Jacey sat cross legged underneath a shady tree in the park near the center of town. She was wearing a pair of shorts that reached down to her mid-thigh and were covered in paint splatters from various artistic endeavors she had undertaken in the past. Covering her torso was a plain black tank top and a pink, button-up plaid shirt that she had layered over it and left open. On her feet was a pair of tattered old high-top sneakers that she'd had forever. Her dark hair was tied up into a messy ponytail to keep it out of her eyes as she sketched the scenery in her drawing pad. Anxiously, she bit the top of her pencil; it was hard to draw when her mind was stuck thinking of how her little brother would be sent of to war in just a matter of days. She couldn't even imagine not having him around. They'd been best friends for as long as either of them could remember, and now that both their parents had passed, they were also the only family they each had left.

Meanwhile, across town, Jason sank into one of the armchairs that the local coffee shop had toward the back of the store. He took a sip of his coffee, which had already started to turn slightly cold, and sighed. He remembered the countless mornings that he'd spent here with his friends before school started back when they were still in highschool. Now, most of his friends had gone off to college in other cities, other states even, and he was left to sit alone and drink his coffee in somber silence. His brown eyes traveled down to stare at the old pair of Vans on his feet, but he could only see the combat boots that would soon be replacing them. Bored, he turned his attention to the window and stared outside, watching the sun slowly creep over the buildings.

Ari flipped open her sketchbook to the second-to-last page, making a mental note to buy a new one soon. The page a half-finished scene of a lake surrounded by trees on it. Taking a sip of her cofee, she set to work on it, shading in the forest-like scene.

((sorry it's short...stupid writer's block. The next one will be a lot better, promise.))

((Lol okay, I just wanted to make sure. :3))

Jaon's focus shifted away from the window as he saw a slight movement in the corner of his eye. Sitting near him was a girl with a sketchpad that he hadn't really noticed before. He smiled a little, thinking of his sister who was probably drawing somewhere herself. Grabbing his coffee, and trying not to seem creepy, he moved to a table near the girl's.

"What are you drawing?" Jason smiled. "My sister is an artist too, so I know a little about art."

Ari looked up and smiled at the guy near her. "Uh, it's the lake my family used to go to every summer. I haven't been there in years." She remembered all the summers of her and her brothers swimming in the icy water and having water-gun battles, soaking each other to the bone. The three of them had practically grew up with the lake, but they hadn't gone back since her mother had passed away.

"It's not that good; I'm nowhere near finished, but..." She shrugged, tilting her head and looking down at the drawing.

Jason leaned over and looked at the picture approvingly. "I like it," He said. "I bet it'll look even better when you're finished though."

He took another sip of his coffee before realizing he hadn't introduced himself yet, which seemed rather rude to him. "I'm Jason, by the way," He smiled, extending his hand for a handshake.

"Nice to meet you," Jason replied before taking another sip of his almost empty cup of coffee. "She's just a freelance artist, so people commission her to do whatever they want. Sometimes she paints portraits, sometimes she just paints a scenery for someone to hang on their wall, you know, that kind of stuff." He laughed, "I'm not really good at explaining things."

((I gotta go after this post, but I might come back. Not sure yet. c: ))

((Aw. Okay. Bye))

Ari laughed softly. "It's okay, me neither." She traced the lines of the trees, darkening them, waiting for Jason to say something. It wasn't like her to be this talkative, and her usual shyness was only just now returning.

((Back for one post! lol))

Jason lost his train of thought as the girl sudden stopped talking. Why was she so quiet all of a sudden? For a few seconds he just watched her pencil move across the page.

Racking his brain for something to say, he eventually asked, "So are you going to school for your art?"

Jason sat quietly for a moment, unsure of what to say next. He finished off his coffee and looked at Ari curiously.

"Why are you suddenly so quiet?" He smiled, but then his smile faded. "Oh, if I'm bothering you or something, I'll leave you alone. Just tell me."

Jacey glanced up, taking in the details of a cute little bird that was chirping from the branch of a nearby tree. She quickly sketched out its basic shape before shifting her eyes slightly to the left where she saw a bit of movement. A man, probably a few years older than her, was walking down the path. She didn't recognize him, so she simply went back to her sketch, but she wondered if it would polite to give him a simple "good morning" or something along those lines. Her eyes slowly went back to her sketch, hoping that the man would be the polite one and say hello to her first.

Jacey let her head fall back against the tree she was leaning on and sighed. "Another moment ruined by my bad conversational skills," She thought to herself as she rolled her eyes. "I'm a loser."

Blowing out a quick puff of air, she stood up, tossed her sketchbook and pencils inside the black bookbag she had brought with her, and hurried to catch up to the guy while tossing the strap over her shoulder. "Hey, uh, so what's your name?" She asked awkwardly as she fell into step beside the man.