Cree hummed quietly under her breath, her arched eyebrows were furrowed in concentration as the pencil she held tightly around her slender fingers, continued to deftly move across the page of her sketchbook. "Hey, I thought you were going down to the library today?" She hears Camryn inquisitively ask as she gaitered into the kitchen, fully dressed in her work uniform. She walked over to the refrigerator and opened it, pulling out the small pitcher of orange juice.
"I am a little later." Cree murmurs, insouciantly shrugging her shoulders, her attention still heeded attentively on the dexterous movements of her pencil. She flicked her gaze upward upon hearing a disapproving grunt emanate from Camryn's mouth. Cree rolled her eyes, sighing softly. "I'm gonna go, Cam. I promise. I don't know why you're pressing me about this, the teacher gave us a week to complete the project."
"I know that." Camryn laments, settling her half-empty cup of juice down onto the counter before folding her arms akimbo as she narrows an accusatory glare at her younger sister. "But you tend to procrastinate if I don't harass you into doing your school work. I don't need you falling behind, not during your freshman year." She adduced sternly.
Camryn glanced at the small watch that chaffed around her wrist, checking the time. She picked up her cup and quickly gulped down the remainder of the sweet nectar. "I have to go. Please, make sure you eat something before leave. I woke up late and didn't have time to make breakfast. I get off at 8 tonight. When I get back we could order in, have a girls night if you want."
Camryn offered as she shuffled around the house, searching for her car keys while she shrugged her arms through the sleeves of her thin jacket. "Technically, every night is a girls night since it's just us two." Cree sarcastically quips, much to the amusement of her older sister who snarled a jestful pointed glare at her. Cree smirked, "But, yes I would love that. Aren't you going to be late? It's almost 8:30."
"Yeah. I'm just searching for my keys," Camryn mutters, huffing out an annoyed gast of air while she continued her search. She sighed in relief once she found them, hidden between the cushions of the couch. "Alright, I'm leaving. Love you."
"Love you, too." She said upon feeling her sister press a gentle kiss on top of her head. Cree assumed that her sister was about to leave just as she previously stated, but she could still feel her body hovering over her as she sat perched at the kitchen table. Cree glanced up, hastily shielding her sketchbook away from Camryn's view. "Hey!" She chided, not appreciating the fact that Camryn was peering over her shoulder and sneakily glancing at her private drawings.
"Who is that?" Camryn asked, clearly not phased by her younger sisters offense. She squinted her eyes, trying to receive another view of the drawing so she could see if she recognized the young man but Cree tightly clutched the book to her chest and quickly stood to her feet.
"I would appreciate it if you didn't snoop in my things." Cree said assertively, the tenor of her voice lacking any semblance of mirth. She bit on her lower lip, attempting to bite back the blush that she could feel rising in her cheeks.
Camryn scoffed and raised her hands in defense. "Fine. I'll see you later." She said before finally departing from the house. Cree waited until she heard the front door close to open her sketchbook again. She flipped through the pages, turning back to the incomplete drawing that she was previously working on. She felt a smile tugging at the creases of her lips, her fingers softly trailed along the smooth page, tracing along the outlines of her drawing.
She had begun drawing the portrait the same afternoon she returned home that day after she kissed Benny on the cheek. She remembered that day perfectly, the look on his face still burned heavily in her mind, the soft gasp that left his lips when she pressed her mouth against his cheek. Cree almost began to feel embarrassed by how much she found herself starting to like him. Hesitantly chewing on her inner cheek, Cree looked at the drawing and inwardly pondered if he would think that her drawing of him was creepy. Sighing softly in defeat, she closed the sketchbook again before setting it down on the table.
Proceeding through her sister's wishes, Cree scrounged around the kitchen and prepared herself something to eat. A quick, light breakfast that was enough to suffice her appetite. Afterwards, she sauntered down the hall and into her bedroom where she dressed herself in some casual clothing and did her hair. Albeit she had no desire in spending her Saturday morning at the library completing schoolwork, she knew that her sister was right. Cree did obtain an idiosyncrasy of procrastination. Sometimes, she would be so indulged into her drawings that she would zone out sometimes due to the large scope of her vivid imagination.
While Camryn was supportive and enthusiastic about her younger sisters petulance for art, she often had to remind Cree that she needed to maintain good grades in school and remain focus on her academics, especially if she wanted to get into a good college after high school. So that's why she was currently walking down the street, heading towards the library downtown.
☙
Benny absentmindedly tossed the baseball in the air, catching it in the palm of his glove as he walked down the street. It was Saturday morning; the day that him and the guys spent countless hours practicing at the sandlot. Saturday's were Benny's favorite days, because they could be there all day without having to worry about getting ready for school the next day, like they did on Sundays.
