Whoa, so sorry for the long wait! Life's been a little hectic now with volleyball and school… but I promise I'll try not to let this get too out of hand again :) Anyways… On with the story :)

Love,

Lauren:)

All of the heads in the classroom turned towards me as my face became flushed with pink. Kara was wide eyed, and so was James, and everyone's, including their, mouths were open.

"Well that's completely normal." James said sarcastically. I shot him and angry look and he instantly closed his mouth. Kara peered her eyes at everyone and groaned.

"Hey, this ain't a free show here, people! Now all of you nosy conclusion jumpers turn around!" she yelled. I smiled subtly and looked back up at the teacher who was now confused. He looked at me with his big blue eyes, and something felt… connected…

I felt as if I knew him…

"Um, alright… let's do, let's do roll call." Mr. Dawson said. He took the list off his desk and put a pair of glasses that he grabbed out of his pocket on.

"Alright, Sarah Anders." He said.

"Here!" Sarah cried.

"Leanne Astor."

"Here!"

"Collette Bryce."

"Present."

"Andrew Campbell."

"Here!"

"Laurel Daw-" he began, when his eyes went slightly wider than normal. He looked back up at all of us, a confused look plastered on his face and groaned. "Laurel Dawson?" I slowly raised my head and looked up at him nervously. His blue eyes met mine and my full lips made a pouty form.

"H-here." I said awkwardly. Mr. Dawson raised his eyebrows and continued to call names, although his eyes never left mine.

"Um, alright class, let's, how, how about we just draw for right now. Take your pencil and draw whatever you'd like onto the canvas. I'll come walking around to see what you're up to in a minute." Mr. Dawson explained. He sat back down at his chair for a minute and sighed, when I had an idea. I picked up my pencil quickly, knowing he wouldn't stay in that position forever, and quickly began to draw Mr. Dawson. It was quite easy, really. For some reason I felt like I already knew his face…

Although I couldn't tell from where…

It took me a while to draw every crease and crevice that cornered his mouth, but I got it. It looked as if they were frown lines, he must frown a lot.

He might be upset.

It's amazing how someone's face can tell you almost everything about them.

His eyes were saggy, too. The way his eyelids covered his gorgeous blue eyes showed that he had cried a lot. You couldn't tell from his personality… but he was a very sad man.

Very sad.

As he got up and walked around the room, just as I finished, I sighed and wiped the sweat off my forehead. I looked over my drawing and smiled with satisfaction. It looked just liked him. He looked over every students work, mostly apples or a tree, stupid things, and smiled when he got to James.

It was of a candy bar.

"What I'd give for one of those!" Mr. Dawson cried as he patted James on the back. James smiled and looked up at him happily. He then turned to Kara's drawing of a pair of shoes and smiled.

"Very nice," he complemented. Kara smiled as well and then turned to me. Mr. Dawson took another step closer, and began to smile, when he noticed my drawing completely. He frowned and peered at the drawing.

"Is that, is that me?" he asked nervously. I smiled sheepishly and nodded.

"Yes," I said, proud of my work. "I hope you don't mind but the angle that you were sitting at just made it so easy from where I was sitting." He looked at me, one eyebrow raised, then bent down. He ran his fingers over the canvas and sighed. Mr. Dawson then looked up at me, a smile now stuck to his face.

"Well, you have a gift Laurel, you do. You see people." He explained as pink began to fill my cheeks again. I smiled and looked down at my now tapping foot.

"Uh, well, thank you, Mr. Dawson." I said. He smiled and patted my back, then stood up and moved on to the next kid. I watched as he ran his fingers through his dirty blonde hair and noticed how his face could be so gentle and beautiful one moment, then stern and demanding the next. He looked like he had a temper, one that if you threatened someone he cared about, would get uncontrollable. I could just tell by his eyes.

They were just like mine.

They had a deceiving tone. They could make you feel one thing one moment and a totally opposite thing the next. Always loving and in good intentions, but sometimes they let their strong… very strong… emotions persuade them to seem otherwise…

"Hey," Kara whispered, startling me out of my thoughts. I jumped as she laid her hand on my shoulder then sighed in embarrassment.

