Purpose || phan (book 2)

9.3

I made a new friend. In my art class was a senior. Crystal.

We were finishing our portraits. I leaned back to look at my drawing of Dan, the thought of him with a new meaning.

Crystal glanced across at me. "That's not you." She stated the obvious. I met her green eyes. "Sorry." She quickly apologized as if it wasn't her place to speak. "I'm Crystal." Her voice hardly rose above a whisper.

But I was beyond happy, someone had actually talked to me. Someone besides Dan or my parents. I smiled at her and flipped the drawing around so she could see it completely. "Its my...best friend." I explained. The other two students seemed to caught up in their own conversation to care what we talked about. Crystal nodded.

"You guys must have a close friendship." She leaned forward to mutter. I had known of Crystal. She would give me small waves in the hallway then sat across from me on art. But she had never talked to me until now. I knew she didn't talk to many people and many people didn't talk to her. In a way we had that in common. I had heard others talking about her behind her back. Saying she seemed "off" or "odd".

She seemed perfectly normal to me. She had a head full of light blond hair that curled in q's and tumbled around her pale face. In fact the most color her face had was her bright green eyes.

"You could say that." I answered. There was silence for a few second before she spoke up again.

"Your Phil, right?" Her voice was light. I nodded.

"Yeah Lester." I mentioned my last name. Crystals eyes widened giving her an owl-like appearance.

"So you were here?" She jammed a finger into her desk. "You know, when the shooting happened?" That was around Christmas. Most students had been on vacation. I guessed Crystal was. My stomach turned.

"Yeah but...I don't talk about it." I caught myself stuttering. A wave of heat ran trough me. Crystal looked troubled.

"Oh. I'm sorry." She sat back in her seat and slid my drawing back over to my side. "Your drawings impressive. Your friend must be very lucky to have you." She said suddenly. I felt my cheeks redden and quickly bent down to reach for a dropped pencil under the table. It wasn't mine but I needed her to think it was. When I recovered, I pulled myself back up.

"You could say that." I chuckled. Crystal smiled. She had a beautiful smile. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't see why people disliked her so much. Something was different about her. She didn't act like a typical high schooler. Not immature or obnoxious but rather calm.

We spoke the rest of class. I told her about my trip to Japan, leaving out the part where I kissed Dan. She propped herself up on her elbows and listened and when I paused to draw more, I felt her eyes on me. She listened. She was like Dan.

She told me how her portrait was finished. She told me how she thought it was cool I drew someone else when the assignment was a self portrait. "Mine doesn't look that great. I actually find it quit self centered to draw yourself." She stopped for a minute, her attention wandered around the room. "Not that you aren't attractive." She quickly said. "It's just very thoughtful of you to draw your friend instead."

The bell rang.

"what do you have next?" She followed me out.

"Lunch."

"Study hall." I skip sometimes." There was silence. I mean besides the other students rushing around us. I knew that was my que to invite her to lunch with me.

"You can come to lunch with me..."

"Really?" Crystal perked up. She was a terrible actor. I smiled to myself.

"Follow me." We walked through the hallway to the cafe. My heart sparked when I saw Dan leaning over his notepad, gradually sketching away at his drawing. He hasn't let me see them recently but I think he secretly draws me when I'm not paying attention.

**
Schools back but I love nights that make me feel like it's still summer.