Through My Eyes (Avery)

[Peter Holden]

Peter sat at one of the tables in the Red Ribbon common room, his work spread about him. He'd been there since about 9:30, and planned on spending the morning there, since he hadn't really specified a time for Avery to meet him, and he didn't mind spending the morning with his work either. He'd take Thimble out later to train over some jumps, and maybe take Lacey for a walk in the reserve that evening, but right now was devoted to his artwork. His camera sat beside him, as well as a film canister with blank film inside, and his laptop, which was closed.

He was currently working on a drawing of his that was part of a small series he was working on. Since he'd painted his part of the mural in the art room, he'd decided to expand a little, and was making a bunch on pieces including apples. This one was a charcoal pencil drawing of a door with an apple sitting on a letter that was at the foot of a door. He was using many mediums for this little project of his, and if it turned out the way he wanted to, some of it might go in his portfolio, and other might end up framed on his wall.

He didn't really know what Avery was interested in so he'd brought his photography stuff as well as drawing paper and his pencil tins. He had painting supplies in his room as well, so if she wanted to get into that, he could run up and get those too. He couldn't help but be pretty nervous about this meeting with her. He wasn't used to sharing his art, let alone his techniques, and didn't know if he'd be able to explain it well. Usually he just went along with what he was feeling, and didn't really know if he could put that into words.

He wasn't overly worried though, as they'd gotten along well in the past and he was sure that they'd be able to work well together. She'd seemed very excited about this, which also gave him more confidence about the situation, and he was actually quite excited for her to arrive. The common room of his house had seemed like a good place, because of the creative and warm atmosphere, and he hoped that she liked the space as much as he did. There was only one other girl on the room, who was reading a book on one of the couches, so it was quiet and pleasant. Someone had built a fire in the fireplace that morning, which gave off some nice heat, and he was quite grateful, for he had planned on building one himself.

[Avery Jacobs]

The brunette breaths were uneven as she slept, her frantic past taking place in her head when she no mental barriers up to protect her. The phone that sat on the nightstand was dead, the charger laying close by had been forgotten the night before. This caused the phone to be quite useless. Avery slept as peacefully as her tense emotions could get, drifting off into different realms of the past and what she would think to be the future. An image of Peter flew by in her head, him tossing a soccer ball at her, then disappearing into little fragments…

Avery’s eyes flew open in surprise. Peter? The thought of the boy had rang something quite emergent in her head, the reminder of a very familiar little note placed ever so delicately in her mailbox. The brunette let out an exasperated sigh, grabbing her phone as one might’ve grabbed their victim. Her eyes flashed in true annoyance. She had forgotten to plug that stupid charger in the night before and now it was already nine thirty. The girl’s slim figure rolled quite gracefully out of the warm sheets, cringing as the cold air hit her body. The long PJs she had on had served their purpose.

Hurriedly, she slipped her feet into the monkey house slippers she’d bought in town before taking off to get dressed into something. Avery’s eyes rolled as she instinctively chose something considered cute. Why was she dressing up cute for a little art lesson? The brunette knew exactly why, but she was unsure why she was doing it. Still, she tossed the jeans and top on, adding a sweater and vest to keep her body warm. The White Ribbon house was actually quite far from the Red Ribbon House, but it was not too bad. At least the cafeteria was somewhat close to both places.

Avery rushed, her feet moving as they would out on the field, except the motivation was much more in this situation. Grabbing a single bagel from the cafeteria, she chewed on it as she walked, finally reaching the Red Ribbon House. It stared down at her, the olden look of it oddly comforting to her eyes. The girl felt somewhat like an intruder, entering inside a different house, but walked with her same confidence as she entered into the foyer. The chandelier greeted her as did the common room and she stared up at in wonder before moving her eyes to find Peter.

A smile rested over her lips, her orbs carefully watching the boy draw and do whatever he was doing in such concentration. Avery felt the weird urge to watch him, just like that. To see his face when he was done with a piece became her new goal. She wondered what it looked like. Still, the world wasn’t going to wait for her watching, so with a simple shrug, Avery walked lightly in. She gave a nod to the other girl quietly reading before standing to the side of Peter’s chair and looking curiously at what he was working on while munching on her bagel. “Hello Peter.” she said simply after a few moments before shooting him a smile. Avery seemed to do a lot more of those smiles around him now.

