Friendly Competition

Amy washes her hands and shakes them dry before returning her patients chart to its proper slot and heading back to the nurse's station.

“You out of here Amy?” Jennifer asked.

“Just got a little paperwork to do and then I’m leaving.” Amy answered. “I’m already getting out late so don’t ask me for anything.”

“Feisty.” Jennifer joked. “I’m running to the vending machine, should I bring you a candy bar?”

“Yes please!” Amy answered. Jennifer knew that sugar always got Amy through the end of a rough shift.

When Jennifer returned Amy was on the verge of cussing out her computer.

“Here girl,” Jennifer said holding a chocolate bar out to Amy. “Eat this before that thing files an HR complaint.”

Amy smiled and took the chocolate bar from Jennifer’s hand.

“Thank you” Amy said ripping right into the wrapper and shoving the chocolate into her mouth.

Jennifer gave Amy a pat on the back as she walked off to check on her own patient, leaving Amy to her work.

By the time Amy actually got home from work the moon was high in the sky. She pulled into the parking lot to see a man approaching her car.

“Shit!” Amy shouted as she frantically opened the glove box, grabbing the gun, and sifted through her center console for the box of ammo she kept there.

As she found the box she heard a tapping at her window. It was too late. She looked up to find… George?

“Oh fuck” she breathed a sigh of relief rolling the window down “I almost fucking shot you”

“Umm… you invited me” George reminded her.

“Shit” Amy said, taking deep breaths to regulate her nervous system “I’m sorry, I got held up at work and forgot.”

“You look like you could use a break” George suggested, holding up a thick hand rolled blunt.

“George put that away” Amy whispered looking around to see if any of her neighbors could see.

“It’s not illegal anymore Amy” George laughed “we don’t have to hide from our parents.”

Amy relaxed a little.

“Right.” She said rubbing her eyes. “Sorry I’m really tired”

“Soooo?” George asked.

“Are we too old for this?” Amy laughed.

“I hope not since I make my living off of selling this to adults” George joked.

“Alright alright” Amy laughed, “but don’t let my neighbors see, put it up till we get inside”

“Wouldn’t want the neighbors to think you’re a burn out” George laughed.

George lit the blunt as he and Amy sat on the couch in Amy’s living room. He inhaled deeply and handed the blunt to Amy.

“I haven’t done this since…” Amy started.

“Last year?” George asked.

Amy blushed. “Yeah.”

“Here’s the book by the way” he said, pulling a large 200 sheet spiral bound notebook from his messenger bag and handing it to Amy.

“How are the submissions so far this year?” Amy asked.

“Competition is steep” George answered.

“It always is” Amy laughed.

“That didn’t stop you from winning last year” George said.

“You know I have all the old journals out in the dining room” Amy said. “When’s the last time you looked at them?”

“It’s been 3-4 years since I won.” George answered.

“You uh, want a peek?” Amy asked.

They moved to the dining room where all 4 of the notebooks from the previous years contests were spread out across the table. George picked up the first notebook. It was a 100 sheet composition notebook, from before they decided to upscale to the 200 sheet monsters they used today.

“Awe look it’s the first story you wrote for us” George teased.

It was a cheer camp drama.

“That is not my best work” she blushed.

“It was cute.” He said “but it wasn’t really your style.”

“I didn’t really know what my style was then” Amy laughed.

“None of us did. Look at mine from sophomore year.” George offered.

It was a romantic comedy about a teenage detective and a stoner. A clear self insert.

“At least you finally realized you were a pro at writing romance” Amy replied.

“No actually the romance aspect was entirely unplanned in this one” George explained.

“Really?” Amy asked, “but it felt so natural? What inspired it?”

“I wrote that right after the first time I talked you into sneaking off to smoke with me” George answered, his voice cracking a little.

George and Amy both blushed and looked away from each other awkwardly. Amy picked up the second notebook in desperate search of a distraction.

“Hey look, it’s Marco’s story from Jr year.” Amy suggested.

She set the notebook on the table between them. It was a story about an android who would never know love and never know that he missed it.

“Wasn’t that the year he told Beth Anne he was like in love with her?” George asked.

“It’s Morticia now.” Amy corrected, “unless I get to call you shaggy again”

“Please don’t” George pleaded.

“He ended up marrying Abigale right?” Amy asked.

“Yeah I think he did” George answered.

“Look” Amy offered, “here’s Abigale’s story from senior year.”

“Is that before or after she stopped hissing at people?” George asked.

“After” Amy laughed.

