Tainted Walls

10

Selene

Helio offers to give me a ride again, more like he begs me. He's like a puppy who's been neglected and needs attention. I don't know why he desperately wants to be my friend. Maybe he thinks that by being friends with me, he can say he's edgy or something.

"So, do your parents know that you are the graffiti artist?"

"No."

"What do you think they'll say if they find out?"

"Nothing. They don't care"

"Oh... alright. So, have you finished the painting at school?"

"No, I ran out of my blue spray paint"

"I feel like I am annoying you with my questions," he says

"You are" I answer honestly. I watch him go silent. I smirk.

He drops me off and I thank him and head to my apartment. I walk in and drop my stuff and head to the living room. I start sketching other possible paintings. I know that they were looking for the graffiti artist as if they were on America's Most Wanted List. So many, media outlets used that as their top story. No one knew that I was the vandal, well just Helio. He better not snitch.

I finish some sketches and make myself some ramen then go to bed. Living alone has its perks, like walking around in your, underwear and not answering to anyone. I finally go to sleep.

"No! Stop!" I scream in my sleep and wake myself up from the nightmare. I jolt up and breath heavily. My body was sweating and my throat was dry. I go to the kitchen to get a glass of water. I try to calm myself down, but I feel like my chest is still vibrating from my screaming. I sit down on my couch and look at sketches. Just 100 of pages of me painting my nightmares from several sleepless nights. I can't believe I still have the same recurring nightmare after all these years. The image of him was burned into my brain.

Great. Another sleepless night.