Ascend

~3~

I painted that upstairs hallways for three days straight, only stopping to eat leftovers and use the bathroom. I barely slept. I fell asleep at almost 2 o'clock each night and woke up at 7 o'clock to work again. Ardy tried calling me over and over again, but I never answered. Aunt Lorelei would call up the stairs to me, but she'd never actually come up to me.

     I loved being alone to paint, but I had barely made a dent in the hallway, and I still had the bathroom, doors, and my room to paint. It hurt me to think about it.

One day- I think it was day 5 of my upstairs hallway project, I ran out of Sap Green. I finally got dressed in presentable-ish clothes- a t-shirt and ripped jeans, all paint splattered, instead of shorts and no shirt- and gathered the courage to step outside.

The sun burnt my eyes and was just really annoying. I got my paint as fast as I could and headed back to Aunt Lorelei's. I was in the homestretch when I ran into someone, knocking them down in the process.

I looked down at the girl I knocked down and watched her fix her black skirt- it flipped up and got chalk on it when she fell. She swore and fixed her clothes and long, violet hair.

I gasped and knelt down to help her, gathering her bags of things and her books.

"I'm so sorry," I said, handing her things to her and biting my lip. "I didn't see you. I'm really sorry." I was so awkward... I didn't know what to do in this situation!

"My clothes! Do you know how hard it is to get chalk off of this dress?!" she shouted at me, getting up. Half of her incredibly long curls were in two little buns at the back of her head while the rest was down, reaching her waist. She had a black flower crown and a light pink shirt under her black overall dress and her makeup was heavy and dark. Her hands frantically patted at the chalk dust that was all over her and she looked furious.

"I'm really sorry. I am. I-I... uh... can I help at all?" I asked, looking up at her face.

"Does it look like you can help?!" she angrily asked, looking up at me now and snatching her things away from my hands. Her eyes were really pretty.

"I-I can pay you for it? I'm sorry... I usually leave the paint or chalk or whatever on my clothes..." I muttered, picking at my nails.

She scanned me and made a face. "I can see that... but whatever... I got it from a thrift shop," she said, acting nonchalant. "The name's Lilah," she added, sticking her hand out for me. I blushed a little and shook it.

"I'm Ian," I replied, biting my lip. "I'm sorry that I ruined your dress. I was in a hurry to get home."

She smirked a little and scanned my face. "Is there a reason?"

Was she flirting with me..?

"I'm competing in the Art Festival... I need to paint an entire floor before the Fall and I need to get going," I answer, biting my lip.

"Ah. That's cute." She was flirting. "But it's not like I care," she snapped, looking away. Or maybe not?

"Oh..? Okay. Well, I should get going," I said, blushing.

She nodded and bit her dark lip. "See you around," she said, clip-clipping away in tall wedge sandals. I laughed a little and watched her leave.

"Wow..." I whispered to myself before heading back to the house. I went upstairs and put the paints and brushes and things that I bought down on the bed before heading to call Ardy. I was going to tell her about how crazy the people here were... and how cute...

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"You thought she was cute?!" Arden exclaimed when I told her about my run in with Lilah. She yelled at me for almost an hour before I got a chance to actually get a word out. When I said that I thought the girl was cute, Ardy totally freaked out.

"Oh my god! You thought someone in the outside would was cute! I can't believe it!" She exclaimed, still going on and on.

"Ardy, calm down!" I said over her. "I'm allowed to think a person is hot. Now relax."

She took a deep breath and made a sound I didn't understand. "I can't believe it... I thought you were gay for a little while, you know..."

"Arden!" I shouted. "You make me—" I groaned and got up to turn on my stereo.

"You love me," she giggled.

"Yeah, yeah," I laughed as the classical music start flowing out of the speakers.

"You better not be painting again," she scolded when she heard the music.

"I need to get stuff done, Ardy. Calm down," I replied, changing back into my painting clothes.

"You need to give yourself a break!" she shouted at me, her demeanor changing completely.

"I need money," I shot back.

"Get a job!" She snapped before realizing how mean she sounded. "I'm sorry..."

I laughed a little. "You can talk to me while I paint," I suggested.

She paused before sighing. "Fine... I will...." she muttered.

We ended up talking until 4 in the morning.