Your Kiss

Chapter 4: You're my Sunset

“Hey guys, want to join the painting contest? Registration starts now,” Dustin asked us. He has free access to the hotel since he is our friend. All our friends are allowed in the hotel and they know our different rooms. Kelsey and I looked at each other. Dad taught us how to paint but I wasn’t really good at it, that’s why I am mom’s favorite. Kelsey was eager to be good at painting. She was very good at it and I always envy her for that, but I didn’t do anything that would harm her. I just envy her, not jealous.

“Sure, sure,” we agreed and we stood up and ran downstairs. But first, we asked for permission from our parents. We are obedient to our parents and we tell them everything, but not our secrets. They tell us to keep secrets if we don’t want to talk, but we should always ask permission too.

“Mom, can we attend a contest? It’s just on the street, please,” Kelsey pleaded. She wanted to amaze our parents with her painting skills so she could bring it back home and give it to dad. Painting was her passion, so it’s not weird to think.

“Ok, but be careful. Also, look after your little brother,” my mom told us. I was always my mom’s favorite, and Kelsey is my dad’s favorite. We ran downstairs and we waited for everyone to show up. It was summer so the sun was hot, it almost burned my skin.

“Can we bring our paintings home, though?” Kelsey asked Dustin who was walking and looking for the rest of the gang. “I don’t know, let’s ask the people there,” Dustin replied. He was always the shy type of person when it comes to strangers so he will make us ask the people there.

We arrived at the contest grounds. It was already 4PM and I think I already know what we are going to paint. Collei and Brianna came at 4:30 and Steve couldn’t join us because he was sick. 5pm will be the start of the contest and we are still waiting.

“Welcome to the 2012 painting contest!” the host greeted us and we clapped to show our respect to him. The screams were loud and the claps echoed throughout the grounds. “Since most of you don’t have your own paint and paint brushes, we will give some to you instead,” the announcer said. We saw tons of paint and paintbrushes that were individually given to us. There were 10 participants. Half of them are us so we have a very big chance of winning this thing. We were given our own canvas and painted in front of the sea.

“Hi, I want to ask a question. Do we get to keep our paintings?” my sister asked the host who was looking at us very intently. He was sitting in his chair, looking out to the sea as he was about to answer my sister’s question.
“Yes, you can. As long as you don’t keep the brushes and bring them back home,” the host replies and laughs. As the sun sets, we started painting. I was painting right next to Collei who was painting the sky first and then the sea. “Wow, you can paint too?” I asked as I saw the wonderful Collei was painting. In a short amount of time, he made such a wonderful piece. He was done with the sea and the sky and now, he just needs to paint the sun and he’s going to be finished now with just a few strokes.

“Ax, you also know how to paint though. Just like your sister.” He looked over at my canvas when I just started to paint the sun and the sky. But, when his hair covered my face, I realized how beautifully scented his hair was which made me blush.

“You should go back to painting. There are only 15 minutes left,” he said as he looked back at his canvas and put on some finishing touches. He painted with grace and I was painting the sun. I used the last of my red and orange paint to really capture the orange sky and the sun it was setting too. Kelsey, who was on the other side of me, was also doing the same thing but she is now done. With the last strokes, she finally let out a sigh of relief that she had finally finished painting a painting in an hour.

I finished my painting in a clutch at 5:55. We waited for the results to be announced and so, we sat on our chairs and played on our phones. I was playing Temple Run when suddenly, Collei tapped my shoulder and asked me something.

“Hey, wanna learn how to play guitar? Saw your posts on Facebook and I saw how you want to play guitar so bad,” he told me. I didn’t even know he had an interest in music so I accepted his offer. He offered his hand to me so I shook it. “Good, meet you tomorrow in your room at 10. I don’t have a shift tomorrow,” he responded

“This is the moment you have all been waiting for, the third place of our contest is—” he looked at the piece of paper that was in his hand. “Collei Autrich!” everyone clapped to the sound of Collei winning something. We all shouted as Collei grabbed his canvas and walked to the stage, showing it to every participant in the contest.

“The second placer in our contest is—” the announcer looked at the piece of paper again and shouted the name. “—Gregory Phineas!” a guy stood up from across the contest hall. He wore glasses and his hair was wavy.

“The first place in our 2012 painting contest. I also want to thank our sponsors for making this happen. Without you guys, this wouldn’t have been possible,” the announcer thanked the sponsors who stood up and bowed their heads.

“The first place in our 2022 painting contest is —”

“—Kelsey Degamo”