Callie led me out to the lake a while away from our school. On our way out the gate she grabbed onto my hand in order to not lose me in the crowd of people and just didn't let go. I let her hang onto me. Her hand was warm, unsurprisingly given that the entirety of her as a person was warm. Seeing her was practically like sending a sunbeam straight into your heart. She spoke as she led me through the treeline, weaving me around pine trees and berry bushes. She told me about the classes that I wasn't with her for, and about how she just barely finished one of her assignments before the due date closed because it completely slipped her mind. She reassured me multiple times that she was a good, responsible student, and I found it silly how she thought there was any doubt in my mind.
I was always impressed by how well Callie knew the woods and exactly where most everything was located. In the time that I had known her she had brought me mostly to the lake, but she had also led me to a small cave, a clearing of soft, green grass that smelled of fresh dew, a pond that has just on lilypad floating in its waters at all times, a handful of animal nests that she uses as landmarks, and a huge tree that towered over all the rest around it. It had a sort of halo on light that separated its leaves from the ones surrounding it. Out of all the things she has shown me, I think the tree is my favorite. If I were to be able to pick what to be reincarnated as, out of everything in the world, I would pick a tree.
When we reached the lake, I took in the view as I did everytime. Sunlight lit up almost the entirety of the lake, leaving only sections of it shaded by the trees creeping in over it. There was a small beachy area made up of tiny, multicolored pebbles, and that is where the dock that led out into the lake started. The wood of it was faded and old, but just as sturdy as it had always been. In the afternoon on a school day, nobody was out except us. It was never a very crowded place though, from what I had seen. Callie was pretty far ahead of me now, I watched as her blond hair swayed slightly behind her as she walked. I noticed that my hand had fallen from hers, and for some reason it made my heart squeeze.
She looked back at me and smiled as she called me over. Together, we walked down the doc in a comfortable silence. Once we got to the end, Callie sat down, untying her shoes and then letting her feet dangle over the edge. I sat cross legged on the edge, slipping my backpack off and placing it down on my left. I switched my gaze from out across the dark blue lake to Callie and the way her hair blew in the slight breeze. I looked down at her brown camisole that had a few necklaces dangling beneath the neckline. I always thought her jewelry was very pretty to look at. I trailed my eyes down to the hand that was holding mine just a few minutes ago. I didn't mind the touch, the pressure felt kind of nice. Sometimes, thinking about Callie made me feel things that I just could not understand. I try to shake that feeling from my body by acting on a separate idea I had while looking at her skin.
Callie looked over at me as I slid my backpack back towards me and opened it, rummaging through it to find my face paints that I had brought today for art.
"What are you doing?" She asked me, pulling her legs from over the edge of the deck to sit cross legged facing me.
I didn't answer her directly, instead I opened up the green paint, grabbed her arm, dipped a small brush into the paint, and started a picture onto her pale skin. I heard her make a noise above me that sounded something in between a giggle and a gasp, and then she tensed up slightly and let me work on her. I dragged the brush up her forearm, starting on the stem of a sunflower. As I got up higher, I felt her flinch a little bit underneath me. I looked up at her as she muttered a quick, "Sorry."
I switched out my brush for one that I dipped into the yellow paint. I blocked out the shapes for the petals, or I tried to. When I inevitably had to bring my brush down into her inner elbow, she giggled and flinched away from me, messing up my petal. I gave her a slight glare and she told me she was sorry again with a wide smile. I gave her a small one back before fixing up the mistake and continuing with the painting.
I honed in on the colors and the shapes, trying to not mess up when Callie would flinch and giggle practically every time my brush would move on her skin. Whenever she did I would tighten my grip on her wrist just a little bit and she would tense up again. As I sit here literally painting on her, I think about the fact that she has become such a prominent person in my life in such a short amount of time. I can't really comprehend the fact that she's as close to me as she is, or that she really likes me as much as she does. I like her too. I like the way she talks to me just as she does to everyone else. She never babied me or talked to me as if I was on the verge of breaking down. She teases me about how old-timey I am with my VHS collection and limited knowledge of modern things just as if I were anyone else. She listens to me whenever I open up to her and talk about any random thing that comes to mind. She really makes me feel special in a way that never felt forced.
"Oh my gosh," Callie exclaimed as she looked down to study the new addition to her skin, "Iris, it's so pretty!"
She smiled at me again and I was hit with another odd feeling I have never really felt before. It's almost the same one I get when I drink hot chocolate and that warmth spreads through my chest seconds after I swallow it. It's comforting and sweet. I don't know what it is that triggered this feeling in me, but I have my suspicions, and they worry me slightly. Even so, I can't deny that she made me feel happy.
"I'm glad you think so."
