Introvert

three

Ever since their interaction on Saturday, Austin could not stop thinking about Dylan. At first, he thought it was nothing. He was just kind of in awe at how different she seemed from Brandon; like they were polar opposites. But then Monday rolled around.

He never realized how often she was actually around.

Before, he wouldn't be able to pinpoint her in a crowd, but now she was all he could see. He would see her in the halls almost every passing period and her locker wasn't very far from his. She always seemed to carry this black notebook in her hand. She always wore some kind of hoodie and skinny jeans. Her slip on vans sometimes matched his. His favorite thing though was her glasses. That was how he knew it was her in the distance. He thought it was cute the way they were just a little too big.

He also noticed that she always walked around with this boy. The dude was just as tall as him with dark hair and a nose ring. Austin hated the way they walked so close together, but he couldn't pinpoint why. There was no way that he could say he had a crush on her. For one, it was Brandon's little sister. And two he had talked to her a total of two times; with the first time not technically counting because they simply said 'hey'.

By the end of the week, he decided that he wanted to just become her friend. Maybe that was why he couldn't stop thinking about her. Dylan was just a really chill person that I need in my life, nothing more, he thought.

On Friday, Austin walked into school and found Brandon.

"Hey man, can I ask you something?"

Brandon was leaned up against his locker typing on his phone. "Mhm."

"Does Dylan leave campus for lunch?" He asked and somehow instantly regretting it.

Brandon had shut off his phone and was looking Austin up and down. The blonde boy instantly knew that Brandon's protective older brother instincts kicked in. "Why?"

"Um," Austin's gaze shifted away from Brandon's glare. He tried to think of a quick excuse, something that would work. Then he thought of something her older brother would buy. "I wanted to get some advice for my art class. I saw her work on Saturday and she's really good."

The brother nodded. "Um, no. I think she just hangs out in the library. I honestly don't know."

Austin nodded, muttering a 'thanks' before heading to his homeroom.

Dylan had always noticed Austin. He was hard to miss with his long blonde hair that was clearly bleached. Plus, he was taller than most. She could spot him a mile away and it felt like that would always be the case. But she didn't notice him when he entered the library.

Fortunately, her free period lined up with her lunch period so she always spent the hour and a half in the library. Sometimes she worked on homework, but usually she would end up drawing in her sketch book. When her free period had started, the girl was essentially alone in the library. Pulling out her phone, Dylan opened up Instagram looking for some inspiration. Then there it was. Her brother had posted a picture with the boys that were always over. His handle was tagged, theaustinporter. Clicking on his page, she stared at all of the photos he had posted.

Dylan looked up to make sure no one was around and screenshot her favorite picture. She knew it was risky drawing him, but something about it felt like the right thing to do. He was already on her mind, it was a great photo for her to practice profiles, and there was no chance that anyone would see it other than Everett.

Leaving Instagram, the girl went to Spotify as she pulled out her earbuds. As 'You' by the 1975 began to fill her ears, she started the outline of her drawing. Her eyes constantly shifted from the screenshot of the boy to her paper. By the time she had finished her outline and shading his nose and lips, the bell rung announcing lunch. Knowing kids would start to fill the library, her arm shifted to hide her phone so no one would see her reference.