Sinking

future

Fanart by @x_ugh_o of what phil draws in art class towards the beginning chapters!!
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"I'll see you later," I pressed a kiss to my boyfriend's lips, slinging my backpack over my shoulder before turning away from his tired form to head out.

"Wait," He called, and I returned to find Phil batting his eyelashes at me. "One more kiss?" I rolled my eyes but obliged, leaning down once more to peck his mouth lightly. As soon as I pulled away, he smiled innocently and whined, "Another?"

I hit his arm. "I love you and everything, but I need to get to school," I told him. "Somewhere you'll be back to within the next week." He frowned because I was right. It had been two weeks since our return from the hospital, as it was now the beginning of March. Phil was doing better; he could walk around without complaining about too much pain and his breathing had returned to a normal sound and rhythm. He still made me do things for him, though. I didn't mind much, I could find some way to get him to return the favor in the future.

"Okay, okay," He agreed, leaning against the wall. "It's boring here without you. Your brother's no fun, even when he is here."

"Trust me, I know," I replied, slowly walking away from him. "I'll see you later."

"Bye, cupcake," Were the last words I heard as I quickly made my way down the stairs and out the door, being hit by the humidity outside. The cold had been going away a lot quicker and earlier than expected, resulting in a lot of rain and damp surroundings. I didn't mind, though, at least we wouldn't have to deal with the bitter frost biting at our skin each day. The only issue was the newly hot sun shining on my body covered by black clothes.

Tyler was outside the side doors, waiting for me as he had most days during the past few weeks. Zoe was next to him, and from what I could tell they were discussing fake eyelashes.

"It's almost as good as taking off a bra," Zoe was saying, and I smiled as I walked up.

"Ohmygod yessssss gi-" Tyler looked at me. "Oh, hey Dan."

"Hello," I replied, "Isn't your first class on the other side? I'm running late, you''ll be even more late." I gestured for us to walk inside, allowing for my two friends to walk beside me.

"The teacher loves us," Tyler told me, "so it's fine. How's Phil?"

The question caught me off guard, but only slightly. "He's fine, due to return next week."

Before the conversation could continue, we were at the door of my history classroom where Troye was standing. As soon as he saw Tyler he pecked his cheek and muttered something in his ear that made the shorter boy blush. Tyler waved goodbye before walking off with Zoe.

"So, Troye," I addressed my friend as we walked into class, sitting down at our seats as the bell rang. "How's the recording stuff going?"

"It's going great!" He responded. "We have about three of the songs done. Thanks so much for helping with the lyrics. I'll make sure you have a secure spot on the acknowledgements page." I laughed.

"Thanks, I appreciate it," I told him. "You're going to be so huge."

Troye blushed, but couldn't respond because just then the teacher started talking. We spent the rest of the class writing notes to each other.

***

In art class, it was quiet except for Louise and Zoe talking, as usual. I had more inspiration for my paintings lately; I painted cities and towns and the people in them. I painted people laughing and others crying. I was starting to develop an appreciation for how beautiful human beings could be, and this added a lot more depth to my art because instead of just nature, I added the beings from nature to it. I developed a certain type of style that I really liked at the moment: things like black and white buildings with a girl in a bright yellow dress running down the streets below them, or a black and white forest with rain droplets creating color on the warm colored leaves. I liked the idea of color creating another world within one so closed off, possibly because that was a nearly fully accurate representation of my life.