Novels2Search

19. A Hobby

We reached our desired destination, a.k.a. the landscape I drew or the forest Billy and his dad used to go to. It's nice to take a walk in the forest once in a while. I was still scared of Billy, though. If he wanted to, he could harm me here, and nobody would know what happened to me. Maybe I should have told somebody.

The reason I didn't tell my parents where I was going was because my mom would probably recognize who Billy is, and I don't know if she would have allowed me to come here with him. Even though he's changed a lot and our relationship has grown so much, I'm still scared of him. Every time he raises his hand a bit to playfully hit me, I still flinch, thinking that he's going to hurt me for real.

I don't know how to fix that. It's confusing. Logically, I know I have nothing to be scared of. He's proven that quite enough times. But it's as if my body is scared. I don't know how to describe it. A reflex, maybe, is the word I'm looking for.

I sat down and started to draw. He sat himself beside me.

"Can I watch?", Billy asked.

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"That sounded dirty," I turned my head to look at him.

"S-shut up, you know what I meant."

"Haha, it's okay. You can 'watch' all you want," teasing him is so fun. "Aww, is Billy getting flustered? You look so cute like that."

"I told you, I'm not cute. And shut your damn mouth and start drawing already."

And so I did. He even asked me about the techniques that I use. Nobody's ever taken an interest in my art before. I know my parents have pretended to, but I know they're just faking it, so that's why I stopped bothering. Billy, on the other hand, is genuine. That's not something you can find a lot these days.

"Where the interest in drawing though?", Billy asked. "It's like you know what you're doing. You're pretty good at it."

"I dunno. I guess it's fun to be able to bring out onto paper what's on your mind."

"Are you planning on making a career out of that?"

"Out of drawing? Of course not. I don't want to be broke for the rest of my life."

"Dude, you're talented. If you~"

"Look," I interrupted him, "There are two reasons why I don't want to pursue art as a career. First of all, I'm going to end up poor. Second of all, I've heard that once you turn a hobby into a job, it's not fun anymore. And I don't want to ruin drawing for myself. Do you understand?"

"Huh. I never thought about it that way. So, you're saying if I pursue chemistry in university, I'm gonna make a mistake?"

"Maybe. Maybe not. I don't know how you can make chemistry your hobby in the first place, but it's your choice."