Tag: Character Development

The New Kid โ€“ Part 1

The New Kid โ€“ Part 1

Every story has more than one side.

This is the first entry in a new series of character stories set within the Unfinished Melody universe. Some voices may be familiar. Others may not.

For now, I’ll let you decide who’s telling this story.


Some people spend their whole lives getting what they want. Others learn to take opportunities when they appear.

He was always the popular guy.

Well liked.

Smart.

The kind of person everyone remembered.

The kind of person everyone wanted to be around.

I told myself it didn’t bother me.

It did.

I was the popular one at my last school.

I would be the popular one here too.

At least that had been the plan.

Then I met him.

Some people don’t have to work for anything.

Things just seem to fall into their laps.

Don’t get me wrong.

I had things.

Friends.

Good grades.

People who knew my name before I walked into a room.

At my old school, I knew where I fit.

Here, I was just the new kid.

Nobody cared who I used to be.

Nobody cared what I’d done.

Everyone already had their place.

I was still trying to find mine.

Some people didn’t seem to have that problem.

They already belonged.

Like they’d always belonged.

How Emma Met Nick

How Emma Met Nick

Welcome to The Nick Chronicles, a collection of memories from Emma’s relationship with Nick Bennettโ€”one of the most important chapters of her life before the events of Unfinished Melody.

Some memories make us laugh. Some make us cringe. And some remind us how much a single person can shape our story.

Continue reading more about how Emma met Nick below.


May 1999

Today the professor assigned partners for our final play-writing project.

Apparently, the strongest scripts may be considered for a student production in the theater department next semester.

No pressure.

My partner is a guy named Nick.

Well, technically I’ve seen him around class before.

Hard not to, honestly.

He’s one of those people who somehow manages to look completely relaxed all the time. Meanwhile, I still double-check my syllabus every week because I’m convinced I’ve forgotten an assignment.

The professor assigned partners and suddenly there he was sitting across from me.

I expected awkward small talk.

Instead, we spent most of the class arguing about story ideas.

Politely.

Mostly.

He has opinions.

A lot of opinions.

The annoying thing is that some of them are actually good.

When I mentioned wanting to brainstorm before writing anything down, he didn’t roll his eyes or act like it was a waste of time.

He just said, “I respect that.”

Which immediately made me suspicious.

Nobody is that agreeable.

Not naturally.

There has to be a catch.

Still, the project went better than I expected.

He’s funny.

Confident.

Maybe a little too confident.

And I can’t quite decide whether that’s charming or concerning.

Probably concerning.

Definitely concerning.

At the very least, I think we’ll end up with a decent project.

The semester is almost over, and once it’s done, we’ll probably go our separate ways.

For now, I just need to survive the next few weeks working with him.

And maybe convince him that not every good idea involves making the audience cry.

โ€”Emma


Listen toย Emma & Nick’s Playlist here.

Meet Nick to find out more about his part in Unfinished Melody.

Read more about Emma & Nick here:ย Emma and Nick’s Reunion – 2008