How I Met Joey Drew

It was late a night at the studio, and Henry was packing everything up so he can go home and get some sleep. He was lucky he got some help from a certain little cartoon demon. Who never did a good deed before?

“Thanks Bendy. I’m glad you were able to give me a helping hand.” Henry said closing up his brief case.

Bendy smiled and looked up at his animator. “Hey, I feel like doing something good for once.” He said. “After all Angel wanted to know if I do have a good bone in my body.”

Henry chuckled remembering that earlier this morning when Alice and Bendy argued about Bendy doing something good, and decided tonight he would help Henry clean up.

Henry helped straighten a photo of him and Joey, which had the words written

“Welcome to the studio, kid!”

-Joey Drew

Bendy saw the photo and smiled. “Henry?” He asked. The animator looked at him, “How did you and Joey met?”

Henry smiled and put Bendy on the desk. “I never told you the story yet, have I?” He asked. Bendy shook his head. Henry chuckled and moved his chair close. “It was almost 10 years ago when I met Joey…” He stopped as he thought of the day as he told Bendy the story.

Flashback:

It was 1928, and 15-year old Henry along with his art class was given a field trip to the theatre to learn about animation. The whole class was given a chance to see the first Bendy cartoon created by Joey Drew. Most of the class sat there bored and uninterested with cartoons because they thought it was for babies, and they could see much better movies then this. Some thought the cartoon was funny, but they didn’t laugh, only a few chuckles or a smile. Henry on the other hand sat there with a huge smile on his face watching Bendy cause so much mischief and jokes. When he laughed his class looked at him funny.

With his interest he started to draw more and more. In class he would do some Bendy doodles when done with his work. He would sketch Bendy on the back of his finished homework.

A month after the trip Henry’s classmates got worried for him and decided to talk to him as they went to the train station.

“Henry were worried for you buddy.” A classmate named Arthur said.

“Yeah since the trip all you been doing was doodling, sketching and talking about Bendy like there’s no tomorrow.” Another classmate named Danny said.

Henry chuckled. “Sorry guys.” He said. “But since the trip I’ve been loving the Bendy show and it made me think of what I’m going to do in the future.”

Arthur and Danny looked at each other. “Which is?” They both asked.

Henry smiled stopping at the station to head home. “I’m going to work for Joey Drew!” He said with a smile.

Arthur sighed and put his hand on Henry’s shoulder. “Henry, working for a studio is really, really hard.” He said.

“Yeah!” Danny said stepping in. “I mean what if you don’t get in? What if Joey Drew isn’t a nice guy and someone strict and evil!” He yelled.

Henry smiled and removed Arthur’s hand from his shoulder. “Guys, I’ll be fine. This is my dream! I mean even if I don’t make it, I can always work at my mama’s pet store and practice my drawing and get better and better and end up at the studio!” He said smiling holding his sketchbook tight.

Arthur and Danny rolled their eyes and shook their heads. “I don’t know how we can get through with you Henry.” Danny said.

Henry shrugged and laughed. He heard the train conductor call to have people board the train. “Anyways my train is here! Bye guys!” Henry yelled running to the train.

“Bye Henry!” Arthur yelled.

“Bye!” Danny yelled at the same time.

Henry gave them a final wave as the train went off to his neighborhood. He sat down and sighed feeling a bit hurt. Danny and Arthur we’re right what if Joey Drew doesn’t hire him. He didn’t want to work at the pet store for the rest of his life. He decided to stay calm and decided to doodle more Bendy drawings.

He loved the short and decided to draw more to keep his mind off of what Arthur and Danny said. For fun he decided to draw some of the animals from the Pet store they talked about as the same toon style as the Bendy show.

As he drew, a man who was around his 40’s closed his book and saw Henry drawing. “That’s pretty good, kid.” The man said.

Henry turned around and smiled and nodded. “T-Thank you. N-No one outside my family told me my work is good.” Henry replied.

