Wonder. | A Stanley Uris Fanfiction. | IT 2017.

16. Birdwatching.

 Andie woke up with a smile at the memory of the morning's activity. She looked to her clock and it says 5:30 am. She got up and took a shower and chose a casual lilac sundress with small floral patterns to wear for the day, her hair tied up with a lavender scrunchie to match. She proceeded to make some toast with butter and strawberry jam, and a glass of apple juice. 

 As the clock neared 6, she went upstairs to her mother's room, waking her up to inform Linda that she's leaving soon, earning a nod from her sleepy mother. Andie grabbed her tote bag, inside it were her notebook, a novel, some pens and pencils, her lip balm and some money. As soon as she reached the last step, there was a soft knock on the front door. Smiling, she rushed to it and opened, revealing the curly brown haired boy, wearing a cotton pale blue short sleeved shirt. The boy that Andie was awaiting. 

"Ready to go?" he gestured to his bike.

She nodded and locked the front door of her house and walked by his side to his bike, before climbing on it. "You, uh, look really nice," Stanley stammered.

"Thanks, Stan," she answered. 

 They made their way to the park, which wasn't that long of a way, especially when riding a bike. The park was empty except for some decorations for the 4th of July celebration. Stanley parked his bike near a bench that he said was a good spot for the activity. Stanley put his backpack on his left side, while Andie put her bag on her right side, leaving an empty space on the bench between the two. He brought out a book from his backpack, causing Andie to smile. Then, he took out his binoculars and placed it on the bench between him and Andie. 

"Alright, so what do I have to do for this?"

"Uh, did you bring binoculars?" the boy asked.

"Nope. All I have is my notebook, a novel and some pencils," Andie pursed her lips. "Sorry, I didn't do research."

"No, uh, don't worry. You can use mine," the boy offered, kindly. 

"Alright," Andie smiled. 

 The two began. Stanley looked at the sky through his binoculars, smiling as he spotted a bird. Whenever he did, he would hand the binoculars to the girl and explained the species, origin and facts about the bird, pointing to a page in his book. Andie couldn't help but smile when Stanley would explain with a wide grin on his face. She understood that this was something important to him, making her glad that he would share this interest of his with her. 

 Stanley was glad that Andie didn't make fun of him for his hobby. He certainly appreciated her effort to stay interested though he can see clearly how she did not care much for the activity, despite her constant nodding at his explanations. Because he knew she wasn't interested in birdwatching, he was quite surprised to see her smiling at him. But he was certainly not complaining about it. Not when her smile made Stanley forget about the worries he had about his upcoming 13th birthday, just as birdwatching would. 

"You know, you don't have to pretend," Stanley spoke, his hands holding the binoculars. 

"What do you mean?" Andie frowned.

"I know birds aren't cool-"

"They are," Andie reassured. Stanley gave her a 'don't lie' expression, causing the girl to scoff, "You don't believe me."

"I don't know. Should I?"

"Yes!" Andie defended.

Stanley began laughing at Andie's distress. "Do you really think birds are cool?"

"Yes," she answered, taking a pause. "But-"

"See!" Stanley exclaimed. 

"Wait, let me finish!" Andie glared, though her laugh was still heard. "But, I don't have the patience to watch them like you, nor do I have the memory to remember the specifics of a bird and the facts," she explained. 

Stanley hummed and looked back into the binoculars. 

"It's admiring, just so you know," Andie added.

"What is?"

"You. Birdwatching. Your patience and passion. It's admiring."

 Stanley looked to the brunette with a smile. Andie gasped, making Stanley turn around to see a bird sitting on the armrest of the bench. Andie clearly didn't know which kind but surprisingly, neither did Stanley. At that moment, Andie thought Stanley would be turning the pages of his book, searching for the bird that had flown down. She was wrong. Instead, the boy had carefully petted the animal with his index finger and a smile of awe on his face.

"Hi," he mumbled in a quite tone, though he sounded the way adults would when talking to babies or dogs. 

 That picture of Stanley, petting the bird gave Andie an idea. The image was already embedded in her brain. There was no way she would ever forget that. Andie began a sketch of the picture, though modifications were made. Stanley was too focused on the small bird to realize what Andie was doing, making Andie feel more sure of her work. Once the bird flew away, Stanley did a little wave to it, causing a small chuckle to erupt from Andie's lips. He turned to face her, tilting his head and raising his eyebrows.

"Nothing," Andie muttered. "Go on, tell me more about the birds you see, Stan."

"If you insist."

 He did as said, informing Andie on facts about the birds he saw, which she listened intently, though her hand was busy drawing the face of the boy. There came a moment when Andie was too busy with her drawing to notice that Stan had stopped his action and stared at her instead. 

 Stanley's attention was grabbed by Andie's face of focus, which he found quite irresistable. He wondered what she was doing but he figured she would show him later if she wanted to. He thought back to their conversation before. Mostly about how he talked. He hardly ever talked like that with anyone yet having Andie around made him more at ease than ever before. He was glad to have met her though there was something about her that led Stanley to believe that the two shared something in common with each other. He just didn't know what. But it didn't matter to him, because he knew she was the kind of person you'd want in your life. That, at least, he was sure of. 

"Hey, wanna see something?" Andie spoke after quite some time, gaining notice from Stanley who was reading something off his book of birds.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Look," she showed him her notebook.

 It was a sketching of Stanley, petting a small bird that had rested on his hand. She added another bird that sat on his shoulder. Stanley was amazed at the talent Andie had in art. His eyes widened at the sight of the sketch and began smiling widely, just like in the picture. 

"It's not that great, but-"

"I love it," Stanley confessed.

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's beautiful," he nodded, still holding a smile of disbelief. 

"Thanks," Andie smiled. "Hold on," she continued, taking the notebook back and signed her name on the bottom right. She tore the paper off the notebook and turned the paper around and began writing. 

❤S.U. + A.T.❤
 Birdwatching.
2nd July 1989.

"There you go," Andie handed the paper back. 

"Thanks," smiled Stanley, carefully placing the paper in pages of his book as not to wrinkle it. "We should get home," he said, earning a nod from Andie. 

"Wanna hang at my place?" 

"Sure," Stan nodded. Both of them began gathering their items to return home.