Tell Me A Lie

Chapter 16

     I was putting my clothes away. Kneeling on the carpet ground in front of my drawer, I was folding my washed clothes so that I could put them away. There wasn't much to do, so I let my thoughts wander to Jai.

     We definitely got closer. Our bond was strong and I knew that I valued him a lot. I wanted him to be permanent in my life, but I also knew not to hope for that. Everything was temperory and there was nothing you could do about it. But, like I told Jai I would try to stay at his side.

     My mind suddenly went to how Jai reacted to Jared. Whenever Jared was around, Jai seemed annoyed. He would scowl and suddenly touch me, making it seem like he was making a statement that I was his.

      I smiled at that, feeling a warmth blossom in my heart. My mind suddenly began to warn me and I knew why. Thoughts like these would ruin me and what Jai and I had. I needed to stop and continue on with my life, knowing Jai was my best friend. It was for the best.

      "Scarlett," I heard someone say behind me.

      I jumped, startled by the voice. Whipping my head around, I saw my mom standing at my bedroom door. She was studying me, and suddenly I felt my gut twist. Nothing good ever happened when my parents entered my room - or anywhere really.

      "What are you doing?" she asked, narrowing her eyes at me.

      "Just putting my clothes away," I said, going back to folding clothes. "Do you need anything?"

      "No."

      I tried to hide my confusion as I looked back at my mom. This was a surprise. My mom only ever conversed with me to demand me to do something.

      "You know," she said, sighing. "Your hair doesn't look bad today. I mean, it's grown a lot and it's... Lovely."

     It took everything I had not to look surprised. Never in my seventeen years had my mom complimented me. She never paid any attention to me either, so the fact that she noticed my hair grew was surprising. I was stunned.

      Without another word, my mom turned around and walked off. She left me alone in my room stunned, and after a bit of staying still from shock, I took a deep breath in. What was going on, I wondered.

      My eyes stared at where she was and I felt my heart tighten, wondering if this was some sort of sick joke. But then, I also realized my mom couldn't get anything out of this. So staring after her, for the first time I thought maybe, just maybe I could have a good aftermath. Maybe things could change. Slowly, but surely.

*****

      I stared at the large blank piece of paper in front of me. This time, we were sketching. We were allowed to sketch anything we wanted to and to my surprise, I reached out to grab a pencil.

      Without thinking, I began to sketch. There was no anger in me. No happiness either, but there also wasn't any sadness. Surprisingly, I didn't feel nothing either. For the first time, I felt hope. A hope that gave me the inspiration to draw.

      My hand flew across the paper as I sketched. I was sketching only an outline, but I felt an excitement at what I was beginning to draw. It was beautiful. Beautiful and exactly what I needed.

      After half an hour of sketching, my hand began to ache. Deciding to take a break, I sat up straight and stretched out my sore body. A smile was on my face and I hoped no one noticed.

      Looking down at my drawing, I felt pride. What I drew was a boy and girl holding hands. They stood facing a long path that had trees on either side. The path led to somewhere bright, not dark, and my smile grew. My cheeks also flushed, knowing the girl was me and the boy was Jai. This drawing expressed our future I hoped for.

      Staring at the picture, I knew I shouldn't hope. I knew it would ruin me in the end. But, I couldn't help myself. Everything in my life was steadily improving. There wasn't much of an improvement yet, but after seventeen years of constant hell things were changing. I couldn't help but hope for a good aftermath.

      "Hey, Scarlett," Jared suddenly said, bringing my attention to him.

     I looked at him and saw that he was staring at my drawing. Fighting back the urge to hide my personal drawing, I watched him study it.

      "It's beautiful, you know," Jared said, looking at me. "Just like you."

     Surprise washed over me at his boldness, but I didn't react. Jared was sweet. So nice I felt bad for leaving him hanging the other day. However, I also hoped things weren't heading where I thought they were.

     "Thank you," I said, smiling. "I'm actually proud of it. For once I think I could have a talent."

      That was true. Staring at my drawing, I was impressed by how realistic the drawing was. It was just an outline, but still everything looked so sharp and precise. I loved it.

      "Told you you have a talent." Jared grinned.

      I smiled appreciatively at him. It was all thanks to him. He was the one who showed me how to create art. With feelings, he taught me you could create something beautiful.

      "Thank you," I said, hoping to show my gratitude. "For teaching me about art. It really helped me and I'm really thankful of you right now."

      "You're welcome." He grinned. "But you could really thank me by doing me a favour."

      "What's the favour?"

      "You know the school dance coming up?" he said, causing my eyebrows to raise. "Be my date to it."

      I was speechless. Even though I had a sinking feeling this was how Jared felt about me, I was shocked. Boys were never interested me and I was never interested in them. Even though I was attracted to them, I knew I was better off not getting involved with any guy.

      I wanted to tell Jared that I didn't go on dates, but looking at his eyes, I was surprised to see hope. A hope so strong that any thought of rejecting him soon vanished. Now that I knew what hope was, the thought of crushing someone's hope seemed too cruel to do.

     So, I said, "Sure, I'll go with you to the dance."

      "Really?" He grinned so brightly that I smiled. "That's awesome. I can't wait."     

      "Me neither," I said, feeling oddly excited suddenly.

      This was how it felt to have a guy interested in you. Staring at Jared, I found myself melting a bit. He looked so excited that I myself looked forward to the day. Even if I knew I should stop leading him on because we could never be anything - not even friends - I decided to just let things happen. Change was good, so maybe this change would be too.