The Dark Path (Part 1/2)

Miles Becomes A Jerk

[Miles’ POV]

“Once more, Mister Archer Garth Steele has failed to provide his presence in our company.” I said grumpily.

Tyson, Sylvia and I were at music shop looking for some new music. It was supposed to be Tyson, me and ARCHER but somehow there were some last minute changes. I hate last minute changes.

“Give it a rest, Miles. It kind of makes me really happy to see him so at ease when he’s with Alexis.” Tyson replied.

“Yeah?” I leaned closer to him. “You had to substitute Archer with a sibling you hardly know? She’s nothing compared to-”

Tyson grabbed me by the collar and lifted me into the air. “Don’t you dare call Sylvia nothing.”

I put my hands in front of me. “Hey, I don’t mean any disrespect, dude. I’m just saying she’s not exactly the same company as Archer.”

“You don’t know her like I do. She…understands what I’m going through.”

“Oh really? What is it?” I crossed my hands in front of me.

“I-I can’t really say.”

Sylvia popped out of nowhere and stared at us. “Tyson?”

Tyson turned his head to Sylvia. “Oh, Sylvia. Did you find anything you interesting?”

“Not really…” she said shyly and looked down. Her pale-brown hair falling over her eyes. “What are you doing to Miles?”

“Hmm? Miles?” he looked back at me. “Oh, right.” He dropped me and turned his whole body to Sylvia.

“Are you sure you don’t want anything?”

“Well, I don’t really want to waste your money.” Sylvia said as she rubbed her arm.

Tyson placed his hands on her shoulders. “Sylvia, you have a new life here with me. A good one, and I want to make sure you are happy as long as I’m alive. I really wish we could have found you sooner.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Found? What do you mean found?”

They didn’t respond or even look at me. “Come on, Sylvia. If you can’t find anything that interests you, maybe I could introduce you to some of the music I like. Ever heard of Thin Lizzy?” Tyson brought Sylvia to the classic rock section of the store.

I watched them walk off. Something was not right. It wasn’t the fact that I can’t find anything in the music store for once. It wasn’t the fact that forgot to wear deodorant today. What was it? I scratched my head. Then, it hit me. I was losing my two best friends. After all this time, I made a mistake. It wasn’t their fault. It was the females coming into their lives that were to blame.

I didn’t like it. Not one bit. Yet, what could I do? I looked through the music available.. Vivaldi, Bach, Mozart. I sighed. No one listens to classical music these days. Everyone’s all ‘Rock music!’ on one side and ‘Pop music!’ on the other. Listening to something other than the crowd made me feel somewhat isolated in a good way.

Looking through the albums, I found an album with a terribly drawn Leaning Tower of Pisa. I thought back to all my drawings back home. I drew world wonders all over the world.  The Taj Mahal. I made sure that the domes were the perfect angle, the four minarets at the corners were of appropriate lengths using the perspective lines.

I drew the Sphinx. Every tiny detail was researched through and through. I thought I had drawn them all. However, upon seeing the album cover of the band I don’t really seem to care, I felt like a fool for missing the leaning tower. The angle of incline was so challenging. I felt like drawing it right now!