Lexi's Final Year

Chapter 6

By the end of September, Lexi had gotten into a comfortable routine at New York University. She was used to her classes, as well as working at Barnes & Noble again. When she wasn't in school or at work, she would spend time with either Isaac or their friends— or both. Things were going well for her, much to her delight. School was good, work was good (or at least as good as any retail job can be), her relationship was going well, and her friends were also well. Her first month back in New York City had gone better than she had expected.

After finishing another paper for one of her classes on a rainy Wednesday afternoon, Lexi decided to stop doing schoolwork for the day. She was caught up on her assignments and was even ahead in a couple of her classes. It brought on a huge sense of relief to know that this semester was going as well as previous ones. While it was still early yet, there was no doubt in her mind that things would stay this way going forward.

I should focus back on my book, she thought as she stretched her arms over her head in her desk chair. It's gathered a lot of dust lately.

Lexi grinned as she pulled up her manuscript on her laptop. After writing the first draft last March, she'd decided to take a break from it for a couple of months in order to focus on last semester's remaining assignments, as well as her final exams. She didn't look at her manuscript again until after she had returned to San Diego and settled back into her life on the West Coast. She then spent all of her summer break self-editing and re-writing her manuscript when she wasn't spending time with friends or family or working as a fill-in receptionist at the law firm her mother worked at.

The task of self-editing her manuscript had been massive, not to mention hard on her both emotionally and mentally. Lexi had cringed several times at what she'd written, nearly breaking down in tears at one point or another. But she had managed to stay relatively calm as she carried out the painful yet critical task. It was necessary to get it done if she wanted to become a published author.

Lexi had finished self-editing her manuscript by mid-August. Once the task was complete, she decided to leave it alone to focus on getting ready to move back to New York City for college. But now that she was back at school and into a routine she was used to, the time felt right for her to focus on her manuscript again.

I need to find someone who will edit this thing, she thought as she scanned it. She knew that, despite how much time and energy she'd put into self-editing her work, it needed a second set of eyes from a professional. Every manuscript needed a professional editor looking at it before it could be pitched to any literary agent or publishing house.

With that, Lexi closed her manuscript before going to the Internet to try and find a professional editor. She needed to find someone who specialized in thrillers; or at least would be comfortable in editing a manuscript from the aforementioned genre. She scoured online for any potential candidates that would fit the bill. Whenever someone popped up that seemed to be a good fit, she made sure to write their name and email address in her notebook.

God, there are way more people who edit thrillers than I thought. I can't believe I'm even doing this right now! This doesn't feel real whatsoever, Lexi thought as her heart rate went up. Her blue-green eyes fixated on her laptop screen, unable to look away from all the editors she had found.

She sat back in her desk chair and took a deep breath. It seemed silly for her to get so anxious over this, considering that this was something she had been working towards for a few years now. But she couldn't help it— she had worked so hard and so long on writing her manuscript that the idea of sending it off to a professional editor left her in a mild state of shock.

Whoever ends up editing my manuscript is totally going to tear it apart.

Lexi blinked hard and ran her hands over her face, smudging her mascara in the process. She cursed herself for that, having forgotten that she had makeup on in the first place. But she disregarded this fact to focus back on compiling a list of editors.