Mistakes of a Perfectionist

Mistake Six - Spray Painting in a Sewer

The sewers smelled slightly worse than the last time Cameron had been down them; which he guess he shouldn't have been that surprised by, they were the sewers. Still, as he stood next to Luz staring up at all the murals, he couldn't help but see how it was worth it going all the way down here; there were even some new paintings, lining the floor.

Luz slung their backpack down onto the floor and scanned the walls. It was a short walk from the school back to the park, and Luz had met him outside of his seventh-period class. He had asked if Leja wanted to come, but she decided to go home; she hadn't talked any more about what happened at home, but Cameron had offered for her to stay over tonight if she needed to.

"That's a good spot," Luz pointed towards an older-looking section of the wall.

"What are we gonna paint?" Cameron asked, following Luz over to that spot. 

"Up to you, it's your first time."

"It's your sewer."

"I thought we shared custody."

Cameron didn't respond, instead glancing back at their backpack. "How about your notebook? Don't you have any drawing in there?"

"Woah, stalker much, Cam?"

"Sorry, I just saw you drawing in it a couple of times."

"I'm just messing with you," Luz walked over and pulled out the notebook, flipping through it before landing on a page and rushing over to Cameron. "This is perfect!" They jabbed at the page.

On the page was a sketch of Miss Huan from their math class, and Cameron laughed at the idea of Miss Huan being forever immortalized in the sewers of Las Cruces. "It is, let's do it."

Luz pulled out some spray cans from their backpack, as well as an aux which they began playing music on(it was mostly Artic Monkeys, which was mildly surprising). It took a while for Cameron to get used to using spray paint, messing up a handful of times, but Luz supported him throughout, and eventually, he got the hang of it. It wasn't until they reached Miss Huan's head that they realized neither of them could reach the top of it.

"Fuck," Luz muttered, thinking.

"Will we have to restart?"

"No, no. Give me a second to think," They stared up at the mural, before turning to Cameron. "How about you get on my shoulders?"

A wave of anxiety washed over Cameron, and he cringed. 

"I don't know if we should do that."

"I'm not going to drop you, promise."

Cameron hesitated, then biting his cheek, he let out a soft: "Okay."

A few moments of scrambling later, Cameron was on top of their shoulders. Cameron was surprised at how strong they were, especially for their small frame; but quickly gripped their hair in fear. Almost immediately as they grabbed his thighs for stability, his stomach flipped in horrifying nausea. Still, he tried to stay calm and focus on the mural. 

"I've got you, Cam."

"I swear to god if you drop me."

"I'm not going to drop you."

"I doubt you're strong enough to hold me for long."

"You're not that heavy, Cam."

"How flattering."

"You're very welcome."

His hands shook as he painted the sewer wall, creating a wobbly line of Huan's head; which was only helped as he sat on top of Luz's shoulders, clutching their hair in fear. It had only been a couple of moments, but that was already a couple of moments too long.