to see him wearing a nice suit. She held Billy's hand and climbed into the large car, greeting Aaron's aunt.
"I didn't know you could clean up this nicely," she commented shyly. Aaron blushed and ran his hand through his hair.
"Ditto. You look great." Ally laughed and then turned serious after a beat.
"We're doing it. We're going to Barnes and Nobles to sign a contract and we're going to be published authors and we're going to be known everywhere—"
"Whoa, slow your roll," Aaron snorted. "We might not get famous."
"Y'all will!" Aaron's aunt whooped. "It'll happen and y'all will get popular nationwide!"
"You betcha!" Ally shouted as the car rolled out of the driveway and started blazing off the cul-de-sac.
Aaron wrung his hands under the table. They were in a small conference room with a large, dark oak table separating the representatives from Barnes&Nobles and them. Ally squeezed his hand and they shared a smile. They looked at their editor and publisher, who grinned at them over his glasses.
"So, we are thinking that we will mass produce and then distribute into all branches of our company," a nice man in a crisp suit continued, pointing to the map on the screen, where hundreds of red dots showed the stores that lined America. "And then we will take about forty-five percent of the profits. We'll instruct the store managers to set them up in the Teen Romance, Fantasy, and New Releases section. Please know that if this book... What what it again? Did you decide on a revised title?"
"Yes," Ally said confidently, pinching a scar on her hand. "It'll be titled The Fence Between." "Okay, so if your book does not meet the five hundred book sales quota in a month, we will move it into the Featured section and raise the distribution of profits to fifty percent. Once it meets one thousand sales, we'll bring it back down to 35% and move it to the Popular section, which will result in even more sales."
"Sounds good," Aaron said.
"If you don't have any more questions, just sign here, and we'll be done!" The representative finished.
"I don't think we have any," Aaron replied. The man nodded and slid over a shiny, off white sheet of paper, stapled into a neat stack. The contract.
It shone in Ally and Aaron's eyes, the goal they'd wanted to reach since they'd met. It was going to happen. Ally took the ink pen and touched the paper, bringing it over near her chest. She flipped through the paper, reading the conditions and terms. After five minutes, she reached the end, where there were two signature lines waiting for them.
Ally, with her shaking hands and all, brought the pen onto the paper and scribbled a sloppy signature onto the contract. She looked at Aaron, who reach over and gently plucked the pen out of her hand and grasped the packet.
It's happening, Aaron thought.
He slowly traced out the curves on his signature with the ballpoint pen, and then capped the pen.
Then Milton signed the contract.
"Thank you," The man said, taking the paper and putting it into a manila folder. "Pleasure doing business with you. We'll get this processed, and in about a month, we'll send you the report that it was distributed."
He left the conference room. Milton turned to the shocked, happy kids and grinned a toothy grin at them.
"Well kids," he said, "Your dreams are coming true! Congratulations, folks! I have a meeting to attend in twenty minutes, so if you'll excuse me..." Milton hugged Ally, and then Aaron before exiting the room.
Ally turned to Aaron, who looked at her wide-eyed. He broke out into a smile, hugged her, and kissed her cheek.
We did it.
