by T L Bradford
“Oh my god. It does. This is creepy.”
“See! I wasn’t lying.”
“Josh, why do you know this random shit?”
1:20pm
“Did I mention she has a little dimple in her chin?”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure you did. Hey, you know what’s cool about babies?”
“What?”
“It’s like training a pet that learns how to talk, only not like those scary parrots, but like that frog in that show.”
“What show?”
“That show! You know the one with the frog from Michigan.”
“The Bugs Bunny cartoon?”
“Yeah, that one, I think.”
“Michigan J. Frog?”
“That’s it! Damn, you know me so well.”
“I think in therapy, you really need to talk about your abnormal fear of birds.”
“I’m not afraid of birds in and of themselves. I don’t like being close to them.”
“Yeah, because you have an irrational fear that they’re going to peck out your eyes.”
“Um… excuse me, but that is a thing that happens.”
“Josh, I think you’re insane.”
“I think you mean I have a phobia.”
“Hey, I said what I said.”
2:10pm
“Noah, that doesn’t even make sense. Of course, they were in a parallel dimension. How can you even dispute that?”
“No, no, no, all the characters were in purgatory.”
“The show creators even said that wasn’t right.”
“It was a total lie, they fucked up the end of the story and had to come up with a band-aid fix to make it more mysterious to cover up their sloppy work. After all the canon they put out there, there was no way they could wrap up that show in a single episode. Oh, and don’t even get me started on that lame reason they had for the whispers in the jungle. I wanted to punch the screen.”
“At least they explained the smoke monster and the lottery numbers.”
“Still lame. Lost was the right name for it. I lost six years of my life on that show.”
“Still, bitter?”
“So bitter.”
2:30 pm
“Let’s order a pizza. I’m hungry.”
“Josh, you ate like 30 minutes ago.”
“I’m hungry again.”
“Let me find my phone. Hey, did you know you can order your pizza on your phone app?”
“You should lose your millennial card for that.”
2:45 pm
“Where are they with that pizza?”
“Frick, Josh it’s only been like 15 minutes. They said it would be 40 minutes.”
“That sucks. What are we going to do until then?”
3:10 pm
“Shit! Shit! Shit! Your shirt is on backward, and your zipper is down.”
“Damn it, Josh! I told you this was a bad idea. We didn’t have enough time.”
“Okay, okay, calm down and try to act normal.”
“Quit laughing at me. I’ll make you answer the damn door!”
“Bwhaaahaaaa!”
“You’re useless; you know that? Quick, toss me my belt so I can hide it.”
“Here.”
“Stop laughing!”
“Bwhaaahaaaa!”
3:14 pm
“I’ll be lucky if I don’t get brought up on harassment charges.”
“Why?”
“Assault with a 8-inch dick.”
“Holy fuck! You were sporting that thing the whole time?”
“Yeah. It popped out.”
“Bwhaaahaaaa!”
“It’s not funny. I could have caused that poor kid irreparable damage Josh.”
“Bwhaaahaaaa!”
“Oh god…the horror in his eyes…”
4:02 pm
“I’m still hungry.”
“Fuck you.”
4:27 pm
“Josh, what were we supposed to do at 5:00? I can’t remember.”
“I don’t know. Wait, was it watch a movie?”
“Nah, no internet yet. Was Ash coming over?”
“I don’t think so, but I haven’t checked my phone. It’s too far away.”
“It’s on the dresser, literally right next to your head.”
“As I said, it’s too far away.”
4:40 pm
“I absolutely refuse to believe that, Josh.”
“It’s true you can look it up, male otters will nearly drown their mates or baby seals during intercourse. Sometimes they do and will continue humping the dead body for up to a week.”
“There’s no way. That cannot be physically possible.”
“It’s possible! Look it up on YouTube!”
“Why the fuck would you go looking for that! How the hell did you even find out about this?”
“Nature documentaries. They are the scariest things on TV I’m telling you.”
