“Special” is an interactive story! I hope you enjoy this first part and, when you get to the end, please vote on what you think should happen next!
“It’s a special kind of paper. Use it wisely.”
Meredith took the one-subject spiral bound notebook into her own hands. She eyed her professor with caution before drifting her gaze down to the shiny, purple cover. She rubbed the palm of her hand along the top while it balanced on top of her other palm.
“So… Now what?” she asked.
Professor Hobbs pointed to the notebook as though egging her on to do something with it, despite his warning to use its power wisely. Meredith, of course, took that as a sense of danger. So she didn’t want anything to do with the paper. At least not now.
Meredith raised an eyebrow at his grin. He was starting to make her feel a bit uncomfortable. The smile wasn’t going away from his face and he was way too happy about whatever this paper was capable of doing.
But it was just paper. It wasn’t capable of doing anything, right?
She opened the cover of the notebook revealing the first, blank page. She stared at it and then looked back up at Professor Hobbs. His smile grew and Meredith could have sworn she heard his voice squeak in excitement.
“I still don’t get it.” She deadpanned. She was confused and getting annoyed by her teacher’s behavior.
She had thought she was in some sort of trouble when he had called her into his office. She had assumed she got a bad remark on the last essay she had to turn in. Instead, when she entered his office, he was ecstatic to see that she had heeded his request.
Now that he had given her a blank notebook that supposedly held “special paper,” Meredith didn’t know whether to be flattered or assume that her professor was cracked up.
“You won’t understand its full potential until you actually use it.” Professor Hobbs said, his tone quick and sharp with excitement. His hands were out as though he was going to use them as he spoke, but his fingers only flittered and fidgeted together. Meredith had never seen him speak like this in any of his lectures. Was he drunk or something?
“Use it? You mean write in it.” Meredith corrected.
“Or draw in it,”
“I’m not a very good artist.” She shook her head.
“Ah, yes, you’re right. Maybe it would be best if you stayed away from doodling in that notebook. It could prove to be disastrous.” Professor Hobbs stroked his chin with his thumb and index finger deep in thought.
Meredith closed the notebook without saying anything else. She had a feeling this notebook was just going to lead to more trouble than it was worth. And she felt silly for thinking such a thing, because how could a notebook cause trouble in any way?
“Use the notebook, Meredith. You’re a wonderful writer and a beautiful person.” Professor Hobbs said. He looked around the room as though he was making sure that the two of them were alone. Then he lowered his voice and continued, “I believe you will be able to do great things with that notebook. Just think before you use it, okay?”
“I still have no idea what you’re talking about.” Meredith said in her normal tone of voice. She tucked the notebook underneath her arm without even thinking about it, but she noticed Professor Hobbs watch her tuck it away as though his heart shattered.
“Be gentle with it, take care of it,” He said, his fingers dancing in midair again. “You’ll know when it comes time to use it.”
Meredith cocked her head to the side, but didn’t bother to say anything else. She had a feeling the conversation would just continue to run in circles.
Professor Hobbs flicked his wrists as though he was shooing her away. “Off you go now. And please do not tell anyone about that notebook. Hide it. Keep it safe.”
Meredith nodded her head as she turned to walk out the door. “Uh, thank you, Professor. I’ll see you tomorrow in class, then?”
“Yes, yes,” he replied in barely a whisper.
Meredith walked through the long, dark hallway. It was well past curfew at this point. Apparently since this notebook was supposed to be a secret, she now understood why Professor Hobbs wanted to talk to her in private after school hours.
She continued on, her mind racing with various questions about the paper, but she tried to push them out of her mind. It was late after all and she had a test in the morning. She needed to get some sleep.
Yet, when Meredith made it back to her room, she tip-toed over to her desk. She tried to be quiet as her dorm mate slept on the other side of the room. Meredith turned on her lamp with a faint click and turned the head so that the light was away from her sleeping friend.
Then she opened the notebook to the first page.
I hope you enjoyed this first part. Please vote below on what Meredith should do with the notebook! Check back next week to read the next part and see what happens.
Let me know what you think in the comments below!
