It was a chilly and tranquil afternoon in the small suburb. The clouds were guarding the sun, restricting it to go to its maximum and forming a serene shade of both neutral grey and the vibrant amber colour. People were on with their day, covered in a light jacket to avoid the cold weather.

Nearby was an art store run by an art enthusiast, muralist, one who possesses certain skills to sculpt imagination and creativity into a 2D format. However, that label wasn't as well-known as her other names such as 'loner' or 'goth freak' like certain people had liked to call it. It was typically because of her teal hair. She didn't fit in. Especially being surrounded in a school full of peopletryingto fit in.

The goth has been lost in her own world, sketching in that one sketchbook filled with all of her creations and writings. Yes, she was also the type to write.

Without drawing even an inch of her attention, the door slammed open and then came in the punk. Loud, obnoxious, center of attention, and gave no zips about the people he's surrounded with. The punk had luminous, neon green hair which clashed with the many piercings on his face. He had a leather jacket on which didn't manage to seal the tattoo seeping from the corner of his neck. Good. He wanted others to see that tattoo. It adds onto the charm. And that was Duncan. Duncan Carter.

"Hello there, Sweetheart," He started, standing right in front of the counter the goth had been. He had his notorious grin as he held his hands cooly placed in his pockets. Duncan had spotted a girl sitting by the cash register so instead of finding a spray can and rushing out, he decided to toy with her for a bit.

The new voice had snapped the goth out of her trance. Typically, no one goes to the art store. It was almost empty and the only time people had come to the store was at a late school night where a mother and his kid came in to buy a bunch of art supplies to complete the last minute diorama.

"What do you want?" The teal-haired girl, Gwen, had snapped, scowling at Duncan's ever-so cocky smirk.

She knew who he was. The girl had seen the guy roaming around her college at times. He was the troublemaker. Duncan was known for acting upon his intrusive thoughts. He was intimidating and was respected and admired for his rebellion against the school policies.

Gwen was not. She at times had found herself wishing she had the confidence Duncan had. That was nearly impossible because on quiet nights her thoughts get too loud to bare. The humiliation, the regret, so much she had pondered on late nights. A curse for having mild insomnia and having endless thoughts about the past, the future, or even the present. It never stopped.

"Woah there, cranky, I just came here tokindlyask you where the spray paints are." Lies. He was never kind. Duncan torments anyone and everyone. "I guess that's what I get for trying to be cortical." The punk responded, thinking he sounded pretty wise by saying that word.

"Courteous." She corrected.

"What?" Duncan questioned, not understanding what Gwen had just said.

Gwen sighed as she rolled her eyes. She knew the punk wasn't the brightest in the box but she hadn't expected him to not know the difference between the outer layer of a brain and respectful. "Spray paint's in the back." Gwen didn't have the energy to deal with him any longer and was hoping he'd leave. This guy was full on himself, annoyinganddumb.

However, he didn't leave. Instead, he leaned in closer. "You sure you don't want to help me pick out the right colour?"

"What, are you colourblind or something?"

Duncan shrugged a response, flashing another grin at the goth's responses. No one really ever did that to him. Well one did but they weren't much fun to talk to. They acted hard to get which they failed since she acted desperate and then lost her marbles when she spotted Duncan flirting with other girls. They weren't dating.

But this was different. It was keeping him on his toes. He liked it. "I dunno... maybe if you come with me we'll see... and you might see a couple other things if you know what I mean."

I can't believe this jerk!Gwen thought in her does he think he is? Why would I want to see those 'other things'?

"I think I'll manage. Thanks." She responded, crossing her arms. If you looked close enough, a vein could pop out of Gwen's forehead. She really wanted to go back to sketching. "Now can you please get your things and leave?"

Taken aback from Gwen's harsh comment, Duncan nodded and walked over to the back. He had then remembered one of his pals, Alejandro, had still been waiting all this time. The punk had to get back to his friend before he ditches him and goes over to his girlfriend, Heather.

When he did end up at the back row, there was all the junk art supplies. A perfect spot for a stash of spray paints.

But there wasn't any. Duncan had scavenged through the many shelves and found no luck. There were no spray paints there. At least that was another excuse to talk to the mysterious goth whose name he hadn't learnt yet. Although he'd seen her around the campus at times.

Gwen was back at it again. In her own thoughts, capturing her imagination perfectly onto the messy sketchbook. But once again, her bubble was interrupted by the punk.

"Well Sweetheart, I hadn't expected you to be a liar." Duncan stated, slamming his hands on the table.

Perplexed by the remark, Gwen slightly tilted her head. She knew the store like it was the back of her hand. "What do you mean?"

"Gaslighting too? Wow, the list just keeps adding on." The punk joked. "Now seriously though, where is it?"

'It's in the back." Gwen blankly responded.

"Nice joke. You're really solid at the whole gaslighting thing."

"I'm not gaslighting you!" Gwen yelled, halting up from her small chair. She hatedliars. They were the worst kind and sold no purpose to the world. And to top it all off, they were sly and loved taking advantage of not that type of person. "You want me to prove it to you? Fine. I will. Follow me." She instructed, confidently strutting off to prove her point.

