Hacked by One

Hi. This is the phantom. That's what she calls me, anyway (the writeress, that is).

She said the other day that it might be cool if someone hacked onto her blog and did a birthday post, like Anne's sisters/friends did, but that no one could hack it. I beg to differ, and so here I am.

this is the first I've shown her
of my face. It's not me, but close.
happy birthday

Let me introduce myself. I am a figment of her imagination. She was hanging out with her other characters one night when I just showed up and, let's be honest, freaked her out just a bit. She doesn't really call me the phantom, though she has used that term before. She mostly just calls me him or he or something like that. Mostly because I haven't told her my name, or who I am, or where I came from, or why I'm here. I just am, and she'll never be rid of me. (I think she kind of likes that idea, though she wouldn't admit it.) I'm always in all black and leather and silver chains. She thinks I'm always on my iPod, but I'm not really always on it, only a lot. I do always have my black earphones plugged in, listening to music.

Enough of me. Since I'm the only one who can "hack" her account, I've decided I'm obligated to do that birthday post she and her friend were talking about. Even if I am a bit late.

Her birthday was September 10th, on which day she turned twenty.

The big two-oh.

Jess, leave.

It's Dan. But I'm her favorite.

No, you're not. And stop with the Dan thing, it's getting tiresome.

Well, at least I've got a na—

There, I've bumped him off.

I understand she's been missing in the blogging world this month. I can see her quote blog has failed miserably, temporarily. She went from an entirely empty summer to every day being full with something, which is the cause of the unannounced disappearance. Now I'm getting wordy. That happens when I force myself to talk too much.

Life got busy and she was dragged along for the ride. It's not all bad. Most of it's good, actually. She met some new people and they all became fast friends. She's going to their wedding this weekend. She's moving to Florida in less than two weeks (which is kind of a big deal, and she still hasn't begun to pack beyond mentally organizing things). She had a sleepover with another friend and they came up with an entire project Anne is now working on.

This is a lousy post as birthday posts go. I'm not really sure what they do and say in these.

Just say happy birthday, already! And... yeah, I don't really know, either. Good experiment, though. And now people know you exist. You were so opposed to that. What changed your mind?

Would you guys stop interrupting?

You know what, say happy birthday, everyone.

Happy birthday! :))

Uh, happy birthday. I guess.

Jess, be nice. Say what you mean for once.

I did.

*sigh*

Happy birthday, Jessy.

Happy birthday, writeress :]

There, good? Good.

She loves music. She's discovered a whole array of instrumental covers lately. She listens to music constantly, whether it's those covers or something else. She listens to music more than she does anything else. Breathing is almost less important to her. Poetical writing and speech is music to her mind, she sees patterns of poetry in a lot more than most people might.

Jainie wants to say something.

Thanks. I just wanted to say I'm glad she wrote me. I might die, but that's okay. I think she found a better way to go with the story, but I'm not sure. Either way, someone dies... I guess I'm not very good about spoilers, but he's warning me, so I'll stop.

This is for her birthday, so I wanted to say something nice, that's all. I've gotten to see some of the poems she's written that she hasn't posted, and that's one of my favorite things about being her character, getting to read unknown poetry. She lets me see all the stuff she writes for my novel and for blogging, even the rough drafts, which is fun, too.

I guess that's all.

Seems a good place to end. But first, here's one of her favorite covers.



Happy birthday, girl.

Signing off, the one currently known as the phantom black.

A Novel Idea – Jesse Daniel

click above to view this week's linkup

Hello dearies! I've gotten behind with blogging – Kendra's blog party, Anna's contest. Mostly, that's because I've been writing (a short story-ish writing for Kendra's party, a FanFic for Anna). For the FanFic, I also decided I should rewatch some of the show, which has eaten into most of that time, as well as things like church and picnics. Of course, Goodreads, Facebook, Blogger, and Instagram aren't much help...

Anyhow, I'm taking a short break to do Ashley's new linkup. Then back to work.

The picture fits him in some ways, in other ways it's not him at all. It's just the best one I've found so far.

Where was he born? In a hospital, in their home, what city? I don't know. I haven't really thought about that, at all. I'm beginning to think they live in Michigan, though.

Where does he live now? See previous question.

Who are the people he is closest to? Family, friends? AnnDrew. They're best friends, after all.

Where does he go when he's angry and need to get away? His room or the skate park. Headphones in, music turned up loud, drowning out the world.

My Name Is Dan

Hello everyone! AnnDrew here. Jess has this crazy idea—

I told you, don't call me that anymore. And it's not crazy.

That's him, by the way. Anyhow, he's got this idea that we're to call him Dan now. I told him that's silly, but he won't listen, of course.

