3 Years

Chapter 10

I looked over at Dan who had been hunched over one piece of art for at least 20 minutes. The other three pieces of art had taken him 10 minutes each but this last one had taken a lot longer. Guess he really cared about this one.

"What project are you on?" I finally asked. Curiosity had gotten the best of me.

His head whipped up and his cheeks were red. "I...um...the person you wish was real one."

"You seem a bit flustered there Dan." I laughed.

"I have no idea why."

"What's your person like?"

Dan looked down at the drawing in his lap and smiled softly. "I suppose my person already exists...at least I think they do."

"Okay?" I tried to get a better look at it but he shielded it with his hand. "Are you going to describe it?"

"Uh. They're really sweet. I don't know a lot about um her but I'd like to get to know her a lot better. I've actually only really known her for a few days."

My chest ached. I forgot that real Dan wasn't...like me. I should just forget about that stupid dream. It's just making things harder than they have to be.

"Oh that's cool." I sighed.

"Are you going to describe your person then?" he smiled.

I shook my head. "That might not be smart."

"Can I see it?" Dan asked. "You can trust me."

I could feel my sketchbook sitting behind me. I thought about what Dan would say if he knew my drawing was actually him. He could think that I'm a freak. Or he could just find it creepy. Even though I knew in my heart that it was a bad idea, I felt myself grabbing the small piece of paper out of my book.

I handed it to him and buried myself in the mountain blankets that I'd found in a cupboard.

Dan looked it over for a few minutes and smiled. "He's so cute. What's his name?"

I tried to think of a name quickly but failed miserably. My mind just wasn't working when I needed it to.

"Uh his name is actually Dan."

"Why is it Dan?"

I shrugged. "Dunno. I just thought he looked like a Dan."

When I said that Dan looked slightly disappointed. Almost as if he wanted my person to be him.

"Well it's really awesome."

"Thank you. Do I get to see yours then? You only described it."

Dan's smiled faltered. "I...okay."

He took his own paper and passed it to me. It's not a girl. It looks just like me. I thought. Everything about it was me. From the bright blue eyes to my favourite black converse. Dan's paragraph about his character was right underneath. I read it carefully.

This is Philip. In a way I believe he's already a real person. I just haven't gotten to know this part of him yet. My little Philip is the kindest, most caring person in the entire world. If he isn't a real person then I definitely want him to be because I want a friend that actually cares. He doesn't have to look like my drawing but I'd like it to be since he's based off of a real person.

I smiled a tiny bit before looking up at Dan. "Who's he based off?"

His eyes widened. "Oh! He's uh not actually based off of anyone. I just said that because I couldn't think of anything else to say."