Bad Reputation - Shawn Mendes

12 - Art Exhibition

Shawn.

We got into the car, and I immediately drove out of the parking lot and straight to the next destination. As we reach the main road, Elle bursts out into a fit of laughter. "That was the craziest thing I've ever done!" She exclaims and i can't help but smile at how adorable she is. "Do you have to deal with paparazzi all the time?" She asks and i can feel her staring at me, waiting for an answer. "I guess so, one of the cons of being famous." I reply and she responds with an 'oh'. Honestly, i don't mind getting my pictures taking or even talking with a few of them, but i didn't want them to have photos of Elle, they always create rumours that aren't true and i would not let Elle have that. Thank god for my quick reflexes to cover her face, so at least they would have photos of me and an 'unknown' girl, that i'm okay with.

My thoughts are interrupted by Elle saying, "That's not the way back to the dorms." "Yeah, i was kind of hoping to take you somewhere else, if that's okay? If it isn't, I'll turn the car right around." I ramble, a habit i have when I'm nervous and lately it's been happening a lot, especially when I'm around her. "No, i would love to go to where ever you plan to take me. Except if you plan to kill me, then please take me back." She jokes and i laugh. "Of course not." I reply and turn to face her for a moment and see that she's looking out the window, taking in the views of Toronto. I catch myself smiling at her, and quickly face the front again. Why do I always feel so happy to be around her? Why can't i stop smiling when i look at her?

After a few minutes more of driving, we pull up to a nice big building. The valet opens up the car door for her, and she thanks him. I pass him the keys and he drives off. "This is such a fancy place." She says while looking at the sign. "I wanted to bring you to this art exhibition because i thought you might like it." I tell her while looking at her. She faces me and smiles, "Thank you Shawn." My stomach starts to fill up with butterflies and i cough, praying that it'll go away. "Let's go in." I say after coughing which did not help with the butterflies.

We walk into the art exhibition together and we went around looking at all the art pieces hung up. One of the artworks in particular seem to have caught Elle's attention as she stood there longer than usual, slowly scanning the piece. "What do you think?" I whisper, since it was very quiet. "I love it." She answers, still staring at the piece. "What do you see?" "I see broken girl, crying into her knees and a manly shadow figure reaching out to her." She explains and I nod. "It reminds me of myself." She adds and i turn to face her, only to see her eyes filled with tears. "Do you think the shadow is trying to help her?" I ask. "I'd like to think so." She replies, wiping her tears with her fingers. "I hope to be that shadow, that pulls you out of the dark." I say and she finally turns to face me. Elle hugs me all of a sudden and i nearly fall back, but i catch the both of us and hug her back. My heart races from the hug, but at the same time my blood boils at whoever who made this lovely girl feel broken. If only she could see herself from my perspective, then would she see how amazing and wonderful she truly is.

Elle pulls away from the hug, "Sorry I didn't mean to cry on you." She says while sniffling and wiping my shirt from her tear stain. "It's okay." I say as I remove her hands from my shirt. "Shall we continue looking?" I asks and she nods. We walk around and looked at the rest of the exhibit, but nothing else caught her attention like that one did. "Did you like the art exhibition?" I ask as we step out of the place. "I really love it, thank you for bringing me to this place. I wouldn't have came here if it weren't for you." She tells me. "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself." I say sincerely.

The valet returns with my car and i tip him. I open the car door for Elle, something I didn't manage to do when we were running away from the paparazzi. Elle thanks me and I jog over to the other side. I hop into the car and immediately drive away back to the dorms, seeing how the sun is almost setting. We talk slightly about the art exhibition and listened to the songs playing on the radio. We eventually reach Hillman College and i pull up to the dorm's parking lot.

"I was wondering, if I could get your number? So that if you would like to go to the exhibit again, and you can always let me know." I ramble on and i turn to face her. "Do you ramble a lot?" She asks while laughing and my cheeks are blood shot red by now. "I do, a nervous habit i guess." I say while rubbing my neck, still nervous because she hasn't said anything about being able to get her number. She reaches out her hand, and i give her a confused look. "Your phone dummy." She says and i make an 'o' face. I quickly pull out my phone from my pocket and she punches in her number. "What do you want me to save my name as?" She asks. "Anything you'd like." I reply nervously.

She hands me back my phone , I check to see that she's saved herself as "Elle Carter" and make a 'are you serious' face. "I honestly thought you'd give yourself a nickname or something, and not just Elle Carter." "Well, at first i thought about putting your sister's roommate, but i decided not to." She tells me. "Eleanor, I will text you. And you can always text me, about anything. I mean it." I tell her while staring at her big hazel eyes. "I know." She smiles. She unbuckles her seat belt and i do so too, quickly rushing over to her side to open the door. "Are you gonna do this every single time?" She asks after i open the door. "Mhm, so you better get used to it." I wink.

Elle walks away and waves goodbye, while i hop back into the car and drive away back to my apartment. It's barely been a minute but i already want to hang out with her again. Why does she have this effect on me? I continue driving, and i smile to myself, thinking about how much this girl means to me. Yes, she's my sister's roommate, but she was also the one who didn't know who i was at Tim's and her face has been stuck in my head the past few years. I've been wanting to go back there, but could never bring myself to actually enter the cafe again. I always searched for that face through the crowds when performing for shows, however i would never find her. And to see her again, made me feel complete, like what I've been looking for was her all along.

Author's Note!

A pretty long chapter but eek I'm so happy that we are finally getting a Shawn's POV. I love seeing how their relationship is building, and she's starting to open up a little bit more. I hope you guys enjoyed reading as much as i enjoyed writing. Please don't be a ghost reader, help to vote and even comment, it would mean so much to me.