[Peter Holden]

One of Peter's hands rested lightly on the table, his fingertips on the side of his paper, holding in in place. The other, his left hand, was busy at work, finishing off the light sketches of his drawing. He began to work out the heavier lines that he'd use, and when happy with the picture, began to shade lightly. He planned on coloring this piece, and hoped to get to it that day, since the piece was rather small. He'd brought his larger set of Prismacolor colored pencils in case he got to it, or if Avery wanted to use them.

Opening the tin of pencils, he plucked out a warm yellow and lightly shaded in the apple, which was, in this picture tiny in comparison to the big picture. Once happy with the base of the apple, he went over it with different shades of red, trying to capture the pattern of the gala apple that sat next to his paper. The apple itself took quite a long time, but he really wanted it to draw eyes since it was so small, and was quite happy with it in the end.

Quite absorbed, he didn't hear the door open when Avery entered, and continued working. He liked working in this room, with the background noise a combination of the crackling fire and the girl turning her pages. Though he hadn't heard her approach, he certainly felt her when she stopped beside him. He looked up sideways at her, smiling. He'd been expecting her, so he wasn't surprised like he was last time when she showed up beside him, but a flutter still arose in him stomach, and rather than pushing it down, he let it dye out on it's own, though it lasted for longer than he'd expected. It was clear that Peter was in his element here, and he was more comfortable now than he'd ever been with Avery around. "Good morning Avery." he greeted her smiling easily.

He gestured to a chair beside him, welcoming her to sit down. It's be a lie to say that Peter hadn't considered quite thoroughly where Avery would sit. It would be more conversation like to have her sit across from him, but art was more about seeing, and although seeing something upside down gave it an interesting look, it would be better for her to see things, well, right side up. Besides, he'd quite liked sitting beside her under that tree, and wouldn't mind doing the same today.

Looking over to her he inquired, "So what are you interested in working with today?" A smile played at his lips. He was now quite excited to begin, and hoped that Avery was feeling the same. He placed the scarlet pencil he'd been working with back in its respective place in the tin and closed the lid, setting it aside along with the piece he'd been working with.

[Avery Jacobs]

Avery mused quietly to herself, following Peter’s nimble finger’s with her dark eyes. He certainly had a way with… what was he drawing? The brunette smiled slightly to herself as the apple on the page seemed already half real as he worked over it. She inspected further, finding with interest he drew with his left hand. Avery was hands down a rightie. Still, the girl felt a small stab of realization as she figured she could’ve brought an apple instead of a bagel. Perhaps, he could’ve drawn it then. Still, her time in the cafeteria was over and Avery couldn’t hide the excitement from her eyes at the prospect of learning art.

It was a subject she had abruptly stopped learning because of Leo, but Peter knew nothing of that and perhaps she could get through it without thinking about her older brother. The girl thought these things quietly to herself before giving the boy a simple greeting. To her delight, he seemed much more relaxed since the last time she had snuck up on him like this. Still, there was a sense of something in his eyes that made her wish for about what felt the billionth time in her life that she could see what was stored in that creative head of his.

Avery couldn’t help the wide grin that spread across her lips as he used her name. She wondered if he would ever use the old nickname, for she knew she would call Peter red-coat in the future. The names seemed to just be thing she needed for him. The brunette nearly let out a small chuckle and nodded, wondering what he thought of the name. It was most certainly interesting to put a name to someone you had gotten to know. Something that always surprised her, which was the main reason she’d waited so long to exchange titles.

The girl raised a brow as Peter gestured to her seat, wondering why it was perhaps the best place. Then, it struck her. Learning the right side up with art certainly seemed a lot smarter than learning across and having everything upside down. She sat down softly, pulling the chair’s distance to the table closer or farther to her comfort before looking at Peter curiously. A hint of excitement was starting to ignite through her blue orbs and she thought for a while before responding. “Well, I’ve seen you photographs… And as amazing as they are, I think learning to draw would be perfect for today.” she mused out in a slow sentence, still in thought as she finished. She nodded as if to confirm it and rubbed her fingers together. They still were numb from the walk and she blew on them to heat them up.

