F r a n k
☼
Frank and Hazel had both been completely procrastinating their art projects.
The portraits were due the next day, and neither of them were finished with sketching the other person, even with the hours spent in art class given to them to work on their projects. That time usually ended up with either Frank or Hazel starting a conversation and the two of them not wanting to finish it until the bell rang at the end of the period.
Frank didn't mind this trade-off too much. Actually, he didn't mind it at all. The only problem that came with it was the situation they were faced with now: Neither of them were done with a huge project that was due the next day.
So after football practice, him and Hazel were planning on meeting up on the bleachers to try and finish the portraits of the other person. Even though the two didn't necessarily need the other person to finish the sketch, Hazel had suggested and Frank certainly wasn't going to say no to the idea of spending more time with Hazel.
Frank turned his focus back to Coach Hedge, who was yelling at a group of guys for reasons he didn't quite know – Frank hadn't exactly been paying attention. Practice was supposed to be over really soon, and Frank could see that almost everyone on the team, including himself, were itching to get out of there.
Glancing up the bleachers, Frank found Hazel already sitting there, doing homework and listening to music. She looked up to see him staring up at her and began to wave, a wide smile appearing on her face. Even though he was sure she couldn't see it, Frank couldn't help but grin back in return.
Coach Hedge's shrill whistle interrupted Frank's thoughts. "You all are a bunch of sweaty idiots! I can't deal with you lot anymore!" He yelled through his bullhorn, despite standing right next to the team. "Practice is over! Get out of here!"
A few members of the team let out quiet sighs of relief as they began the long jog back to the locker room, but many more began to groan. Honestly, to Frank, the jog back was worse than any exercise they had to do. It was already a long jog back as it was, but the team members were already tired from the practice, so it made their exhaustion so much worse. If they weren't worn out before, then they definitely would be after the run.
"Hey, did anyone see that girl up in the bleachers?" One of the sophomores questioned, catching Frank's attention. "I know she was far away, but she was seriously hot."
"Who do you think she is?" One of his friends asked. "Because I've never seen her around here before."
"Hazel's way out of your league," Frank scoffed quietly under his breath.
"You know her?" The first guy asked, leaning against the locker next to Frank's.
Despite his annoyance, Frank almost wanted to laugh. This was Goode High, a school where nearly everyone knew everyone or at the very least had seen them around. The fact that they were clueless about who Hazel was almost entertaining to Frank.
"Like I said," Frank answered, brushing him off. "Hazel's way out of your league."
"Well someone's a little overprotective," Carson sauntered over with a huge smirk on his face as he pulled his shirt over his head. "Does little Frankie have a crush?"
The other boys began snickering at this. Rolling his eyes at the whole scene, Frank quickly got dressed, grabbed his backpack, and headed out of the locker room. It wasn't like he was jealous or anything like that. It just made Frank uncomfortable with the way they were talking about Hazel.
"Hey, Frank!" Hazel waved as Frank walked up the bleachers with a wide grin, happy to finally be with her as he sat down next to her. "I'm happy to see you're here in one piece. Coach Hedge looked and sounded like he was about to murder you guys."
"That's an everyday thing," Frank responded with a shrug, and he couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "Coach Hedge may be only five feet tall, but a surprising amount of rage comes out of that tiny body."
"Unfortunately, I know that a little too well. Sometimes I still have nightmares from ninth grade P.E. class."
"Yikes," Frank laughed, pulling his sketch pad out of his backpack. "So...you want to get started?"
"Definitely," She said with a grin as she grabbed out her colored pencils and sketchbook. "I'm really glad we ended up meeting right now. That sunset is so gorgeous. I might even put it in your picture."
Frank looked behind him to see, in fact, that the sun was beginning to set. With the dark pinks and oranges mixing together, Frank had to agree with Hazel.
The two quietly set off to work on their projects. Sitting so close to her, Frank couldn't help but notice that her brown eyes seemed to have small golden flecks in them and how pretty she looked in the light of the setting sun.
Frank finished his project much faster than Hazel had. By the time the sun was beginning to disappear behind the clouds entirely and the sky was beginning to darken, Frank had been done with his project for a long while and it seemed as if Hazel still had so much to go. When he tried to sneak at her drawing, a laughing Hazel tugged her sketchbook away and told them that she finished up a few more small details before he was "allowed" to see it.
Frank waited a few more minutes until he heard Hazel cheer, "Done!"
"Switch on three?" Frank asked with a wide grin, holding his sketchbook close to his chest so Hazel couldn't see it.
Hazel nodded and, through their laughter, managed to count to 3. "Go!" She shouted as she flipped over her sketchbook and handed it to Frank.
Frank excitedly took her sketchbook and scanned it. He wasn't sure how she managed to do it or how he was even in the same art class as he because Hazel's drawing was incredible. He was almost tempted to ask for it after Mrs. Steves gave it back to them at the end of the project.
"Hazel," Frank said with a wide grin, still staring in awe down at the drawing. "This is absolutely amazing."
"Really?" She questioned in a shocked voice. "I thought it was good and all, but I didn't think it was 'amazing'."
"Seriously? Your drawing is awesome."
"Not compared to yours," Hazel moved closer to Frank so her shoulder was pressed against his, making his heart beat even faster in his chest than it did before. "Yours is really pretty too."
"I'm just drawing what I see," Frank blurted out. He went wide-eyed at this sudden admission and prayed that Hazel wouldn't think he wasn't completely crazy for saying this.
Hazel, however, didn't seem to mind this compliment at all. Instead, she quietly thanked him hesitantly before resting her head on his shoulder. "Do you mind...if we just sit here for a while? I really want to watch the sunset."
Frank could barely find the words to respond, so he instead nodded and wrapped his arm around her shoulder before resting his head on top of hers. The two sat in silence for a while, quietly enjoying each other and the pretty sunset happening in front of them.
When the sun had nearly disappeared, Frank noticed Hazel's eyes fluttering shut as if she was about to fall asleep. "Hey, Hazel," He whispered, nudging her lightly in the shoulder. "We should probably head back. It's pretty late."
Hazel snapped awake and quietly cursed. "I have to get home!"
"Do you want me to drive you home?" Frank offered as he began to stand up.
"Are you sure? I don't want you to go out of your way."
"It's dark out," Frank answered, holding his hand out to her. "I'm driving you home. Don't even worry about it."
Smiling a little to herself, Hazel took his hand, and neither of them let go until they had reached Frank's car.
☼