"What?" I snapped quietly. She smiled gently and placed her hand on my shoulder again.

"You okay?" she asked. I smiled as well and patted her hand.

"I'm fine Kara, thank you." I explained.

"I'm home." I said quietly as I stepped inside. Grandma smiled and waved as she set a glass of milk down in front of a small girl.

"Hello, baby, how was school?" She asked me with her sweet voice. I smiled and pulled off my scarf, hat, and gloves, and then placed them all back on the coats tand.

"Um… interesting." I explained partially as I took off my school bag and laid it on the table. I sat down at the counter and sighed heavily, running my fingers through my blonde hair as I did.

"Hey," Mom said as she strolled through the kitchen door, plates of food in hand. "How'd art go today? I know you were excited!" I sighed again and rolled my eyes to myself, annoyed that my day had not gone as planned.

"It was fine, okay? Just… fine!" I practically yelled. Mom stopped, taken aback from my reaction and smiled hesitantly.

"Alright…" she said, suspicious of my behavior. I just couldn't take this. I had to leave. I grabbed my bag, scarf, hat, and gloves again and opened the door to outside quickly.

"Laurel!" mother cried form behind. I ignored her and pulled on all of my stuff as I ran down the steps of the porch. My ears instantly froze, but honestly, I could care less. I just kept walking, and walking, and walking, until I came across the one place that made me feel safe.

It was a small grass like park area in the center of town, only it was behind all of the buildings, and as far as I knew, I was the only one that knew about it. I walked around to the tree and sat down, leaning my back against it as I pulled out my sketchpad and quickly began to drew the small children playing across the field.

God, I'd give anything to be that young again.

I continued to draw for another minute, when I felt breathing on my neck. I froze then quickly whipped my hand, hitting them in the face. The man fell to the ground, holding his nose as he went. I stood up nervously, ready to hit them again, when suddenly, I recognized him.

"Mr. Dawson?" I questioned. He rolled over and groan, and I knew it was him.

"Oh my gosh, Mr. Dawson I am SO sorry, I had, I had no idea that was you!" I cried. He smiled weakly and waved me away.

"Laurel, it's, it's... ooh, It's fine." He tried to say, but I could tell it wasn't by the way he groaned in pain. I fell to my knees over to him and sighed.

"Oh, um, um, can I , can I get you anything Mr. Dawson?" I asked awkwardly as he lay on the ground, grass stains now covering his overalls. He smiled again and removed his hand from his face.

"Laurel, we're not in school. You can call me Jack." He protested. I smiled and touched his hand gently.

"Jack… can I get you something? Anything?" I asked again. He smiled and sat up.

"No, Laurel, I'm fine, really, I was just admiring your work." He said. I smiled and reached over to grab my sketchpad.

"Eh, nothing to admire. I just draw when I'm upset, really." I explained. He rolled his eyes and grabbed my sketchpad then started to flip through the pages.

"Please! These are fantastic! Where do you get your talent?" he asked me excitedly. I frowned and took the sketchpad back slowly.

"My dad… or so I'm told. I don't know. That's what my mom says anyways." I explained as we both walked back over to the tree and sat down, leaning our backs against it.

"So you're told?" he wondered. I sighed again and ran my fingers through my hair, as Mr. Daw- I mean Jack- ironically did the same thing.

"Well, see, see my dad died before I was born. I never met him. My mom tells me about him sometimes, but never any real specifics. Only that I look JUST like him, I get my artistic ability from him… and that he was just, as she would say, life changing." I explained awkwardly. He smiled and pointed back at my sketchpad.

"Well I know that if you're dad was still here, he'd be very proud of those drawings… just like I am," he said with enthusiasm. "And if you don't mind, I would like to send them to a couple of people I know." I looked at him, now full of excitement, and smiled.

"Really?" I wondered. He nodded and I threw my arms around him. "Ahh! Oh my gosh, thank you, thank you Jack!" He laughed and patted my head.

"No problem, Laurel."

Short, I know. But it's late and… long story. To put it short… got NO sleep last night… I am TERRIBLY sick… LONG day at school… VIGUROUS volleyball tryout/practice… LOTS of homework… you get it. Well, read and review please! Thanks! :)