{"id":1895,"date":"2025-08-17T22:28:16","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T22:28:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/?p=1895"},"modified":"2025-08-17T22:28:16","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T22:28:16","slug":"homework-9-why-didnt-i-look-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/?p=1895","title":{"rendered":"Homework 9 “Why didn’t I look up?”"},"content":{"rendered":"Your character’s best friend has asked your character to deliver an important message to the friend’s new boyfriend or girlfriend. Your character goes to the boyfriend or girlfriend’s house to speak to him\/her. While they’re talking, your character is overwhelmed by an intense attraction to the other person.

Sophie was always sending me out to do random things for her. I guess because she knew I would. So this was just one of those things, \u201cPlease, go across the street and tell Shawn that my audition got pushed back an hour, so I\u2019m going to be late coming over. He never checks his messages and he\u2019s not answering his phone. So please just go over there for me. I know he\u2019s home because he said he was going to be edging and mowing the lawn today.\u201d
I must have made some sort of noncommittal noise because then she started to get irate with me, \u201cCom\u2019 on Bethany he\u2019s your neighbor, just do this ok?\u201d. I must have made a more acquiescent noise afterward because she quickly rang off.
So I pulled on some sandals, trudged across the street, and rang the doorbell. The bell was immediately met with barking which made sense because I knew that \u201cShawn\u201d had a beautiful Golden Retriever. I had seen him walking it shortly after he had moved in. I love dogs, so I had noticed them out together. I hadn\u2019t actually met Shawn though, I only knew his name through Sophie. He apparently had been transferred to her branch of the Barkley Brothers Escrow offices. That\u2019s all I knew about him except that he had a Golden Retriever and drove a Ford Tacoma pick-up truck.
I heard,\u201dBrady, be quiet,\u201d then \u201cI\u2019m coming!\u201d This was followed by \u201cBrady, get
back from the door.\u201d
A couple of seconds later the door was opened by a slim but very fit man in Levi jeans, a black t-shirt and two of the bluest eyes I had ever seen. \u201cYes, can I help you?\u201d
\u201cUm, actually I\u2019m your neighbor.\u201d Dumb. Dumb. Why did I just say that? Obviously I\u2019m his neighbor:
\u201cOh, hi. I\u2019m Shawn.\u201d He put out his hand to shake mine and Brady pushed out from under it and ran out the door.
\u201cOooh shoot! Could you help me get him? He\u2019s a terrible escape artist.\u201d
\u201cI see that.\u201d I said turning quickly. \u201cBrady, here buddy. Come here.\u201d
Buddy turned and looked at me. \u201cDo you have any treats we could use to get him?\u201d I asked.
\t\u201cYeah, just a second. I\u2019ll be right back.\u201d He darted back into the house and emerged a few seconds later with a plastic bag. Brady heard it crinkle and turned his head. I grabbed his collar and we walked back to the door together.\u201d
\u201cYou might as well come on in, now that you\u2019ve helped me catch my dog.\u201d
I followed him back but Brady had already darted ahead of both of us, to be ready to receive his treat. Shawn\u2019s retreating form in his Levis made me inhale appreciatively. Sophie always did have good taste, I thought somewhat bitterly for some reason. Bradie sat for his treat. Shawn bent over to give it to him.
\u201cSo, did you just come over to introduce yourself?\u201d he said. Turning back to look at me. I was momentarily mesmerized by the long lashes over his blue eyes.
\u201cWhat? Oh no, yes. I\u2019m Bethany, nice to meet you. I\u2019m actually here to give you a message though.\u201d
\u201cA message?\u201d
\u201cUh, yeah, I\u2019m a friend of Sophie. She was trying to get a hold of you. Her audition has been pushed back and she\u2019s going to be about an hour late. She said you weren\u2019t answering your phone.\u201d
\u201cOh. I guess I didn\u2019t hear it ringing. I was mowing the lawn a little while ago, and then I jumped in the shower, so I didn\u2019t hear the phone.\u201d
\u201cWell,\u201d I stammered. \u201cThat happens. I should get going though. You probably have things you\u2019re doing. I mean I\u2019m busy, and anyway. Um, yeah. Well, nice to meet you Shawn. I hope you have fun with Sophie.\u201d
I turned rapidly, practically tripping over my own feet. I don\u2019t know why my heart was beating so fast, it wasn\u2019t as though I\u2019d been doing anything. Just looking at a beautiful, beautiful man\u2026How did I not see him before? You were distracted by the dog, Bethany. Sometimes you have to look up, girlfriend. I couldn\u2019t believe Sophie had already snagged this beautiful, blue eyed man when he lived right across the street from me. It didn\u2019t seem fair.










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Your character’s best friend has asked your character to deliver an important message to the friend’s new boyfriend or girlfriend. Your character goes to the boyfriend or girlfriend’s house to speak to him\/her. While they’re talking, your character is overwhelmed … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":442,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/442"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1895"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1905,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1895\/revisions\/1905"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/self-editing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}