Introvert

five

Together, the blonde and brunette walked into the library on Monday. Austin didn't realize that Dylan had the same free period as him. He had seen her entering the library when he was on his way to the music room where he normally spent his. Instead of sitting by himself at the piano and having to find her in a crowded library at lunch, he just joined her then.

Saturday had been bugging him. Why had she just walked away? He knew she like being alone, but it was one round of Mario Kart. It wouldn't have been the end of the world. Plus, he thought she liked spending time with him.

The two sat at there usual table in the back corner of the library. Austin stared at the girl across from him. She drew something in her sketch book that he couldn't see. "Hey, Dylan." The girl's eyes looked up from her paper to the boy. They met for a moment in acknowledgment before falling back down to her drawing. It was normal for her to do that, so Austin continued to talk. "You know how you came downstairs on Saturday and I asked you to play a game of Mario Kart?"

Pausing her work, Dylan brought her full attention to the golden-haired boy across from her. She could feel a deeper conversation coming on. She nodded her head, insinuating for him to continue.

"Why didn't you want to stay?"

"Because I didn't want to." That was all there was to it. Dylan had no other explanation and she thought he got that. With that, she thought the conversation would be over. She picked up her pencil and began to draw again.

But the conversation wasn't over for Austin. "That really isn't a reason, Dylan."

Her eyes flickered away from her drawing back up to his. Austin's brown eyes stayed on her as he watched her set down her pencil once again. "How is that not a valid reason, Austin? I didn't want to be down there, so I didn't stay."

The boy leaned back in his chair. "I get you didn't want to stay, but there has to be a reason behind not wanting to."

The girl rolled her eyes. This conversation felt repetitive, but she knew he wasn't going to let it go. Although she wanted to win this argument, the more she sat on it, the more she realized that it was more of an excuse rather than a reason. As the minutes of silence and glaring passed, Austin was realizing that Dylan was going to surrender. Her hands slipped under her glasses to rub her eyes. She was irritated, frustrated, and just had to admit it was an excuse. "I don't know, I just don't prefer to hang out with strangers."

"I get that, but like two of us wouldn't technically be strangers." Her new found friend pointed out. If Dylan hung out with them, only three of the boys would actually be strangers. "You should hang out with us this weekend then."

Instinctually, the girl was shaking her head in disagreement.

"Come on, it'll be fun. I'll be there, so you can just stick with me."

"I don't think so, Porter." Dylan leaned back in her chair and looked away from the boy.

"How about this? If you come out with us and it isn't fun, you don't have to stay. You can retreat back to your cave." Austin talked with his hands.

Rolling her eyes, Dylan laughed a little at his use of the word 'cave'. "My room is not a cave."

"I mean, it's kind of like your own personal cave." He paused for a second then continued, "Seriously though, I think you'll have a good time. I promise the other boys are a lot of fun and you can hang out with me for the entire time if you want to." Underneath the table, he crossed his fingers for luck.

The thought of hanging out with them pondered in her mind. She weighed the pros and cons, but eventually she nodded.

A smile stretched across Austin's face. Not being able to keep herself from smiling too, Dylan's own grin formed. Then it fell as she thought of something. The girl held out her pinky over the center of the table. "You promise that I can leave at any point."

The boy looked at her pinky finger. A soft smile formed as he realized that she wanted to make a pinky promise. Wrapping his own around hers, he said,  "Yeah."

"And you won't stop me from leaving if I decided that I don't want to stay."

"Yes, but you have to stay for at least 20 minutes. Give it a fair chance."

"Okay. So we promise each other that if I give a fair chance, I can leave after 20 minutes if I don't want to stay?"

"I promise."

Unexpectedly, Dylan brings her lips to her thumb and kisses it. Giving her a weird look, Austin asked, "What was that?"

"You've never sealed a pinky promise?" Dylan questioned him, shocked that he had never done that before. Austin shook his head, so she pushed their locked hands towards him. "You kiss your thumb to seal the promised."

Chuckling to himself, Austin pressed his own lips to his thumb.

As the two let go of each other, Dylan smiled at Austin. "Perfect, now you can't break your promise."

Resting his elbows on the table, the boy leaned in and whispered. "What if I do?"

With a straight face, Dylan said, "Then I get to chop off your pinky."

A look of horror flashed across his face as he leaned away. Dylan laughed at his fear. "What the hell, Dylan?"

"What? That's how it goes. You seal the promise with a kiss on the thumb and once you lock it in you can't break it. Whoever breaks it, the other person gets to chop off their pinky."

"That's morbid." The boy leans away from her.

"Brandon's the one who taught it to me, so..." she trailed off.

"Well, I don't plan on breaking it."

"Neither do I."