Chapter One

"Hey, you want to watch a movie with me," Ryan asks. "I can't, I have a huge test tomorrow and haven't really been able to study for it," Casey answers. Casey is devoted to her school work; she is a senior English major at a college in Rhode Island. She lives with her boyfriend, Ryan, in an apartment complex in Lincoln, Rhode Island. "Okay, but if you get bored, come and join me." She sits there pondering if she should go watch the movie and then study. This is a bad idea because once she gets distracted her studying will never get done. Casey's first test this semester didn't go too well and she has to do well in this class or she won't be able to graduate on time. She is always asking herself what she wants to do with her life. The one thing she knows is she wants to write a novel. Ryan fully supports her as he knows what a remarkable writer Casey is. Casey writes for the school newspaper and she always has Ryan proofread her work. She knows she can count on him to be critical but state the positives as well.

Casey has never gotten around to writing her novel. For one thing, she simply does not have the time. She works at a coffee shop downtown; between that and her school work, she has hardly anytime to do what she wants. Most of her free time is either spent with her boyfriend or her friends. She figures once she graduates and gets a full time job, there will be more time to start on her goal.

The most important reason Casey hasn't started her novel is she simply has no clue what to write about. She has written some ideas down but none of them has impressed her. She is always looking for some inspiration to start her book. One of her favorite places to get ideas is at work. The amount of people and the stories they have told her have be staggering. One costumer told her his life story about how he fought in the Vietnam War and the hell him and the other troops had to deal with. This sparked something inside her but then she realized what business she has telling a story of the hardship these men dealt with. She told her friends at work about her dream of writing a novel but most of them laugh it off as some phase that will soon dissolve. Casey gets frustrated about this because she just wants support and all she gets from them are put downs. This is one of the reasons she loves her boyfriend so much. Ryan supports her in anything she wants to do, no matter what it is. He has a lot of faith in her, which gives her the confidence to keep pushing forward.

Unlike Casey, who is extremely creative, Ryan is more of a math and science person. He thinks critically and can come up with a solution to any problem. He wants to become an engineer. He loves taking formulas from a book and utilizing them in real world situations. Casey admires Ryan for his passion and drive. She feels bad because he is always helping her with her school work and writing and Casey wishes she could help him. Ryan always reminds her that he understands and to not put pressure on herself. He appreciates everything that she does for him. Though they have a great relationship, there have been a few bumps in the road. At one point, Ryan would go to parties none stop. He started to do poorly in school and put Casey second to his addiction. It came a point where Casey couldn't take it anymore and gave him a choice. She told him that he either quits partying or she is leaving. He didn't stop, thinking that Casey wouldn't leave. To Ryan's surprise, she kept her word and did leave. Once this happened he knew he had to change because he realized that he lost one of the best aspects of his life. It took a few months but once Casey realized that he had changed, she went back to him. Ryan will remember this later in the story when Casey has an obsession of her own.

The next morning Casey hears her alarm clock go off at the early hour of 6 AM. She groans as she shuts off the alarm. "Good Morning, honey," she says as she rolls over and gives Ryan a kiss. He says it back as he kisses her back, then he rolls over and goes back to bed. He doesn't have to get up for a few more hours. Casey drags herself out of bed and walks toward the bathroom. Then she enters the kitchen where she puts on a pot of coffee. Casey could not start her day without a few cups of coffee. She turns on the television to watch the news. Sometimes she could do without the news with it being depressing most of the time. After she has breakfast, her favorite, toast with peanut butter, she goes back to the bedroom to get changed and ready for school. It is almost 7:20 AM when she gets in her car to drive about 20 minutes to school. As usual, when she gets there it is impossible to find a parking spot. Before Casey knows it, she is parked all the way on the other side of campus. She mumbles under her breathe, "when is this place going to do something about the parking, it is so frustrating."

Casey finally gets to class where in a few minutes she will be taking the big midterm. She is nervous but has confidence that she will do alright. After about an hour and a half, Casey hands in her test and goes to the cafeteria. Once there, she sees one of her friends and says hi to her. They talk about how classes are going and what they will do once they graduate. Her friend wants to go travel particularly to Europe. Casey just talks about just being able to get a decent paying job. She doesn't tell this girl about her dream because she is afraid that it will just be another disappointment. After a good half an hour of talking Casey says that she has to go as she has another class to attend.

The class Casey goes to next is her favorite, Advanced Creative Writing. As an English major, she had to choose a concentration. Since Casey was always daydreaming and coming up with unique ideas, she figured that creative writing was right for her. She also likes the class because the professor has helped her a lot with her writing. The professor is always asking her, "So, when are you going to let me read your manuscript." Casey always tells her that if she still wants to read it in a few years that she would be more than happy to bring it over. For this class, everyone had to bring in information about their favorite writer. Casey couldn't wait to talk about hers because she had many interesting facts about him. After this class, she has to go to work. Casey is not looking forward to it as Wednesdays are one of their busiest days.