“Holy shit! What the hell is this!?!”
“See! I told you!”
“You’ve ruined otters for me for life.”
“Sorry.”
“You’re a monster.”
4:45 pm
“And so the male’s dick is shaped like a corkscrew now because the female duck uterus evolved that way to stop them from forcibly penetrating. Epic evolutionary triumph. Or fail, depending on which side you’re on.”
“Please, stop.”
“Okay, but consider it yet another reason not to trust birds.”
“Just. Go. Away.”
5:05 pm
“Noah quit poking my mole.”
“But it’s so cute. It looks like a pug.”
“It does not. If anything, it looks like a bulldog.”
“Hey, weren’t we supposed to do something at 5:00 pm?”
5:25 pm
“No offense, Josh, but that idea blows.”
“The first line could be ‘Something strange is happening in Bismarck…’ mysterious right?”
“No.”
“Then, what should I write about?”
“Hmm…let me think. Okay, I’ve got it! Why don’t you write about us?”
“What about us?”
“Us! Our story. How we got together.”
“Us? I don’t know. Do you think anyone would even read it?”
“Hey, everyone can appreciate a good love story.”
“Is that what we are? A love story. You know what? I kind of like that idea. I love you, Noah.”
“I love you too, Josh. Now, where the hell did I put those Cheetos!”
5:45 pm
“Who was that?”
“It was the rental company; we forgot to return the truck. Jesus Josh, we only moved like three things all day.”
“Oops.”
“Fuck it. It was totally worth it.”
The End.
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Letter to the Reader
Hello readers!
First, let me say thank you so much for taking the time to read my book. I know it is much longer than the average romance novel, but I felt it was important to have fully-developed characters and storylines to tell the story I wanted to tell.
It’s so hard for me to believe that I’ve made one of my life-long dreams come true. I finished my first novel. It’s been a long time coming, and tons of hard work and perseverance went into making Just Like Heaven.
Over time, the characters of Noah and Josh have become like my children and sometimes my best friends. I love all my characters deeply and hope that you enjoy their heartbreaks, laughter, pain and joy as much as I have.
The focus of this book was to examine modern love in the 21st century and how the patterns of dating and relationships have changed drastically over time. It is my intention to follow the lives and loves of this small group of friends through their trials and tribulations. Each coupling will have their own specific challenge dealing with societal norms and how they push past boundaries.
The story begins with the meeting of my favorite same-sex couple Noah and Josh. It was a complete treat to write for these two characters. I love how they engage and enrage each other. It makes for a dramatic, hilarious and heartfelt coupling.
As we grow to learn about their characters, we are brought into the world of their friends Gemma, Ash, Olive, Sarita and Kai. It is my goal to build a world around these characters and have the audience cheer them along as they conquer each phase in the world of “adulting.”
Noah and Josh’s story will wrap up in a short novella after Just Like Heaven and introduce the next couple my story will focus on.
Again, thank you for sticking with me on this journey and I hope to provide more adventures from my favorite “YA Squad.”
About the Author
T.L. always hated math, so it was a good thing she had a way with words. Since she was a shy and quirky kid; words were her best friends. She would imagine entire worlds in her head and talk to herself endlessly. Her mother wondered if she was speaking with ghosts for a while.
Her older sister was a voracious reader of trashy romance novels and would pass them down to her after she had finished reading them. T.L. was the only 10-year-old kid sitting in class reading The Stud by Jackie Collins during reading time. Oddly enough, she never got called out on it.
As she grew older, her tastes evolved, but one thing held fast; her undying attachment to love stories. One day, out of the blue, she decided to write the love stories she always wanted to read instead of searching for her story. Since then, writing has been a dream fulfilled for her and she could not be happier.
She enjoys writing about love, regardless of gender and is a proud supporter of the LGBTQ community.
T.L. calls the Pacific Northwest her home and enjoys the quiet rural life of her little oceanside home with her playful/crazy husband and their giant dog Noah.