[Peter Holden]

Peter had been quite happy to use her name for the first time. It had taken long enough for him to learn it after all, and he thought hat he quite earned it. He did plan on using her nickname in the future, but now seemed a good time to use her given name. It was beautiful, and after she'd told him her name, he'd spent quite a bit of his time during his classes rolling the name around in his head. It certainly matched her, which was easier to realize since he'd already gotten to know her. Peter hadn't known any Averys before her, for which he was glad, as he liked to have the name in his mind completely reserved to her.

When she sat down in the chair beside him, he turned his body to face her fully. He listened to her response quietly, possibilities running through his head. When he had his first drawing lesson, his teacher had made him draw an egg, which is much harder than one might think. Peter had spent hours on that egg, and had never been perfectly satisfied. Avery was lucky, as Peter wouldn't be putting her through that frustrating business. He scanned the room, looking over all of the objects with a careful eye before stopping on the apple sitting on the table that he'd been using as a model for the apple in his picture. Why not? He picked up the apple and handed it to Avery, "How about this?" He then tore a piece of paper out of his sketch pad and got out his tin of graphite pencils and opened it. He took one out after looking them over and placed the supplies in front of her. "You're going to want to start by drawing a basic shape for the apple, like an oval. Afterwards you can make it more, well, apple shaped and add the details, but you can't start that unless you have a good shape to start with."

He looked up at her, wondering if he should tell her anything else. He usually just started something without thinking about it and putting his actions into words was much more difficult than he'd expected. Peter's brows furrowed in concern as she rubbed her fingers together and blew on them. He hadn't been outside today, but it must have been freezing. "Are you cold?" he asked, rather worried, "I can turn up the heat if you'd like. Or get a blanket or a pullover from upstairs. Whatever you'd like." He wanted her to be perfectly comfortable while she was here with him...or any other time for that matter, but he had more control over it here.

[Avery Jacobs]

The majority of the time, Avery didn’t really care about what other thought about her whether it was nice or not. It had been that way ever since her opinion on life had hardened and crystallized over. The girl was a bit of a pessimistic at times anyway, and the last thing she needed was the thought of trying to please people. To her slight frustration, she couldn’t help but feel a small pang of hope that Peter wouldn’t hate her like a bunch of her old enemies in school. There were obviously regrets to being popular, mainly the jealous people that hated you or the people you might’ve treated a bit more badly.

Still, Avery was certainly not the queen bee anymore, nor was she trying to be. Now, it was all about getting through and out of high school without landing herself in some serious trouble. The brunette was not exactly the most perceptive person in the world, and she was certain she couldn’t read people as well as an artist probably could. Still, this didn’t stop her from trying. Her dark eyes focused in on Peter as she tried to understand the little things he did, such as turning his full attention on her like she was the only thing in that room. Avery smiled slightly, hoping he didn’t catch her eyes following his actions.

The girl played with her cold fingers as Peter thought, only realizing now how cold she’d been in the warm weather. After living in a snow filled area for the majority of her life, Avery figured she should’ve been quite accustomed to the cold weather by now. Still, she was a sunny person despite her dark personality. Raising her brows slightly at his grab for the apple, she smiled slightly. Fruit wasn’t something she had drawn in a while, though she faintly remembered doing it in art class one day. Of course, that had come out in her kindergarten pictures, big ovals and ugly coloring. Leo’s had always managed to turn out perfect.

Avery nodded as he asked “I like it.” she said, eyeing the apple that was now in her hand. There was something about apples that felt so fresh, crispy, like autumn. She quite liked that season, when it was in its hotter moments of course. The brunette watched as the boy placed all the supplies in front of her, grabbing the pencil and nodding to his instructions. It felt odd to think that an oval would turn out into an apple, but she complied. Avery drew a lopsided circle thing, something she figured resembled the shape of an apple.

When the boy went on to ask her about her hopefully temporary cold situation, Avery smiled very genuinely. A smile that she hadn’t used for anything but her horse came out, touched by Peter’s concern. While the brunette didn’t enjoy people pitying her, it didn’t seem as he was. Rather, he seemed to be… worried. Looking down with a somewhat sheepish look, Avery admitted quickly she was actually quite cold. “Can I please I have a pullover?” Her voice was quite small, tinged with a certain childish voice to it, but it still held the brunette’s confidence.

