Introvert

three

Austin's free period had come to an end. Instead of heading to the cafeteria where his friends were waiting for him, Austin walked in the opposite direction.

When he entered the library, the boy took a deep breath and looked around for the familiar brunette. Not seeing her the any of the tables near the entrance, Austin's feet carried him further into the school's library. As he turned his head to the right, he finally caught sight of Dylan. She was sat at a table in the corner of the room all alone. Biting down on his lip, he went to approach her.

"What are you drawing?" Austin's voice startled Dylan. She instantly flipped her sketchbook shut and turned off her phone. A slight blush rose to her face as her heat beat quickened. Her wide-eyed brown gaze met his.

"Nothing," she muttered trying to play it off cool. There was no way he didn't see that, the girl thought although she hoped for the opposite.

Austin nodded. He could tell she didn't want to talk about it, so he didn't push. Instead, he dropped his bag on the floor and sat in the chair across from her.

Dylan stared at the boy as she watched his movements. Her eyebrows knitted together. "What are you doing?"

"Sitting."

The girl rolled her eyes. "Why?" She asked. It seemed like that was the question she always wanted an answer to.  There really was no reason for Austin Porter to be showing up in her life. But here was once again.

The boy shrugged his shoulders. He couldn't really explain why he wanted to be here with her rather than with his friends. Lately, he just wanted to spend time with her, but it wasn't like he had a crush on her. He had had crushes before and they didn't feel like this. "I wanted to sit with you, so I asked Brandon where you go for lunch. Is that a problem?"

Dylan didn't know how to feel about that. Her first response was just to word vomit, "I mean, it seems like you're stalking me."

The boy's eyes widened in fear and embarrassment. His face grew red, trying to think of a comeback. Austin quickly shut down her accusation with the same excuse he fed Brandon, "No, no, God no, I was just thinking that you could maybe help me with an art assignment."

Dylan studied the boy; her brown eyes narrowed. The boy sat there in utter embarrassment. In his head, his real reasons didn't seem that weird, but then again he never talked to her before. Why would he feel the need to sit with her unannounced? They weren't actually friends.

The girl's eyes softened a little as she stared at him. Austin did see her drawings on Saturday and he wasn't one to sit in the library rather than his group of friends. He was definitely very different from her and she didn't see them actually becoming friends, but she knew that he probably thought the same way about her. "Fine, Austin." Her voice was soft, not harsh at all. "What do you need help with then?"

"Um." He fumbled to get his sketch pad for his art class out. "I have a portrait due in two weeks. We've been practicing realism and shading in class, but I'm shit at it." He passed his sketch pad to her so she could see his attempts.

Dylan flipped through the pages. It wasn't the worst thing she had seen, but it definitely wasn't the best thing either. "What pencil's are you using?" She recognized the assignment and knew it had to be Art 2.

"I don't know, just regular pencils."

Dylan already knew that the school wasn't buying the drawing pencils needed for the students to borrow because she had to buy them herself. "Ugh, your going to have to buy better quality pencils to make this better," she passed him back his work, "I can text you a link to the ones I use. You have it mostly down, but I think you are having trouble blending."

Austin watched her as she talked. She had never really said more than this to him before. As he sat there, he just wanted her to keep talking. He knew better than that though.

The more time he spent with her, the more he realized that she didn't really like to talk. She like being alone so she didn't have to talk to anyone. Yet she was never in silence. He noticed her record player on Saturday and today Dylan had an ear bud still in her ear while he sat there with her.

"Um, you can put your number in my phone and once you get the pencils, you can start practicing facial features. At least, that is how I learned. Different facial features and then putting them all together." She lifted her gaze from her phone which was now opened to the contacts page.

The boy took it from her grasp and typed in his number. "Would you still be able to help me though? Like after I practice a bit." Austin just really wanted any excuse to hang out with her some more.

Dylan shrugged. "I guess."

"Cool."