Introvert

two

The weekend had arrived swiftly and it went as it usually did.

While her favorite Gorillaz vinyl played on her record player, Dylan locked herself away in her room hunched over her sketch book. Almost all of her drawing pencils; the good kind that her mother bought her for Christmas, were sprawled across the desk top where she worked. Her fingers were covered in led from smudging the paper so her lines would blend. The girl's art teacher, Mr. Jackson, hounded her about using a smudge tool, but she thought she had more control with her fingers. Her hair was pulled messily out of her face. It sat in a brown knot on the crown of her head. An old oversized t-shirt she didn't dare wear out in public hung over her shoulders while she sat in black sweatpants. Although her legs were beginning to sweat because of her cross-cross apple-sauce position, her bare toes were slightly cold because of the afternoon breeze that blew through the open bedroom window.

Downstairs, her older brother and his friends were playing a game of Call of Duty.

"B, do you have any of those cheddar jalapeño Cheetos or just the hot ones?" Austin asked from the kitchen.

It wasn't uncommon for Brandon's four best friends to be over at the Arreaga house on Saturday afternoons. Because his parents were usually working, Brandon thought that his house was the best one for them to hang out at. The boys would sprawl out on the living room couches and play whatever game they decided on.

Due to how frequently they were all over, the four were used to just walking around and getting their own snacks from the kitchen; which was usually stalked with all of their favorites. Except for today.

"No, I don't think Mom could find them at the store when she went shopping!" Brandon shouted from his spot on the couch.

Running a hand through his bleached hair, Austin started walking back to the room everyone was in. Before everyone had gotten to Brandon's house, Zion and Austin had split an edible and the munchies had hit him.

"I got to get them from the store."

To focused on the game, the boy didn't notice his friend's droopy red eyes. "Why? Just eat the hot Cheetos or maybe Dylan still has those Jalapeño Kettle chips. I'll just buy her a new bag."

"Bro, I hella just want the cheddar ones."

Finally looking away from his game, Brandon noticed Austin's face and instantly knew he was stoned. "Okay, we can go to the store, but you're not driving." He glanced at the other three and saw Zion's dilated eyes.

"I'm assuming you guys want to go, too."

Nick shrugged while Edwin's eyes drifted away from his phone to look at Brandon. "Yeah, I guess."

All of the guys started grabbing their shoes. Austin had his slip-on vans so he was ready before anyone else. While tying his laces, Brandon looked over at the blonde boy. "Would you mind seeing if Dylan wants anything while we're there?"

"Dylan?" Austin asked with furrowed eyebrows.

"Dylan. My sister. Her room's literally across from mine." Brandon pointed up the stairs.

At first, Dylan hadn't heard the soft knock. Her music was a bit too loud because she wanted to try and drown out the boys downstairs.

The girl hated when Brandon had his friends over. It wasn't that she hated them. She had hardly talked or even looked at them. It was just the fact that she could hear them and possibly have to interact with them. Whenever they were over, she was too scared to even leave her room out of fear of having to socialize for a few minutes. All Dylan wanted was some peace and quiet on the weekends so she could recharge before the school week.

The record had ended and that's when she heard the knock on her bedroom door. For a second, she was hesitant. Her brother always just swung the door open without a care in the world. But then again, it could be one of her parents. Or maybe Everett could have decided to swing by before his family dinner.

Tucking a strand of hair that had fallen in her face behind her ear, she approached the door. Standing there was Austin Porter, the bleached blonde that hung around her brother and honestly seemed the nicest of all his friends. Her eyes widened slightly with shock and horror, knowing she looked like a troll.

Austin stared down at Brandon's little sister. Somehow he had forgotten what she looked like. She was much shorter than he remember and her glasses weren't sitting on the bridge of her nose. He remembered her glasses from the first and only time they had talked. They were a bit too big for her face, but he didn't mind them.

The two just stared at each other for a second, taking the other in. But then Austin began to talk. "What are you up to?" He knew that he was only up there to see if she wanted anything from the store, but he had noticed her finger tip were practically black.

Dylan furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"

The boy shrugged, looking past her. Although she tried to block his view of her room, due to their height difference, he could see into it. The first thing he noticed was the bed. It was covered in white sheets and gray blankets, but the pillows were what captured his attention. She had an Attack on Titans pillow as well as a No Face and Totoro. Not even realizing he was walking, he pushed past her and walked the green pillow. Sitting down on her bed, he held the pillow and looked back at the girl.

She was glaring at him. Dylan couldn't believe that this boy who she had barely even spoken to was in her room. She watched as he held her pillow.

"Is this Attack on Titans?" He asked.

She nodded as her arms crossed over her chest. Although she was still annoyed, her face softened. No one really knew about the anime she loved dearly and she was surprised that he of all people knew. The girl watched as the boy glanced around her room.

He noticed her desk then. It had a sprawl of pencils and paper over it. Austin began to put two and two together. "Were you drawing before I came in?"

Again, the girl nodded. She didn't know what else to say.

Austin stood from his seat on the chair and walked over to the desk. "You don't really say much, do you?" He began before his eyes landed onto her sketch book. The drawing was a portrait of a boy he didn't recognize. "You did this?"

Dylan bit down on her lip. She was always nervous whenever anyone looked at her art. Although most of the time she was complimented, the girl was her biggest critic and thought that there was always something that could be done better.

"It's really good." His eyes met her gaze and she sent him a soft smile. His brown eyes moved from the sketch book to her walls which were covered in posters of bands he didn't recognize and art that he though could be hers. His gaze shifted to her bookshelves and the area by it.

In the corner of her room, she had two bean bag chairs with a small table between them. Underneath the table, there was a bucket with snacks. It caught Austin's eye and he finally remembered why he was there. "Ugh, we were going to go to the store and Brandon wanted me to ask if you wanted anything?"

Dylan stared at him in thought for a moment. "Can you close your eyes?"

Austin stared back sat her, confused. "Why?"

She rolled her eyes before meeting his gaze once again. "I need to grab my money from my secret stash and if you have your eyes open it won't be a secret anymore."

The boy's lips parted into an 'oh' then shut his eyes. Walking up to him, she tilted her head to look up at him. The girl wanted to make sure his eyes were shut, so she raised her hand and waved it in front of his face. Even though he could feel the breeze of her hand across his nose, Austin kept his eyes shut.

Leaving Austin to stand in the middle of her room, she walked over to her book shelf and grabbed her secret book. Opening it, her money was sat in the pocket that had been cut into the pages. Picking out a twenty, she closed the book and put it back in it's place.

She stood in front of her brother's friend when she spoke again. "Could you ask him to pick me up a bag of munchies and sour gummy worms?"

Austin looked down at her and grabbed the twenty that she handed him. "Yeah, munchies and worms. Got it."