Character Art For ‘Don’t Trust The Ink’ - a short dark fantasy story.

I could hardly believe my eyes when I saw Astra walking towards me. She’d ignored all of my letters so I wasn’t really expecting her to show.

Her pink hair stood out in the forest’s sea of green, brown, and grey. There was no mistaking it was her.

The letters didn’t stop coming after that.

Even if I didn’t trust them, they were flattering.

Some were poems.

The girl had caught my eye so easily. With her bubblegum pink hair, she stood out.

I’d followed her for a bit and was almost disappointed to find out she was so alone.

I’d never been lucky.

I wasn’t lucky with the family I was born into. I wasn’t lucky when my dad left when I was an infant and never came back. Nor was I when my mother fell into her alcohol addiction and disappeared one morning.

There was a time, I’m told, when the realm before me was much less wretched.

When the rivers and streams flowed freely—instead of the pathetic trickle that flow had become. When the sun would peak through the trees and warm you instead of the stiff cold air we were stuck with now.

I pulled my lip into a line as I posted. I knew I was posting entirely to get my stalker’s attention. He’d liked my black skirt enough that I thought he might like another one.

It had been days since I’d heard from him. I was beginning to worry I never would again. And I knew that shouldn’t bother me. 

I knew that.

But it did.

I shivered when I woke up as the cold air greeted me. I glanced out of my window and saw heavy rain falling. And something was in a puddle of water in our driveway. I squinted. Ah, my dad’s daily newspaper. Why he still spent money on a newspaper was beyond me, but he had always been a fan of actual printed news.

He usually grabbed it in the morning on his way out—or in—the door. But it must have come late today because there it sat.

I cringed as I posted the photo. It was true that I didn’t love cheerleading but I was hoping to get cheer captain this year. A leadership role like that on the squad would look great for colleges—and would help solidify my spot at my current school. I was the best on the team. I fully expected to get it.

I stared at Sienna wondering how she was going to respond. I knew I shouldn’t but I fucking loved riling her up. With her wild, fiery red hair, she looked so pretty when she was angry.

I watched the fire come alive in her eyes just before she replied.

I got a text invite to a party at Jack’s shortly after I was done making dinner. I jumped on it. After the unknown texts, I really didn’t want to be alone.

I threw on some eyeliner and a sparkly silver dress. Dressing to stand out was another trick of mine for the illusion. When people saw you had that much confidence, they were less likely to question you. They were less likely to be brave enough to.

Bonus content for Studying You short dark romance story

I sighed as I pressed post. 

It was hard work maintaining my social image during the school year. I didn’t have to pretend as much in the summer. In the summer, I could make excuses that I was traveling instead of constantly coming up with lies.