Cordiform | LGBT

You're an Artist, I'm a Silly Jerk

With the semester quickly wrapping up in early December, assignments slow to a crawl to be replaced with impending midterms. During their sixth period study hall, Dominic sketches Landon when the other is too busy reading to notice him. Dominic's not sure when it happened, but lately, all of his drawings are of Landon. 

He studies the way Landon absently chews on the plastic of his hoodie string while he reads and the way his natural curls always pick midday to defy the laws of hair gel. Landon's features are sharp and his expression hardened in a way that Dominic hasn't quite placed. Yet, Dominic notes, that Landon's eyes are always surprisingly soft.

They're friends, but even when Dominic tries to ignore it, he knows he looks at Landon differently. Sometimes being with other people feels like a dress rehearsal for a play he'll never be ready for. He's never exactly a whole person, just a series of parts that he's expected to play; Golden Child; Preacher's Son; Star Athlete. With Landon, though, he doesn't worry about saying the right, or wrong, thing.

He just exists and it's good enough for Landon.

"What are you doing?" Landon looks up from his book, a soft rasp to his voice that always make the hair on the back of Dominic's neck stand on end.

"Uh, what?—I mean—nothing." Dominic fumbles over his words, embarrassed that he's been caught not only drawing Landon, but staring at him. When Landon sits up from his slouched position to get a better look at the sketchbook, Dominic snaps it shut faster than he means to.

"Were you drawing me?" A coy smirk spreads across Landon's features as he scoots himself closer to Landon's desk, ignoring the occasional scrape of metal against tile in the process, "C'mon, let me see." He demands with another toothy smirk that's full of boyish charm.

"I wasn't drawing you." It's a meek lie, emphasized when Dominic props his elbows on the sketchbook to keep it guarded from any prying eyes. The last thing he wants is for Landon to see his drawings.

"Oh, really?" Landon snorts, "So you were just admiring my good looks, then?" To make his point, Landon brushes a hand through freshly dyed blue locks where he attempts to look suave with an eyebrow wiggle but only appears goofy. Dominic laughs at the display, louder than he intends to which draws the attention of the teacher supervising the study hall.

"Mr. Woods." The elderly woman hisses out Dominic's name in a warning, glaring at him over her horn-rimmed glasses. Dominic's face flushes red when other students give the duo a look as Landon stifles his snickering.

Despite his open embarrassment, Dominic is relieved to have the conversation dropped for the time being and tries focusing on studying for his history exam, something he should've been doing all along.

Dominic is almost through a pile of flash cards when Landon slides a piece of paper across his desk. Dominic can't help but roll his eyes as he looks over what he had once considered illegible handwriting but could now read with the same ease as if it were his own.

'If you show me what you were drawing, I'll play you a song'

He knows that Landon plays the guitar but he's never actually heard him play before. He lingers on the question for longer than he'd like to admit before writing out a simple response.

'Don't laugh'

Dominic doesn't wait for a reply as he hands the sketchbook over. He can feel a bundle of nerves festering in the pit of his stomach and a small tremor sets in his hands. He's never shown someone his sketchbook before, not even Morgan.

Landon accepts the sketchbook and flips through it carefully, expecting portraits and landscapes but instead finding it littered with mythical beings and bizarre beasts. They were good, but dark. When Dominic wasn't drawing spindly creatures with sharpened teeth, he was drawing classmates, like Morgan, or strangers on a bus or in a coffee shop. Landon feels as if he is getting a glimpse at a whole other part of Dominic he's yet to uncover. Something vulnerable.

Soon enough, Landon recognizes sketches of himself. They start out  quick and timid, but progressively become more confident until he's starting at complete portraits of himself. Landon can feel the heat settle in his cheeks. He finds it odd to see himself through someone else's eye. Upon reaching the one Dominic was working on, he smiles bashfully and is relieved to find Dominic too distracted with his history notes to see his elation.

As the bell rings, Landon gently closes the sketchbook, "These are awesome, man. You're really talented." He tries to tone down his excitement, not wanting to gush over a male friend's artwork, "You should enter a piece into that art show Hannah was handing out flyers for."

Dominic shakes his head while laughing, "No way! I could never do something like that." Truth be told, his artwork had been frowned upon by his parents since he was child. They found the hobby to be meaningless and had tried to discourage it. It quickly became a source of shame for Dominic and while he still pursued the hobby, it was something he kept closely guarded.

"Seriously, Dom, you're really good. Just, y'know, think it over." Landon smiles reassuringly, bumping elbows with Dominic before collecting his belongings and walking out with Dominic in tow.