He intended on getting in a full day of practice since he was planning on trying out for the schools baseball team. Much to his friends who constantly assured him that he didn't need practice because he was already the best player on their team, Benny knew that his schools current players were amazing, he needed to devote himself if he was going to be one of the first freshman on the varsity team. Continuing his gait down the street, Benny secured the tight-fitted baseball cap around his head, pulling it down to that the base of it shielded his eyes from the sun's harsh luminescence.
He crossed the street, almost reaching his destination when he noticed a familiar figure walking ahead of him. He could see her dark, wispy coils of hair framing around her head. He recognized her petite physique, the subtle strut as she walked. "Cree?" Benny calls out, quickly jogging up to her. He hadn't seen her since Friday morning. He remembered his futile intentions of hanging out with her yesterday, but debunked it after realizing he had no idea where she lived.
"Cree!" The girl halted mid-stride, blinking confusedly as she turned around at the sound of someone calling her name. A smile spread across her lips when she notices the familiar boy jogging up to her. She watches, patiently waiting as Benny suddenly approached her. "Hi." He says, bringing his hand up in a small wave.
"Hi." She responds, smirking amusedly upon seeing how flustered he suddenly appeared.
"What are you doing here? I mean, where are you headed?" He asked, noticing the books the book bag she had in tow and the wooden pencil she had tucked behind her ear, lost in the midst of her wild curls.
"The library. I'm starting on that English project that we have." She explained, to which Benny curiously furrowed his brows.
"I thought that wasn't due for another week?" He surmised, causing Cree to grunt lowly in agreement.
Cree nodded her head, "Yeah it is but my sister likes for me to get my schoolwork done early so that I can stay ahead. She's kinda a spaz about it but she means well." She shrugged, as she glanced at Benny. Her eyes seemingly roved over his apparel, she quirks an eyebrow up upon noticing that he was currently dressed in rugged clothing.
"Playing ball today?" She inquisitively inquired.
"Yeah, we do an all-gamer on Saturdays at the sandlot." Benny explained while he absentmindedly tugged at his clothing.
"Ah, I see. Well, have fun while I spend my Saturday afternoon in a boring, tortuous library. Tell the guys that I said hi." She said, bidding him with a small goodbye wave before she began to walk off. She stopped glanced curiously over her shoulder, stopping mid stride again when she saw Benny jogging up to her once again.
"Wait, do you want company?" He offered, the suggestion caused Cree to furrow a piqued glare at him. She scrunched her nose up.
"You want to voluntarily go to the library on a Saturday?" Benny shrugged his shoulders, tentatively wondering if she thought his suggestion was too abrupt. But after a moment of contemplation, Cree smiled and nodded her head in agreement.
"The guys aren't going to hound you about missing practice?" She asks, the timbre of her voice is jestful as they walked side by side down the street. Benny chuckled, taking the cap off of his head before tucking it away in his back pocket. He mussels his fingers through his disheveled hat hair.
Cree's inquiry was an understatement. Benny already knew that the rest of the guys were going to completely pry him for information about the reason for his absence. It was rare that Benny ever missed practice, everyone knew how fully devoted he was about perfecting his game. He knew that he'd never hear the end of it if they found out that he ditched practice to hang out with Cree at the library. "They absolutely will, but it's okay. I like hanging out with you."
"I like hanging out with you too." Cree smiled, playfully nudging Benny against the shoulder. "Sooo, what do you say we do something else instead of going to the library?" She said, smirking roguishly as a mischievous glint flickered in her eyes.
"I thought you said your sister—?"
"You ditched your plans today, so am I. Besides, I've been living here for a month and I still haven't seen anything in this town other than the corner store and the school. What's something fun to do out here?"
Benny paused in thought, still contemplating if he should go through with this plan. When he offered to join Cree, he had no intentions of being a distraction to her. He didn't want her playing hooky and disobeying her sister's wishes at his expense. Cree noticed Benny's ambivalence. She sighed softly, pausing mid gait to stand in front of him. Placing her hands steadily on his shoulder she looks directly into his eyes. "My sister won't know. It's honestly not a big deal, I still have more than enough time to start on the project. Now, I certainly don't want to waste a beautiful day inside the walls of a library and I know for sure that you don't either, right?"
Benny shrugged. "I guess we could go to the mall." Cree squealed in excitement, the smile spread widely across her lips as she leans forward and embraces Benny into a hug.
"To the mall we go!" She said as she reached down and intertwined their fingers. Benny chuckled in amusement while they walked down the street, heading in the direction of the mall.