Muse

Nineteen ~ Marker

Marker | 'marker | noun; a felt – tip pen with a broad tip. – New Oxford American Dictionary.

Chapter nineteen; marker

"Okay..." I drawl, trying to stay calm. I try to think of anywhere else I could have possibly met Arthur and just up and forgot. But no such luck. "Please explain Arthur because if you won't, I'm leaving right now." I back away from him and the closet, not wanting to look at it any longer.

            "That's what I'm trying to do. Please, Lovely just – just listen okay? I promise it's not what you think it is."

            "You didn't lie to me, steal my journal, and make me come spend time with you for no reason?" I spit out sharply.

            "Yes I did lie but no it wasn't for no reason. Please just...believe me? You know me Lovely. Over the past three weeks we've become pretty good friends and I don't want to lose that. And that's why I'm telling you the truth." He presses his voice desperate.

            "I trusted you, Arthur."

            "And you still can. I swear Lovely I can explain." He pleads.

            I sigh, shutting the closet door. "Fine. You have ten minutes."

            He sighs in relief as if his worst fears have been dodged. "Okay so...first I need you to know that I never meant to lie or have any of this happen. It just...came out and I had to live with it."

            I think back to when he desperately needed my help and went through great lengths to get it. How could all of that been a lie?

            "Go on." I urge my voice cold.

            "About a month before I saw you in the park I went to an art exhibit in Chicago with Xander," he begins and my stomach lurches. The memory of my mom begging me to go along with her and her class on a field trip pf sorts. I had initially said no but when I found out it was in Chicago I jumped at the chance to do some sightseeing. "My Mom and Dad were out of town and so I just went. I'd wanted to go the year before but things were just crazy at home and my parents wouldn't let me."

            I watch as he calmly tells the story and I have to fight to not forgive him straight away.

            "And there I saw the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. Thalia and I had broken up months before and at that moment any feelings that lingered were just...gone." He shrugs and suddenly my heart picks up its pace.

            "At first I was too engrossed in this amazing abstract sculpture to really notice anything else but...there you were." He looks straight at me and my heart leaps into my throat. "Alone on a bench wearing a yellow sundress and reading The Perks Of Being Earnest. That was really the only time in my life that I saw true art. A true masterpiece." He speaks slowly and earnestly as if he'll spook me and I'll run.

            Honestly, his gaze is so intense that I want to do just that.

            "I never saw you." I croak before clearing my throat, my eyes never leaving his. The anger hasn't left and I get the feeling it won't...not for a while.

            He shrugged. "I never got up the guts to actually talk to you. And I was afraid that even if I did; you wouldn't want to talk to me. So I left you alone and went home. Life went on but I just couldn't get you out of my head." He voices awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

            I don't say a thing as he opens the closet again and pulls out a brown leather sketch pad. He wordlessly hands it to me. "I guess...in a way, you really are my muse. Whether it was for school or just for me. Either way, you really did help me. It wasn't a lie. You helped me get my love of art back. And now I just...I can't stop."