Wet Paint

Lia (again)

I officially hate school.

It's full of random knowledge that nobody really needs to know. Especially in my case. An author does not need to know the names of clouds, and when Washington something-or-other died, unless I am writing about it. And in such a case, I have google.

I also have zero friends. I sit with Sophie in every class I have with her, (Science, History, PE) and am utterly alone during everything else. What I have noticed is... Henry is in almost all of my classes. Except for PE and History. Mrs Watson told the class that we would be choosing our 'Addition Classes' Which is like Art and band and sports and such. Most of which, I hate. Or just suck at. We get to choose one for every day of the week to do for an hour. That's five hours per Week that I have to spend doing things that I can't actually do. Uhg.

Sophie, of course, is babbling about her Addition Classes during the entire walk home.

"I am definitely doing Scrapbooking! Ooh and Band! I used to play mom's flute when I was little. And I reeeeeally wanna play baseball!!! I've never really played it before but I've always wanted
to! And definitely, hip hop! But I also want to do choir... hmm... I dunno."
I have a painful urge to slap her.

As we walk through the park and past the very small mall, I notice something... off about the surroundings.
There is no wind, only the warm, sickly-sweet smelling air that seems almost heavy, like a blanket.
The smell of flowers and food coming from the park and the buildings around us fills my lungs and makes my brain feel fuzzy like it's full of cotton balls.
And everyone is calm and happy.
We pass a young couple, arms intertwined, and passing over an ice cream cone. The man says something that makes his girlfriend laugh, which comes out sounding like a chorus of bells and tastes like vanilla. They are actually perfect.
Another woman sits watching two small children climbing the playground to our left. They both are very quiet, smiling brightly as they play on a slide and calmly climb up a wall of colourful rocks, laughing wildly.
Everyone seems pleasant, and calm, and happy. No fighting, no yelling, I swear I can't even find a face that is missing a full-on dopey grin.
"What is wrong with this place?" I ask suddenly.
Sophie stops, looking around, "I dunno, it's all happy and... weird. Like it's fake."
She's right. People aren't like this, they just aren't. Something's up.
"But... you're not mindless," I say.
Sophie nods slowly, "neither are you," she says.
But... why?
We turn to where the lake is and find Henry sitting with a sketchbook. I kind of creepily look over his shoulder and peek at his drawing. I see a flowing dress and a... 
"Henry!" Sophie calls, making him turn. We make eye contact for a few seconds, until I look away. 
"What are you guys doing?" He asks, closing his sketchbook and turning towards us. I think my tongue goes numb, and he just stares at me as I try to remember how to speak.
"We're just walking home," Sophie says for me. Obviously. And then she says, "wanna get ice cream?" which catches me off guard. A wide grin spreads across Henry's face, "yeah! um... sure. yeah okay." 

We walk together, Sophie in the middle of Henry and I. I don't like it. Sophie talks away, mostly to Henry- I'm not sure if this is because she likes him or she just knows I don't care. I hope it's the latter. 

"What Additions are you going to do, Henry?" Sophie asks. 
"Art. And Band. I don't really know what else." He shrugs. 

Sophie laughs and elbows him playfully, "No sports?" 

"I don't sport." He mutters. 

Soon, we turn the corner and go inside the creamy cow. There are too many people, laughing and talking. 

"Do you have money?" Sophie asks Henry. He nods and opens his bag, pulling out a five dollar bill. 

"I forgot mine." I mutter, "But it's okay I don't really want ice cream." 

"No, I'll pay Lia. And I can pay for you too, Henry. It's fine." Sophie grins and pulls out her wallet. Henry hesitates, "Uh... sure?" 

I feel a sharp pain in my arm. I look down and see Henry, pinching my elbow.

"Ow, What?!" He nods toward a man skulking in the corner. It's the mayor. 

"What?" I say again.

"Smile"  He urges.

"Henry-" 

The Mayor looks towards us. He's smiling, but it's menacing. 

"I'm telling you a joke, and you find it very funny."  Henry says. The mayor glowers at me.

I don't know what the heck Henry is doing, but he seems sure. I paste a huge grin on my face and let out a too-loud laugh. He smiles too, "Good."
The mayor looks away. 

"We need to get out or here." Henry mutters. He isn't smiling anymore. 

"Why?!" I whisper back. 

"Just get Sophie." He says. I sigh and tug on her skirt, "Henry says he need to go." 

"Why?" She says, eyebrows knit together. I shrug. She sighs and grabs the ice cream. 

We hurry out of the crowded store. I glance over the mayor. He's staring back at us. I smile and walk faster. 

"Where do you live?" Sophie asks Henry.

"I live on Groom street." He says. 

"Well, we live on Western which is... only a block away. We can walk with you" Sophie says quickly. Henry shrugs, "Okay." 

We walk in silence again. I feel kind of awkward holding two ice cream cones, but it's not a real problem that I should have.

When we get to our house, we say goodbye to Henry and walk up the steps to go inside. But when Sophie goes, Henry grabs my arm, 

"Sorry, I have to talk to you."

A/N Sorry, I know that I've been publishing and unpublishing but, I just made a chapter about ice cream dairy pills so, I had to re-do that. Sorry again, I hope this is a little more interesting!! Thanks for reading and tell me what you think!