It was him. My heart was racing, my palms were sweaty. The sight of him was all I saw for the split second I looked over to him, before I gave my full attention to my painting.
I didn't think he was here at that time. It was dead of night, when the stars were most prominent. That was when I took the opportunity to paint my heart out.
"You're here, too?" He asked as I felt a tap on my shoulder. I flinched before I forced my eyes off the stars above me and looked at him.
A reply didn't leave my mouth. It never did.
"I didn't think you'd ever be out here at this time. You paint?"
He took the opportunity to glance down at my painting. I didn't receive the tough criticism I was expecting. His face was content, a small smile was present on his face.
"Your paintings speak louder than words." He whispered as more stars revealed themselves. "Do your parents know you're out here right now?"
My head was shaking before he finished his sentence. As I painted more, like he wasn't there, a second paintbrush joined mine.
My painting was the scene before me; a small hill with all the stars above it. He painted a girl and a boy sitting together on the hill, gazing into each other's eyes.
His precision was something I hadn't seen before, in person.
"I suppose we aren't as different as you always think." He smiled, a genuine smile, as he took my hand.
He sat me where the girl was in the painting. I understood what he was doing- I understood, and I liked it.
Everyone always assumed he was the popular jerk, who never had any brains or talent. I was proven wrong that day.
He proved me wrong.
"We aren't." I agreed. His face reflected confusion, shock, but most of all, joy.
"You've never spoken to anyone at school. What makes me so special?"
"You're the boy in the painting, gazing into the girl's eyes with such adoration that I couldn't keep quiet." I smiled as he returned it, and stood to take the delicate painting off the stand it had been on.
"And you are the girl, the one I adore with all my heart."
We simply sat together on the hill, the sound of the wind whispering through the trees and the sight of the stars twinkling above us being the only thing we cherished, besides each other.