[Peter Holden]

Peter had noticed Avery's gaze on him, but didn't let on. Though it made him a bit uncomfortable, he was a little bit relieved that she was paying attention to his actions well. He didn't want to be the only one doing so, and it made him feel a fraction better about watching her so closely. Rather, he kept his eyes down on her paper that she had before her, watching closely as she drew the oval as he had suggested.

When she smiled at him after he asked if she'd like anything to warm up, he was a little caught by surprise. This smile was different than any she'd used before when talking to him, though he recognized if from something, but he couldn't put his finger on when he'd seen it. He nodded in response, "Of course!" Peter was quite glad that she had accepted his offer, and he immediately stood from his chair. "I'll be right back." he explained, and turned to walk towards his dorm. Once he got to the stairs, he jogged up to the third floor and entered his room, pausing once inside the doorway. Opening the first drawer of his dresser, he looked through his folded pullovers and shirts and pulled out a charcoal fleece pullover with a quarter zip. It would be big on Avery, but hopefully it'd keep her warm enough.

Turning to leave he stopped before exiting his room to sort of assess what was going on. He hadn't ever met someone before and so quickly become friends, nor had he ever felt in the way he did about her. He certainly liked her quite a bit, though it was difficult for him to determine whether he fancied her or not. When he talked to her, he certainly got the same feeling that he'd had whenever he'd talked to that girl back home. To be honest, he was rather nervous to admit that he fancied her to himself, for fear that it would change the relationship he had with her now. It still amazed him that they were friends, and the thought of them being more quite terrified him. Still, it was becoming clear to him that she may mean more to him than a friend, and he couldn't try to convince himself otherwise for much longer. Avery was much too beautiful, and confident, and utterly Avery for him, who was just Peter.

He returned to the common room, walking over to the table and handing her the fleece, "Here you go." Sitting back in his chair, he looked more closely at her beginning to the apple. "Good, now once you're happy with the basic shape, you can start to sketch out the other parts of the shape of the apple, to make it look more apple than oval like. Soon, this will be the outline of the drawing, and we can erase the other lines that you aren't using anymore."

[Avery Jacobs]

Avery felt a little pressured as the boy watched her draw her oval thing intensely. What happened if it wasn’t the perfect shape for an apple? The brunette’s furrowed her brows, her first time feeling the need to be perfect. She hadn’t tried to do anything great other than her horse riding ever since the whole mother and death incident that had happened. The whole idea of Peter teaching her gave her motivation to try and create something that would earn his approval, though it wasn’t that intense because Avery just as a person wasn’t the type to try and earn people’s approval.

She did care about how Peter thought about her however which immediately gave the feeling of weakness. Still she couldn’t shake off the fact she actually did really like this boy and now she was stuck with it whether she wanted it or not. After giving it a deeper thought, Avery realized she did want to be close with Peter, she wanted it a lot. The brunette sighed at her thoughts, wondering how they had all come out at the time she had met the boy. He was bringing her old, sweet side out of her and the girl wasn’t sure whether this was a bad or good thing.

The girl nodded as he said he would be right back. The prospect of being warm, heated the girl’s shivering body a little for hopes. Her gratitude for Peter was quite high now. She worked on perfecting the simple oval Peter had asked her to draw, trying to make it exactly right by the time he came down stairs. Avery smiled as he handed her a very warm looking pullover, finding the largeness of it compared to her shortish frame quite adorable. His height fascinated her for the weirdest of reasons… The girl slipped the pullover her head and pulled the zipper up halfway.

She sighed, pulling the sleeves down over her fingers halfway and being warm. “Thank you.” she said softly, very appreciative of his kindness. It bit at her in a way as no one had been so kind to her in such a long time, let alone a boy! Avery realized there was many dimensions to Peter even more now and she was beginning to like every one of them. The girl nodded as Peter went onto to explain more about the apple. Her pencil sketching got a bit more detailed as she worked to make out the basic shape of the apple. Avery looked at the piece of fruit as a baby might, exploring it as if it was the first she had seen an apple and drawing what she saw. Finally, the shape looked about right to her. “Alright… I know it probably sucks, but am I good to start doing that shading thing?” she asked curiously.

