Tell Me A Lie

Chapter 10

I was staring at my painting, wondering if I should add more to it before I coloured in everything. The canvas was nearly filled, but yet it felt so empty. I didn't know why.

"Scarlett," Jared said out of nowhere.

My head flew to where he stood behind my canvas. He was grinning and I wondered how he always appeared out of nowhere as my heart skipped a beat.

"Yeah?" I said, frowning.

"Do you remember my offer?" Jared asked.

I thought about it for a second. No memory would come to me however, so I just cocked my head to the side, confused.

"I told you to get to know me," Jared said after a bit, looking slightly disappointed. "Remember?"

"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed. "I remember."

Jared broke out into a smile and I couldn't help but smile as well. A part of me hated that because I had already let one person into my life, I couldn't afford to let in another.

"Do you want to take me up on that offer then?" he asked, smiling almost shyly.

I stared at him, stunned. We only met a month ago and I hadn't expected us to reach the point where he'd want to hang out with me. There were people I talked to in this school, but for the most part everyone left me alone. They knew I preferred independence so they gave it to me. Jared didn't seem to know me quite that well it seemed.

"Jared..." I began, not knowing how to say it. "I don't think that's a good idea."

He frowned. "Why not?"

"Because... I'm not someone you'd want to hang out with." I shrugged awkwardly. "I'm not someone worth your time."

"Scarlett, you're incredible from what I've seen so far." He grinned and my heart couldn't help but melt. "If anything, I shouldn't be worth your time."

I didn't know why, but seeing him grinning and so excited made my defenses fall down. This wasn't like with Jai where I was sure of letting him in, but for some reason I agreed. Jared was different. It was a nice change.

*****

We were walking down the street, talking about school. With university coming up, we were talking about where we would apply to. It was an interesting topic Jai and I never brought up. Probably because for the most part, the future wasn't that important to us.

"Do you want to stay on residence?" Jared asked as the sun warmed us up.

"I don't know," I answered honestly. "I doubt I would be allowed to anyways."

"Strict parents?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, you could say that."

Jared frowned and I regretted my words. Shanking my head, I had to blame Jai for my openness. After bringing up my life to someone so often, it seemed easier to do it. I hated that.

"Do you know what universities you want to apply to?" Jared asked as we began to walk towards a park.

"No." I shook my head. "I'm just going to apply to a bunch and hope for the best."

Jared's eyes widened. "Wow, you have no idea of what you're going to do with your life."

"No." I blushed, slightly embarrassed. "I'm just going with the flow."

"Aren't you worried?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "I don't really think about the future."

Jared's eyes softened as we passed the park and began to walk on a vast field. It was empty and I wondered about where we were heading as we walked across it.

"You know, the future is all I think about," Jared said, smiling. "Just the thought of it gets me excited."

"Really?" I asked. "Do you think it'll be better than the present?"

"For sure." His eyes gleamed with excitement. "As the saying goes, were only looking up from now on."

I found myself smiling at those words. It was kind of beautiful to see someone do positive. With everyone else so negative in my life, this change was fascinating.

"And you think the future will definitely consist of good things?" I asked after a bit.

"Yeah, remember." He grinned. "It's a beautiful world."

Staring at him, I wondered what sort of blessed life he was given. He probably had incredible parents, money, good looks, and everything since they day he was born. I couldn't help but feel a bit jealous of that.

"I don't know," I said honestly. "I swear there's this thing called a middle life crisis. That's not exactly a bright future."

"Yes, there are bumps on the ride to a perfect life," Jared said, raising an eyebrow. "But the aftermath is always worth it."

I thought about that and instantly began to frown. My entire life was a middle life crisis. Honestly, nothing was going right. And thinking about it now, I couldn't see a good aftermath for myself. There was no beauty in my world that I could vision.

"You look conflicted, Scarlett," Jared said, suddenly stopping in his place.

I stopped walking and turned to face him, frowning. What he said was true. I was conflicted. So conflicted about this world we lived in and its worth.

"Look to the ground," Jared said, looking down. "Tell me what you see."

I looked down and noticed that there was no grass surrounding our feet. There was nothing but dirt there, but I noticed two holes. There was also a small hill, and as I spotted a few ants exiting it I realized it was an ant hill.

"I see two holes and an ant hill," I answered.

"Those two holes were ant hills," he said. "But their gone. Those aftermaths weren't bright, as you can see."

I looked up at him, frowning once again. I wondered where he was going with this.

"The ant hill however, represents a good aftermath." He looked at me and smiled. "There's life in there. A beautiful world for ants and their children. Isn't that what this world can be for anyone? A place where you can love and prosper and grow children."

"What if a good life isn't in your cards?" I couldn't help but ask. "Look at the other tunnels. Their filled with nothing. What if some of our lives only consist of nothingness?"

"Some of our lives do." His eyes softened. "But there's hope for everyone. Things may look bad now, but they won't always be that way for everyone. You just have to believe and enjoy the little things, and one day life might just have everything you could ever want."

I looked down, unsure of what to say. A part of me wanted to argue about that. Some of us couldn't hope. We couldn't believe because we knew things could never change. After experiencing hell for seventeen years, a different, better life was hard to imagine.