Shy Whispers || Michael Clifford

2

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Chapter 2

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I'm sitting down at my table when I look up and see Michael making his way towards me. So I guess he'll be sitting here all year. It's not necessarily a bad thing. I don't know, maybe it'll be good. My sister, Julia, is always begging me to make more friends.

I'm getting ahead of myself here. I've only talked to him once. But still, he didn't make fun of me. That's kind of a big deal for me right now.

Our eyes lock and we just look at each other for a couple seconds. The sides of his mouth pull up into a smile, but I look away. I'm not trying to be rude, I swear. I'm just.. not good with people.

He seems to be in a better mood than yesterday. As soon as he sits down in the same spot as before, he takes out a pen and starts to flip it around with the ghost of a smile on his face. I shrug to myself and turn back to my paper.

I've been working on a project for art class and for my terrible art skills, it's not that bad. The eyes are a little lopsided, but I can fix that. Or at least I'll try.

I take my newly sharpened pencil and begin shading the hair delicately. My hand works quickly and my eyes squint, concentrating on the art in front of me. I stop shading and sit up, gazing at the paper. It's not my best work.. I huff quietly to myself and resume my drawing.

A pen slams into my pencil and I draw a line straight through the girl's face.

"You've got to be kidding me!" I shout and look towards Michael. He stares down at my paper and his eyes widen.

"Jesus Christ, I'm so sorry!" he says and stands up quickly, rushing over to me.

See normally, I would be mad at him; he ruined my drawing! But he looked genuinely guilty. I can't be mad at him for this. It was obviously an accident.

Plus my drawing was already pretty terrible.

"No, it's fine," I rub my forehead and sigh, shaking my head.

Michael comes up next to me and looks down at my paper. His face is etched with guilt and he rubs his chin, exhaling loudly.

"Here, I can help."

He takes the pencil from my hand. Our hands brush together and I shiver slightly from the contact. Okay, it's not a big deal. This isn't a romance novel.

He erases the long mark across the paper. He looks at it for a second before erasing half of the eyes and redrawing them. His hand works gracefully as he moves the pencil over the paper. His tongue glides over his lips swiftly, clearly concentrating on the drawing. He puts the pencil down on my paper and looks at me again, whispering a quiet 'sorry' before going back to his seat.

I look down at the drawing and my eyes widen.

Not only has he fixed the line across her face, but he also fixed the lopsided eyes. It looks better than it ever has. I never knew he was so good at art. He's actually really talented. Way more than me, at least.

I look over at Michael and his cheeks have a tint of pink while he fiddles with his fingers in his lap and stares across the room. Is he blushing? Did I just make him blush? No, it wasn't me. It couldn't have been because of me. I smile and look around the table. His pen lays next to me and I pick it up, fiddling with it for a second before sliding it across the table towards him. He catches it just before it slides off the edge of the table and looks over towards me.

"Thanks, Cecelia."

"You know my name?" I say, my face scrunching up in confusion.

"No offense, but I think everyone in this school knows your name," he replies, looking at me, a hint of sorrow in his eyes.