I’m watching a rerun of some comedy show when he wakes up.
I feel his body shift behind me and I turn around. His grey eyes are wide and he stares for a moment, body stiff and frozen. His expression makes me frown; he looks frightened. Then it’s gone, and I wonder if I imagined it. He sits up and looks at me, face shut again.
“Hey,” I say softly. “How are you doing?”
He runs a hand over his face, and I catch sight of those awful scars again. I look away before he can see me staring. “Sorry,” he whispers.
“For what?” I’m curious.
“For falling asleep,” he says as if it’s obvious. He eyes me carefully, not like I’m stupid, more like he’s waiting for me to attack him.
I blink. “It’s okay,” I tell him. “I mean, you’re tired, so…”
He stares at me for a second longer, and finally decides that I’m not going to hurt him. He straightens slightly. “I should go.” But he makes no move to get up.
“Wait,” I say, before I can think it through. “Do you… do you want to stay for dinner?”
He looks at me, and there it is again, that surprised look in his eyes, as if he’s not used to kindness. He hesitates.
“It’s fine, you know,” I blab, for some reason really wanting him to stay. “My parents wanted me to ask, they’re totally fine with it. I mean, my mom’s actually a pretty good cook, and you can stay, stay for as long as you want…”
He blinks at me, and then looks down at his feet again. “Okay,” he whispers.
I smile. “I’ll go tell them.” I inform my parents that he’s staying with a silly smile on my face. My mother shakes her head at me, but I can’t stop this feeling inside me. It’s not like he agreed to take me out on a date or anything, but I don’t know. Maybe I’m just a silly teenage girl.
He’s really quiet at the table, as he is with everyone. He shyly acknowledges my parents, but doesn’t meet their eyes for more than a split second. My parents try though, bless their souls.
“So, you’re Jade’s classmate?” my dad asks.
Tallan nods, taking careful bites of salad.
“Here, have some potatoes,” my mom urges, holding the plate out to him. “A boy your age should eat more.”
He looks at bit panicked, but politely takes what my mother offered anyway. We don’t talk much after that.
After dinner, I take him upstairs.
He seems reluctant, but follows me into my room. I watch him look around, perching on my bed. I’ve never had a boy in my room before, and am surprised to find I’m not the least bit self-conscious about it. I’m more nervous about what Tallan is feeling, because he’s obviously the timid sort.
When he just stands there awkwardly, I gesture for him to sit next to me. “Come on. It’s okay. Nothing’s going to hurt you.”
He hesitantly sits down next to me. He fiddles with his sleeves, but I catch him glancing at me out of the corner of his eyes.
We listen to my music for a while, until I finally work up the courage to talk to him.
“You’re an artist, right?” I ask him.
He shrugs, studying my carpet.
“I mean, I noticed you carrying around your sketchbook,” I continue, just putting words out there for him to catch. I can’t pressure him to talk, but fortunately, I can carry on a conversation with myself just fine sometimes. “Not that I’ve seen you draw or, I mean, seen your drawings. But I bet you’re really good, I mean, anyone that likes something and keeps doing it is bound to get better and better at it, right?”
Now I’m just babbling. But Tallan doesn’t seem to care. He’s still trying to find mites in the carpet, but by the way he tips his head slightly, I can tell he’s listening.
“I really suck at drawing, I mean, I cannot even draw a good stickman. That’s really bad, don’t you think? Don’t tell anybody, but I actually failed art in elementary!”
His eyes flick over at me, and I think I caught a trace of a smile on his face. But then his hair’s in his face again.
He thanks my parents for dinner, and I walk him to the door. He refused any rides, and I suspect it’s partly because if he walks, it’ll take that much longer to get there.
He turns to look at me. Well, he glances at my eyes briefly and then stares down at his shoes again.
“Thanks,” he says in his quiet voice, still looking down.
“Hey, Tallan,” I wait until he glances back at me. “You know you can come back here anytime, okay?” I smile slightly at him.
He gives a tiny nod, and I watch him walk down the dark street. I’m still standing there when his small solitary figure disappears around the corner.
He isn’t in school on Monday.
I’m distracted the whole day; being paranoid about how it’s probably my fault he’s not here. My friends shake their heads at me, knowing full well who’s on my mind.
But once you start noticing something----especially someone---- it’s not as easy to just go back to life before.
really short. but i liked the ending here (:
and i'm not as bad as jade here, but yeah, i can't do much drawing either. ):
smile, pass it on: go into someone tumblr ask box, and send them a random question, or just a nice message. try it, they'll love you for it.
> Sleeping Sickness ~ City and Colour ft Gordon Downie (from Tragically Hip)
> six word poet. he/she will write you a six word story that will take your breath away.
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Sketches and Scars
Short Story"But once you start noticing something----especially someone---- it’s not as easy to just go back to life before." He was that kid in the back you didn't know existed except when the teacher did roll call. He was that kid that got shoved into in the...
