We left for college at the same time and met each other in front of our gates. He ignored me and started walking ahead.
I ran a little, trying not to make him notice my presence. Upon reaching his back, I snuck a bar of mint chocolate in his bag's side pocket. He probably heard the crunch of the plastic wrapper and turned around,
"What the heck are you doing?" he asked irritated,
"Oh, I just tripped, sorry," I said pulling my hands up in the air,
He shrugged and continued walking ahead. I sighed in relief,
I wanted to make things normal between us. I wanted to go back to us bickering at each other rather than the avoidance. I don't know what inside of me was so desperate to make things okay with Sky, but whatever it was, it was stronger than me which is why it was taking over.
So, today, I had to go with mint chocolate since I couldn't bring myself to buy the strawberry-flavoured bar.
Sky's POV
"Sky?" Lila called. I turned to face her, "Will you take a break from that drawing? It's lunchtime," she asked,
I sighed, "It's not a drawing, Lila. It's an artwork," I told her defending my work hours,
She chuckled, "Okay, Picasso, artwork. Now, let's go for lunch,"
"I have to finish this up by today," I said gesturing to my sketch,
"Oh, well, should I get you some snacks up here then?"
"Could you?" I asked nervously not wanting to burden her,
She laughed, "I'll see what I can get you," nodding, she walked out of the class.
After she had left, I focused back on the piece I was sketching. It was part of an internal assignment, and the outline was to sketch and shade something that would cosplay emotions.
We were handed this assignment weeks back, but I started working on it just a few days ago since I was too occupied to have a straight mind trail.
When I first started sketching this outline, I didn't exactly know what 'cosplaying emotions' meant. Then came the day when I asked Dew for the late-night ice-creams and the following events happened. I drew exactly what I felt.
I was alone in the classroom as everyone had gone for lunch. It was a peaceful and quiet environment with empty desks, half-open windows, and the sun's rays trying to peek through. Cool winds flowed in and out, and the rustling trees made the atmosphere even more serene. This was my favorite kind of setting, it was my type of aesthetic.
Just then my leg hit the side of my bag which made a crunching sound,
Did I keep any candy wrappers here again? I had a habit of doing that,
I bent down and shoved my hand into my bag's side pocket, pulling out a chocolate bar. It had a little note on it, a sticky note that read,
'Sorry for being a douchebag' it said, and it was a mint chocolate.
A small smile crept its way on my face. I folded the note, kept it in my pencil case, and unwrapped the chocolate.
Strawberry would have worked better... jackass.
I ate small pieces of the chocolate as I continued sketching. Just for once I thought, maybe this didn't really taste that bad. I took another bite; no, it does taste disgusting, how could one possibly like chocolate syrup on toothpaste for God's sake,
How does he eat this?
I finished the chocolate in some time and shoved the wrapper in my bag's side pocket focusing back on my sketch.
Dew's POV
As I stood outside the classroom where Sky was, I held a bunch of snacks that Lila had given me to pass on to him. Watching him eat the chocolate I had given him with a smile on his face made me feel victorious. It was the first time I had seen someone fold a piece of paper so neatly as if it were something precious. This reassured me that I was not going to lose him.
After a while, I knocked on the door.
"Delivery for you," I said, "Can I come in?"
He looked at me and then turned back to his sketching, ignoring me,
"Do whatever you like," he said in a monotonous tone. I stepped in and sat on the chair in front of him backward, so I was facing him, and my hands were on his table.
"Why are you here?" he asked,
"What a way of greeting someone," I said sarcastically. The smell of mint chocolate still lingered around, given the fact that he did that bar,
He sighed,
"Till when are you going to stay upset?" I asked whining,
"Don't get too comfortable with me, we aren't buddies,"
"I need to be comfortable enough to be rivals with you,"
He lifted his head and raised his brows, "That is just another excuse, isn't it?" he asked,
I scrunched my nose slowly nodding, "I'm a genius at this," I said dramatically. He chuckled under his breath,
"What do you want, Dew? I'm in the middle of an assignment right now," he asked going back to his work,
"I just want to say that I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said that day. I know I'm a scumbag who can't handle his emotions, but I promise to keep them in control," I said, hoping for a positive reply,
He didn't say anything, instead continued to shade something on the paper. "Can you stop ignoring me, Picasso?" I asked nudging his wrist. In a moment, he kept the pencil aside and flipped the sheet of paper so it would face me.
