The Project

Chapter Eleven - You Think I'm Good?

I collect my art supplies from my locker and slam the door shut.

I just want everyone to go away and leave me alone.

"Lucy...are you alright?" I hear a voice and I look up to see Issacc. He looks nervous.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I sigh, turning on my heel and I start to walk away.

I haven't really known Issacc for very long, but I can tell he's one of those guys who every girl wants to be his friend. He seems like the type of person to always be there for you no matter what. I want to start making friends, not push them away.

"I know something is up, I can tell" I hear him shout which makes me stop in my tracks.

I turn around and he is leant on my locker, hands in pockets, looking so cute and innocent I could slap him for being so adorable.

"Come on, let's go to this place I know, we can just chill and talk about it if you feel like it" He says and I smile, heading back towards him so we could start walking out of school together.

-

After a stop off for some hot chocolates, we end up in Issacc's place to chill out, a park.

It's so quiet and empty, it looks abandoned. Like a zombie apocalypse has taken place while we were in school and we were somehow the last survivors.

We find a bench and sit in silence for a while, at first it was deafening but now it's almost natural.

Issacc clears his throat and I look at him. He smiles and looks off into the distance.

"You're not going to let me leave until I tell you, right?" I say and he looks back at me.

"You know me too well already" he laughs and looks down, almost as if he was ashamed of his smile.

"Fine. I found a letter in my locker from a mystery person saying I should stay away from Ben. I went into geography and had it out with Lucas in front of the whole class and all he did was stutter his way out of it". Just thinking about that moment makes me angry all over again.

"Maybe it wasn't him" he says, shrugging

"Well he's my main suspect after what happened last year. We were made to sit next to each other in nearly every class, making things awkward as we had to get to know each other. By the end of the year he was stalking me because he said he had fallen in love with me. He sent me a letter in my locker, explaining his undying love for me and everyone in the year found out. So come on then genius, who else could it be?" I look away, annoyed by his assumptions.

He sighs and it goes silent again

"Maybe it was Adam"

I look at him confused, how on earth does he know about me and Adam?

"Sascha likes to talk about random things to keep the conversation going" he laughs but quickly stops as he realises that I'm not impressed.

"What did she tell you?" I asked, dreading his reply

"Just that you and him were sworn enemies, always arguing and he bullied you but then you dated for a while. How you hate him because he cheated on you" he says looking at me to see my response.

"Oh, have you told anyone else?" I ask, thinking about who he could have told, Ben.

"Well I haven't told Ben if that's what you're getting at" he says and I can feel my cheeks going red.

"I don't know who sent it but either way, they can't stop you from falling in love" he says nudging me

"W-what, I don't love him, where did you get that idea from, I don't even know the guy" I retort, getting defensive.

He holds his hands up in surrender "Ok calm down I'm just saying it how I see it" he smirks

"Anyway, talking about Ben, have you started any drawings yet?" he asks and he sounds genuinely interested.

"No not yet, I still need to figure out which picture I want to use first. For now, I just draw anything to keep me busy" I say, getting out my sketch pad and passing it to him.
He opens it up and starts looking through all my work, carefully assessing each detail on the page.

"Wow, you're really good at drawing Lucy. Ben is definitely lucky to have you as his artist" he smiles, passing me my book back.

"Really, you think I'm good?" I ask

"Sure, brilliant. I'd pay good money to bet on you being famous in the future"

I didn't know what to say. Usually it's just my parents or Mr Jones who says my artwork is good, but to hear it coming from the mouth of a hot boy. I honestly don't know how to react. The only thing I can think of doing is hug him, which is exactly what I do. He's a little confused at first, but hugs me back just as tightly when he realises what's going on.

"Thank you" I whisper.

"It's ok" he chuckles

We let go and both stare off into the distance. I can't help but have a massive grin on my face, this day just got so much better.