The Jungle Girl

35-The Drawing

Thanksgiving break goes by way too quickly, and before I know it, I'm back in school with the shitty lighting and creaky chairs. Ryan isn't in first period which is strange but at least I don't have to worry about talking to him. Even though it has been getting easier. But now that I've texted him I don't know if he expects me to be more friendly with him. I want to be, but I'm not sure if I'm capable.

I don't expect Ryan to be at lunch, but he is. Him and his wavy hair that I should probably stop staring at before someone notices. We talk a bit about our breaks and what we did. Eating turkey and getting into fights with relatives about politics. You know, the usual.

I wait for Ryan to mention the story, but he never does. Which is fine. But, I kind of wanted to talk to him about it and there's no way I'm brave enough to start a conversation like that.

Days pass and I start to get back into the swing of school. Today's the first day back to the creative writing club and I'm actually excited to start the story Ryan thought of. It's a simple, cute story, but I've never read anything like it.

I sit down and chat with Shay and Alaia while waiting for everyone to come in. Ms.Lopez steps in the room and I realize that Ryan isn't here. He was here during lunch though. Strange.

Ms.Lopez begins by welcoming us back and asking about our breaks. Some people have stories of driving for four hours to see family and some people have stories of sleeping in until three in the afternoon. Very interesting.

Right when the final person who wants to talk about their break finishes, Ryan walks in. Ms.Lopez looks at him while he sits down but he offers no explanation for his tardiness. She rolls her eyes and continues the lesson. She explains that basically all we're going to do for the rest of the semester is work on our books. So, she tells us all to get with our partner and to work. That's that.

Shay gets up from her seat and gestures for me to switch with her, so I do. I sit down next to Ryan, who currently has his head on the table, looking like he's going to fall asleep any second. Shay pokes his back with a pencil and gives him a pointed look.

He lifts his head and rubs his face with his hands. "Right. Sorry. Hi."

"Hi," I reply. I take a closer look at him and squint a little. He looks... not good. As in ill or like he hasn't slept in a few days. His eyes are puffy and his skin looks pale. "Are you ok?" I ask him before I can stop myself.

He seems to shake out of a daze when I ask him and he quickly smiles at me. "Yeah, just tired. Still not used to waking up so early." He ruffles his hair a little and takes a deep breath. "But, I'm ready now," he smiles at me. "Let's make a best seller!"

I laugh at his ridiculousness. "Sure." I take out the folder with the story in it and ruffle through some papers until I find it. I put it on my desk and Ryan picks it up with furrowed brows.

"What is this?"

"The story," I say. "Well, an outline of it."

His face breaks into a grin that makes me feel things. "You made a bullet point list," he shakes his head, the grin never leaving his face. "That's so Bindi of you."

Before I can figure out whether that's a good thing or not he's already moved on and talking about character names.

"I think our characters should have cool names. Maybe something that reflects us or our personalities. I don't want to just pick a random name. I want it to mean something so that when people read it they can deep dive into this shit. Like you know in Bless Me Ultima one family was named after the moon and the other after the ocean? It could be something like that. And when kids are analyzing this book years from now they'll be like 'damn, these authors were geniuses.' And we'll get a pulitzer prize and go on book tours-"