My Art Freak

Chapter Sixteen

(y/n)'s POV

It was Monday now, and everyone was at lunch. It was relatively normal, today I had noticed that there was a strange tension between Cady and Janis. I didn't understand it, and I really didn't want to address it so I just left it be, despite my awkwardness.

"And then I was like, I don't have to be sexy to go to a sexy party, right? And she was like, haha yeah you do. And then I was like Caucasian thumbs up!" Karen laughed.

Needless to say, I didn't understand her story, so I don't expect you to.

"Hey, you good?" Janis asked, bumping my shoulder with hers. My gaze snapped toward her, my glasses descending a bit down the bridge of my nose as I adjusted them, giving Janis a weak smile.

"Yeah, I'm just tired. I couldn't really sleep last night, but it's all good," I assured quietly. It was true, sometimes I had really bad sleepless nights. It was exhausting, but I couldn't control it. I tried everything but could rarely get to sleep before 1am.

"That's not good, does this happen a lot?" I could see the sympathy coating her face as she asked.

"Yeah, just typical insomnia. You get used to it," I tried a brighter smile, but last night I didn't go to sleep until around 4am, which was later than usual, so I was very sleepy.

She slung her arm around my shoulders, seemingly as some sort of comforting gesture and I leaned into her.

Her body was warm, and today she'd swapped out her usual denim jacket with a soft black zip-up hoodie.

I saw Cady giving us a look from across the table, so instead of trying to decipher it a just shot her a smile. Her face lit up and she smiled back before turning to Nik to continue some conversation they'd been previously engaged in.

I was curious about the stare, but I'd already told myself I was going to leave it be, so I did.

This was probably going to be a big point of discussion with myself in my head tonight as I laid in bed attempting to sleep.

"What about you take a nap here? Some sleep is better than no sleep, hun." Janis proposed gently. My eyelids felt heavy and I had napped in strange places before, so I simply nodded before slipping out of consciousness on her shoulder.

Janis' POV

I could hardly feel the weight of (y/n)'s sleeping body leaning against me. I felt light, like I was floating.

I was giddy at the contact, being a romantic baby-gay no matter how hard I tried to hide it.

How could someone ever not be smitten over this adorable girl?

Damien shot me a look but I just rolled my eyes. He was silently calling me whipped, which I definitely was, but I still didn't care to have it pointed out for the world to see.

Nothing else mattered in this moment, nothing other than (y/n) and the feeling in my chest I got when she touched me. I felt whole, I felt complete. Even art, which was my true and genuine passion had never made me feel like this. They plugged different holes in my heart, and I couldn't replace one with the other.

I'd never believed that soulmates existed until right now. Which was silly, because everyone knows that once you graduate you don't stay with your high school sweetheart. You eventually meet someone else and love them more than you could ever love your teenage lover.

This was my first love, and I hoped it would be my last, but the pessimist inside me was convinced it wasn't.

The words first love should have felt strange, or wrong, or made my heart stop. It should have felt unnatural. But instead, those two words just felt right. Was I in love with (y/n) (l/n)? We didn't know each other that well, so was that even possible?

Did I care if it was possible?

The rest of the lunch period went by as normal, with little acknowledgement from the group of the sleeping girl. I was glad I didn't have to explain myself to anyone, since I wasn't sure how I could explain it without sounding weird.

However, one person did seem a bit hung up on it.

Cady Heron.

I could feel her gaze on the two of us, and when I glanced over she looked away, only to return to her relentless staring only moments later.

Her gaze was merciless, and only was removed from us permanently when the bell rang, prompting everyone to get up and leave.

I gently shook (y/n) with my free arm, smiling softly when her bleary (e/c) eyes fluttered open.

"Huh?" She groaned, picking herself up and stretching, patting her hair to tame it.

"Lunch ended, it's time to go back to class." I explained. She nodded, blinking rapidly to wake herself up more.

"Cool, yeah, thanks. See ya later." She said, getting up. "And thanks for letting me sleep on you, I owe ya one."

"It's no problem, but if you wanna pay me back you could hang out with me and Damien this weekend." I offered slyly. She scoffed, but I could see her sleepy smile shining through.

"I probably would do that anyway, but sure. See ya!" She informed me, awake enough to be playful as she spoke. She pulled me into a quick hug before dashing to class, leaving me dazed in my spot.

Yep, my gay disaster self was definitely in love with her.

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