Looks Can Kill

Just Like the Rest

Steve's pencil stroked the canvas expertly. One line, curving around the outside of a man's desperate face, bringing the emotion from the blankness of the paper. One line, Steve's own desperation for a Savior poured into every millimeter. A second line, describing the clasped and praying hands of the desperate man. Steve pushed his desperate plea for the God of love to pull him from his hole into this thin black pencil track on the blank paper. Another line, expressing the hands from above that saved him. Steve blessed this line with all the adoration, thanks, and love his feeble heart could conjure up, but he knew it wasn't enough of a sacrifice to repay what Jesus did for him. The greatest part was that his life as a sacrifice did not need to be enough. There was no debt to pay, no sin un-atoned for. His own life in return for Jesus's overwhelming love was a sacrifice that Steve chose to give, and he has never regretted it.

The door to the art room burst open and Steve jumped, his pencil accidentally marring the perfectly imperfect picture he had been working on. Steve's eyebrows drew together as if he didn't understand the mark on his paper. He looked up to see Guinevere standing in the room, breathing quickly. Her eyes were bright with excitement and her lips held a slight grin.

"Oh, Steve! That's beautiful."

Steve gulped and quickly closed his sketchbook. It didn't matter that much anyway. Guinevere had barely even glanced at it. She was just trying to flatter him. Which is why most people at the Martin's school didn't know much about Steve's artistic talent. They didn't ever look deeper into his work. They only glance at it and pass it off as good artistry. They don't take the time to really look into the picture he created and see all the emotion and love pressed into every line. Guinevere didn't notice Steve closing the sketchbook. She was glancing out the window and in the direction of the lake.

"Something is happening at the lake. Everyone is going down to watch. Come on! We'll be late!"

Guinevere waited for Steve to set down his pencil and follow her. A crowd had already gathered just off the pier to watch and Steve awkwardly stood at the edge of the crowd. For once, the girls weren't crowding around him, wanting his hand in marriage or other weird request. He wondered who it was who had everyone's attention now. Whoever it was, they were sitting down and Steve couldn't see them. Steve could see Luke standing on the pier, talking to someone. Leeli stood a few feet back from Luke, watching with amused interest.

"Come on. Tell us the truth about your sunglasses." Luke grinned and nudged the person at his feet with his toe. Steve caught his breath as Reusa suddenly stood, her head and shoulders visible above the crowd. Reusa was not wearing her trench coat for once and Steve could see a leather jacket that cut off halfway down her torso and a green tank top under that. Reusa's lips were drawn in a tight line and Steve knew she angry. She stared at Luke for a second and Steve was worried Luke would do something stupid. He began pushing his way toward the front of the crowd. Students let him pass because of his popularity.

"Show her a good welcome, Luke." Leeli suggested in a voice that made Steve's heart beat quicker. He knew something bad was going to happen. Luke grinned mischievously, bolstered by the crowd watching.

"Welcome to the Martins' Historical School." Luke laughed, suddenly lunging forward and shoving Reusa off the wood dock. Steve gasped and lunged forward, out of the crowd and grabbed Luke's arm. No one moved for about two seconds in which Reusa twisted in the air like a cat and extended as far as she could to reach the deck. But something was off and Reusa's aim wasn't quite on point. Steve heard a collective gasp from the crowd as Reusa's head crashed into the wood of the dock and she fell limp into the water. Steve sped forward and dived into the water. He searched the water frantically for Reusa. He found her, sinking slowly through the water, her eyes closed and her sunglasses floating above her head. Steve swam around her and pulled her up out of the water, grabbing her sunglasses as an afterthought. He swam for shore, only a few feet away, and pulled Reusa onto the ground. She wasn't breathing, a fact which made Steve scared. He forced himself to take a deep breath and then he bent over her and began chest compressions. It didn't take long for Reusa's lungs to kick in on their own and she began coughing. Steve sat back and glanced at the pier. The crowd was miraculously gone, and only a few students remained. These ran off as soon as they saw Reusa coughing and Steve glaring at them. Steve's hands were shaking, he was so angry. He couldn't understand why people would come to watch something like that and think it funny. And he couldn't understand why Luke would do something like that in the first place.