[Peter Holden]

Peter smiled, watching her pull the fleece over her head and settle into it. His face softened a bit when she seemed to get warmer. She looked really great even in that, which really never ceased to amaze him. He could barely imagine how she'd look all dressed up for a special occasion, and realized that he wanted to be with her for such an occasion. Hopefully it'd be one she was happy about, as her smile was what always seemed to top it off.

"You're very welcome." he replied, just as softly. He would have done the same for anyone, but it especially pleased him to help Avery. She seemed so grateful for it, and he couldn't help but wonder if it was unusual for people to do such things for her. It just seemed natural to him, but it made it all the more rewarding to see her reaction. Avery had so many different facets, each different from the other, and he never really knew what to expect from her. This appreciation for the simplest of gestures was endearing, but it almost made him a bit sad. He'd just have to do more of these little things for her.

After he'd explained the next step for her apple, he let her work on it for a while, not wanting to watch her every move. He knew how stressful that could be, which was part of the reason he was at Blue Ridge. Turning back to his own piece, he took out his tin of pencils again and pulled out a dark plum one to begin to fill in the color of the door, shading to make the panes in the door shadowed and darker once he'd filled it all in. He then colored the knocker a brassy color, highlighting where the light would hit in in comparison to where it had hit the apple.

Looking up when she spoke, he peered down at her paper for a couple moments before replying, "It...it doesn't suck." he said the word quieter, shaking his head. "You're actually doing very well." Had be been drawing the apple, he probably would have made a few changes, but he was certainly not going to apply them to her drawing. He was a strong believer in everyone having their own style of drawing, and there being no absolutely correct way of doing things. He'd gotten this partially from Kate, who was a strong advocate in the theory. "Yes," he confirmed, when she asked about the shading, "And you're going to use this paper blending stick. You can shade the darker areas, and then use the stick to blend it a bit and make softer tones and different shades. All of your apple will have some sort of shading, so there will be no blank paper in it. Some parts will just be much lighter than others. You probably want to start by studying the lighting on the apple a bit, and deciding whether or not you want to try and portray the colors in it as well." He handed her an only slightly used blending stick. Most of his were kind of stubby, and that could be frustrating, so he had tried rather hard to find a newer one for Avery.

[Avery Jacobs]

The pullover wrapped over the brunette’s slim body like a giant comforter. She snuggled into it, inhaling the scent inside. It smelled like Peter. Avery smiled slightly realizing she was starting to really like that smell. Feeling a bit like a dog, the sixteen year old decided to end her scent thoughts and gave the boy the same soft, sweet smile she had before. She hadn’t given anyone that smile in a very long time. Of course, Avery was quite oblivious to how her feelings were starting to take off. She was confused yes, but her focus now was simply on being nice to Peter and not letting the angry part of her come out when she was around him.

The girl was quite delved into her apply as she worked quietly on it so she didn’t notice as Peter grabbed his own project and started to work on it. The sound of pencils working, pages turning, and the fireplace created quite the perfect background for her and Avery felt her creativity being pulled out as she worked. Her hand took several strokes, creating quite a flurry of scribbles but she dutifully cleaned it precisely up. Finally, she had gotten the shape she figured looked at least somewhat okay.

The boy’s compliment caused a wide grin to spread across her face, very happy to get his approval on her drawing. She felt a bit like a child again, and clamped it shut, nodding slightly “Thanks.” her voice was somewhat curt, but thankful at the least happy to show she was quite happy he’d liked it. Of course, Avery didn’t want him to know how happy she actually was. The girl sighed slightly, looking over her shape and looked at the blender curiously.

