This story was posted to Wattpad on the twentieth of October 2021, it was written in 2013  and had previously been posted on Wattpad as well as having been posted  on one other story site. Comments I received suggested lengthening this tale. I listened to those comments and extended this story into a novella length tale entitled ORDINARY WORLD. As of the date the twentieth of October 2021 Ordinary World has yet to be re-posted. it had been removed, along with many other of my stories, for further editing with the full intent of it being re-posted at a future point in time ...

     Her hazel-coloured eyes stared deep into his bright light blue eyes ... Ellie knew in this moment she could easily lose herself in a heartbeat, in more ways than one too. Steve is the typical or perhaps not so typical rugged handsome jock ... well built, the captain of the college football team, in the popularity war Steve is not just a general but THE General.

This guy could literally be anywhere he wants and with whomever he wants in this moment in time, so Ellie was completely taken by the fact that he wanted to spend this moment right here with her. Now Ellie is not a completely hidden away girl but still ... and in a way this is a first for her, not a first in terms of being so close to someone that she could smell his very essence but taken more so by how she feels.

Just as he leans in with the intent to kiss her while waiting for her to respond, a loud shout of NO echoes out around the yard that Steve and Ellie so happen to stand alone within. 'What?' Steve asks. 'That was not me' replies Ellie. 'Well, if that wasn't you then who was it? We are the only ones standing here ...

Judy was just as lost and confused as the two characters in the book she was reading were. For while she read that Steve was about to kiss Ellie, Judy shouted out ... 'No'. Judy felt a connection to the character of Ellie who had featured in a series of books Judy had been following and the thought that Ellie was about to kiss Mister Popularity was something that Judy felt was about to ruin their connection completely, but where did the shout of NO really come from? There was no way that Ellie and Steve could actually have heard Judy, was there?

If Judy was not at this point so engrossed in that book of hers then she may have noticed her bedroom curtains swish just a few feet away from her as if a sudden gust of wind had blown them, she would surely also have noticed that the windows were closed so no gust of wind could have come through to her curtains but what Judy soon would notice were a pair of runners sticking out from the bottom of those curtains, a pair of runners she knew did not belong to her.

The curtain pulled back to reveal someone standing there. Strangely enough Judy oddly felt calm with this. This moment did not frighten her, it did not shock her in any way, for even though Judy had never seen the person standing on front of her before, she did instantly know who that person is. That person here in Judy's bedroom is ... Ellie.

How odd this is and with how completely at ease Judy really was with the fact that a character from a series of books with which she followed has come to stand on front of her, this shouldn't be as much a normal moment as it feels to be.

'Hi I am Ellie.'

'I know, I am Judy.'

'I know, would you like to come with me?'

'Where to?'

'You know where!'

Yeah, Judy knew exactly where Ellie was inviting her to go; it just came to her as a bit of a surprise that such a thing could be possible, then again Ellie is standing in Judy's room.

A fictional world that only had been read about is now a world of reality. How exactly she got there Judy didn't know but she accepted it readily. She couldn't wait to explore and when she did, the places she went to all were exactly as she had imagined. Not only that, but Judy also fit in straight away. She and Ellie shared a dorm room. Judy was even listed on several classes, two of which Ellie was also taking. It was as if she, in some way, was meant to be here

Thoughts of her regular life never entered her mind, not yet anyway, for indeed in this moment in time, Judy was just exactly where she was meant to be ...

... Friday afternoon and classes ended for the day at about half past mid-day for the college football team were to play a semi-finals match in an inter college tournament that had begun way back at the beginning of the school year. The final month of the school year was only a few days old, three of which Judy had now spent in her new environment and the half day from class comes due to the big occasion the football game creates.

The girls sat next to each other well up in the home team stand as the two football teams took to the field. Ellie pointed out Steve when she could see him but there was no need to, he looked exactly as Judy imagined he would. He was good too, scoring the goal that would win the match for his team and when he did score that goal, he ran over to the side line by the home team stand and pointed up to Ellie. Judy could easily see why Ellie liked Steve so much but still, Judy didn't think that he was right for her.

Over the following three weeks Steve and Ellie didn't get to spend much time together, various things kept them occupied to ensure this be true. Those few weeks passed so quickly for Judy. It still felt new as it also felt as if she had always been here.

Time had come for the cup final football match to be played and it was held upon neutral grounds in order to not favour one team over the other. Students from both colleges as well as from colleges that had gone out of the tournament in previous rounds, attended the game.

Ellie and Judy arrived early. Ellie wanted to see Steve before the game if she could and she did, but what she did see was not what she had been expecting. In the hallway close to the changing room Steve was hugging a crying girl. The sight of Steve and this girl completely stopped Ellie in her tracks.

Looking over towards Steve, Ellie made her presence known and said 'well, I guess meeting Judy was a good thing. She was right, you know. She told me you were no good for me' and with that she stormed off.

Steve called after Ellie to tell her that things were not as they seemed, but Ellie was long gone.

A despondent Ellie sat in the stands next to Judy. The last thing Ellie wanted at this moment was to sit through a football game, especially one in which Steve was playing but home is a bus journey away and those buses won't be leaving until a game has concluded. She is here now she is not going to let Steve's actions be the reason she goes home or anywhere else for that matter, under means that do not include the rented-out buses.

Judy felt for Ellie and there was a restrain against there being an 'I told you so' moment. From where Ellie sat, she could see the girl who had been hugging Steve only moments earlier and this irritated her. She wanted to leave but the feelings she had for Steve and the fact that she not left yet along with the want to see if there would be any further interaction between him and that girl ensured that she was not going anywhere for a while at least.

Frustrated that he couldn't talk to Ellie and explain himself, Steve ran out onto the pitch with his teammates. His head clearly wasn't with it for his first touch of the ball was a miss-kick, giving the ball away to the other team who almost scored in the opening few minutes. An early goal may not have been conceded but Steve's team went in at the half time break one goal down.

During the break, Ellie and Judy were approached by another girl. It was that girl who had been hugging Steve. Ellie wasn't interested in talking but Judy did play intermediary. The girl introduced herself as Susan, Steve's cousin. Ellie now felt stupid and straight away apologized for that assumption she had made. Susan had been crying earlier as her emotions got the better of her since recently losing her mother and that is why she and Steve were hugging.

Ellie gave Susan a hug and invited her to sit and stay with her and Judy. The three girls sat together for the rest of the game and all three cheered their team back onto the field, showing extra attention for Steve. This didn't go unnoticed. Within minutes of the restart the scores were level and in stoppage time Steve once again became the hero.

Having been inspired by seeing Ellie sit in between Judy and Susan as he had come back out onto the field after the break, Steve went on to have the second half game of his life scoring the winning goal after which he ran to the side-line pointing up towards the three girls. The final whistle blew, and Ellie ran down onto the field and her kiss with Steve was for all to see and this time there was no objection from Judy.

Things soon began to spin for Judy, she felt dizzy and before she knew it, she was back in her own room within her regular home as if she had not gone anywhere at all. Sometimes life can be stranger than fiction for she noticed she had a book on her lap and when she looked, the subtitle to this book was and is simply Judy's Story.

So, was this a surreal dream? Or did Judy actually go somewhere else? Are Ellie, Steve and even Susan just fictional characters in a story? Or are they real and part of Judy's story? Who knows? Maybe when Judy gets the next in her series of books she may just return to that other place and find out for sure. For now, it is time to go find and hug mum as it is good to be home.