Bobcat

Doodle

Chapter Song:
Itchin' On a Photograph - Grouplove

Just want y'all to know that I am hardcore editing this book right now for the Wattys. I also would like you to know that this book was started almost a year before Riverdale premiered or I even knew it existed.

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I woke up to my cheek  pressed against the hard spiral of my notebook. I had fallen asleep in  the library again, no doubt late to another class. I hadn't been getting  much sleep lately between all the homework and the fact that my  roommate had gotten a new boyfriend. The sounds of them at night  instantly sent a gagging sensation to my throat. My hand moved to my  cheek, the light coming into the window as I frowned softly. There were odd marks on my face  from the notebook. The rest of the library was still moving as kids came in to do homework in a frantic last minute state.

I checked my phone for  the time. There were notifications, but I still had ten minutes before  class started. I didn't have time to check any of them if I wanted to make it to class. I was sure most of them were from my concerned roommate. I didn't exactly venture off. My homework wasn't  complete, but that didn't matter. The teacher never checked, so I pushed my books off the desk into my bag. I pulled my hair back into an unattractive messy bun that sat on the top of my head. I was still in the same clothes as yesterday, but class is class. I walked outside and across the green campus. Trees  were as dark of a green as my eyes in the late summer, almost fall. I looked down at my hands as I pulled the door open to the tall building across the field of sidewalks from the library. I walked upstairs and into the classroom, staying quiet. Class had already started so I slid into an empty seat in the back along the isle.

The teacher already had the slides up as I pulled my notebook and pens out of my bag. I looked  around the room before going to look back at the slide. I thought I was  late, but the door at the back of the auditorium opened again. A tall  male with dark hair in a button down and suspenders walked in, sitting  down on the other side of the isle. His cheek bones sat high and his  features were chiseled as he threw his own bag on the floor in an apathetic manner. His dark hair fell slightly in his face as he leaned over his books.  There was one distinct curl that pressed against his forehead. I didn't  think much of it as the teacher started to talk about the constituency of supply and demand.

As the hour went on, I  found myself drawing along the edges of my paper. I always doodled, but I found my pencil shading in the underside of a high cheek bone, followed by the creation of the edge of a thin upper lip and a slightly thicker lower lip. I knew who I was drawing, but it didn't mean anything to me. He's just an attractive guy in my class. I only looked. I never grew real feelings for anyone and never had. I was almost practically aromantic.

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I unlocked the door to  my apartment just off the NYU campus, pushing my way inside. He was on the couch. The kid from class was sitting on the couch. I wasn't sure how he had beat me back so quickly and had time to change, but there he was. I stared at him  for a second, my hand still on the front door before I realized that it  wasn't him. His face was rounder and he had a kind of birthmark under his left eye that the kid from class didn't have. His hair was a shaggy blond instead of the dark slightly curled mess from earlier. His voice was heavy as  he talked. He hadn't been awake long from the look or sound of him.

"Morning, Delia. Nova's still asleep. She doesn't have class until three or something like  that," he said as he waved slightly, almost as if waving off the thought of her having to go to class. "We haven't actually met yet. I'm Dylan."

He went to stand up as I  motioned for him to stay on the couch. I could feel the slight distaste fall across my face. My voice wasn't as quiet as I thought it would be, but it did come out as curious as I felt.

"Hi? I'm Delia. I guess  you knew that?" I was still confused on how someone that looked so much like the kid from class could be sitting in my living room but not actually be that kid. I pointed toward my door slightly. "And I'm going  to just be in there if you need anything or something." He nodded before looking down at the books in my hand. His eyes seem to linger so out of awkward confrontation, I headed toward my room before closing the door behind me. I slid my books onto my desk before I realized what he had been staring at. The drawing had looked like him. I could feel the heat creep to my cheeks out of embarrassment. Oh God. What if he thought I had been drawing him? Everything would be so painfully awkward next time he saw me. What if he told Nova? Nova was the overly protective type. It wouldn't go well at all.

I leaned back against my bedroom door. I could hear him talking to someone on the phone about going out tonight, which didn't sound like a bad idea. I had earned a night out, but what if I ran into him? Who was I kidding? Out of all of  NYC who was to say I'd run into him? I picked up my phone and called my  best friend, Jordan. The phone only rang a half a ring before her face appeared on my screen, her smile wide. 

Jordan wasn't the typical friend, and saying she was one of few words was an underestimation. Jordan became deaf when she was three. She had cochlear devices put in when she was twelve. She can hear to an extent but she has to focus. She'sso loud because of it, but I've always loved her anyway. I wouldn't have traded her for the world. I signed to her asking if she wanted to go out. 

"Aziza? Meet you at the subway at eight?" I quickly signed back 'yes' before she grinned and hung up on me without a second thought.