23 Chapter-23: End of Holidays(3)

Gia approached the door, and upon opening it, she saw three people standing outside. Along with Alex and Luke, Haley had also come to their home. Haley wanted to meet Jim again to know more about the club and what they would exactly do, as she had been preparing for its opening procedures. She was able to invite five more students to the club from her friends and some random classmates too.

Upon noticing Gia, Haley immediately bent down and gave Gia a hug while saying, "Oh, Giu, you are as cute as always." Her actions made Gia giggle, but Gia's primary mission of getting started with the novel's story compelled her to pull all three into the house. As they entered, they saw Jim standing there with Emma.

"Hey, everyone. Well, that's a surprise, Haley. Well, the more, the merrier. Now, come on in; we were about to start," said Jim with a smile, a little surprised seeing Haley. However, he didn't have a problem because he got one more reviewer for his novel. He said 'Hi' to them and invited them to the living room. He would now get reviews from two opposite ends of the spectrum of girls, with Haley being the opposite of Alex and Emma.

"Start what?" asked both Alex and Haley with a confused face, while Luke wasted no time and entered the living room in his usual manner.

"Oh, I will tell you, Haley. Jimmy made a new novel, and we are going to read it and give him revi... iew, yes, a review, and then he will upload it online. That's what mommy said," Gia cheerfully explained, informing everyone about what's in store for them this evening.

Gia was happily moving towards the living room with everyone, perhaps the most excited because she gets to listen to the stories her brother makes every day, and if she gets bored, well, she can make him write more.

They all entered the room, and introductions happened. "Hey everyone, this is Alex, Haley, and, well, you all know Luke; they are our neighbors and my friends," introduced Jim, presenting the three Dunphy cousins to everyone in the room and also introducing his mother's friends.

"Mine too, my friend too. No, sister Haley is my girlfriend, mommy said brother doesn't have any while now I do, hehehe," intervened Gia happily, forgetting the explanation her mom gave about what a girlfriend truly is and only getting the part 'girl who is a friend' from it. She introduced Haley as her girlfriend and unintentionally roasting Jim in the process.

It felt like everyone knew what was happening, understanding what Gia said and what was actually said, as they all laughed. The ladies all smiled at Jim teasingly, who looked embarrassed by the current atmosphere.

To change the topic, he immediately used the novel as a distraction and sent the novel to the review group his mother made for this specific thing when he first started and said, "Well, the novel I want you all to review is named 'Fate and Luck,' and it is..." He introduced just some bits of the novel on the surface to make them more interested, while Alex and his Aunt Jen looked most interested in reading it.

While Haley, sitting at the side of the room, looked confused but hopeful someone would offer her the novel too. That's when she noticed Jim looked at her side.

Jim took Gia and Luke to the side to read the story of the novel for them, as Gia was small and might not understand the complexity of it, while Luke was still a kid. He suddenly remembered and looked at Haley and Alex.

"Oh, and Alex, send me Haley's number. I will add her to the group too," Jim said, taking out his mobile as he called out to Alex.

"Alex, send me the novel," Haley said as she waited but didn't receive any reply from Alex.

"Oh, give me the mobile, Jim; I will enter it," Haley said, now losing her mind as Alex ignored her and didn't give her the novel. She went to Jim, took his mobile, and saved her number in it.

"Ah, well, that works too, I guess," Jim said, confused by what transpired so fast. He could only go to the chat group, add her, and then send the novel to her.

After that, she sat beside him and started reading with everyone. For 2 hours to 2 and a half hours, no one said anything, and Jim had to make them snap out of the reading session. While they were reading the novel, Jim observed various emotions like sadness, anger, and anticipation. He felt good with the result, thinking maybe everyone liked it.

Jim was also reading the novel to Gia, but Luke went to Haley to make her narrate it to him, like Jim was to Gia. He noticed Jim making little adjustments to the story for Gia to make it less disturbing. Haley, not feeling like the atmosphere to say anything, did exactly that. Gia was a little kid, so Jim had to make the story a little less dark for her. But, since Jim was the one who created it, it was easy for him.

Haley, unable to narrate the dark parts to her brother in a less intense way, sent him back to Jim and started reading herself. She wore a relieved expression, happy to be free from the struggle of narrating to kids and decided she is never going to do this again.

Jim noticed the time, and after 2 and a half hours, it was getting dark outside. He alerted everyone to it, as some might have appointments at night.

"Everyone, it's late now. We should get up; Aunt Mia and others can stay here for the night, but Luke, Alex, and Haley have to go back or Claire will get worried," said Jim, bringing everyone back to reality.

Everyone stretched out in the positions they were sitting in and looked at Jim with wonder. This guy had created a masterpiece. Until now, they had seen many scenarios and how the story progressed.

While some stories had a male or female protagonist, the way Jim wrote the novel made the readers get attached to both protagonists. Girls could even relate to the female protagonist, and boys to the male one, showcasing his research into the girl's routines for the novel and how they live in this society. Many scenario hit home for them. Being a boy himself, he was able to write that part without much difficulty.

