A Daydream Away(Carter)

[Brielle Vacanti]

There was nothing to be scared, or at least that's what Brielle kept telling herself. There really wasn't anything to be scared of if she was going to be truthful. It may of been the first time she actually sat in the lounge , in the hopes that someone would speak to her. And maybe it was the first step to actually becoming friends with someone, but she should be scared of it. Yet she was scared and that was why she was standing awkwardly outside the opening to the lounge, holding her sketchpad and pencil like a shield.

She could look into the lounge and see students all there. Some were arguing over the TV remote, others were just chatting together , and then some were engaged in a serious game of Foosball. It would seem like fun to anyone looking in, but all Brielle could feel was that she didn't belong there. She had lost her chance to make friends , when she thought that no one would want to be friends with someone like her. So now she had no one she could go to. No one to talk to about her fear, her dreams, or her problems.

She was stuck with this never ending issue of trying to either move forward or moving back into a shell of herself. So here she was at the moment of truth; to go into the lounge or run back to her room? One was a step down a road she had no control over and the other lead her back to where she started. It was a choice only she could make.

So she took the step forward into the room, hesitating only slightly before walking quickly to a seat near a corner. She kept her head down for a short while before opening up her sketchpad to a blank page. She looked around the room and found the perfect model for her sketch. She smiled to herself and quickly started to draw the face of the beautiful boy she saw sitting on the couch.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter always found himself drawn to people who were artists. It meant that when he approached them, he has something to talk about right away. That made socialising with the quieter types a lot easier, as more often than not when he met sketchers, they were shy and introverted. Perhaps he was cut from a different cloth, but he did love to draw those kind of people anyway. It gave him a newer understanding of many different types of people.

His sketch pad was under his arm as he sat around in the lounge, intent on making his way outside and finding a nice place to sit quietly and work. But he was caught up in conversation with a friend of his.

That was when he noticed her.

Carter raised his hand to the person he was talking to, smiling lightly as an indication that he was going to get up. The other person seemed fine with it; that was Carter, after all. He got up and quickly made his way over to her, smiling. "Sketching, are we?" He asked, indicating to her book and then his.

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle didn't look up at all once she started to sketch. She focused entirely on the image that she was creating. This was one of Brielle's favorite times, when it was just her, paper and pencil. Nothing else in the world could bother her, she doubt an earthquake would move her. She could be found in that position often , with a small smile on her face, while creating her newest artwork. Her sketch was now into the finer details of her rough sketch when she noticed someone standing in front of her.

She looked up to find a boy standing in front of her holding a sketchpad that was similar to her own. She looked around her expecting to see someone next to her , that he was talking to. But no, her corner was empty except for him and her. This was troublesome for her because people rarely came up and spoke to her, much less guys.

She looked back down at her artwork and blushed slightly. She moved it in such way so it was almost like a barrier against her and him. She had half a notion to just run away and go back to her room where no one could find her. But this was why she came to the lounge right? To try and be social for once in her life. So with a deep breath for courage and slightly shaky hands she opened her mouth to speak, and prayed she didn't sound like a stuttering mess.

"Y...yes, I um...I do this a lot" She couldn't look at him while she said. The embarrassment she felt could be seen by the blush that covered her cheeks.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter looked down at her curiously, not saying anything until she decided to speak. His hand clasped around the sketchbook and he brought it forward to his chest, fingers drumming along the edge lightly and idly. It made the faintest sound, but a calming one for him nonetheless.

"What are you drawing at the moment?" Carter asked, turning to look away for a moment to pull a nearby seat closer so he could sit with her. He wasn't right beside her or in front of her, but at her side so she could keep her sketches private if she wanted, and he wouldn't be blocking her line of sight.

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle moved her sketch pad so he couldn't see her sketches. She wasn't normal shy about sharing what she drew. In fact she was proud of most of the artwork she created. But as she thought about, it may seem a little weird for her to show someone that they were sitting there, basically stalking someone in order to draw them. She sat there for a few moments weighing the options in her head. But she decided if she was going to be brave today and talk to someone why not show them what their getting into.

She turned the sketch pad so he could see her drawing of the boy. She was quite proud about how it turning out. She always tried to capture movement on paper, though she could admit that humans and animals were a weak point of her art.

"People." She blushed again "I mean I like to sketch people. That's not true I suppose, I really like to sketch anything and everyone that would let me."

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter was surprised to see the drawing she had done. It was ironic; he was so used to sketching people that seeing one of himself surprised him in such a way. He shared his drawings of people all the time, if they asked. Or if he had done it as a present. But he frequently drew strangers who never realised he had. He was flattered, profusely so.

"I do it too." Carter admitted, holding his book out in front of him and flicking to a page. Recently he had met a girl and sketched her from memory, so it was a little rough, but the ones in his book were much more detailed. "People, I mean. Portraits. I always find the eyes are the most important. If they're wrong, or they don't look right, they ruin the person's story."

