Body Art

3 | shh, be cool

"OMG. What did you say?!"

So I told Connie.

"I didn't," I told her as I pulled on my jacket and freed my hair from its collar. "The bell ring and he left before I could even think about it."

"Well, are you going to meet him?"

"I don't know."

She rolled her hazel eyes and slung her bag onto her thin shoulders. "Dana, come on. You should do it!"

My expression was unamused.

"Oh, don't give me that face. You're making it sound like he asked to smell your feet or something super weird. The guy asked to hang out with you, girl, lighten up."

"No, he asked to paint me," I retorted as we shuffled our way through the after school crowd towards the exit. This is the part of the day where I wish someone could invent hallway lanes for the impossibly slow walkers. "He asked me to be his muse. Me! Like, is he serious? I didn't even know guys still say corny things like that."

"They don't," she said matter-of-factly. "You need to stop thinking about this so much and just try it. You act like you weren't blushing your brains out two weeks ago when he painted your eyes in class. And it's not like he's ugly either!"

My ears caught fire at the recollection - not that I'd forgotten it. "Shut up, Connie."

She snickered at my discomfort. "Look, all I'm saying is it can't hurt to try. At least see what he's like, Dana. It's not like he's super talkative."

My brows kissed my hairline at that. "He's not?" I couldn't get him to shut up two hours ago!

"Um, no? Did you forget that half the school still thinks he's a mute? Or that you were the first person he's spoken to since transferring?"

"Did you forget the part where I told you he cornered me in study hall?"

She rolled her eyes again. "Okay well, it would seem you're one of the only people he likes enough to talk to. Stop complaining."

"I'm not," I said as we finally made it to the main doors and got down the front steps. We headed for the side parking lot where Connie's car was and I began to slow my pace. "I just can't wrap my head around this. It's just so weird to me..."

"Well, you'd better wrap quickly."

I glanced at my brown skinned best friend. "Why's that?"

"Because he's coming this way."

"Wait, what?"

"Shh, be cool!"

I clamped my mouth shut and looked ahead. True to her word, he was headed straight for us, looking rather handsome in that sweatshirt with the wind whipping through his auburn hair. He let loose an amused grin when he got within earshot.

"Fancy seeing you here," he said to me before addressing Connie with a curt nod. "Connie."

She gave a polite nod. "Taz."

He turned to me and there was that childlike glimmer in his eyes again. "Dana."

"Art Boy."

"It's Taz."

"I still like Art Boy."

Connie nudged me and he chuckled. "Did you think about it?"

I looked to my friend for moral support but she pretended to be getting a call and walked a few yards away. I shot her a glare to which she gave a thumbs up. I sighed. "No, actually."

"I figured. Did you at least read the note?"

"I did." It read in blue pen and elegant cursive: I promise I'm not a creep lol. "Very reassuring."

He grinned. "Great. So are you free?"

"Well I am, but Connie's my ride home and I don't have bus fare."

It seems as though his grin just keeps on growing. "You're not going to believe this."

"What?"

He brought a hand out of the pocket of his sweatshirt and jingled a set of car keys impishly. "I drive."

Of course he can. "You won't take no for an answer, will you?"

"Maybe, if you just say no."

"No."

He paused, mouth flattening and a thoughtful expression coming to focus. Then he scrunched his nose and said, "Yeah, I can't accept that. Come on, brown eyes." He began walking back the way he came.

"B-but I... You can't just..." I clearly said no!

"I'll feed you if you come," he offered over his shoulder.

"Wait up!"

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Gotta say I'm really enjoying these shorter chapters.

It's not that I'm being lazy or can't write, I'm not a new to this at all. I just wanted to try the minimalist type of chapters to get a feel for it. There'll be way more description in future chapters, but only a handful because they'll probably the important ones.

Anyways, don't forget to vote and give feedback

Question: What do you think Taz looks like?