Grayson stared down at her in shock and disbelief.
She’s talking to me. Someone’s actually talking to me. Am I good? No. This is literally the worst possible situation I could be in to be talking to someone other then my dad for the first time in eleven years!
He blinked and opened his mouth, staying silent for a minute before shaking his head. “Well, no. I mean..not..not really at this exact moment, no.”
Outside (O/O closed, stalkers welcome :)
“Okay…um…can I help?” Would be the only decent thing to ask, she reasoned, but also glanced behind her to check if her parents had seen or not. Not yet, that was good.
“I’m uh..I’m sure I’ll figure it out, thanks though..” He stammered, glancing back towards the open window.
“Okay..if you’re sure..” she reluctantly turned away to walk down the sidewalk to the park. She casted intermittent concerned glances to him the farther she walked. You sure…?
Grayson slowly started scooting back until he could grab the window ledge and pull himself back up into the room.
I am such an idiot.
He looked back at the girl and forced a small smile onto his face.
I’ll be lucky if she even bothers to look at me again.
His eyes closed as he leaned back against the ledge and brushed his hair back out of his face.
Jasmine stopped a couple times to take a picture of something on the side of the sidewalk. She knelt down, looking through the camera to capture the perfect photo of a dandelion surrounded by grass. It was a simple situation, but the evening sun gave just enough light to make the picture outstanding. Or at least that was her reasoning. If it didn’t turn out well she could always edit it in photoshop.
Once she’d taken the picture, she looked up to Boo’s house again to see if he was still there. Didn’t look like it, but at least she could maybe capture a photo of his house without seeming creepy now.
Grayson sighed and made his way downstairs. He fed Lee and went to sit by the front window, opening the curtain since his dad was still in his office down the hall. The girl was still there, a bit farther away but still in sight. Grayson frowned, wondering why she was pointing her camera at his house.
I could go ask her..
His eyes drifted over to his dad's door, then to the front door, considering the consequences of getting caught.
Jasmine took the picture. There, that would be a perfect reference photo for when she sketches it.
With no other evidence that Boo would come back out again, she turned around and walked towards the park again. Luckily the park wasn’t too far away. Maybe a five minute walk.
(do you want him to follow her or no?)
(Hmm Yeah, That’s good with me if that works for your plot plan)
(kk)
Grayson slipped back up the stairs and into his room. He packed a couple things in his bag, a phone, his journal, some food, and went back downstairs to make sure his dad was asleep. He was, thankfully, sound asleep, so before he could get worked up about it, Grayson left the house. It was a bit colder now, not an issue since he was already wearing a hoodie, and the road was empty.
Where had she gone? The park?
Grayson began to walk towards what seemed to be the main part of the town, not knowing where he was going, or even how to get back home.
Jasmine stuffed her hands in her pockets as she approached the Do Not Enter: City Employees Only sign on the gate doors only held together by a flimsy chain. She ducked under the chain and continued to walk down into the public park. She liked this entrance: it was quiet, and it provided a lot of scenic areas for great pictures that her art teacher would be proud of. City employees barely used this entrance anyway so she wouldn’t worry about getting caught.
Grayson walked slowly through the town, peering around at new shops, buildings, people. He suddenly remembered who he was trying to find and eventually came to what looked like a park.
Do Not Enter.
It's..probably fine. He ducked under the chain and was happy to find himself in the park. Hopefully the same park that the girl had gone to.
Jasmine walked rather slowly down the concrete path through the park, scanning around anywhere for an interesting water-related photo. A stream, or a fountain, even a puddle with a reflection. It was either that or an animal photo. In fact, she heard a step somewhere behind her. A bird? No, it was too heavy for a bird, so she turned around to see, camera at the ready.
Grayson had stopped to write about the park. He was leaning against a tree, bent over his journal, this was too important to just leave unscripted. His hair fell onto his face, completely covering his left eye as he wrote, something that happened quite often.
Jasmine blinked as she turned the corner to see him, “Boo?”
The thought that that wasn’t his real name completely slipped her mind until it was too late. No! Oh, well, maybe he didn’t think she called him that, she was just getting his attention. Either way her face burned cherry red and her heart lurched into her throat.
Maybe it wasn’t him at all.
Boo?
Grayson paused his writing, his eyes narrowing slightly in recognition, both in name, and voice. He turned his head slighty to look at the girl before looking around them to see if she was trying to get someone else's attention. After concluding that she had in fact, tried to get his attention, he turned his head back towards her.
"Did you just call me Boo?"
He asked, a hint of a smile passing over his mouth.
“Shoot..” her mouth slowly crept into an embarrassed—sheepish—grin, “Not…no, not..exactly.” She stammered, “I’m sorry,” she held onto her camera for comfort.
“It’s okay, I love that book.” Grayson replied calmly, his voice quieter than usual. “I seem to share a lot of similarities with Boo, don’t I?” He added. His speaking was slow and cautious, almost as if he considered each word in his head very carefully before letting it come out of his mouth.
“Ah..” she relaxed a bit when she realized he wasn’t upset, and her voice calmed down “I just finished it in my English class today.” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
“My real name is Grayson, though I don’t know why I expected you to know that,” he said, looking around the park rather curiously. “Where are we?”
“Ah, well, hi, Grayson.” She corrected herself, “And this is just the friendly neighborhood park. I like to come here to take pictures.” She held up her camera.
"Friendly. Very interesting choice of words," he said, talking mostly to himself without realizing it. "What makes it so friendly?" Grayson looked down, thinking in silence.
“It’s a figure of speech.” She explained, thinking that he directed the question to her, “Nothing really makes it friendly, per se, just local.”
Grayson looked back up at her quickly, a bit shocked at the reply. “Oh, thank you. Sorry, I..uh..tend to talk to myself a lot..”
“Oh, it’s alright, I thought you were talking to me.” She forced a chuckle, “So…you don’t have to answer, but…why don’t you leave your house?”
“It’s a long story..I wouldn’t want to bore you..” Grayson said nervously, worried that she was only interested to find out about his past.
“Oh, I wouldn’t be bored. But if you don’t want to talk about it it’s fine.” She dismissed, taking a couple seconds to continue, “So, um…I’ve seen you writing. What kind of thing do you like to write about? Fiction?”
Grayson moved his gaze back down to his journal. “Well..no not really. Since I’ve been inside the same house for eleven years..I uh..never get to talk to anyone, so this is sort of how I cope. I write down what I would say to people, just to have a conversation with someone other then my dad..” he trailed off, ashamed, or maybe just lost in his own thoughts again.
“Oh wow..” her voice softened, “That’s really..” sad, “That’s really neat that you do that. Are you okay?” She dared to take a step closer to him. Would he be offended if she put a hand on his shoulder?