Monday came wrapped in gray clouds, the kind that made the world feel slower. Penelope walked to school with a half-smile still lingering from the sleepover chaos—Callie's fake TED Talk was now living rent-free in her brain.
Julian was waiting by her locker.
"You're smiling," he said, his voice low and amused.
She shrugged. "I had a good weekend."
"With them?"
She nodded. "They're insane."
Julian looked like he wanted to ask more—but didn't.
Instead, he handed her something. A different sketchbook. Smaller. The cover was soft and worn like it had been carried everywhere.
"What's this?"He looked a little nervous. "I told you I draw when I'm scared. But I also draw when I don't know how to say things."
Penelope flipped it open slowly.
It was her.
But not just one version. Dozens of sketches, all different angles. Laughing. Reading. Looking out windows. One where she was sleeping on the porch during a late summer nap. One where she was biting her lip mid-thought. One where she was looking straight at him.
"You've been drawing me this whole time," she whispered.
"I was afraid you'd freak out," he said. "But it's not weird. I mean—it might be weird—but not creepy weird. More like… deeply emotionally compromised weird."
Penelope burst out laughing.
Julian looked relieved. "That's the reaction I was hoping for."She stared at the pages again, then closed the book carefully like it was something sacred.
"Julian?"
"Yeah?"
She looked up at him. "I'm glad you don't say everything out loud. You show it better."
And just like that, with lockers slamming and students yelling and the chaos of Monday pressing in—Penelope realized something.
She wasn't scared of where this was going anymore.
She was curious.
And that was even more dangerous.