Chin Up

Chapter 3 - Hidden talent

As I left the school and waited for my mother to pick me up, my phone vibrated.

It was Tyler.

"im sorry about what happend earlier..." he had written.

I sighed before responding.

"no its fine. im just rly self concious of my height, ig. it doesnt help that ur about 5 ft taller than me, Tyler."

"i c u 👀" he responded, so I looked up and of course, the boy was frantically waving at me. When I met his eyes, he waved me over.

"Hi." I told him. "What's up?" I immediately regretted my decision. "Don't you dare say-"

"The sky." We both said at the same time.

I closed my eyes. "I guess we both have dads."

"I guess," was all he had to say for us to be cracking up.

Several parents looked in our direction, amused, but we didn't care.

A car roared into the circle and Tyler sighed.

"That's my cue," He told me. "Well, unless you want to come?"

I grinned. "Sure thing."

--

"So," I said as Tyler sat on his bed. "What do you like?"

"Meaning?"

"What's your obsession, what do you fanboy over, et cetera."

"I'm sort of an artist," He said slowly. "I mean, I'm not that great, but I try." He took out an old sketchbook from his backpack. 

Huh. I never thought that a guy like him would be an artist.

And it was a realistic thought - Tyler looked like a football player, with his muscular build. And yet he was an artist.

The sketchbook was a greyish-blue color, and at a glance it looked relatively new. But when you focused you could see little folds on the cover, creases on the spine.

"Lemme see." I demand.

"No way." Tyler responded. "They're horrible."

"I don't care." I launched myself onto him and he yelped, and we wrestled.

"Give... it... to... me!"

"NO WAY!"

Somehow he managed to pin my arms to the bed and raised the book above him. "HA! I WIN!"

I shoved him off me with my foot and sighed as he feigned hurt. "Listen: I know you're really good at it. It's normal to be be embarrassed of your work. Everyone is. I can tell you've had it for a while, maybe a couple of years? Even if you didn't start off that great, hard work always pays off. And I wouldn't be surprised if you had more books." I asked, cocking my head to the side.

Tyler blinked. "How did you know?"

"Know what?" I asked.

"Know about... never mind. You can see it." Tyler handed me the book.

"I'm going to skip the first half," I said with a small smile.

And boy.

I was right.

This guy really knew how to draw.

"Whoa..." I whispered, tracing my fingers along the page. "Tyler... this..."

"Is horrible?"

"No... It's beautiful."

Tyler grinned. "Thank you, Morgan Jay Allen."

He remembered my entire name. Oh. My. God.

I knew it for a fact now.

Tyler Harrison was not like any one else. He was different.

Like me.