rewind. | joshua dun.

one. | puny planet.

"hi, i'm violet." i smiled cheekily, extending my hand towards him.

he looked up at me with his large mocha-brown eyes and his face paled.

when i realized he wasn't going to take my hand, i sighed and plopped my books down on the desk beside him.

"so, how's school so far?" i asked, trying to make up a friendly conversation. although i knew his year so far has been complete shit, it was worth a try to get him to talk.

poor kid; people immediately pounced on him like he was a mouse and they were hungry cats. only been here for what? 2 weeks? bless his heart. he'a gonna have a rough year.

he glanced over towards my direction warily before returning his eyes back to the front of the room.

"okay.." i looked down at my scuffed converse and sighed once more. this is going to be harder than i anticipated.

"so, i saw you have a sketchbook." i pointed to his and josh's eyes immediately met mine, a hint a fierceness flickered in them. i smiled. "i like to draw too. how long?"

he raised an eyebrow at my question, and i quickly realized my malapropism. "sorry, how long have you been drawing?"

"don't be sorry." he muttered and clenched the hinges on his binder until his knuckles turned white.

"okay." i popped a mint into my mouth and offered my hand again, except with a container held in it. "want one?"

he slightly shook his head, and i sighed and pulled back after he refused.

"you don't talk much do you?"

"no one listens anyway." he lightly kicked the desk leg with his old worn down pair of black converse.

"i would." i shrugged. he glanced towards me and the corner of his lip twitched up into a cute lop-sided smile but quickly vanished before i could smile back.

| two weeks later |

"josh?" i called, knocking on the boy's bathroom door. "josh."

i heard shuffling a bit and it frustrated me even more. "oh my god, josh! i'm coming in."

i pushed open the door, not caring if there were any guys inside. josh was
quickly stuffing things into his bag and i noticed he put a sweatshirt on.

i glanced down to his sweatshirt sleeves, and he noticed.

"what?" he said coldly. "why are you in here?"

i rolled my eyes, dismissing his question.

"wanna go outside and eat?" i suggested.

"it's december. which means it's cold." he looked at me, a confused look spread across his face.

i raised my eyebrow in his direction, and couldn't help smiling at him. "okay, okay. but, i was thinking, there aren't a lot of people outside when it's cold, and maybe you could show me your dra-"

josh cut me off with a glare, making me abruptly shut my mouth. "no."

"sorry."

"don't be sorry." 

"you always say that."

"i know."

josh was one of the people you couldn't get over. i'd tried everything to get him to finally give out and open up to me, but i was starting to think an idea like that was impossible. usually, i'd lose interest by now; i'm not one to chase boys. actually, i probably would've moved on by now. but something about this new kid kept pulling me in. he was like the sun, a bright and ravishing star, and i was nothing more than a little, puny planet. his gravitational pull forced me to orbit around this human being, and believe me, it was difficult for me to realize i'd become so attached in such a little amount of time.

"why?"

"because you don't have anything to be sorry for. everyone makes mistakes, it's what we do."

"oh." i nodded. "so no to outside?"

he looked at me and shook his head slightly. "yes."

"what? yes or no?"

"no! no outside. no you." he looked down, and a pang of anxiety cursed through my chest.

"josh, please. i want to be your friend!"

"i don't want to be yours."

"seriously?" i scoffed. "i'll have you know, i'm pretty cool."

"it's not about being cool," josh shoved a few books into his cramped locker before slamming it and turning back to me. "it's about me and how i like being alone. you know what that is, don't you?"

"yes, as a matter of fact, i-"

"-can stop talking." he jabbed his finger into my shoulder and walked off, leaving me in the middle of the hallway, my mouth hanging open.

what's wrong with this kid?