Behind Our Scars

IV

ANDRÉS

When I arrive at the hill, Londyn is already here with white stringed headphones leaving her ears which I now notice the silver jewelry that outlines the curve of her ear. The music she's listening to is so loud that I can hear the beat of it and a small bag with a camera sitting beside it lays on a geometric blanket.

"Let's make this quick, Creep." I say loudly. Londyn winces at her nickname which brings me the slightest bit of joy. I toss my backpack and skateboard onto the grass closest to the tree and I sit beside her. She pulls her headphones from her ears and folds her hands into her lap.

"I was thinking we could do something graphic." She starts, reaching into her bag and pulling out a small sketchbook. When she opens it, it's the exact opposite. Photos with colorful decorations surrounding them fill the pages as she flips. "I'm not much of a illustrator but,"

When she gets to the page her nose scrunches, causing the nose piercing that I haven't noticed before to push out of it's hole slightly. She flips the book to face me. "Yeah, leave the drawing to me." I tease, observing the design below me.

Londyn scoffs, throwing her hands away from the book dramatically. "It's not that bad." She mumbles before shutting the notebook. "And you're an ass." I glance at her and a small smile wants to force its way to my face but I resist it. "Okay so what's your grand idea?" She asks curiously.

I shrug, leaning backwards onto the blanket, looking directly at her. The girl goes silent, placing her hands back into her lap and interwinding her fingers together . Her curls are slicked back into a bun with curls falling from it. And her lips? Her lips are full and a brownish pink color that are glossed lightly.

I'm staring, but that reality doesn't hit me until her eyes find mine. "Well," Her voice drifts off, looking at the people below us. "I'll take some shots, and you can figure out the rest from there."

We sit in silence for a little bit, avoiding eye contact. Well, she avoids eye contact with me. I hate silence, but when I even think about breaking it, Londyn beats me to it.

"I'm not stalking you." Her almond eyes find mine once again. "What?" I blink, my face twisted in pure confusion.

"Jordan said you were bitching about me stalking you," She picks up her camera, flipping the screen out and pressing a button. "And well, I'm not."

I raise a brow, questions arising in my mind. "Why did you feel the need to clarify that?" She shrugs, facing her camera to the grass. Small daisies peek from the greenness below us. "Okay then, creep." I sit up, looking at the people below us and her camera shutters. She gives me a side eye, followed with an eye roll. "Why do you sit up here and watch?"

Londyn turns around and just stares at me for a moment, her eyes searching mine. "Why are you always fighting?" She answers my question with a question, a question that I don't really know the answer to.

People just piss me off. All the fucking time. I shrug in response before looking away from the oddly pretty girl in front of me. "Okay then." Her full lips pucker out into a small pout when she looks back at the photos in front of her.

"Well are you going to start on an idea or are you just going to stare?"

Her words snap me out of my almost trance. "I have no ideas." That isn't a lie, I wasn't prepared at all for this project and normally it takes me a month to come up with something. She raises a brow followed by an eye roll, a smile tugs at my lips. "Is that your favorite thing to do?" Her head cocks to the side in confusion. "Roll your eyes."

And she does it again. "I take that as a yes." I sit up, reaching for my bag and pulling out my sketchbook. She looms closer observing the cover Colorful letters in a graffiti like style covers it along with a couple drawings of my favorite cartoon characters. Partick from Spongebob, Beast Boy from Teen Titans, Pikachu, and Riley from The boondocks.

"Does it bother you?" She asks sarcastically with a hint of Genuineness to her tone. A slight smirk pulls at my lips.

"No, but I'd rather see you roll your eyes under different circumstances."

Her pupils slightly dilate and despite her light brown skin, I can see her cheeks turn a pink color. She rolls her eyes once again, switching the conversation topic.

"I thought you did realism portraits." I open the book to the first page. "I do." A portrait of a woman who is my mirror coats the first page. Her wavy brown hair colored in watercolor paints, tan skin in difference to mine, hazel eyes but with more green and a smile that could light up anyone's day.

"Who's this?" Londyn moves her fingers closer to the portrait and I shut the book. Her hand flinches away when my eyes find hers, my glare pushing her miles away. Those brown orbs never leave mine as she waits for a response. She shifts her weight to the other side, leaning on her arm for support.

"My mother." A small smile forms on her face. "She's beautiful."

"Was." I correct her.

"I'm sor-" Before she can respond, I cut her off. "I don't need your apology." And at this, she shuts up, although I don't really want her to. Something about the mention of Mom makes me shut down.

I shove my sketchbook into my bag. "Well, if we're not going to get anywhere, I have somewhere to be." I stand, picking up my bag and my skateboard from under the tree. When I'm halfway down the hill Londyn mumbles something that I can't hear, and she probably wants it that way.

✥✥✥

Jordan places the freshly rolled blunt onto the table in front of us. "How did the date with your stalker go?" A slight smirk grows on his face at my reaction. "It was far from a fucking date." I mumble, taking the navy blue lighter from my pocket.

"She barely even speaks." I roll my eyes at the thought of sitting on that blanket in silence. She does this weird thing with her hands, always mushing them together like she's holding something within her grasp.

Jordan shrugs. "She talks to me." My jaw tightens at his implications. "You say that like that's a good thing." Reaching into the middle of the table, I pick up the blunt bringing my lighter to the filter at the bottom. "I think she's nice, weird, but nice." Noah chimes in.

I shake my head before pressing the burning thing to my lips and inhaling the smoke. I hold it in for a few seconds before allowing it to leave my system and I hand it to Noah. "Are you going to the party later?" Jordan wonders before taking a pull from the blunt.

I shrug. "Those parties are stupid," Noah takes the blunt from Jordan, putting it to his lips as well. "I don't drink much anyway." In response to this the black haired boy sighs. "Noah?"

He shrugs. "I'll probably go." Smoke leaves his mouth as he speaks. "Will I be alone the entire time?" Noah is antisocial or shy, or whatever. He barely speaks to anyone out of the two of us. Not even in the thousands of classes he takes. "I'll be with Em." Jordan responds, cracking his knuckles as he speaks.

"Andrès come on." He whines, making his eyebrows into this weird sad shape. I sigh, taking the roll from him. "Fine, I'll go.