The beginning of the end

Crap.

Was Avonlea really in his head that much? So much that he knew how to draw her from memory? If so, he was in deep trouble.

Dylan walked mindlessly through the halls. His mind filled with the thoughts of Avonlea and why he seemed so drawn to her. He was pretty sure he would never have the answer, he shouldn't grant himself that. All he needed to do was stay away from her and forget that she even existed. It should be easy. Well, it would've been if she didn't sit right next to him.

Speaking of which, it was his last class. Throughout the day, he hadn't run into Avonlea once. It was good. He only had to deal with her and her perfection for an hour out of the whole day.

He really was entranced by her beauty. For anyone else, that wouldn't be a problem. Others might have tried to shoot their shot with her. For him, it was different. He couldn't shoot his shot and he definitely couldn't think of her with him. It would just cause a distraction and might even put him at risk of being found out.

He really had to stop drifting off into his thoughts, he might just wander off a cliff one day from not paying attention. Walking into the art room, his eyes caught the only other person in the room. Avonlea. Of course.

Just like yesterday, she was sitting next to where he always sits. Except, unlike yesterday, there were no positives. The class wasn't almost over. He couldn't leave. A soft sigh left his lips as they turned down into a frown. After a moment of collecting himself, he started walking over to his desk. Avonlea had her head down, looking to her lap. A book was clutched between her fingers as her eyes scanned over the book at an incredible speed. She must be getting to a good part of the story. Flipping over the page, she didn't even seem to notice Dylan sitting down in the seat next to her. It should've been a good thing. She didn't notice him or seem to want to talk to him, so ignoring her should be easy. So why did he feel a slight twinge in his chest from her not sparing him a glance?

Once he fully sat down, she looked up at him for a fraction of a moment before turning back towards her book. That made the feeling in his chest melt away just a tad. What on earth was wrong with him?

Sighing quietly to himself, he stared ahead at the board. If he was being honest, he wanted to continue the sketch that he had started on Avonlea. But, he didn't want to in front of the girl herself. That would probably start up a very uncomfortable conversation that he most certainly didn't want to have.

After a moment, the rest of the students flooded in as well as the teacher. A look of slight content passed over his face in relief. Thank goodness he didn't have to deal with Avonlea and him being alone with the weird twinge in his chest any longer. He certainly didn't know if he could handle a single second more of that. Something inside of him hated it and he didn't understand why.

The teacher wrote the assignment on the board. Another free draw. However, in the corner, she had written that she would have an announcement at the end of class. Oh goodie. He was surely looking forward to that.

Opening up his sketchbook, he began drawing a hand coming out of the ground. He had no idea where these ideas came from, but he didn't mind it. Avonlea jumped up in surprise when she saw other people begin drawing, putting her soft pink bookmark with puppies on it where she had stopped reading. Putting her book away, she pulled out her sketchbook and began drawing a kitten. Not that Dylan noticed this or anything.

After drawing for almost the entire class period, the teacher cleared her throat loudly. "Class, attention please." Everyone stopped what they were doing in the already silent classroom, their eyes all drifting up to the elder woman's face. She appeared to be in her late 60's or so. "Now, as you have probably read, I have an announcement for everyone. I am assigning a two-person project for you all. You will have to create an art piece about what you both value in life and what you believe to be the meaning in life. You will have time to complete this in class, but you will also both need to work on it outside of class."

Great. Just what Dylan needed. To spend time with someone outside of school for some project that will easily put his secret at more risk than it already is every day.

"I will be assigning your partners. They will be your deskmate." Dylan's deskmate was Avonlea. Avonlea dang Barlowe. Exactly what Dyan needed. Of course. Avonlea's head turned towards Dylan and gave him a hopeful smile. Why was her smile the only thing he could picture in his mind? Something about her smile made it seem like a movie. He could practically see the theatrical sparkle in her white teeth and hear the quiet ding in his mind. That's how perfect her smile was to him. He was ruined.

Others in the room either groaned in displeasure or giggled and squealed in happiness. Dylan and Avonlea seemed to be the only one in between. However, Dylan's logical side was telling him to groan unhappily to almost warn Avonlea to not push him. His emotional side was telling him to squeal and giggle in happiness. He would be able to spend more time with her! He couldn't seem to agree with either side so he just kept his lips sealed shut.

"Alright class, please discuss where you want to meet. The due date is in two weeks from today. Good thing I gave you a two-week notice." She tried to joke.

Avonlea turned to Dylan and smiled, humor glinting in her eyes. "If that doesn't tickle your pickle I don't know what will."