This Summer

Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Hope fluttered her eyes open and for a few moments she replayed what had happened the night before. When she first saw Liam she expected him to joke around with her, to tackle her. But the Liam she saw had matured. He didn't joke around; he was serious and maybe even flirted with her.

Hope got up and stretched trying to distract herself from thinking about Liam. She walked over to her window and pushed it open. The cold morning air blew in, sending a shiver through her body. She was about to close the window when she spotted a figure in the distance. It was Liam. Of course it would be Liam. He was running along the shore, from the window she could see that he didn't have a shirt on; her imagination went crazy on her at this moment. She willed herself to look away even though her eyes wanted to keep looking.

She closed the window and noticed that there were no clouds in the sky. She quickly went to her suitcase and took out her paint set. Walking over to the closet she took out her canvas and set it to the side. She quickly put on her yoga pants and a sweater. Why should she care what she looked like around him? Hope shook her head; she needed to stop thinking about Liam and start treating him like a friend. She went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her blonde hair hung down to her waist, in tangled waves. Her brown eyes were everything but special. She was petite. She remembered Liam making fun of how tiny she had always been. She turned to the side admiring how the yoga pants fit her. Hopes body may have been petite, but her curves made up for it. Her butt stuck out, bubbly, as her friend Madison called it. Her breasts were normal. Not to big and not to small and her waist was small yet broadened at her hips.

Quickly, she put her hair up in a ponytail and didn't know whether to put on makeup or not. She didn't really wear any, even though she knew how to put it on. She liked how light her eyes felt when she didn't wear any mascara. She decided against it and went down to the back deck with her paint supplies. She angled herself towards the sun and the sand dunes. Her hands began to move on their own. Dipping and blending each color to form the scene that was in front of her. Her mind was clear, she wasn't worried about nothing because right then in that moment nothing could touch her. This was the what she loved about painting. She was used to clearing her mind and being able to think about peace and nothing, while her fingers and wrist did the work. Sure, she had to concentrate to get the colors right, but that was the exciting part. Taking the time to match colors and learning that from a mistake you could make something beautiful.

Painting was the one thing that Hope had going for her. Sure she could do other things, but none of them made her feel like this. Painting was her way of leaving reality and having that moment of perfection that could never be accomplished anywhere else.

She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard someone running towards her. She looked over the head of the canvas and saw Liam making his way towards her. She quickly ducked back down and pretended to be blending two colors.

"You finger painting?" She heard him ask, which caused her to look up. Sweat dripped down the side of his cheeks, but that didn’t stop him from looking any less gorgeous. She smiled at his question, remembering how every summer the two would finger paint together. It was the only thing that they did together without fighting.

"No I'm painting...." He raised his eyebrows and walked so that he was standing right behind her. "It's not done yet but it's getting there!" When he didn't respond she could feel panic sweep up in her. She turned around and saw the shock that was written on his face. His mouth hung a little and his eyes were glossy.

"You painted this?"

She felt herself blush and looked at the ground, "Yea I did.."

"Wow." He said while pulling up a chair to sit next to her. "It's really good. I mean REALLY good. I never knew you could paint!"

“There's lot of things you don't know about me Liam." She said as she brought her eyes to meet his. His eyebrows creased together and he tilted his head as if he wanted to ask a question, but instead he sighed. His eyes looked blue today and his long lashes fell across his cheeks when he blinked. His hair was messy and was already started to curl at the ends from his sweat. He looked at the ground and was about to say something when his phone started to ring.

"Hello?" He answered. She watched as he got up and went down the stairs back to the sand. He walked back and forth with a concerned look on his face. When he got off the phone he turned around and said, "It was my mom. She wants me to go to the store with her. I'll see you later?" He asked with anticipation all the concern gone. 

“Definitely.” She watched as he walked next door and disappeared inside. Definitely? What the hell was she thinking? Did she want him to think that she was desperate?

She let out a deep breath and took a few minutes to focus and rid herself of the shirtless and god like Liam that she just saw. Once she regained her composure she went back to dreamland. Her wrists flicked with every stroke and continued to mix colors together.

Guys I am sooo tired! D: But I HAD to put this chapter up before going to sleep. At least I get to kind of sleep in tomorrow.(: Yayyy.(: But anyways.. Off to bed(: 

Don't forget to vote and comment what you think! It would mean a lot <3