For the most part Violet was able to avoid Josie. Her schedule was busier than normal thanks to the added people coming and going out of the dorm, she was always mopping or cleaning. And when she was not cleaning she seemed to be surrounded by young boys who viewed her as a surrogate older sister and some of the older boys might have had other motives as she was the only young lady around. So it was easy to walk past her when her attention was divided between so many of the students. However, she always managed to wave or smile at him and he was forced to give a nod or some other kind of acknowledgement back; to ignore her totally would have been rude and unnecessary.
He was a little proud of himself really; even though as time went on he found he was actually craving the girls' companionship. Perhaps he only liked having her around because she was not like any society girl, constantly flirting or becoming angry when he did not show enthusiasm for their banal conversation. Meanwhile his art was becoming a little more eclectic than usual; featuring fantastic landscapes and creatures that looked like it would fit in perfectly in a book by Lewis Carol. It was fascinating to him though he was not sure what inspired the sudden change in his art. Besides; his art was always a welcome respite from his day to day life, so any growth he experienced as an artist was a welcome one. Art was all about change wasn't it? Perhaps this was his natural evolution.
For now, he sat happily confined in his room at the top of the Violet house and sketched on his paper. The workers had been swift in their repairs and the damaged study room was repaired enough for students to use it again, even though everything had to be stripped out and one day replaced. It was also not nearly as warm and welcoming as it had been and because of that many students had begun studying in the smaller rooms or just stayed confined to their own rooms. The silence however was truly golden. He had not realized how tense he had been with so many strange people in the dorm until they were all gone and he felt the tension ease out of his body.
Violet was contentedly drawing on his book with a kind of aimless desire, nothing was actually being created he was doodling until inspiration came to him. Sadly, inspiration was keeping its distance and it left him with a melancholic feeling that churned unpleasantly in his stomach. Finally he decided that a walk might do him good so he closed the sketchbook under his arm and left his room, walking down the stairs with no clear direction in mind. Gregory had almost made it to the main floor when he heard a delicate clicking noise and stopped perhaps a dozen steps from the bottom; to see Josie sitting there with a basket full of yarn and her crochet needles happily clicking away as she worked with some rather beautiful colored purple yarn. Josie looked up and smiled at him as he made his way down the stairs and he got the feeling that perhaps she had been purposefully waiting for him; the thought made him feel anxious and pleased all at the same time. She set the yarn aside as he started to walk past but she called out.
"Are you avoiding me?" She asked in a kind of pleasant voice, but behind it he could hear a slight pleading as if she did not want that to be true.
Gregory stopped and sat down at the stair just below where she was sitting and gave her a kind of sidelong glance. "Of course I haven't. I have just been preoccupied that's all." He said it matter of factly even though it was a lie.
But how could he explain that he was avoiding her for, what in his mind, were valid reasons? If it had been any other girl he would have told her the truth but he did not want to hurt her feelings. It was nothing that she had done that made him want to avoid her; it was all due to his conflicted feelings.
Josie tilted her head to the side and took up her yarn again, holding it out for him to see her work. The artist in him was intrigued by any form of self-expression so he was curious. It was a wonderful crochet work that looked delicate and intricate all at once; the skill needed to make it showed that she had years of practice or some natural talent at the very least. Gregory suspected that it was both of these things. Josie smiled widely at the look on his face and went back to crocheting, her eyes still never leaving his face. He felt himself blush under the scrutiny and pulled the hood over himself to hide his cheeks.
"Do you like the color?" She asked suddenly and he looked back up to meet her gaze. "I'm making it purple, it's to match the color of the dormitory, and I wanted to make something that would fit in here." She explained nodding.
Gregory said nothing but kept his attention focused on the scarf, it was easier than looking her in the face as even in the best of circumstances he never liked to look anyone in the eye. But Josie never seemed to mind his odd quirks, or at least she did not in the few times they had been around each other. He hoped that was enough time to understand her; and she had never seemed put off by his eccentricities so why should he be worried about it now?
He looked up at her only to find that her eyes were down cast on the scarf, knitting furiously. He wondered if she was in a rush to finish it for some reason. When she looked up again she gave him a small smile and he quickly looked towards the wall as if something had caught his attention. He heard her giggle and he met her eyes for a second before he looked away again.
"It will soon be the weekend." She said in a conversational tone as she kept knitting with her deft fingers. Gregory simply nodded, not sure if that had been a question or a statement, and he heard her giggle again.
"I am hoping to have this done by Saturday at noon since I wanted it to be a gift to you," she said very matter of factly. Gregory pulled his hood down further over his face if that was even possible to hide a blush that was creeping up his face.
He had not expected a gift from her, or anyone for that matter. He was not sure how to take this news or even what it might mean. It would be the first time a girl had given him anything that was not also a blood relative. Does this mean that she liked him? The thought made his heart race and he was not sure if it was from fear, or perhaps he was making a big deal out of nothing. Perhaps she gave gifts to her friends regardless of gender. Either way he found himself secretly pleased with the news, and it was terrifying as much as it was exciting.
"Thank you Josie, you didn't have to go to all that trouble just for me." He said eventually. It would be impolite not to thank her when she had made him something so beautiful. He was an artist first and foremost and he would always appreciate the artistic endeavors of others.
She shrugged and smiled at him as she set the knitting aside and stretched her arms over her head, he could hear her bones creak with the movement as she extended herself like a cat. "If it was any trouble for me then I would not be doing it." She said with another smile.
Gregory met her gaze and didn't look away, that was true of course; but he was still curious as to why she would go to the trouble of it. She was being very nice to him even though he had been ignoring her for several days even though she probably did not know that it was intentional.
"On Saturday would you like to go somewhere with me?" She asked it softly but with a determined air. As if she had thought about it for a while and worked up the courage to say something. She looked at him hopefully and he realized that yes, he would like to go somewhere with her, even though he knew that in any other situation he would have said no.
He tried to appear nonchalant when he replied. "Of course I would." He said and he was a little proud of himself. Even though his heart decided to beat rapidly as the words left his throat. It occurred to him that he was probably just asked out for a date with Josie and he was more excited than nervous at the idea.
Josie smiled happily and stood up, gathering her things and she looked so genuinely happy at that moment that he was glad he said yes; even if it was to only see her smile. "That's wonderful, would you stop by my room before noon and we will go into town together. It will give me enough time to finish my chores." She asked as she descended the stairs, at the bottom she looked up at him expectantly waiting for an answer.
He nodded and that seemed to be enough for her, and she turned on her heel and went off down the hallway; most likely to finish whatever tasks she had been set for the day. Gregory watched her go feeling more nervous with every second but also strangely pleased.