The man chuckled. “I was like that too when I was young.” He said. Henry smiled and sketched a bit more. “How old are you?” The man asked.

“I’m 15 sir, I’ll be 16 pretty soon.” Henry said.

“15!” The man said surprised. “You were around my age when I started drawing.” He replied.

“Really?” Henry asked.

The man nodded. “Nice to see someone like yourself so passionate about drawing, and already so far along in mastering your craft.” He explained.

“Of course sir, there’s nothing more in the world I love more then drawing.

During the ride they started talking about art and animation, but Henry smiled more when the man mentioned Joey Drew.

“You know Joey Drew?” Henry asked with a smile.

The man chuckled. “I’ve run into him a few times.”

Henry smiled. “I’ve always wanted to work at the studio, it’s been my dream working for him.” He explained. Then Henry frowned. “However, my friends think that I’m not ready yet, and that maybe Joey would never hire me because I’m not that good yet.”

The man frowned at Henry, but saw him go back with the smile he had when the two started talking.

“However, that’s not stopping me.” He said. “I won’t stop dreaming, though. You never know what’ll happen. I may not work there today, but I know one day I’ll work for Joey Drew.” Henry stopped when a few people on the train looked at him, and he looked back at the man blushing in embracement.

The man smiled at the confidence in Henry’s voice. He remembered when animation was starting to exist in the human eyes he would do that. It was like he was looking at himself when he was young. “That’s a good attitude to have, and you’re quite right: you never do know what could happen.” Henry and the man smiled.

The man knew the train was going to end soon, and he needed to ask Henry one more question. “Kid, may I see your sketchbook?” He asked,

Henry looked at his sketchbook and handed it to him. “Uh sure, go ahead.”

The man looked through the sketchbook and saw Bendy sketches all over them. Henry was nervous feeling what this man was going to say or do. The man smiled and went to the back of the sketchbook, took out a pen and wrote something on the back. When he was done he handed the book back to Henry.

Henry felt like he was ready to faint when he saw the message that was written on his very own sketchbook. In it were a message and a phone number and a mailing address with a doodle of Bendy smiling and giving a wink.

I don’t think I’ve met anyone with such a clear passion for drawing as you have, and you’ve already quite skilled. I’d like to stay in contact.

Joey Drew

“Y-y-you’re…” Henry couldn’t speak and was at the point of fainting.

“Yup. Joey Drew.” He said in a quiet tone so no one else but them could hear. “And you would be?”

“Henry. My name is Henry.” Henry said shaking hands with his idol. He spent 47minutes on a train ride with someone he looked up too. “Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Drew.”

Joey chuckled. “Call me Joey.” He said. “And I know when you’re older, you can work at my studio like you said.”

Henry smiled and nodded. He felt like crying, but wiped the tears away before he could. “Thank you Joey. Thank you.” He said. He shook Joey’s hand, Joey offered him a job, his dream job, and he was happy.

The rest of the train ride he and Joey talked explaining how they got into art and how Henry enjoyed the cartoon. Once the ride ended he slowly got off the train looking back at Joey, who smiled at him. When he was finally off, Joey gave him a wave as the train disappeared to the next station.

As he went home he kept cheering that he met Joey Drew on the train. Making his neighborhood look at him, weirdly.

End of Flashback

Bendy sniffled and wiped away the inky tears from his eyes. “T-That was beautiful Henry. I didn’t know you and Joey knew each other for so long.” He said.

Henry smiled too. “Yeah, honestly, Joey was not just my idol, he was also my teacher and my best friend.” He said. Henry looked up at the clock, and saw it was really late. “Anyways, I have to get going.” Henry said grabbing his things and headed out the door.

“Bye Henry see you tomorrow!” Bendy waved.

“Bye Bendy!” Henry waved running out the door to quickly get home.

The two didn’t notice was Joey was standing there the whole time, smiling to himself about Henry. “Good job, kid. Good job.” He said. He went to his office and smiled holding the same picture Henry had on his desk, smiling at how much the two went through to be where they are today.