She hadn’t ever really used one before, but took it and listened to Peter’s words. Avery then got to work. Looking carefully at the apple, the brunette squinted her blue eyes to see where the darker shades of the apple played up. Not really looking down at her paper, she started to shade in the dark spots only looking at the object. Finally, she looked down. It looked like a bunch of random colorization throughout the shape. Raising a brow, Avery began to blend, finding the task quite fun. She blended around, leaving parts of the object light and some medium tones. Then, the girl rubbed a bit with her finger to get the blend affect fully. Without her knowing, it left a dark mark on her finger and when she moved to rub her cheek in thought, a pencil mark was left there. Avery looked as serious as ever however as she worked on, taking her time with the thing. Finally, she sighed and poked Peter to get his attention. “Alright. How about this?” she said, trying to hide the small pride in her voice. She had worked on this shading quite a bit.

OOC: Meh, sorry it's a bit choppy.

[Peter Holden]

Something about the sight of Avery in his fleece made Peter inexplicably warm inside himself. When she gave him the same special smile again, he realized when he'd seen it before. When he'd seen her with her horse, she'd given him exactly the same smile. Calling to mind the voice she'd used along with it, Peter felt a little bit stronger, and quite a bit less withdrawn around her. The smile meant something, though he didn't want to analyze quite what is was yet.

It seemed that this smile of her's was another part of her shining through. He wondered how much of this brightness she kept hidden within her, and how she chose what she revealed it him. If she chose at all. Whether she was choosing to or not, who Avery was was becoming clearer to Peter, and he was sure that the same was true of him.

The grin that appeared when he complimented her drawing was brief, but bright, and his eyes brightened and crinkled at the corners a bit in the beginnings of a smile. "You're welcome." he breathed, keeping quiet, as she'd seemed to grow more serious. Her almost inaudible sigh caught his attention, and he cocked his head towards her slightly, his eyes flickering to her. The curious look in her eye made him press his lips together to prevent a wide smile from escaping.

Once she began to shade, he turned his attention momentarily back to his own work. He quickly colored the brass door nob and then turned his attention to the ground under the apple. He's already colored the letter underneath the apple a pale cream color, with a red stamp and illegible curled handwriting making out the address, half hidden by the apple. He made the floor around the objects simple paneled boards that appeared to be painted a dark cranberry color.

Responding when she poked him, he removed himself from his work once again to look up at her drawing. "I'm impressed! You used the blending very well to bring out the shadows, yet you were still able to capture some of the colors!" It was clear that the girl had put a lot of thought into it, and it had clearly paid off. Peter couldn't help but wonder whether she'd had any training in art of the past, from what she was showing, but decided not to ask, remembering her response the last time he'd asked a similar question.

He hadn't really looked up at her when answering her question, but when he finally did, he couldn't help the smile that escaped from his lips. "You...uh-" he gestured to her cheek and then his own, then shook his head, "Here." Leaning over a bit, he brushed the mark off of her cheek with his thumb, resting another finger on her jawbone as he did so. When it was gone, he sat back, a little embarrassed. "You had a pencil mark there." he explained, grinning a bit sheepishly and giving a small shrug.

[Avery Jacobs]

Avery in general was protected by a huge, unbreakable barrier around her mind. She’d built it up over the incidents that had occurred through her life and it had turned her into somewhat of an heartless person to some. Of course, she had at least stayed to her most valued morale even when she moved onto the blunt, emotionless person. She’d kept her fairness above almost all as well as her honesty. Many guidance counselors had recommended her to pursuing law when she got older, but to do that she’d have to stop all the talking back and doing whatever she felt like doing. In BRRA, she’d been acting somewhat better than usual, but of course she’d had her few slip ups.

What she had completely not been expecting was a person like Peter. One that got her to show her true self without being ashamed or embarrassed, or completely close up like she did other people. Only a few ever got her to be that way with them, and it was never a boy, her age for that matter. Avery certainly liked Peter, more than she was willing to admit just yet, but her focus was put completely on her drawing now as she knew she would get distracted if she turned to watch the little focused face he always seemed to have when doing something.

After only knowing for a little while, Avery was surprised she knew this about him, but after a while it seemed to make sense to her. Whether she wanted to admit or not, Avery couldn’t deny the fact that her and Peter simply just clicked. In a way it scared her to have his eyes watching her as insightfully as he did, but then in another way, sometimes Avery just wanted to burst open and let him see her as she was. That was a very, very small part of her, but she knew better due to the fear of him not liking her.

