𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭-𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐬² | 𝙏𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 ✓

𝐈𝐈𝐈

Tobias couldn't lie to himself, he was beyond nervous to walk out of his mother's classroom and head to his own. Just hearing the other students talk amongst themselves made him was to hunch over in a corner and stay there.

He was fifteen so regardless he was going to go to a different school to start high school whether they were still in Arizona or here in Forks.

He took a deep breath and mustered up enough courage to walk out of the door and go to his locker, he was able to find it before everyone started showing up and he practically locked himself in his mother's classroom.

He opened his locker, looking at his schedule to find what he needed, back home they didn't have lockers so he was mildly happy not to have to carry around a heavy backpack all day.

"Hi." He heard from beside him, he looked over to find a beautiful girl looking at him. She looked pretty tall but he was still at least a head taller than her; he had a growth spurt over the summer, which made him even sadder to not be back home with his friends so he could rub in their faces that he was taller than them now.

"Um, hi?" He said while looking around him to see if there was anyone around him that she could be talking to instead.

"I'm Ren, I've never seen you around town before." She said with a smile, a certain spark in her eyes. "I'm Tobias, yeah, my mom and I just moved here a week ago." He says with a nod. "That's pretty cool, we rarely get any new people around here." She says making him chuckle a little.

"Well, this place is pretty dark and gloomy, not a lot of people like that." She shrugs, "Maybe not most but my family does and maybe your mom does too if she moved you guys all the way out here." He nods as he closes his locker, already having his materials. "Yeah, my mom loves this kind of weather but I can't complain either, I'm the same." He says as they chuckle.

The bell rings shortly, signaling that they should head to their first class of the day. "What's your first class?" Ren asks as she peeked over his shoulder to look at his schedule. "History, you?" She sighs, "Math, but I'll see you at lunch later?" He nods, guessing they didn't have any classes together before then. "Yeah, meet here after fourth?" He asks as she nods before they part ways.

***

Classes were pretty boring but something changed when he walked into his art class. On one of the walls was a portrait of a woman that felt so familiar it almost hurt.

He walked over to it and stared with confused eyes, looking at all her features. The portrait was pretty big so it didn't take much concentration to look at all the details.

Whoever painted this loved her.

The voices of other students walking in and sitting down drowned out and muffled as he looked at her. Her smile felt so sad yet her eyes looked like they held stars in them.

Her hair flowed beautifully over her shoulders and her skin was pale like it would be cold to the touch yet he could tell she would be warm like a summer breeze.

"She's beautiful, right?" Someone, he guessed she was the teacher by the badge she wore around her neck, said from beside him making his turn to face her. "Um, yeah, I don't know, I just feel like I know her from somewhere." He said, looking back a the girl in the painting.

Every stroke filled with longing and love.

He turned back to the teacher to see a moment of curiosity and another emotion he couldn't decipher before she smiled. "Who is she?" He asked, wanting to put a name to the face, hoping it would clear his mind. "Lucine, she was a dear friend of mine."-"Did you paint this?" He asked, guessing since it was in her classroom but she shook her head.

"No, my sister did though." He nodded. "She must have really loved her." He said, trying to piece together why she looked familiar but then it clicked.

He'd been dreaming of Lucine since he was little. She was like a sentient being in his dreams. The only part of his dreams that he couldn't control, like an imaginary friend that only came and talked to him in his dreams.

"She did, they were in love before Lucine passed on. My sister never stopped loving her though." She said, snapping him out of his realization but he didn't tell her, not wanting to get a bad reaction from her.

Maybe it's just a coincidence.

"If it's your sister's lover and painting, why is it in your classroom?" He asked out of curiosity.

"Well, she's got plenty more so she could spare one, plus, the detailing and technique are great for teaching. I also, just think it's a beautiful piece of one of the most beautiful souls I've ever had the pleasure of meeting." She said as he nodded in understanding just as the bell rang.

He went and took a seat near the back, still having a good view of the painting. Her eyes looked at him with the warmth she used to look at him in his dream.

Her words playing in his head from memory.

"You're so small." She said with a small laugh as she looked at me. I was seven at the time, the first time I saw her.

"I'm not small, I'm a big boy!" I said back, puffing out my check to seem bigger but that just made her laugh. She had a pretty laugh.

"Okay, big man, what's your name?" She asked with a smile that made my little boy's cheeks blush crimson. "Tobias Leaf," I said proudly, giving her my full name.

"Nice to meet you Tobias Leaf, I'm Lucine Swan. It's very nice to meet you." She said shaking his hand as he took a breath, depuffing his chest. "You're really pretty," I said out loud on accident, I thought I said it in my head but instead, I felt embarrassed.

"Thank you, you're very cute too Toby." She said, giving me my first and only nickname. No one else ever called me out, in our outside of my dreams.

"So, why are you here? In my dreams?" I asked her, out of pure curiosity. I had never met her before so I was confused but she shrugged. "I don't know. One minute I was resting and the next I was here but, you'll keep me company, right?" I nodded my head with a smile.

"Yeah, we'll be best friends!" I said, running into her arms. She chuckled as she hugged me back.

That was the first night I met Lucine. The first night I met my best friend, imaginary or not. She was like my mother, only I ever saw her when I closed my eyes.

She never talked about herself, only ever listened to the stories I would tell her of things I did while awake. Sometimes she would tell me about how much she missed some people but always just left it at that.

He looked at the portrait again as the bell rang, signaling that he could go to lunch now. Even in a painting, she felt warm and motherly. He loved his mother but Lucine always felt closer and that made him feel terrible.

Wanting to speak and be close to a figment of his imagination rather than his mother. It made him feel like a terrible son because he knew his mother loved him and cared about him.

He sighed, wanting to rid his mind of such thoughts as he walked out the door and towards his locker to meet up with his new friend, Ren.