I walked past my book today on the shelf in our dining room and picked it up. It made me smile. I’m proud of this little story, my first published work. And, boy, was it a lot of work. I flipped the pages and read a little bit from the third chapter then flipped to the next chapter and thought about the first section of chapter four.
Claire feels a lot like me and how I viewed the world around me at her age. Very self absorbed. Very focused on myself and not always really looking at those around me. I wasn’t like that all the time, but if I’m really honest, the world pretty much revolved around me and my little story. I think that’s normal for teenagers. My daughter is in her “tween” years and it’s pretty much all about her right now. 😉
But sometimes I still act like that teenage girl, focused only on myself and what I’m feeling. I’m a work in progress, for sure. We’re put on this earth for a purpose. I believe that with my whole heart. And one such purpose is to love others. Everybody has a story, things they are dealing with, things they struggle with that nobody knows but God.
What would it be like to suddenly see people more clearly? The subtle hints of their struggles and insecurities shining through. I think it would be really hard. Especially for someone who never paid much attention to what was really going on outside their own little story, to suddenly see what their friends and family are feeling and realize that they don’t have it all together after all. It would be eye-opening for sure.
Here’s the excerpt of Chapter 4 of The Truth About Drew that I read this morning.
“Things seemed to go back to normal on Monday. Amy and Claire were fine again, pretending that nothing had changed. Brody and Co. continued to rule the school. There was no sign of Drew. But something felt different to Claire.
As she walked the halls that day, she remembered the feeling of warmth and calm that had washed over her when Drew took her hand at the dance. In that moment, something had shifted and it was as if she could see everything a little more clearly than before.
Little things that she usually overlooked caught her eye, almost moving in slow motion, like the hopeful grin on Amy’s face when Nate walked by them and the way Nate walked slightly behind Brody, almost in his shadow. There was a sadness in her brother’s eyes she had never noticed before and a very obvious reluctance as he took Lara’s hand when she reached for his.
Claire was finally seeing things, really seeing them for the first time. She wasn’t sure what had caused this sudden clarity, but it was freaking her out.
She thought back to Friday night, sitting on the hood of Brody’s car with Amy. It was the first time she’d ever really noticed Amy’s insecurity. She was usually the epitome of self confidence and positivity, but to see her break down like that over a guy had opened Claire’s eyes to another side of her friend.
Had that part of Amy always been there and she just hadn’t noticed? Had she been so wrapped up in herself that she hadn’t clearly seen the people around her?
She remembered something Drew had once said. “Your ears are open but you don’t hear a thing. Your eyes are awake but you don’t see a thing.”
She couldn’t even remember what had brought it on, but it was one of his little sayings that had stuck in her head for a long time. Only now did she truly understand.”