Aligned | Finn Hudson

Paul

Paul was on the floor. Dead.

I ran over and the smell of flesh was everywhere. "Oh my god oh my god." I yelled as my heart raced. I slowly bent down to him and it looked like he had been shot in the chest somehow. I fell to my knees into the blood pool next to him and the smell hit me terribly, making me gag hard and my eyes water. I saw something shiny in his hand and bent down to his body to look closer.

"WHAT'RE YOU DOING?!" He jumped. I screamed so loud one of the mason jars holding paintbrushes shattered. Paul began to cackle as I took my foot and kicked his chest so he'd lay back down again. "Ow!" He yelled rubbing his chest as I stomped to the door. "Fuck you Paul." I was almost in tears I was angry. "Wait!" He exclaimed and sounded concerned. I turned around and he walked towards me. "I am sorry, okay? Just wanted to play one last joke on you." He held his hands up in defense. "Last? What, are you randomly gonna stop trying to ruin my life?" I threw my arms. "Not just randomly. You see, tonight I head out to Princeton, New Jersey to start my new home and get ready for college" He leaned against the table. "Congrats." I nodded. "But what's that got to do with anything?" "Well I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye to people and getting my final words in, and the person I wanted to save for last is you because I have the most to say." He rubbed his elbow shyly, a sight that would never come from him if everyone was around us. I braced myself for an argument and put my hands in my pockets to prevent myself from doing the known thing of throwing punches.

I walked over to a table that was across from him and leaned up against it. "Why me? I thought your goal was to destroy my life before you graduated?" My arms crossed. "It was, until I realized it wasn't getting me anywhere." His head lowered a bit. For once, my heart didn't feel remorse for him, it felt wondering. "Camila, you're so good at what you do. You're a National Champion for show choir and it was your first year even doing it! You are what kids aspire to be when it comes to show choir. You're top dog, and that scared me." He got up and started walking around, my full attention still grabbed to him. "So, when I saw Matthew leave and other Dalton kids want to leave too, I turned full gear on. I wanted to be top dog and get you as far down as possible so I had a chance at a future in singing and being the beat. Then I saw Summer going after you and just took her under my wing. It was fine until I got my acceptance letter and realized all I had to do was be myself, not top dog. I let Summer go because there was no love, and now all I want to do is spread it after I've used it for the wrong reasons," He sighed. He turned back to me.

"I'm not hard at all Camila. My heart is like make of clouds I'm soft! But being soft wasn't getting me anywhere. All I've wanted in life was to make my parents proud and be successful because my biggest fear is being nothing. Now that I'm graduated, and on my way somewhere as an adult to start a new life, I don't want to bring my childish ways with me. And for that, I'm here for one reason." He finally came back over to me and a frown was painted on his face. "Camila, I am sorry for everything I've ever done. There was no excuse for it, and I do feel ashamed. You didn't deserve your picture be exploited, or us cheating at competition, or nothing." His green eyes looked for any budge from my end.

I was stunned. I never expected him to say such meaningful words. "I accept your apology." I nodded. A smile cracked on his face and pulled me into a hug tightly. At first I didn't know what to do, but then I let my arms wrap around him and hold him tightly. We finally let go after a while and he walked over to the scrap paper box and pulled out a pencil from his backpack. "If your boyfriend doesn't mind, please stay in touch. If you ever need anything at all anytime, I've got you covered," He handed it to me. I smiled and put it in my pocket. "Thank you." I, for the first time ever, smiled to him. "You're going to go on to do amazing things Camila, and I know it. Not many people like you show up in the show choir world, so stay true to yourself." He nodded finally.

I looked around and saw the 'blood' on the floor. "Say, how did you do all of this?" I chuckled. "Red paint, and the smell is molded glue they still haven't replaced." He explained. "Wait, but that'll stain the wood." I looked at the floor. "Nah, it'll be okay. They replace the floors every winter so it won't matter." He flicked his wrist. We walked out together and I decided to follow him to his car. "So Paul, where will I see you in a few years?" I asked. "Maybe on broadway, or touring the world singing? Who knows." He shrugged. Paul turned back to me and gave me a firm handshake. He put his other hand on ours before smiling again. "Stay out of trouble." He grinned. "No promises." I laughed before he got in his car and drove off. I walked back to the other art cabin and Finn was there taking over for me. "Where have you been?!" Finn exclaimed laughing as he was helping a girl get paint off her shirt. I sat next to him and smiled.

"Just fixing some Opposite things."