Avery held back the smile at his welcome, figuring she was smiling to much than her daily average. She wasn’t Ms. Perky; she was supposed to be Avery, the scary. Of course, she didn’t think Peter thought she was very scary at all. He seemed to have an awed kind of glaze when he looked at her and Avery was beginning to a similar look for him. When he responded to her little poke, the brunette grinned hugely. His comments and compliments really did pay off as the girl was completely taken. Avery bit her lip in that sheepish sort of look that people tended to get when they were praised about some performance or show “Thank you Peter.” she said, unable to notice the happy tone in her voice.

She began to look at her apple, quite proud of her work as Peter began to work back on his drawing. However, when Avery felt his eyes on her, the boy’s words caused her to raise a brow in surprise. Nearly dropping her jaw in surprise, Avery watched Peter’s thumb closer nearly caress her cheek as he wiped away something. Most of the time this happened to her, Avery was usually flirting with a boy she really didn’t care about. Since it was Peter however, a small blush filled her cheeks and the girl looked a bit dumbfounded at his explanation. Finally getting the words to make sense, she made a sheepish grin, the somewhat playful side of her shining out again. “Oh! Thank you.” Avery giggled, rubbing the place where he’d touched her cheek to get anymore off. She had to admit, she felt all tingly where his warm fingers had touched. The brunette then looked back at him, clearing her throat “So um… What do I do next?” she asked, not really wanting to touch her apple since in her opinion it was complete.

[Peter Holden]

Peter's reason for being at Blue Ridge was awfully entangled with what he loved and what he hated. He was there to succeed, and to be everything his parents wanted him to be, but without them staring over his shoulder. He'd expected that the price for this freedom would be constant dedication to schoolwork, art and riding, and he hadn't really considered any social aspects of it. He'd never thought that he'd have to balance anything else, but if he and Avery were to continued to meet like this, he would have to. It didn't bother him, but it was certainly a new thing for him, but if most other people did it, so would he.

Anyone Peter had become very close to had gotten to know who he really was. Of course, the people who saw this were very few, but once he felt that comfortable around someone, they quickly got a feel for who Peter really was. Avery was approaching this closer than anyone had in a long time, and the thought made him both very excited and worried. She'd already made it clear that she wanted to know him, and that she appreciated his company, so he was much less wary around her than he'd been, and not nearly as guarded as before.

Avery's response to his compliment was very rewarding, and Peter couldn't help but smile back at her. Rather than saying "You're welcome" yet again, he just grinned at her and kind of half shrugged, half nodded. She was clearly happy, and he noted how she bit her lip at his praise. She certainly didn't scare him other than the usual nervousness around people he didn't know, and even that was subsiding as he grew to know her better. He had no reason to be, and he would have been rather shocked to hear that anyone would consider her scary. The only time they'd addressed it when when she explained about the girls making noise in the morning, and it'd been understandable, since she'd obviously been tired.

He watched carefully as her expression turned from shocked, to dumbfounded, to almost happy. He hadn't meant to make her uncomfortable and mentally cringed at the thought. He hadn't really thought about what he was doing at the time, but immediately realized afterwards what it may have seemed like, and blushed. "You're welcome." he shrugged self-consciously, running his fingers uncomfortably through his hair. Pressing the fingers he'd touched her with together, he answered her, a bit distractedly, "Some people would leave the apple as is, but others prefer to just put finishing touches on after they shade. It's really up to you. If you're satisfied, you can leave it, but you can also just add little details if you'd like as well."

Pulling himself together, he mustered up all of his courage and decided to put out an idea he'd been thinking of for quite a while. "Would you like to go on a picnic?" he blurted, and then composed himself a bit more. "I mean, I know it's cold but it would be a nice time and I could bring some food..." He trailed off, looking at her hopefully, clearly quite excited, but rather nervous. He hadn't really been planning on asking her today but it seemed like as good a time as ever. The idea had been in his mind for quite a while and he'd become rather excited about it. Now all she had to do was agree.

[Avery Jacobs]

Fear somewhat followed the brunette’s thoughts on letting someone see who she was, but without her knowing, Avery was slowly letting her real emotions trickle out. The sixteen year old had had her share of boyfriends before the incident, all of them puppy love and all of them seeming to be in middle school. Of course, the accident had changed her life and it had changed Avery into a very emotionless person. She soon began to go through guys as fast as one might go through gum. The girl only did one night stands, in fear that she would grow attached and then, she would lose them as she’d lost her mother.

