scraps

allergy season

description: its spring and lake keeps sneezing and falling head over heels for some dumb swimmer kid

year started: 2022

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lake scribbled down on their notebook, filling the blank pages of whatever they wanted to take out of their head and put into the world. despite it being a very pollinated and lake being very allergy prone, the day was nice. they sneezed. they took account the slight breeze and the bugs landing near them and the flower petals being wisped away from the air. they tried to sketch everything they see but there was something always off with the drawings. the bee's left wing wasn't even to its right wing or the extra detail they added to the petal didn't go so well with the rest of the drawing. it infuriated them. they sneezed again.

they were laying down on the top bleachers in their school's pool area. apparently the swim team has practice at the same time as their lunch. it was kinda awkward but they desperately needed to get away from their sister after a petty fight last night and no one has kicked them out yet so they just kinda stayed. it wasn't like they were a distraction to anyone on the team anyway.

a crow flew onto a branch on top of them, its weight shaking down leaves onto their face. they bit the eraser of their pencil as they tried to capture all the features of the bird. beady eyes. dark feathers. a shiny beak. they attempted to draw it, convincing themselves that this was going to be today's masterpiece. but after every crooked line after the other, it seemed it was not going to be so. they stared at it. they squinted their eyes on the page. turned the notebook around and around and lake still found it a horrible piece of work. all they could make out was feathers on a stick. fuck! the crow flew off the branch, squawking away like even he was disappointed that he was the muse in this terrible drawing. they sneezed again. lake erased a stray line but it didn't fix their opinion on it. the sketch still sucked. they groaned then tried to write a poem about how stupid drawing crows are.

drawing crows are stupid.

and nothing else. they hated the way their brain was working. why can't it just accept they want to be creative today?!

then, they threw the notebook in fury. if rewiring their brain into doing what they want wasn't an option, they just figured this was. it really wasn't, however, since the notebook flew pages first into a chlorine mixed puddle right next to the pool. it was either they had a really good throwing arm or the bleachers weren't as high as they thought. lake swore and panicked, trying to find a way to get their notebook without being seen by dozens of people.

a whistle was blown and the coach yelled that practice was over. of course. and now lake was running down the steps of the bleachers, trying not fall on their face 'cause everyone was starting to get out of the water. the metal beneath their shoes banged so loudly and it felt like they were just embarrassing themselves. the embarrassment wouldn't even be worth it since some boy picked up the notebook as they stepped off onto the concrete. lake stared at him staring at the wet pages. it could get any worse than this. the boy looked up. he was a little frightened, seeing someone looking like a mess right in front of him.

"oh um," he started. he closed the notebook, "is this yours?" he asked, handing it to lake. they took it, swiftly, and clutched it near their chest. "i like the crow you drew." he awkwardly smiled. lake felt like he was lying. or trying to convince themselves he was lying so they wouldn't have to realize that they threw their notebook over an actually decent drawing. the boy's cheeks started to turn red. "oh, it was already opened to that page i promise i didn't go flipping through the other ones." he tried to smile so the strong feeling of awkwardness would just float away, but they both knew it wasn't working. "i'm jesse."

"lake," they simply said. the pages were dripping off the notebook and onto their black shirt. they clutched it tighter. lake wanted to sneeze so bad but they had to suppress it so the interaction wouldn't be met with their snotty nose.