Duncan had stared for a moment, letting out a few blinks at her outburst. He watched Gwen march off in certainty in a hasty manner. It looked a bit funny to see her small figure marching away to prove her point in pure determination. But then he snapped out of it and followed behind the infuriated girl.

Now, Gwen was briskly tearing the wooden shelves apart in order to find the spray paints. She even started climbing the shelf to check the very top items but being careful she doesn't rip out the flannel jacket she wore over her clothes. It had significant meaning to it. Meanwhile, Duncan watched, not knowing how to respond. He didn't think she'd bethiscommitted to support her argument. He'd just thought it was some playful banter. Not for Gwen.

But after a while of watching Gwen tear down the store, Duncan interjected, admitting she was right so she would stop.

"Alright, alright, I believe you, oka-"

"See! I told you there was one!" Gwen stated, holding the last spray paint in the air as if it was a medal from the Olympics. She hoped off the shelf and grinned at Duncan. She was right and he was wrong and that brought great satisfaction to her. "Now who's the liar, huh?"

Well at least now Gwen wasn't as moody or grumpy as she'd normally been. Even in college, she was normally isolated from the others, busy in her own world and even Duncan noticed. Now, he sees her smile for the first time and it seems like the best thing ever. It was a radiant smile which Gwen didn't put on normally because, well, there wasn't a reason to. Especially since she's surrounded by people she resents.

"Yeah, yeah, how are you so sure I didn't plant that there to crack a little smile on your face? You can't be the Grim Reaper forever." Duncan retorted, crossing his arms in the motion and raising an eyebrow at Gwen. And just as quick as her smile came, it left. Back to the livid and agitated goth girl.

Gwen stared back, also crossing her arms and back to her moody persona. A small smile tugging her lips but she was determined not to show it so she was able to seal it perfectly.

"Well, come on. I'm not letting you go before paying." She responded, walking back to the cashier. But as she was walking, she stopped and turned back to Duncan. "And don't you dare run away." She warned.

"Sheesh, I won't do that to you."

The two... associates walked over to the front of the shop as the goth stood behind the cashier. Instead of doing the usual like paying for the item and leaving, Duncan didn't really want to buy the spray paint. He felt as if it was about to run out so he decided to just talk to Gwen because he doesn't want to leave either.

"That's all you want, right?" Gwen inquired. At the moment, she was standing up and pulling out the PIN pad for Duncan to tap his card.

Meanwhile, Duncan was resting his arms on the counter, fiddling with the the black strap on his wrist as he thought of something to say. "... So, Sweetheart, you've never told me your name," He started. Gwen stopped paying attention to the PIN pad and stared back at Duncan, fully knowing what he was going to ask. "And I'm not big on mysteries but I'll bite. What's your name, Sweetheart?"

"Well, what'syourname?" Gwen retorted, relaxing herself to actually smile at him.

"I asked first."

"I asked second and two is bigger than one."

"Hey I'm just saying that you're missing out on a big shot like me." The punk claimed. "It's not everyday that somebody like me comes into your empty store and I think learning my name would probably be allegeable of you."

Gwen furrowed her eyebrows in Duncan's ignorance. To prevent her from slapping all her might out of Duncan, she decided to slam the table. "I think you should just stick to basics."

"Why's that?"

"Because you don't know the difference between amiable and allegeable, dumbass." Gwen claimed, focussing her attention back to the item. "And if you're not buying anything then can you leave?"

Now Duncan was looking for something to buy as he picked up a small painting on the counter. They were in fact paintings crafted by Gwen. The store sold art supplies so that's why there isn't much paintings around but fortunately, there was a couple of Gwen's creations around the compact and cozy shop.

"Alright then, I'll buy this." Duncan claimed, holding up a painting.

The goth was a bit stunned. No one really bought those paintings of hers. "You sure? I was the one who painted those.."

And there was a silence for a second as Duncan inspected the drawing. He didn't really care about it that much since he was doing this to continue talking. But as he inspected it, he started noticing little details and... it honestly didn't look bad. So, the punk looked back at Gwen and nodded. "That'll just make it better."

"Really?"

"Yeah, it looks cool. I dig it."

Gwen didn't know how to really respond. It was rare of her to get compliments about her artwork. Normally, it was deemed as scary and horrendous. Even the compliment as 'cool' just made her feel so much better. This all adds up to her lack of confidence in herself and how she secluded herself from the crowd.

She could slightly feel herself warming up at the tiny compliment and nodded and scanned the painting. The nervous goth had no idea what to say but the smile on her face was incredibly visible as they watched in a comfortable and awkward silence as Duncan's receipt printed out. Once it was done, Gwen handed the painting and the receipt to Duncan and no words were exchanged. The punk was about to head out before he heard Gwen speak.

"Gwen." She stated.

Duncan raised an eyebrow. "Huh?"

"Gwen's my name, you goof." Gwen responded, turning pink in embarrassment. She didn't really know why she was embarrassed.

"Oh... well, name's Duncan."

And just before Gwen could answer to that, the door slammed open and a Latino stepped in. He was defined as 'perfect' with his flawless face and body. Everything about him screamed perfection and it didn't help that he was indeed a perfection. It was Duncan's friend, his complete opposite, Alejandro. He looked pretty pissed. "What took you so long, amigo?"