When she’d been sent to her grandparent’s however, they’d slowly but secretly brought her tone down. She did adore them and eventually, her strongest characteristics began to save the little happiness she had left. Whether she liked to admit it or not, her grandparents were her true saviors. However, despite all the improvement and cleaning up she’d done, Avery still hadn’t lost all of the hate she’d gained. There were doubts that would ever go away, but her grandparents had sent her to BRRA to hopefully improve herself. In all honesty, Avery wasn’t sure what she was at the school for, but with Peter, she was happy she’d come.

If it had been an year back, the poor boy might’ve been dealing with the crazy Avery. The one that got into trouble just to piss off her parents and toyed with boys as most stereotyped boys doing with girls. While she may have done that to someone else, Peter was far too sweet and quiet for her to ever do that. But most of all, he intrigued her. The boy didn’t show off all his stuff immediately as some of the jocks did and that had brought Avery to investigate her new made friend even further.

As quick as it had been, Avery had soon grown to quite like the boy that sat ever so concentrated on his drawing. At his grin in response, the brunette felt her eyes smile before she looked back down at her drawing. When his voice returned, somewhat embarrassed sounding, the brunette cursed herself. She didn’t mean to make him embarrassed. Avery sighed, realizing that his touch had touched her heart a little bit more than she’d thought. The sixteen year old shook her head slightly, trying to get herself to think straight. Happy to get back to a more comfortable topic, Avery nodded at his response looking at her drawing quietly “It is done. If I touch it more, I’ll mess it up.” The brunette nodded to herself.

The next words to come out of Peter’s mouth surprised her, but in a good way. Avery immediately felt a grin growing across her face, the truly, genuine happy grin that she seemed to be getting a lot around Peter. The brunette doubted that any guy had ever asked to go on a picnic with her. Still, the idea sounded better than anything that any guy had ever asked her and one that could’ve only came from a creative mind. Avery watched, somewhat heartlessly as the boy began to quickly calm his thoughts a bit and ramble off his reasoning. She waited a few moments, knowing by now he’d be nervous to see if she was going or not. Avery scolded herself slightly for behaving so but responded with the same grin “I would love to go on a picnic Redcoat.” she said softly, before spinning around and taking her drawing “I’ll meet you at the place near the bay in thirty minutes.” Avery chuckled slightly, knowing she had his pullover on. It had been more of announcement than a question, but she knew the boy would come if he wanted his pullover back. With that she left, giving a teasing smile to reassure him he would get it back, but she just didn’t want to walk all that cold way without anything.

[Peter Holden]

It was already clear to Peter that Avery's personality was rather strong, which normally would have made him especially wary of her, but something drew him in about her. He couldn't exactly say what it was, but something about being around her was rather addicting. He just wanted to see more of her smile, and her serious expressions, and her teasing, and, well, everything else about her. And though he hated to admit it, her appearance left him rather dumbfounded as well. He had, of course, met girls as beautiful as Avery before, but he felt as if he could never stop watching her. In the back of his mind, he knew that he wanted to draw her or paint her or photograph her or something, but he doubted that it'd ever happen. Even if he ever were courageous enough to ask her, she probably wouldn't want to anyways.

Peter nodded quickly when she said that she'd like to leave her drawing as it. "I know what you mean." he replied. On many occasions he finished a piece on the same thought. A lot of pieces had the potential to become better, but there was always the chance that they could get much worse.

Her immediate grin after his question gave him quite a bit of hope and he ventured a smile. However, the fact that she didn't answer immediately made him anxious and he had to force himself not to start thrumming his fingers nervously or tapping his foot. Holding back a sigh of relief at her answer, he grinned at her use of his nickname. He could barely agree to her proposed plan and say goodbye before she spun around and began to walk out. Peter rose out of his chair, about to ask her to wait, since she still had his jacket on, but he sat back down instead, the grin still plastered on his face, too happy for words. Her teasing smile before she left made his heart leap a bit, and he watched her walk away for a couple moments before turning himself to hurry up to his room.