your city gave me asthma // Wilbur Soot

three

"Bloody hell, Skylar, let me pay."

I shake my head as I swipe my card. "Too late,"

I thank the worker as they hand me my box of food and we walk off. For no reason, Wilbur is upset that I wouldn't let him pay for my meal. "You're so awful to me."

"Jesus, dude, chill. My scholarship includes many for meals anyway, so I'm technically not even paying."

He smiles down at me, but I just stare straight ahead, knowing to not look into those precious eyes. "Would you let me pay if I took you out to dinner?"

I sigh as we cross the street, nearing campus. "You're ridiculous. You've known me for a few hours, and you're already offering me dinner."

"Oh, so friends can't have dinner together?"

The art studio is right on the edge of campus, so we reach it quickly. I roll my eyes at him as he opens the door. "Whatever,"

We walk down the hallway and find the right room, stepping in. Thankfully, this is a much smaller class. A sort of similar layout to chemistry with some tables around the room, but only two chairs to each instead of six.

"Will!"

I turn my head to see a girl at a table, waving at Wilbur, motioning him to go over. I look up at Wilbur, acting as if I don't care if he sits with her. But of course, I do care. Only because I don't want to sit alone, obviously.

He shakes his head at her, saying sorry before sitting with me at a table in the corner. I'm secretly happy, but feel that girl's glare piercing through me.

"I don't mind if you sit with her. I can be alone."

"One, I would like to sit with you. Two, she's not a great person."

"Why?" I ask as I open my meal. I quickly frown at it, realizing they gave me something completely wrong. I just put it away again, figuring Marie might enjoy it.

Wilbur scratches his nail on the surface of the table. "Uh, me and Lacy went on a couple of dates. I liked her but then she started acting sort of bitchy, including talking massive shit about Olivia and Marie, so I ghosted her. She thinks I'm still interested."

"Oh, that sucks," I say. I'm a bit confused, since Marie said I'm 'his type', but Lacy is the opposite of me. Her skin is porcelain, her hair blonde, her eyes green. I can't even compare to her looks, but at least, that helps me like him less if I know I have no chance.

I look at my phone, realizing I haven't checked my notifications in forever. Of course, I have a million texts from Maddie.

Maddie: WHY DID U HANG UPPPPPP

Maddie: Skylar. Skylar. Skylar. Hi. Hello.

Maddie: DUDE WHAT DID I DO

Me: omg.

Me: everyone HEARD you. AND THAT GUY WAS THE CUTE GUY

Maddie: OH LMAOOOOO

Maddie: Sorry!! He was super hot though omg. What's his name?

Me: Wilbur 🤭🤭🤭

Maddie: Omg the most British name ever. But whatever. Get with him

Me: no thanks!!!!!

Before she can reply, I shut off my phone as the teacher steps in. We were only told to bring our own sketchbooks, since a lot of the supplies are around the classroom, including a cup of pencils on each table. He introduces himself quickly, immediately diving into our first assignment. He explains that we're going to loosen up and sketch with no pressure. Unfortunately, the assignment is sketching the person at your table with you, meaning I'll have to stare and study Wilbur, and he'll do the same to me.

"Should I model first?" I ask, watching as he opens up his bare sketchbook and grabs a thick pencil.

"Please do," He grins, looking at me. "How ya gonna pose?"

"I'll just sit here." I tell him, lightly scratching my neck.

"Alright, but you're not allowed to look until I'm done." He says, holding his sketchbook so I can't see and glancing up and down at me as he draws. "So, you're from New York, right?"

"Yeah. Are you from London?"

Wilbur shakes his head. "I'm from Suffolk, which is two hours away. I only see my family on holidays since they're so far."

I can't help but laugh at his comment. "Most college students in America drive over three hours almost every weekend. Europeans are so strange."

"Two hours is forever!" He complains, making me roll my eyes. "Anyways, where do you want to go after school is done?"

"I want to stay in New York and go to NYU. I want to go into 2D animation."

"That's cool,"

"What about you?"

He shrugs. "I don't know. I think I'm just going to go to school for editing and post production stuff. But my passion is music."

"Really?" I ask with a smile. He's just making it impossible to dislike him. "What do you play?"

"I mainly play guitar but sometimes piano."

"Do you write?"

"Uh," He grins. "Some. I mainly write, like, stupid songs, I guess."

"I doubt they're stupid. I want to hear something sometime."

"One is called "Karen, Please Come Back I Miss the Kids", so they're a bit dumb."

I laugh and tuck my hair behind my ear. "I definitely need to hear that one."

"I'm finished!" He announces, holding the sketchbook to his chest. "Are you ready for this?"

"That was quick."

He slaps the book down on the table, and I nearly burst out laughing. I contain my emotions, though, because I can tell that he actually tried. "Now, it's not perfect. But it resembles you."

I'm not sure if I should take that as an insult. "It's good! I like it,"

"Good. Okay, my turn." Wilbur says, immediately doing a pouty, dramatic face.

"That's hot," I tell him with a smile, grabbing a thinner pencil.

As I sketch him, we chat about our families. I don't mention my father, which I'm sure he notices, but he thankfully doesn't comment on it. After a few minutes, I finish. It's rough, but you can tell it's him... unlike what he drew for me.

I place the sketchbook on the table next to his. "They look good together."

"Holy shit!" He picks up my book, making me laugh as he stares at it. "It's like a mirror! How did you do this?"

I just shrug, never really good at receiving compliments.

"Yours makes mine look awful."

"Did it look good before?" I tease, making him playful hit my arm.

"You're rude," Wilbur sets my portrait back down next to his. "I agree, though. Those faces do look good together."