Art Museum

BOOK THREE

After lunch, Isabel went to her next period class. It just so happens that Joshua had the same class with her. They talked while going up the staircase. "I'm sorry for pushing you out of your comfort zone. You don't have to sit with us if you don't want to, but if it's okay with you, I'd like to get to know you better" Joshua explained to Isabel. "Don't apologize, I have to break out of my shell eventually, you just pushed me to try harder, so thank you for that. I'd also really like to get to know you as well, you'd become my first friend" Isabel let out a subtle nervous laugh. "If you don't mind me asking, when are you free to hang out?" "Well, I'm never really busy, so it's up to you, I can hang out whenever" "How about today? My place? Or yours? Whatever makes you more comfortable" "Well, today sounds good, but I don't really know if my place is a good idea, I have a lot of siblings and I know that some people don't like being around multiple people that they don't know at once" "I'm okay with it, if it's okay with you. So your place?" "Yeah, sure, right after school?" "Yeah, I'll meet you out front and we can go from there" When they reached their next class, which was English, they walked to their seats, sat down, and took out their notebooks to begin their work. Isabel was pretty excited about Joshua coming over today. She never brought friends over and her siblings would always call her a loser. Zeliya was her favorite sibling though, she was Isabel's younger sister, and she had the most common sense. Zeliya never judged Isabel, and she always gave Isabel advice on how to become more social. After English, Isabel went to her next period class, gym. She noticed that Daisy was in her gym class, so she braced herself, worked up enough courage, and approached her. "Hey Isabel, I didn't know we had gym together" "Yeah, we do, you probably just never noticed me, as it usually happens" "Why haven't you approached me before? We could've been friends a long time ago" "Well, because I'm shy and I have social anxiety, it took me a lot to sit with you guys at lunch and it took me a lot to come over here now" "Oh, I'm sorry, well if it makes you feel better, I used to have social anxiety too, I managed to cope and now it's gone, so if you ever need to talk or anything, I'm always here for you" "Thank you Daisy, I appreciate that"