Your Sketchbook ✱ jack x katherine - jackrine

[five]

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A quiet ring of the bell above the entrance signaled the opening of the cafe door. Katherine stepped in, her eyes scanning the room. Empty tables were positioned in various places, and Katherine stepped over to her usual table. She didn't find the sight of Jack anywhere, leaving her with her notepad, pen, and herself. With a silent sigh, Katherine sat and scribbled words onto the notepad, forming a story for the school newspaper.

Time dragged on as Katherine wrote, her story coming close to its end. It was nearly time for the dinner rush, which Katherine had absolutely no desire to get caught up in. Therefore, Katherine stood from her table, leaving the coffee she had ordered plus her payment and left for the door.

What Katherine didn't expect, however, was someone to push the door as she was about to open it, causing it to hit her nose. She jumped back in shock, holding a hand over her face as she looked up at the familiar sight of Jack Kelly.

"Oh... hey," Katherine greeted awkwardly, still holding her nose.

"Woah, sorry!" Jack said hastily, realizing who he had hit with the door on accident. "Sorry 'bout dat. Youse okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Katherine nodded, letting her hand fall to her side along with the other.

Jack nodded, giving her one last apologetic look before muttering softly, "'Scuse me." It was then that Katherine realized she was blocking the entrance. She stepped to the side to let him pass and was about to step out of the cafe when she remembered what she came here for.

"Hey, Kelly," Katherine hurriedly stepped over to his table, unlocking her phone and scrolling through her photos. "So I went to write an article on the production the theatre department is doing. From what I've both heard and seen, you seem to have more talent than just sketching." She turned her phone to face him to show the picture of the play's backdrop.

"Oh dat? Jus' a favor for Miss Medda. It's nothin'." Jack averted her gaze, leaning back into his seat and looking right at the picture to avoid eye contact with her.

Katherine took the seat across from him, taking out her notepad and pen once again. "Do you mind if I ask a few questions about what it took to paint the backdrops?"

Jack hesitated, resting his elbows on the table and eyeing her before answering. "Go ahead."

"Great," Katherine said simply, pressing the pen to the paper. "So I was told that you started painting the backdrops in October. Did you find it difficult to make time for the task?"

"Not really," Jack shrugged. "Kinda da thing a guy like me does. Ev'ryone wants ya to draw somethin' for 'em."

"Drawings of themselves, I presume?" Katherine looked up, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear in between her writing.

"Most o' da time, yeah."

"And do you sometimes do it without asking?" Katherine asked with a crooked grin, wanting to see how far she could get under his skin.

For a short millisecond, she could see her words register in his mind. Yet when the question processed, he simply shrugged with a grin that mirrored her own, "I've never had any complaints."

Katherine pointed her pen to the sketchbook resting beside him, "And what do you usually draw in your sketchbook?"

Jack caught on to what Katherine was attempting to do. He was determined not to give her the answers she wanted. "Jus' things a person sees ev'ryday."

Katherine looked up, resting her chin in her hand. "Such as?"

Jack leaned forward on his elbows, a smirk playing on his lips. Eyeing her and the way she attempted to look confident, he felt drawn to answer with a single word, "Beauty."

Katherine flushed, her fingers tightening around her pen. That wasn't the answer she had expected, causing her plan to fall to pieces in her mind. She stuttered for a moment, meaningless sounds she couldn't control. Staring at his sketchbook, then back at him, she quickly took ahold of her notepad and pen and stood from the seat. "Thank you for your time, Mister Kelly."

"Wait," Jack said hastily, opening his sketchbook to a certain page that Katherine couldn't see and scribbling something onto it. He tore the page out and folded it up, holding it out to her. "Keep it."

Katherine took the folded paper with an arched eyebrow, not opening it just yet. She held it in the same hand as her notepad. With a nod before she left, Katherine told Jack, "Goodnight, Mister Kelly."

Katherine left the cafe in the direction of the Girls' Dorm, clutching tightly to the folded piece of paper and her notepad. In her other hand was the pen, where she was tapping it absentmindedly against her leg as she walked. She didn't dare open the paper as she walked, yet waited until she entered her dorm room and closed the door behind her before even looking down at it.

Katherine took a seat on her bed, taking the piece of paper and unfolding it to its full scale. On the paper was the detailed sketch of herself from the night before, from her hair to her boots. She took a moment to marvel at it, before her eyes found a note in the bottom right corner. "Meet in Irving Hall tomorrow at 5 pm."

Katherine slowly set the paper down in her lap, running a hand messily through her hair whilst heaving a sigh. She thought over the note, shifting between her options of visiting the destination or not.

Yet, the more she thought over it, the more she felt inclined to do the only reasonable option. She knew where she'd be going the next day.