Aimed At You

Chapter 32

Lexie tossed her bag on the floor and plopped down on the couch, sighing. "I hate all of them."

"That bad, huh?" Nathan asked. "That's why I should've gone with you." 

She sighed again. "I had to compete with 3 people," she sat up straight and held up three fingers to Nathan. "Three! Why do I need to compete with three people in one day? They're all so smug too. All of them! They had really punchable faces." 

She competed in Vance all morning with three different people, whom she all beat effortlessly. She asked Nathan to stay behind because she wanted to spend time with Kei and Laine, and because he makes her nervous, but she would never say that to him. 

He chuckled from the kitchen and Lexie walked over to him. He was sitting on a bar stool that Lexie bought because Nathan didn't own a single bar stool, and he had a canvas propped up on a stand. There were several paint bottles lined up beside it, paintbrushes, a jar of water, and a palette. He was painting. She didn't know he could paint.

Distant trees were painted on the side, but the center of the painting was the tree they carved their initials on a couple of days ago. She smiled. "I like it." 

"Oh, thank you," he leaned back to check his painting. "It's the tree from the camp."

"I figured," she nodded. "I didn't know you could paint."

"I didn't know you could play the guitar."

"Fair enough," she sat beside him and watched him paint her initial on the tree. His hair was messy and all over his face. She smiled at the pink part of his hair that's pushed back.

"What did you and the girls do?" He asked, glancing at her for a second. 

"We went to the mall to eat and look for clothes. We didn't find anything worth buying, though. They're all so expensive," she shook her head. "So we went to the arcade instead." 

"Ah, did you know that Louis and Leo met at an arcade?"

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Well, they're childhood friends, but they met at an arcade and instantly clicked. I think Louis actually asked his mom to move him to Leo's school."

"That's why they seem like siblings," she nodded. 

"They bicker a lot just like siblings, yeah. They're actually who brought all of us togeth-" A strand of hair fell on his face and Lexie reached up to tuck it behind his ear. He froze. 

"They brought you all together?" She finished his sentence and tilted her head innocently. 

 "Uhm, yeah," he cleared his throat. "I think I should cut my hair."

"No!" She exclaimed a little too quickly. Nathan raised an amused brow at her. "I mean the long-ish hair looks really good on you. You should let it grow."

He smiled, "Okay, thanks." He picked up the canvas and held it at arms length to check it again. Lexie watched him watch his painting.

After a bit, he set the painting on the kitchen island and grabbed his brushes to wash it. 

"It's beautiful," Lexie said softly, staring at the painting. 

"Thank you," he smiled. 

"Where are you going to put it?"

"Uh, just shove it in one of my drawers I think." 

"What?!" She exclaimed incredulously. "You should hang it up on a wall, Nathan. That deserves to be seen by the whole world."