Reasons To Stay

ONE

It felt like the stylus was moving by itself as I drew my sister. As I sat under the shade of a large tree, Jenny was rocking herself back and forth on an elephant shaped spring rider with her favorite doll Poka.

My youngest sister's short golden hair swirled around her face as she laughed, probably because of something Poka "told" her. I smiled absentmindedly as I added a few more strokes to the sketch I was drawing on my tablet. When I looked up again, I saw little Jenny hug her doll before moving to get down from the spring rider. I quickly added a few more lines to my drawing, finishing it up as fast as I could.

"That's pretty."

I jumped slightly, startled by the closeness of the voice.

For the past few years, every time my sisters and I came to the playground, I would sit under the same tree as they played and met with their friends. Never in those many days had anyone sat under it with me. So I turned to look at the boy who had decided to mess with my routine.

"Umm... Thank you?" I mumbled awkwardly at him. I knew who he was, after all, we had been in the same school and had had many classes together for years. But we had never spoken outside school before.

I quickly looked away from him and down at my drawing again, eager for him to leave.

"You really like drawing, don't you?" he said and I turned to look at him again. Not contempt with just standing, he moved to sit down next to me, his eyes on the playground. When I didn't reply, he added, "You seem to do it all the time. Not that I'm stalking you or anything, it's just something I've noticed about you."

His smile was warm and welcoming and his eyes soft as he looked at me. I knew he was a nice guy, everyone described him that way, and he had always been polite to me. But the kind of polite that implied distant friendliness, like an afterthought, not genuine interest.

"You know, Sloan, you are awfully quiet for a girl who seems to have all the answers in class."

I smiled at that, shrugged my shoulders. "Not used to talking to new people. That's all."

He smiled even wider. "Ah but I'm not really new am I? We've been in the same class for... ever," he said and I laughed when he made a weird face trying to think of how many years we had been together. All of our school-lives, that was how long, so his forever wasn't that far off.

He raised his eyebrows in mock surprise. "And she has a laugh, too," he said and I rolled my eyes at him. "Does she have a voice?"

"As I matter of fact, I do. I just told you I'm not really a talker, remember?"

"And she is sarcastic, too." His green eyes shone as they reflected the sun. "Wow, who would have thought I could learn this much about you with just one minute of conversation?"

I smiled, ignoring his witty comment and going back to finishing my drawing.

"She's your sister, isn't she?"

"Yes, Lance." I replied a bit more harshly than I had intended to.

In response to my cutting answer, Lance raised his hands in the air, looking guilty. "Sorry. Didn't mean to distract you," he whispered, a small frown appearing on his face.

Lance Jones had a nice face. He was one of those people who just somehow managed to get good looks naturally, with absolutely no effort on their part thanks to the best combination of DNA. He wasn't, however, one of the most sought-after guys from school, mostly because of his more quiet, nice guy demeanor and the fact that he wasn't in any sports teams. I had always admired his ability to belong without really being a part of anything.