Run

Chapter Seven

Alex stands behind me looking pitifully confused as we walk through the Hobby Lobby store. I stay in the drawing and painting area, fighting the temptation to grab everything.

"Why are there so many different pencils?"

I see him looking at all the artist pencils, "they each give a different look while drawing, some are for sketching, others for shading, that kind of thing."

"Do you have this many pencils?" he looks a little horrified.

I smile, "Yeah, my mom saved up all year to get me a full set for Christmas last year, if you looked in my backpack during a school day, it's mostly drawing pencils, my pad, and like a handful of really nice pens. My art goes everywhere."

"How can you even tell the pencils apart?" He questions, picking up a set, "They look exactly alike."

I step over to him and look at the box, "See down here at the bottom, near where the eraser would be on a normal pencil. It says 8B, each pencil has something different, depending on how it looks when you used."

He puts it back, "So, is there anything you want? I'll pay."

"I have some cash, I can--"

"No please, I want to, I actually really like when you draw," he smiles, "It's the only time I see you focused but relaxed."

I look at my shoes, "I kind of want some charcoal and a new sketch pad, mines almost out of pages."

I go over to the many different pads on the shelf, my instinct is to grab the cheapest one, even though there aren't many pages and they tend to rip. I keep looking, determined to find another one that isn't expensive, when I see someone walk up out of the corner of my eye.

I try to take only a quick glance, hoping that they'll walk away. When I look, I'm in awe, because above me is a guy around Alex's and my age. He stands a little shorter than Alex, with paler skin and intense grey eyes, almost silver. His hair sits in a Justin Bieber like mohawk, and has almost reddish brown hair. His physique is much like that of Alex, but his style is totally different. He stands before me in a loose air force blue shirt and dark jeans, he looks over from the sketch pads to me.

"Do you paint or draw?" he inquires leaning down to me.

"I do both, but mostly I draw," I look at the pads again and back to him, "There's a lot of choices, I normally just get that one," I point to my norm.

He smiles at me, and it's sweet, he doesn't have any cockiness in his grin. It's true amusement and interest. He grabs one of the really nice multi-media ones that's almost three times the cost of my cheap one.

"I do both too, I recommend this one," He holds up the sketch pad, "It handles paint and pencil really well, and while there's only like a hundred pages, it's the best in my opinion. What type of paint do you usually use, I'm an oil paint guy myself."

"I usually just use acrylic and sometimes watercolor, I'm... I'm Jules," I hold out my hand and he takes it.

"I'm Robert, it's nice to meet you," His eyes meet mine and I can't break away, his hand keeps a gentle hold on me.

I feel an arm go around my shoulder, "Hey, you alright?" Alex stands against me and looks at Robert with suspicion, "Did you find one you like?"

I look at him and break from my trance, "Oh yeah, um, I think I'm going to get this one," I reach for the cheap one.

"Jules come on, isn't that your exact same pad? You can get a better one, I insist," Alex begs me with his pouty face, so I reach for the one Robert recommended.