It's not silly, it's my middle name. Jess is a girl's name.

No, it's your name. We've always called you Jess.

My name is Jesse Daniel. You've always called me Jess.

Okay, fine, then. It's your nickname. But seeing as I'm your best friend, I'll call you whatever I like, Sue.

Dan.

Alright, Dana.

*rolls eyes*

Guys, guys, knock it off. You're friends, remember?

Riiight.

Jess...

Oh, come on!

Sorry. Habit.

Wait, we actually have to call him that?

Yes, you do.

Oh. Well, I still like Dana better.

*sigh*

Hi.

Hi, Alex.

Oh, hey, Alex!

*glares in Alex's direction*

Where've you been? We were starting to wonder if you'd show up.

Show up to what?

We're writing a post on Jessy's blog.

Or fighting one.

What?

Nevermind.

Not you. Ann.

*looks suspiciously at Jess* Didn't you tell him?

Tell him what?

Jess!

*ignores her*

Jesse Daniel Parker, you—

Calm down, it's fine.

Hmph. *eyes Jess pointedly*

What are we posting about?

Oh, that. We already did. We were talking about how Jess wants us to call him Dan now.

He does?

Well, you certainly make sure Alex knows everything, don't you, Dan.

I hardly see him.

Guys! What did I say earlier?

Right.

Apologize.

Sorry, Jess.

AnnDrew.

Um, sorry, Dan.

Better.

*silence*

Dan?

Fine. Sorry.

Friends? *extends hand to Dan*

Since when were we not friends?

Right...

Good. I think.

Let's go for pizza. I'll buy.

Awesome!

*everyone looks at Dan*

What?

Aren't you coming?

Uh, sure.

Oh, come on. It's time for lunch, anyway.

Yeah, I'm coming.

*AnnDrew and Alex leave the room*

What have you got against Alex? You aught to be nicer to him, and AnnDrew, too, for that matter.

Yes, ref.

*sigh* Let's go eat.

*Dan follows Jessy out the door*

Beautiful People: Jess

1) What's his favorite food? Spaghetti

2) What does he absolutely hate? Hypocrites

3) What does he enjoy learning about? Anything. He reads a lot and loves to learn.

4) Who is the most influential person in his life? His youth pastor.

5) What is his childhood fear? He was afraid a tree would be struck by lightning, fall on the house, and crush someone.

6) What is something he has always secretly dreamed of but thought impossible? Winning gold at the Winter Olympics for snowboarding and at the Summer Olympics for skateboarding.

7) What is something he is impractically afraid of? Losing his best friend.

8) Is he a night owl or a morning person? Night owl, definitely.

9) Does he say everything that pops into his head or leave a lot unsaid? He doesn't usually say everything that pops into his head, but he doesn't necessarily leave things unsaid, either.

10) What are his nervous habits? Stretching, hands in pockets, moving.

Character Encounters Linkup: Graffiti

I find Jess in what we call our backyard, spray-painting graffiti on the side of the concrete wall. He doesn't hear me approach, and I stand there, watching him. I see he's an amazing graffiti artist — something I didn't know before now.

I shift my position and a stick cracks beneath my foot, alerting Jess of my presence.

our actual backyard
thank you to my sister, Rissa

"How long have you been standing there?" His voice is a mix of anger, confusion, pride, and vulnerability. But most people wouldn't see that behind the walls he's built up.

"Maybe five minutes," I answer truthfully. His steely gray eyes are on mine, harsh and unforgiving if I didn't know better. "That's really good."

He considers his work before facing me again. "What is?" he asks.

"All of it." I wave my hand towards the length of the wall. "I never knew you could paint like that."

"I'll get it cleaned up," he says, bending down and gathering his supplies into his duffle bag.

"Why? It's beautiful."

He looks up from what he's doing, confusion painted across his face. "You don't want it gone?"

she even staged it for me
she read this before taking the photos

"Of course not! Why would I want it gone? I love it."

"I just thought..." He pauses for a moment before saying, "I didn't think anyone was home."

"It's just me. Everyone else is out." I study the wall for a minute. "Are you going to finish it?"

"Nah," he dismisses me with a wave of his hand. "I'm done." He sets the last spray can into his bag and slings it over his shoulder as he stands. "I think AnnDrew's waiting for me."

He studies my face for a moment before walking past me. He's gone several yards before I stop him.

"Jess." He turns just enough to face me. "Come back and finish it sometime? Or paint more."

"Maybe," he answers as he walks away. I follow behind him until I reach the door, then watch as he walks down our driveway. He turns onto the road and out of view. I walk the rest of the way to the door and step inside before remembering I had been on my way to my friend's. I walk back outside and down the alley towards her house, wondering where Jess had gone.