Dolonia

Daniella Benton 9: Childish

Jackson pulls up next to the sidewalk and parks. "Be safe," he says to us both.

I go to unbuckle and I notice that Sebastian is already out of the car. I scoff to myself. He's such a child. He has no reason to be upset. Nothing happened.

I see Jackson is giving me a curious look. He seems like a nice enough guy so far, despite his intimidating appearance. I smile at him. "Do you want to come with us?"

He shakes his head lightly. "Ehh... I better not."

I chuckle lightly, "And why is that?" I ask freely.

He smirks at me before looking out of the windshield at the bustling sidewalk and its inhabitants. "I hardly know Sebastian. I don't want to intrude in his business."

"All of the more reason to come," I say blankly.

He rests a hand on the steering wheel, and looks at me with confused eyes.

"You need to get to know Sebastian. Besides, it's not like it's a business deal. It's just coffee and probably some school work. It's not a problem, really."

He shakes his head in what looks like disbelief, and smirks. "Daniella, I... I don't know." He pushes his long hair out of his face.

I can tell he's still indecisive. As selfish as it sounds, all I can think is that I don't want to be left here alone with Sebastian. I don't want to deal with that whole mess of a situation at the moment. It's the last thing I want to think about actually, let alone deal with.

I can tell Jackson is still on the fence about coming in with us. I know I can win him over if I try hard enough. I have to win him over because I don't know if James is here or not. At the thought of it I scold myself because it's selfish, and I should want to invite Jackson to go out of the goodness of my heart. But screw that.

I lean my head back on the headrest and flash my best smile. "Oh, come on Jackson. Get coffee with us," I push lightly. "They have pastries," I say in a sing-song high pitched voice.

He scoffs at me, "Fine."

I smile while stepping out of his car, knowing I've accomplished my mission. I smooth out my warm yellow long sleeve shirt that's tucked into my denim pants. I make sure I have all of my belongings.

I turn to see if Jackson is following me in the café, and find that he is pulling his long hair into a messy bun with a hair tie. After he adjusts it, tucking a few stray strands here and there, he smiles and falls into place at my side.

He locks his car with the clicker on his keychain, and before I know it the door is jingling closed behind us. I quickly glance up to see if James is here.

A wave of relief washes over me as I see that James is in fact, here. More importantly though, he's sitting next to Sebastian.

I realize I'm still standing when Jackson pats the space in the booth next to him. I quickly sit down, and try to find something to say. I can't think of anything, though. My eyes scan the table in front of me.

James seems to be drawing in his sketch pad as usual. His opposite arm seems to be covering up most of the page, though. He works feverishly, sketching his hidden image rather quickly.

"What project are you working on today?" I ask lightly.

James seems to be caught up in his work, and continues drawing. I smile lightly at his determination. "James?"

His eyes glance up at me, and he stops drawing. "I'm sorry. I uh- it's not for a class project." He readjusts his glasses before smiling. "It's more of a personal project. I want to draw it before I forget the details."