The coffee shop she works at is only about a five minute drive from school. The place is called Oakhill Coffee Shop and Bookstore. Most of the costumers are students who either attend her school or the others near by. Casey likes working there as most of her friends work with her. When it is not too busy, her and the other employees get a cup of coffee and talk about events happening in each other's lives. Today Casey's friend, Lisa, has great news that she finally found a new apartment. She tells them where it is located and how they should come over to check out the place. The apartment is located in downtown Providence, Rhode Island. Before Lisa could carry on, a huge rush of people come into the shop.

Little did Casey and her friends know that a book signing was scheduled for today. This author is fairly new, with only one other book written. Casey is very excited about this because usually after the signing is over, the author comes over to get a cup of coffee or something else. Over the year and a half Casey has been working at Oakhill, she has heard all sorts of advice from these authors. She always writes them down as soon as she gets home. This author gave her common but useful advice. He told her to never give up on what she wants to do. He told her how when he told his family and friends he wanted to write a novel, they basically laughed in his face. After he told her that he said, "They are not laughing at me anymore; in fact my family realized a great talent that I am lucky to have." Casey was amazed and had a sigh of relief as he told her this. He told her, "If nothing else keeps you motivated, think about the many times people have told you that you could never write a novel." Casey thanked him for the great advice and how he lifted her spirit. She couldn't wait leave work and tell Ryan about this great author who gave her some useful and uplifting advice. First, she had to get back to work as people started to get frustrated with the long wait.

As Casey drives home, she is practically driving as she is in NASCAR. One time she saw a state trooper and immediately slowed down. She was lucky that she didn't get pulled over. The minute she gets through the door she yells out for Ryan. "Ryan, you cannot believe what happened at work!" "What was one of the managers in one of their dictator moods?" Ryan says jokingly. "No, we had a book signing and I had a conversation with the author afterwards. He gave me such great advice. He told me to never give up on my dream no matter how many people tell you that will not be able to do it," Casey says excitingly. "I could have told you that Case, you're a great writer and I will never let you forget that." Casey runs over to Ryan and gives him a big hug. Casey tells Ryan that after she gets settled that she will make something for dinner and asks if he wants to watch a movie after. Ryan agrees and he goes to the living room to pick out a movie. Casey is making their favorite, Thanksgiving Day pie.

That night, Casey could not sleep. She kept thinking about what that guy said and it made her think why she really has been putting off her novel. As she lays there for an hour she finally comes up with a way to start her novel. She will seriously start finding something she can write about. Casey will do this by writing ideas down that pop into her head until she can piece them together into a story. Little does she know that her story will one day show up literally out of no where.

The next morning Casey starts her same old routine but this time Ryan gets up at the same time. She rolls over and gives Ryan a kiss, "Good Morning sleepy head". "Oh man, you can be so corny sometimes, but it is cute," Ryan says smiling. They both realize that neither of them has to get up for a little while. Ryan puts his arms around her and brings her over. Ryan starts to tickle her and their passion starts to escalate from there.

Once they are done, Casey looks over at the clock where she realizes how late it is. "It's almost 8:00 and I still need to take a shower! Casey says panicking. She jumps out of bed and runs to the bathroom. She looks back at Ryan who is smiling at her. She laughs and smiles back. Then she turns on the shower and steps in right away. "Ahh, this water is smoldering hot!" She immediately turns the knob to add more cold water. After, she jumps out of the shower, puts her clothes on and manages to get her hair and makeup done in only a few minutes. "Where are my shoes, I can't go anywhere with out my blue flats; they match perfectly with my outfit!" "I have no clue where your shoes are, honey," says Ryan. Before he could finish Casey started rummaging through her closet. She finds them in the far back with her older shoes. She quickly puts them on and dashes toward the kitchen. She quickly gets something to eat, tells Ryan that she loves him and gives him a kiss. Then she is off to fight the traffic on her way to school.

Casey gets to school late due to an accident on Route 95. She knows it is not a big deal but she always likes to get to class on time. It is one of her least favorite classes, one of those awesome general education classes that everyone has to take to graduate. Casey doesn't mind this class too much because it is Algebra which she is good at. She gets to class and goes immediately to the back; the professor doesn't even notice as the class has over 100 people. The class is two hours long which makes it tough for Casey and many of the students to concentrate. After about an hour Casey is on the verge of falling a sleep, which she actually does. When she wakes up there is no one in the lecture hall. Casey feels embarrassed as she walks out of the room. She realized that she needs a coffee to wake her up. She didn't have class until 12 so she gets in her car and drives down to the coffee shop she works at. Casey says hi to some of her friends and they talk for a little while. She orders her favorite pick me up, a caramel latte with a little bit of mocha. Sometimes she likes to experiment with the different flavors as one of the benefits of working there is free coffee. Casey loves that part of the job as she is addicted to coffee. After she is done, she drives back to school and goes to the library to read before class.