Ava also remembered Jimmy asking her some weird questions but thought of them as his curiosity. One of them was, 'how do girls behave when they are with their friends from both gender side,' etc. Now, she was amazed that he wrote such a high-quality novel. Pride swelled within her, but amazement took the top spot in her emotions. Ava might add this novel to her favorite collection. To be fair, the previous one was more of a leisure novel, but this, this one won her heart.

Gia was reluctant to move and wanted to listen more, but she understood that it was time to go back for Luke. Knowing that her mommy also worries about her like this, she improvised, thinking Luke's mommy would also be getting worried. Even though she made a sad or reluctant face, she gave up in a second and went to Haley and Luke to seek praises in place of Jim, all while wearing a smug expression.

"Fantastic story, kiddo! I'm amazed by what I've read so far," Olivia exclaimed, showing her admiration and pride for Jim.

"Yeah, I almost teared up when I found out the son of the president got tortured, poor kid," Jennifer remarked, wearing a sad expression.

"Yeah, poor kid," Jim said sarcastically, but it went unnoticed by everyone except Emma, who caught the tone. Emma had initially come to learn some tips, but discovering a masterpiece made her happy. She decided to stay here for the night, in Gia's room.

After reading this novel, Emma was determined to make sure that Jim teaches her the tips and shares his experience on writing novels. She had decided not to go back to her house until she learned from him. With a resolute face, she also had an idea of asking about that sarcastic comment he made on the President's son and why.

"Yeah, I also felt bad for Luke when he cried on his family's death, so young to suffer so much. I wanted to give him a hug," our gentle soul Jennifer said, and Mia and Ava nodded. Olivia commented, "Yeah, and the girl, Felicia, she really suffered due to not being in good health, watching her siblings having fun but not being able to join them. Why do innocent souls suffer this injustice from nature?"

Jimmy, knowing the story, felt like his Aunt Olivia would get really angry at that monster. He wanted to see how they would react to the guy they pitied being the monster who kills their favorite characters in the novel.

Haley, standing at the side, came close to Jim, looked at him, and he got confused as to what she wanted to say. She spoke, "How? How are you able to vividly describe their pain without knowing how they are suffering? Seeing how Luke suffered, I felt really heartbroken. The way you described his thoughts made me actually cry; I even shed a tear unconsciously while reading it. Now, I will have him in my mind for a few days," Haley praised Jim for his writing but also complained that now she would feel heartbroken for a few days, displaying a range of emotions on her face.

"Well, we should leave; mom will be worried," said Alex, interrupting Haley. However, her next whispered comment, loud enough to reach Jim due to their close proximity, made him relieved. She whispered, "So, I can go back and read the rest, even if I have to spend the whole night reading it."

Haley and her siblings said 'goodbye' to us and left as the sky was still a little bright, and the roads in their community are safe, so even at night, no one is in danger.

"Ava, can we stay here for today?" Aunt Jen asked, looking like a puppy that would get sad if she got a 'no' as a reply, making my mom's eyes go soft. The next second, she hit Jen on her head.

Ava scoldingly said, "Do you even need to ask me that? Both you and Olivia can stay. Even better, let's take some mattresses from another empty room and sleep in mine and have a girl's night, right Mia? You in?" Ava said with an excited smile and asked Mia to join. All the ladies looked happy and even excited at the idea.

"And we have Jimmy helping us get the mattresses in my room. Right, Jimmy?" asked Ava, looking sweetly at her son, making every single head turn in his direction.

The gazes were so intense that Jim started nodding his head like a hen, making Gia giggle. She said, "Jimmy, you look like a chicken," making everyone in the room, including Jimmy, laugh with her.

"Mommy, I also want to join the girls' night," Gia said, feeling left out that her mother gets to enjoy it but not her.

"Gia, you can also enjoy it. Mommy will go with her friends, and you can go with Sister Emma, okay?" suggested Ava, as she saw Emma signaling her to tell Gia to join her(Emma) instead.

"Oh, yippee!" exclaimed Gia, immediately getting happy with the arrangements.

The ladies went to the kitchen to prepare dinner for everyone. They decided to make one dish per person, showcasing their specialties to the kids and each other. Meanwhile, Jim, Emma, and Gia got to work on moving mattresses to his mom's room. Gia, being little, carried only the bedsheets.

After dinner was ready, everyone ate and conversed about the novel and their own lives, with the novel remaining the main topic of discussion. Eventually, they retired to their rooms, and Emma secured a promise from Jim to take some time to fulfill his commitment of teaching her the tricks of novel writing.

Jim, lying on his bed, felt that today was quite fulfilling and drifted into dreamland, thinking of uploading the novel tomorrow after receiving everyone's feedback. He was confident that everyone would like it. Just for self-satisfaction, he asked them for feedback and also to gauge how it would fare among people.