ecstasy. || jeffmads (DISCONTINUED)

| t w e n t y - f i v e |

♢♢♢♢

I woke up late, Elizabeth banging on my bedroom door screaming about how she was late for her violin lesson. I just rolled my eyes, slinging my backpack over one shoulder and pulling the door open. It didn't open. Oh, right, I thought, unlocking it. I rushed out, remembering something. I went back to my room and grabbed my picture off the desk, then ran down the stairs, almost tripping over my untied shoelaces. Dammit, James, I thought, organise yourself. I really needed to.

*

When I got to school, I didn't even bother going to my corner. Instead, I went and sat in class, waiting for class to start. Who the fuck does that? I didn't have anywhere else to go. Well, I guess I had the library. But, Thomas was there. There wasn't necessarily a problem with him being there, but I just wasn't in the mood for his silly lightheartedness right now. I just sighed and pulled out my notebook, doodling inside it. Of course, it wasn't long before the bell went, my classmates rushing in while speaking at the tops of their voices. Each one of them an individual headache.

*

I arrived at our workplace before everyone else. That was new. I frowned and looked at my watch, maybe I was early. It was exactly three o'clock. I guess that was early in a way, but even if. Hm, I thought, weird. I just took my backpack off and sat down, pulling my notebook out again. I peered around before opening it to the page I'd been doodling on earlier. I'd found a new interest in drawing Thomas' face. He had broad features, I thought, and I needed to work on my detail, anyway. I thought it stately that I didn't need a reference to draw him. It could have easily been missing some detail, but so what. I could fix it later.

Just then, I heard his voice.
  "Yo James!" he called. I subtly closed my book and pushed it aside then turned to him. He looked happy. Excited. He reached me, an ear to ear smile on his face.
  "What's got you so high in your spirits?" I asked. He just chuckled and sat down next to me after putting his satchel down. 
  "I don't know, actually. Just happy to see you, I guess." he snickered, pulling his laptop out then turning to me. "What's up?"
Geez. How someone could hold so much positivity, I didn't know. But I answered.
  "Just drawing. Was waiting for y'all to get here."
He looked at me, a riveted expression. 
  "I see. I think they're on their way. What... what were you drawing?" he queried. I just looked at him. Why was he asking me what I was drawing? I just shrugged.
  "Nothing really..."
I wish I hadn't made that pause so obvious. He looked at me at first with a blank expression, then his lips curled into a smirk. Oh hell.
  "What chu mean nothing? You can't draw nothing, Jemmie. Even I, dense as I am, know that. C'mon. Tell me."

I rolled my eyes mentally. Was it really that necessary for him to know? I didn't want him to know I was drawing him. He'd probably be creeped out.
  "It ain't matter." 
He paused before answering. I thought he was going to keep nagging me, but surprisingly, he didn't. He just smiled.
  "Got it. But-"
Just before he finished his sentence, I heard voices. We both turned around to see the other three walking toward us, chatting away as if they weren't late for this important duty.
"Hey boys!" Theodosia chirped as she came round. The other two followed suit. I raised my eyebrows then looked at my watch.
  "Took y'all long enough."
The aforementioned giggled as she took out her laptop.
  "Yeaaahhhh, apologies for that. I was on my way here then ran into Dolley and Hercules. I didn't mean to, obviously, but I did. Somehow I joined the conversation because I thought it was interesting and I was shipping them so hard throughout. Herc eventually left so we proceeded. Then we bumped into Aaron and Alexander who were also having an interesting convo. And then we—"
  "Long story short," Aaron cut in, "we were late because we ran into some people."
They all giggled including Theodosia who nodded in agreement.
  "What he said."
I just nodded.
  "Nah, that's cool. Thomas was just getting annoying."