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle blushed slightly and pulled her sketchbook back. She moved slightly closer to the boy to look at his drawings. She was amazed at all the detail that went into the faces. She smiled and reached out to trace the contour of the girls eyes.

"People are not my specialty , but I do like to try." Brielle looked at her own book and flipped to through some pages until she got one where she drew a garden where pixies where flying around. She moved so he could see it .

"I like things that I create myself the best." She looked at her creation with a smiled. She liked the bright popping colors of the pixies and magical greens of the garden. "It's what I'm best at."

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter looked over, leaning close in her direction so he could see what she was showing him. After a few moments he nodded lightly, his eyes clearly crossing over every detail as she spoke. He looked up briefly to see her, and smiled at the sight of her smile. He found something about it infectious.

"Some people find it challenging to let their imagination run wild." Carter said lightly, looking up at her again. His voice was low, as if the conversation they were having was for them only. After all it was, unless the people nearby were artists they would be bored to death by now. "The fact that you can is very impressive. It's a trait I admire." He admitted, looking away and back to the book again.

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle went silently back to her sketching. everyone once in a while she would slant her eyes to the side to look at him before looking back and adding something. When her artwork was finally done she signed the bottom with her name. She looked down at the face of the boy sitting next to her. He was quite good looking and the perfect model for any artist. She carefully removed the picture from her book and handed to him.

"For you. A thank you of sorts for being a wonderful person. Not many people talk to me , and no one ever speaks to me about something that I love. "

She could feel the blush on her face and quickly ducked her head so he could see her face. There was a reason she didn't talk to boys, she didn't know how to. It made her feel inadequate.

[Carter Chevalier]

Carter remained quiet when the conversation fell away. He didn't feel the need to add or push the talk when it dissipated. He could see that she was busy and he decided to keep himself busy too. Carter flicked through his sketchbook, looking for the last thing he was working on and adding a little more detail to the lines of her hair. Whatever her name was, he still didn't know. But he still couldn't forget how she looked.

"Hn?" The sound dropped out when he looked up again, realising that she was handing him something. His hand extended and he took hold of it, placing it down on his sketchbook and running his hand idly over the corner of the paper as he listened. "You can always talk to me," He looked up at her again with a smile, "And I'll always talk to you."

As he looked to the bottom of the page, he realised something. "My name is Carter."

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle turned her head to look at him, really look at him. The name fit him, he looked like the type of the person to fill out the name of Carter. In fact she found herself liking everything about this boy. His easy going smile, the artist in him, and most of all his friendliness. Brielle herself was no where close to the level of person Carter was, she couldn't even walk into a room with people without hiding. It seemed like she would be doomed a wallflower for the rest of her life.

"Thank you, it's nice to know that I can talk to someone. Especially about art."

She smiled at him brightly ,"My name's Brielle"

[Carter Chevalier]

"You'd be surprised at how hard it is to find someone interested in this kind of art." Carter replied. Sure there were a lot of students who called themselves artists. But a majority of those people were invested in music and singing, not drawing. He always found that he connected better with people who were like minded in art like he was. That way he could talk to them about more intricate things that most wouldn't care to understand.

He smiled back at her, raising the drawing and indicating to her signature with his hand. "So I saw. Or at least, I tried my best to determine what your name was." Signatures were often difficult to read, anyway. "Well, I'll hold onto this dearly. Especially when you become a famous artist, Brielle. That is what you're going to pursue after high school, right?"

[Brielle Vacanti]

Brielle shrugged hugging her sketchbook to herself and kicking her legs softly back and forth. In truth she never thought about what would happen in the future. She knew that art would always be in her life, but growing up in the town she did she couldn't imagine her life resolving around art. But then again she knew that she could never go home again, not after the whispers and talks that they had spread after her departure.

"I know that I want to do something with art. I'm not good enough to be a famous artist, so I'm sure that picture won't be worth much in monetary value. But maybe I could be a teacher or something like that."

She rested her cheek on the top of her sketchbook so she was looking at him. "What about you Carter? Am I going to see your paintings and sketches in lights all around the world?"

[Carter Chevalier]

A small, barely audible chuckle fell from the French-born boy's lips when she spoke again. Carter shook his head with purpose, a single turn from one shoulder to the other as if definitively disagreeing with her statement. "Falling to teaching as a substitute isn't reaching far enough." He pointed out. If she wanted to teach art, so be it. But if it were simply a fallback career option, it was a waste of time. She needed to understand that.

"Ah, perhaps." He admitted, "But truthfully, I already have to means to circulate my work. My mother is a relatively well known artist in Europe, and my father distributes her work and handles the business side of things for many painters." He shrugged his shoulders, trying to sound as nonchalant as he could about the matters. He was simply a child born to the world of artists already. "Perhaps I'm simply lucky."