Excerpt from Chapter 4 of In His Eyes

In this last article in my series, I want to share an excerpt from chapter 4 of In His Eyes: the first time Emmy and Deston Facetime. This was a really fun scene to write (partly because I enjoy making my characters feel awkward and uncomfortable. I don’t know why. That’s just the way I am as a writer).

In this scene, I wanted to depict the thrill of having a crush on someone — the simultaneous excitement and awkwardness of talking to someone you really like, the endless amount of information there is to know about another person, and the mortification and joy of receiving an unexpected compliment from that same person.

Maybe these feelings are relatable for some of you. Maybe this scene will make you cringe or make you laugh. Or you’ll get really excited. Whatever the case, I hope you enjoy it!

*****

“I never asked you before — do you have siblings?”

Emmy felt a thrill in her body. Deston was playing the same game she was — asking questions and storing up facts until he could piece together all the parts of her that made her who she was from both the past and present, making up for the time they had been strangers.

“I don’t have any siblings,” she replied. “I always wanted some when I was younger because I got bored pretty often, and my cousins all live far away. I’ve gotten used to it by now, though, and my best friends are basically my sisters.”

“That’s so wholesome,” Deston said. “I don’t have a sister, but I’d imagine that ones who are close in age would be like constant frenemies — fighting over who borrowed whose clothes and giving each other life advice all in one breath.”

“That’s basically how my friends and I are,” Emmy said. “You know a lot about sisters for someone who doesn’t have one.”

“I have my sources,” said Deston. Emmy wondered what that meant. Questions began to percolate in her mind: Did Deston have friends — female friends — who could tell him what it was like to have a sister? Did he — Emmy felt a sudden fluttering in her stomach — have an ex-girlfriend who had regaled him with personal stories about her own experience being a sister? Did he currently have a girlfriend? Just as quickly as she’d felt a thrill in uncovering the facts of his life, she experienced a surge of helplessness now, realizing there was so much she didn’t know about him. Where could she even begin?

“Tell me what it was like at your middle school and high school,” Emmy said. There — that was a start.

“Normal.” Deston shrugged. “I went to school with the same kids for both middle and high school. Seven years of teenage angst, popular kids, losers, all the stereotypes. Nothing very exciting.”

“Where did you fall in the high school food chain?” Not that it mattered. But she wanted to know.

“Nowhere and everywhere?” Deston shrugged again, smiling slightly. “I played sax for wind ensemble, did the basketball team for a couple years, even tried astronomy club. I didn’t stick with anything for the long term.”

“That’s okay,” said Emmy. “In high school, you don’t have to.”

“What about you?” Deston asked. “Where were you in the food chain?”

Emmy thought about it. The only thing that came to mind was being on the swim team for four years. Everything else suddenly seemed bland and unimportant, like a shore growing hazier and more distant as she sailed farther away. “Nowhere,” she said, blushing.

“Come on, I don’t believe that for one second,” said Deston, shifting where he sat on his bed. Emmy caught sight of his bedsheets — dark blue, unmade — and felt her cheeks burn at seeing something so personal, so intimate. What did he look like when he was asleep?

“You’re going to Springer University,” Deston continued. “You’re smart. You have a great personality. And you’re telling me you didn’t leave a legacy in this tiny town?”

Emmy feigned nonchalance and shook her head, although she felt nearly breathless at what he had just said to her. “You give me too much credit. I’m not trying to be extraordinary.”

“I don’t believe that either,” said Deston. “No, let me amend that — I believe you can be extraordinary without even trying.”

Emmy’s eyes widened. “Um, wow, I don’t know what to say. Thank you. I — ”

“You can say,” said Deston, a smile spreading across his face, “that you’re free to hang out with me next Saturday.”

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Thanks so much for sticking it out with me during this article series! I’m so happy I got to share my thoughts and behind-the-scenes details of writing In His Eyes. This certainly isn’t the end of the journey — be on the lookout for more news and other fun things to come!