Tell Me A Lie

Chapter 5

I stared at the blank canvas in front of me, unsure of what to do with it. A paint pallet was in my left hand and a paint brush was in my right, but still I sat motionless in art class. No artistic vision would form in my mind.

My eyebrows furrowed and I wondered what was wrong with me. The rest of my classmates were working hard on their paintings, and here I was after thirty minutes of free time staring at a blank canvas. I felt like I didn't belong suddenly.

A part of me felt like I knew why I couldn't come up with something to paint. Being as fucked up as I was, all my mind consisted of was dark thoughts. Thoughts no one knew about - not even Jai. Sighing to myself, I realized taking this course was a horrible decision.

"Hi, Scarlett right?"

I jumped in my seat, nearly dropping my paint pallet. My head whipped to my right and there sat a boy on a stool. With his blonde hair grown out and tanned skin, he looked like a surfer. He was unrecognizable to me because of that.

"Hi," I replied back slowly. "That's me."

"I'm Jared." A grin bloomed on his face. "And I see that you're in a stump."

"Yeah..." I blinked, unsure of what to do.

I didn't know a Jared. I also never seen this boy before. Even though I admit I wasn't the most analytical person out there, I knew who my classmates were - most of the time. He wasn't one of them.

"You're probably wondering who the hell I am." Jared laughed awkwardly. "I'm new, not a serial killer."

I flushed, embarrassed he saw right through me. However, the fact that he was new intrigued me. In our school, new students rarely existed. Jai had been the last one.

"Sorry." I smiled awkwardly. "But yeah, I am in a bit of a stump."

"You can't think of anything to paint?"

I shook my head. "No, nothing comes to my mind."

"Well, today's you're lucky day." Jared suddenly grinned.

"And why is that?"

"Because I can help you."

I didn't know how it happened, but I let out a laugh. Whoever this guy was, I liked him. Even if I would never dare befriend him, I didn't mind him talking to me.

"So, Jared." My smile stayed wide. "Help me out then."

"Painting is a beautiful form of art," Jared said, growing serious. "It's a way to make a physical copy of our visions."

"What if you don't have visions?" I asked.

"Everyone has visions. Whether good or bad, we all have images in our minds."

I frowned at that. A part of me understood what he was trying to say. I definitely did have visions, but they were definitely bad ones. Ones I definitely couldn't make a physical copy of either.

"What if you don't want to create one of your visions?" I asked. "Is there another way to create a piece of art."

"Yes, through feelings," Jared answered. "Feelings are as beautiful as art. They define us in so many ways and feelings themselves can create visions. Use them to your advantage."

Feelings. They were something I understood too well after spending years feeling everything too strongly. Even though now I kept my feelings bottled up, this piece of advice was helpful. If there was anything I had mastered, I believed it was feelings.