“It’s a shame.” George sighed, “her hissing period really was her golden era”

The next few pages of the notebook consisted of comic like panels and drawings which they knew from experience were supposed to be read backwards. It was a story about a superhero girl who sneaks out of her room every night to save the world with the help of her superhero friends.

George opened the next book, which was bigger than the previous ones. They switched to the bigger notebooks after graduation.

“God her stories are always so fucked up” George gasped.

“Let me guess” Amy started “Morticia”

“It’s the one about the girl in hell who loops through working at her dead end job for eternity” George explained.

“Oh I remember” Amy stopped him, “she won that year”

“That was the year she was stuck at home working for the bank while the rest of us were at collage” George remembered.

“Seems like she was pretty hard on herself about it” Amy noticed, “but she ended up doing exactly what she wanted to in the end.”

George flipped through the pages of the book.

“Ah what a treat” George stopped on a story about a rabbit on a noble quest to find his life’s purpose. He makes it almost all the way to the tree of knowledge before falling in love, abandoning his quest, and raising a family. “An early piece by best selling Author Ben Mackindales.”

They though back to the awkward kid who twirled the string of his hoodie around his fingers when he spoke. He was still that kid really, but now he was recognized for his talent rather than the things that made him different.

Amy took the notebook from his hands and started flipping through the pages. She stopped on a page that had a drawing of a ballerina.

“Penelope went through such a sad phase junior year” Amy said.

“That was right before she dropped out.” George acknowledged.

On the page was a story of a talented ballerina. She worked her way to the top, but by the time she got there she had lost her love for dance. It was a hollow victory.

“We’ve all been through a lot together” Amy sighed as she continued thumbing through the pages.

“Stop” he said, grabbing the book from her hands and flipping back a couple of pages. “I think this one’s my favorite.”

He held the book open on a murder mystery about a cunning detective trying to uncover the truth behind the death of a collage girl with endless potential that would never be fulfilled. It was Amy’s story from senior year.

“God that feels like so long ago.” Amy laughed.

“Remind me, the killer was… the English teacher?” George asked

“Algebra actually” Amy laughed, “you know math teachers are evil.”

They laughed.

“Alright let me show you my favorite” Amy said, taking the next book from the table and flipping through the pages. “You’re the only romance author I like.”

Amy held the book out displaying a grumpy sunshine romantic comedy about a successful businessman giving it all up to be with the girl of his dreams.

“Well, you’ve always been my inspiration” George said, pushing a piece of hair out of Amy’s face. Amy blushed, struggling to come up with something to say to alleviate the tension.

“I uhh..” she stammered, “I think that went out”

George looked in his hand at the blunt they had lit in the living room. It was completely dead halfway through. He put it to his mouth and re lit it as Amy flipped through more pages.

“Here” he handed her the blunt and she handed him the notebook, which was flipped open to a story about a space cowboy on an endless string of quests, outrunning his crimes and his past. Marco wrote it when he was still selling comics at someone else’s store.

George flipped through the pages, past a manga strip Abigale drew of a cat girl finding love the year she and Marco started dating.

“Oo this one’s spooky” George said as he displayed the first story signed as ‘Morticia’ instead of ‘Beth Anne’.

It was the year Morticia went back to school for her mortuary degree. It was a story about a string of murders on a collage campus that seemed to be targeting one of the frats.

“Didn’t the killer end up being like a ghost?” George asked.

“The ghost of a girl they hurt.” Amy answered, “she came back for revenge. They all died in the end.”

“It was hard to get through that one” George said, “but the ending was worth it”

“I agree” Amy laughed.

She looked down and became suddenly aware that she was still in her scrubs, covered in sweat and probably other bodily fluids, with her hair a mess.

“Oh my god I can’t believe I’m still in my scrubs” Amy panicked.

“This is out anyway” George said, “I can get out of your hair”

“It was really good to see you George” she blushed, “thanks for smoking with me”

“It’s always a pleasure.” George said, inching closer to her, “you know maybe we don’t have to wait a whole year next time.”

He hovered over her lips, she leaned in and kissed him.

“I’ll let you know.” She said.

George showed himself out, he knew the way. Amy cleaned up then went to lock the door before heading upstairs to take a shower.

Before bed Amy pulls the notebook out and flips to the most recent entry, George’s story for this years competition. It’s a story about young lovers who drift apart over the years, but he always holds onto her in his mind. He yearns for her for years before finally confessing that he still loves her. When he does she confesses that she’s held onto her love for him too. They get married and live happily every after.

“Always the romantic” Amy laughed to herself. Then she got to work, writing her own story.