Speaking Without Words

Ch. 4

Thank god it wasn't as bad as it had seemed. I had somehow managed to slice my ankle on someone's binder and that's how I got the cut. As for my ankle, just twisted.

Boy, did I give the doctors a scare! It was quite hysterical once they figured out that it wasn't anything too serious.

I took the rest of the school day off, letting Mrs. Levi know it wasn't that bad. She profusely scolded me about carelessness and how if I didn't do anything about it, I'd die one day because of it.

I'm glad I had the rest of the day off because tomorrow I would need to be able to deflect Austin's questions. Unless he forgot, that is.

Or...

I smiled, devising the most devious plan. I headed out to the local drug store and bought the supplies I would need.

I stayed up late, testing out my plan and woke up early to execute it.

I pulled on the pale green t-shirt I had bought and applied the heavy concealer people used to cover up tattoos. Whoever said they can't be used for scars?

It would be interesting to see people's reactions. I had never worn a short sleeve shirt since the incident.

A first time for everything, right?

I walked into school. I felt exposed with my arms bare, but I had a jacket and the makeup to boot.

I did draw a lot of stares, but it wasn't till Austin spluttered did I smile for real. I helped out my arm, showing him my "plain" skin.

Feeling gutsy, I texted Colin.

Sorry about earlier, I was stressed for a huge test in history. Wanna meet up on the weekend and I'll show you a few techniques on the set of oil painting?

As I headed to my first class, I felt an arm grab my upper arm. I flinched and turned around to find Austin.

"You and I both know you had the word 'worthless' carved into your arm. I bet you if I were to wipe my finger on your arm, my finger would come away covered in powder."

I croaked the first words in what seemed like forever, "go on. I dare you."

When all he did was stand still, dumbfounded, I walked away, not turning back.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The weekend came way too early and before I knew it, I was packing up some art supplies and scribbling a note to my parents saying I was going to the beach to paint.

I didn't tell them that I would be meeting up with someone. Not telling the whole truth never hurt anyone.

I loaded my stuff into my car and headed to the beach. I set up three easels, one for me, one for Colin, and one for me to write on.

I was starting to lose my nerves and I kept looking at my arms to make sure my scars were covered. I still hadn't said anything other than to Austin but I hated how pitiful my voice sounded.

I put that out of my mind when I saw Colin walking up. His hands were in his pockets that were flecked with dried clay, not that I noticed or anything.

Who am I kidding? A rock? I noticed every detail about him. From the way he walked to the smile on his face to the way his hair flopped, I looked at it all.

I felt my hands start to itch in anticipation to paint something, well, someone.

I mentally kicked myself and promised to run off my stupidity later. I was here to teach, not get involved in life stuff. I huffed, my hair coming out of the ponytail that was on top of my head.

You already tried that once, I thought to myself, and look where that got you.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself down. I was right. I wasn't here to mess around.

Colin walked up and said "hey",

I waved back.

"So what will we learn about today Teacher?" He asked with a wink.

I smiled to myself before writing in my neat handwriting on one of the easels.

First I need to know if you've ever worked with paint before.

He read the note and responded as if I had asked the question and not the board.

"When it comes to paints, I've worked with acrylics but other than that, I don't work in 2-D."

I nodded.

"Oil paint can be viewed in two different ways. The first way is to think of working with a really smushed 3-D medium with very little raises and ridges. The second way is to think of it as 2-D with a bit more texture."

I waited for Colin to nod before continuing.

"For today, we will start with acrylic and use oil to finish it off."

He nodded again, "so basically you use acrylic for the base and oil for touch ups?"

I shook my head. No, it's like layers of a building, foundation, walls, and rook. Besides, oil paint is expensive and it's easier to use acrylic first and use small amounts of oil to acclimate yourself to the new medium. It's like a wood carver going to stone. It'll take a few tries but essentially, it's the same thing."

Colin smiled, "you're great at analogies, you should teach a class." He made a small 'o' sound and I wiped at my mouth.

I turned back to the easel. Choose a canvas, paint brush set (other than the black, those are mine so don't touch) and some paints and paint whatever comes to mind.

I opened the lid to my acrylics and let him poke around.

I added a p.s.

Btw, the paints are color coded. You're smart, don't mess it up. If you get confused, take one out at a time. I'll be too absorbed in painting, not only do I let my mind do its thing, I let my hands grab the paints without looking.

He smiled and laughed a little bit. "You'd like my sister. She's just as OCD as you are." He teased.

I smiled and pressed play on my phone. Soft music drifted out of my Bluetooth speaker and instantly filled me to the brim with painting vibes.

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and began.