Chapter One

Chapter 1

Asher.

     Let me clarify who I am. My name is Asher Park, a famous model that resides in North Korea. My fans don’t know my secrets about my sexuality or my home life, so everyone was trying to get me as theirs. They don’t know who my heart is reserved for. My fans assume that I like girls, but I don't. They wish they could have me, but I want Jaeoon Cai. I don’t care who says, “That’s a sin, you f@ggot.” They can all go to heII. I don't care if I’m a popular guy, I’m fckin’ gay. I can’t be open about it, though. I have to live a facade of a happy family with a son whose straight and a perfect brother. I don't have any of that.

     I love my job, but I also love Jae. They make me say I like girls and I don’t like guys. I like only one guy, actually, and that's Jae. But no way in fcking hell will I ever tell him. I have to bully him, or else I'm not “normal”. Whatever that means. 

     The clock reads 05:56 AM. I have a half hour before I actually have to get ready, but I don’t give a sh!t. I wanna get out of my sh!tty house with my fcking prostitute mom and abusive drunkard dad. I quickly change into my uniform and add a few quirks to it to make it more unique. I slip on my buckled boots and silently leave my household with a bagel in hand. 

     I light a cigarette when I get to school, waiting for my friends. 

     “Ash. Hey.” Jasper yells, running to me and stumbling over his overly large shoes, hand-me-downs from his brother. I crush the cigarette and ruffle his hair.

     “Heyo, dorkus” He’s the only popular kid who’s also a nerd.. How did a nerd get popular you may think? He’s my best friend. I’ve known this dumba$s since pre-school, when your social status or how much money your parents made didn’t matter. I know all his secrets, and he knows all mine, even about Jae.  The bell rings, and we go to school. 

     Despite breaking almost all the rules in school, I’m rarely late to class and always have top grades so my retard parents don’t suspect anything. Drunkards and prostitutes care about grades apparently. I go to my seat, second in class as always. Jae is first, no matter what. I sneak a few glances at him while I finish up my homework. Kids start flooding into the classroom, talking loudly. I put away my work, waiting for the teacher to start giving directions. My teacher is Mrs. Katze. She’s a fairly young teacher, she’s fun, kind, and she’s really pretty. She’s around 23, no older than 25. 

     “Settle down, class. We’re doing partner projects for this unit assessment,” Mrs. Katze said. Instantly, the room erupts into excited chatter and people pointing at others.  “Okay, guys. We already have partner assignments, since last project you guys proved to me that you cannot handle picking your own partners,” she sighed and started saying partner names. 

      “Henry and Amy, Jasper and Holland,” Jasper instantly looked so happy, since Holland is his girlfriend. I was glad for him, but my chances of getting someone I know and genuinely like is low, since my whole class is mainly incompetent geeks.

     “Ash and Jae.” I panic. I can’t be in the same classroom with him without hurting him mentally or physically, let alone in the same room in a close proximity without being a b!tch towards him, and now I find out we’re going to have to do the project together.

Author's Note

review honestly and If you can please share my novel <3

Reviews

[JayG]

You’ve been caught by the single most common trap in fiction: you’re trying to TELL the reader a story. But...for that to work, the reader would have to hear your words as YOU'd speak them. They would have to perform the storytelling exactly as YOU would. But while you've given the reader your storyteller's script, they have not a clue of the backstory needed to understand the words, or performance notes that would tell them HOW to perform.

We write our stories from the chair of the author, of course, but editing must be done from that of a reader, who has only the context you provide. And from that reader’s seat:

• Everyone was trying to get me as theirs.

So someone unknown, of unknown gender, age, background, and more says that all the people in the universe, in someone unknown way, wanted to own this person or animal.

Not what you meant, of course, but the line would fit a slave in the marketplace, someone at a job fair, and any of hundreds of other situations. So as they read the line, what's meaningful to you brings no understanding to the reader. Yes, you have intent for the meaning. But the reader has only what your words suggest to THEM, based on THEIR life experience, not your intent.

• They don’t know my secrets,

Uhhh...if they did they wouldn’t be secrets. Right? And since the reader has no clue of what they are...

My point? In all the world, only you know what you’re talking about. “Secrets” could be that this unknown person is in the county illegally, is about to get married, is about to murder someone, is about to...

You’re talking as if the reader knows who’s speaking, their age and background, and what’s going on. You do, but the reader? Not a clue.

In short, while you’re working hard you’ve missed a critical point: If we could use the report writing skills of school for fiction no one would offer a degree program in Commercial Fiction Writing. But, they do, so...

Think about it. For centuries, writers have been expanding and refining the skills of writing fiction. For centuries they’ve been learning to avoid the traps, and how to grab the reader's interest, quickly. If you learn those skills, you avoid the traps and grab the reader. Skip that step and, down you go on line one.

There’s no reason you can’t learn those skills. And for all we know, you ooze talent from every pore. But till you give that talent the tools it needs, you have no advantage over someone with none. And, you'll spend hours writing fiction that no one will read.

So...this is FAR from what you hoped to hear, I know—and, hard to take. I know that, because I’ve been there—as has every successful writer. So the solution is simple. Dig into the necessary skills and make them yours. Since the vast majority of hopeful writers never learn of the problem, that will place you ahead of over 90% of other writers.

And of more importance, it will make the act of writing even more fun.

So...grab a copy of Debra Dixon’s, GMC: Goal Motivation & Conflict
https://dokumen.pub/qdownload/gmc-goal-motivation-and-conflict-9781611943184.html

She won’t make a pro of you. That’s your job. But she will give you the tools you need, and a strong shove in the right direction.

For an overview of the traps, gotchas, and misunderstandings that haven't yet caught you, you might want to check a few of my articles and YouTube videos linked to below.

But of most importance: Don't let this throw you. Hang in there and keep on writing.

Jay Greenstein
Articles: https://jaygreenstein.wordpress.com/category/the-craft-of-writing/the-grumpy-old-writing-coach/
Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@jaygreenstein3334

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“Good writing is supposed to evoke sensation in the reader. Not the fact that it’s raining, but the feeling of being rained upon.”
~ E. L. Doctorow

“It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you into trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
~ Mark Twain

“In sum, if you want to improve your chances of publication, keep your story visible on stage and yourself mum.”
~ Sol Stein