Chapter 3: The Right Inspirations
** Harper **
The sky might as well have just collapsed.
He ... not only read every Chapter, but had even been waiting for her updates every day? Did he have too much spare time that he didn't know what to do with?
It took Harper a while to find her voice back. "Y-You didn't have to read it!" She wished she could dig a hole in the ground and disappear through it. "I mean, I know how crappy my story is. It—"
"Don't ever call your work crappy, Harper. Writer's rule number one, always be confident with what you create. You can't make someone else fall in love with your story if you don't love it yourself first."
Eli's tone seemed to have just changed with that statement. He sounded serious now, professional. "Besides," he added, "I've been doing part-time editing for a while, and I'm being honest when I say your writing is quite smooth. Outstanding for a first-timer, actually. Nothing crappy about it at all."
Harper blinked. She wasn't sure if she should feel flattered by such a compliment, or more mortified that Eli had put such earnest effort into evaluating her indecent story. A curious thought emerged in her head: did he really think this book wasn't that bad?
How did he like those intimate scenes then?
... !!! What the heck was she thinking? "Um, thanks for the vote of confidence," she said quickly, as if uttering some words could help to drive those silly thoughts out of her mind. "I wish more readers could agree with you. They clearly think there's a bit too much room left for improvement."
"They agreed that your early Chapters were catchy. The emotional buildup was natural and relatable, and the tension was well paced. You wouldn't have hooked so many readers so quickly otherwise." Eli paused ever so briefly. "The only place where you could use a little extra work is where things get bold."
Where things get bold. Oh great, so he did find those scenes unsatisfactory ... Harper whimpered internally in agony. She could flush her reputation down the toilet now. The guy she'd had a crush on for years had read every word of her secret fantasies, and had found it unsatisfactory. Could anything get more embarrassing than this?