Through the few seconds of altercation, his preparation of the paper came to a gentle halt; almost feeling as though he should be keeping his guard up, prepared to scramble to his feet if things got too out of hand. One would think that with how much turmoil he had been repressing since his re-exposé, that witnessing any conflict outside of himself might feel as though he had been brought back to some kind of equilibrium. Instead there was a feeling of relief when Avery spoke again. He couldn’t blame her for feeling on edge lately, the confession feeling almost neutral with what had been expected of everyone at campus anymore.
He didn’t speak, even a few seconds after her follow-up question, he found himself on pause, still processing everything he had just witnessed. After a few beats of hesitation and the confirmation that the person she had been fighting with would settle once she did, he flicked his attention back down to his paper, beginning to cut another piece. “I dunno, I saw these cacti lanterns and was gonna have everyone make them.” Mentioning everyone, Jackson, of course, only meant everyone in art club. He spoke somewhat distantly for a couple seconds before finally allowing his thoughts to fully return to the task at hand. Quickly taking his fingers over the stack of paper that had yet to be cut, he flipped through the paper at the edge, trying to get a feel for how much was left. “I’m hoping to have enough, but it’s pretty common my own projects to end up looking botched on behalf of everyone else’s.” A low chuckle escaped and he found himself fading out again, unable to fully shake the things that had been said between Avery and the other person, while he and Avery had simply been trying to work. After a few seconds, he shrugged off his explanation, finding it to be an afterthought at this point. “Are you okay?”
☆ﾟ*·ﾟTHE BEST WAY to distract yourself from your own head was to find something else to occupy your mind with. Helping your friend was always a good way, especially something that would occupy her hands as well. The scissors in her hand were a comfort, and right now, in that moment, more of a comfort than they should’ve been. She wanted to turn around and cut their hair off, reminding them that they shouldn’t speak to her like that, but she couldn’t bring herself to do this. It wasn’t the right time, and causing problems like that would only get her into even more trouble. Picking up another piece of paper, she cut it like she did the others, and miraculously, a small smile rested across her face. Avery felt strange today and she couldn’t explain it in the slightest.
A small laugh left her lips as she looked up at Jackson. “Cacti lanterns? Alright. Is there a reason for them? Some kind of theme or something?” Avery asked, trying her best not to make fun of him. She’d do almost for her friends, even if that meant cutting out paper cactus lanterns that she wasn’t even sure how to assemble. As weird as it felt to cut up paper like this instead of something else, she did it for the distraction. “Well, we’re going to make them and they’ll look fantastic. I’ll stay up with you until odd hours to make sure these look fantastic, okay?” Avery explained, opening up her piece of paper. “Ideally, this should look pretty cool.” She seemed alright, until Jackson asked her that question. Once again, her hands were clammy, and her heart was beating out of her chest. “Okay? That’s such a strange word to describe what I’m feeling, but sure. We’ll go with that,” Avery practically whispered, not looking up from the new piece of paper she’d grabbed.