"Do you know what this is?" he asked holding the paper,
"A sketch of a butterfly on a cat's nose?" I described what I saw,
"What do you see in the cat's and the butterfly's eyes?"
"Shades of pencil lead smeared in the cat's and I can barely see the butterfly's eyes,"
"Do you not think that the cat could easily kill the butterfly with just one swipe of her paw? However, notice the way she is looking at it. She appears to be mesmerized by the butterfly, almost as if it is the most beautiful and yet bizarre thing she has ever seen. Now, take a moment to observe the butterfly,
Why do you think the butterfly isn't flying away? Because it knows the cat is not going to harm it. It knows that the cat is busy admiring it. If you see closely, the butterfly's wings are slightly crooked, as if it is relaxing on the cat's nose flexing its pretty wings," he said looking at me.
That's what makes artists different from engineers. Artists can see the heart of a sketch, whereas engineers can only see the curvatures and dimensions of the lead pencil strokes.
"Do you see it now?" he asked again,
I nodded, "This is really beautiful, Sky," I said, still in awe of that explanation which made perfect sense now that I was seeing it again.
"Do you know what the theme of this sketch is?" he asked,
I shook my head,
"To cosplay emotions," he said,
"You totally aced that,"
I didn't know about anything else except for the fact that dealing with Sky is as delicate as a butterfly on a cat's nose. You need to keep mesmerizing the butterfly until it relaxes in front of you.
He smiled and grabbed one of the chip packets I got.
"Who is it? Who inspired you for this sketch?" I asked. He tore open the packet and started munching, side by side, wrapping up his stencils and stationery.
"It was just someone," he said, "You don't need to know," he added,
"Does that someone have a name?"
"Of course, but I'm not telling you,"
"Okay, give me a hint?" I pleaded out of curiosity,
He stopped and thought for a while,
"Okay, the hint is that his name feels like the feeling after the first rain," he said.
Feeling after the first rain? I had no idea who this person was,
I shrugged, "My brain hurts," I whined holding my head,
"Don't you have to get back to class?" he asked,
I looked at my wristwatch, "Darn it, I am late again," I almost yelled. Getting up from my seat, I was about to run out of the class, but I turned around, took his pencil, and flipped his sketch over to the back side of the page,
"What are you doing?" he asked,
"Leaving a little reminder that I was here with you when you finished this sketch," I said and smiled,
"Oh, and try not to hate me again, it's kind of awkward to get things okay," I added,
"I didn't hate you, I was just angry at you," he replied,
"That's a relief," I smiled and ran out of the class.
Sky's POV
After he had left, I turned to see what he had scribbled on my paper,
'Dew is a genius.' It read.
I laughed till my chest ached,
How can someone be so stupid to not even guess their name from such a simple description? Well, he was always like this.
Dew's POV
"Hey Jason, can I ask you something?" I asked sitting next to him in our class,
He nodded,
"What does one mean when they say 'like the feeling after the first rain'?" I asked,
He turned to look at me, bewildered,
"I guess like the cool relaxing feeling of dew drops. That's what is left after the first rain," he answered,
Suddenly Sky's sketch, the description he gave, and the hint about that person, all these things came floating in my head and started making sense.
Did he mean me?
"Also," I turned to Jason again,
"Now what?"
"What if one says that they had drawn a very meaningful sketch because of someone?" I asked,
"It can have two meanings. Either that person is a huge part of the artist's life, or the artist is simply in love with that person," he answered casually.
"In love?" I asked again, confirming.
He nodded, "Why would you draw something because of a stranger?"
Sky was...in love with me? As impossible as it sounds, Jason's words made sense,
Everything inside me began to change. The thought of hating him felt unfamiliar. Just the idea of Sky liking me felt... good.
"There are different types of love, you know?" Jason said,
"Like?"
"Like how I love Selena Gomez, but I also love you, and I also love burritos," he answered confidently.
***