Tell Me A Lie

Chapter 9

I was painting with my feelings pouring out of me. The once blank canvas in front of me was now filled with many strokes of paint and colours. I wasn't sure where I was going with the image in front of me, but what I felt was relieved and I really needed that.

So far on my canvas was a man and woman. They were both painted in black. Both of their faces wore scowls and furrowed eyebrows that made them look evil. Those two represented my parents.

Behind them was a house. It was painted in a fiery red and the windows of it were painted pitch black. As I stared at the house that represented hell, I thought of painting flames on top of the house.

"How's your painting going?" I heard someone ask suddenly, snapping me out of my analyzation.

I looked up from my painting and saw Jared. He stood behind the canvas with a smile on his face. It had been a while since I saw him.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "Do you want to see?"

Jared shook his head. "No, I want to see the final copy. I want to see the perfect image you've created."

"It's going to a picture far from perfect though. Trust me."

"Anything can be perfect." Jared smiled - almost sadly. "Even broken things."

My eyes widened, but as I saw Jared smiling I felt stupid. At first I thought he was talking about me, but I guessed wrong. He was stating a general statement.

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, have you ever seen broken glass?" he asked. "It's lovely even though it's broken."

I thought about it. To be honest, I couldn't really see it. Glass was just glass. A clear object that holds stuff. Broken glass especially was useless, which made me frown.

Jared suddenly chuckled lightly. "Scarlett, one day you'll understand just how beautiful the world is."

"You think the world is beautiful?" I blurted out, surprised.

That statement was something foreign to me. To me the world was hideous. Not just because of my own life views, but because of everything wrong in the world in general. There was so much crime. So much poverty. Everyday tons of people suicide and honestly, I didn't blame them for doing it. The world we lived in was hideous.

"Yeah," Jared answered. "Just look at it. It's beautiful."

"Yeah right." I scoffed. "Let's look at all of the deaths and crimes and poverty. What a beautiful world."

My cheeks heated up at what I said. These were one of my thoughts I kept to myself. I didn't like to let people know I hated this world.

"But look at all of the opportunities and birth and love," Jared said, smiling. "We as humans need to learn how to appreciate the little things in life."

"Not everyone has that luxury."

"I know." His hazel eyes hardened. "And one day I'm going to change that."

"How?"

Suddenly, Jared reached for my face. For some reason I flinched when he touched my cheek, which made him smile sadly. As he began to caress my cheek gently, I frowned in confusion.

"Scarlett," he said gently - so gently my heart skipped a beat. "Get to know me more and I'll tell you."

After saying those words, Jared's hand left my face. He then turned around and walked off, leaving me utterly confused. But, a part of me was also very intrigued.

*****

"We need to talk," Jai stated, grabbing my wrist.

Before I could say anything, Jai was dragging my away from our usual lunch bench. My mouth flew open as he dragged me across the field and into the empty parking lot that lay meters away from where we were. I wanted to question his intentions, but for some reason nothing would come out of my mouth. Probably because I had a bad feeling about this.

Once we were at the edge of the parking lot and away from any trace of humans, Jai stopped and turned to face me. Concern was etched upon his face and his green eyes looked sad. Nerves began to fill me at that.

"Uh... What's up Jai?" I asked awkwardly.

"Scarlett..." he began, sounding nervous. "I..."

He took a deep breath in and my throat constricted. This was the most scared I felt in a while, and my parents were the spawns of Satan.

"I know we don't talk about these things," Jai said, his eyes softening. "We avoid it most of the time and it helps because we get to forget about everything for a bit... But, I can't let this go. It's driving me insane."

"What, Jai?" I asked. "I'm confused."

"Ever since that day I came to your room I haven't been able to think straight. All I think about is you and your life," he said. "I didn't think things were that bad. I didn't think you had to deal with this. Scarlett... I'm worried."

"Don't be." I shrugged, hoping he'd think this wasn't a big deal. "I've been living my life for seventeen years now. I can deal with this."

"But time wears us down."

"I am worn down," I admitted, still speaking casually to him. "But I'm alive."

"Alive and fucked up." His tone turned bitter. "What a way to live."

We stared at each other for a moment, not saying a word. Only with the silence did I realize my heart was hammering against my chest painfully. I didn't like the topic at hand. I didn't like how he was bringing up the truth about everything. Everything, I tried to ignore.

"That's you too," I said, trying to change the subject. "And you know what, I don't understand why you get to know so much about me when I know nothing about you."

"It's not like you told me about your parents," he said.

"I at least told you something about them. How I felt about them at the very least." The tone I tried to keep casual suddenly turned helpless. "What do I know about your family? What do I know about your home?"

"I told you I would tell you when I'm ready."

"Then I'll only talk about my life when I'm ready," I said, trying hard now to yell at him. "Okay Jai. I don't want to talk about this."

Silence surrounded us again. My chest was rising and falling quickly, and I realized I was trying so hard to withhold my feelings. That only made me feel more freaked out because feelings had always been the one thing I thought I had control over. They had been the one thing I was able to save myself from. I needed this conversation to end now.

Jai seemed to realize how freaked out I was because his eyes softened. His once tense body relaxed, and before I knew it Jai wasn't in a serious mood anymore. He was back to old Jai. The one that I could relate to. Not the one who could bring up the reality that was mine.

"Fine," Jai said, stepping towards me. "When we're both ready we'll talk about this. Deal?"

"Deal," I answered, even though I wasn't sure if I could go through with this deal.

Jai grabbed my hand I jumped, surprised. But before I could say anything, Jai began to walk forward, dragging me behind him. I just followed along, taking in how cold his hand was. With that feeling, I couldn't help but wonder about Jai's life. What was the reality he lived in?