𝐰𝐝𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 & 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬

the glory of you › j.a.

this might be cliche, i don't really know. whatever you think.

the exotic paintings brought exciting, sad, and pitiful memories to your head. the entire exhibit had been filled with emotion, and you weren't always the one to give into your feelings. but that night, as you walked alone in the small art studio that had recently opened up, you couldn't help but understand the chaotic pain, the unexplainable happiness, the untouchable loneliness of the paintings.

you found yourself staring at one specific painting on and off again throughout the entire night. it was the only one that made no sense to you. you would look at it for five minutes, trying to understand it, then walking away for ten minutes to think about it. you would return back to the painting, but nothing could come to your mind of what it meant.

it was modern art, and your family had never been big fans of modern art, so you hadn't seen it a lot as a child. there was a reason you were alone that night. you had decided to move to LA to pursue the artistic side of you. you would start with art studios and galleries, just looking for inspirations. you would then move on to finding a job, creating your own portfolio for it as well. if, for some reason, something went wrong, you would then move onto the next city on your bucket list : new york.

you held a small plastic cup of water in your hands. it was a nice type of quiet in the building, light music playing in the background. you could hear a few conversations as multiple people would talk about the artworks, but you tried not to listen. if you had listened, you knew you would've been bothered by it because of loneliness.

the plastic cup of water was brought to your lips every thirty seconds. you were parched, staring at the painting had made you so. you just couldn't understand. it was titled "the glory of you", but the name didn't help you at all. "the glory of you" what is that supposed to mean?

you scoffed silently to yourself and resumed walking around the studio. you had noticed how the sun was setting outside, signalling it would soon be dark. you didn't mind this night. you were trapped inside the beautiful word of artwork surrounding you.

you read the title and description of the next artwork. " 'steady by the hedge'. painted in 1993 by alan riddle." you sighed as the artwork had brought no interest to you. you walked away from the piece and searched for something else to look at.

and soon enough, you found yourself back at "the glory of you". what did that mean? the glory in you? the glory in a person, but who? it had to be someone, right?

as you were deep in your thoughts, convinced you would figure it out soon, you heard small laughter coming from far behind you. you turned around as the noise was louder than any other sound inside the place. it had frightened you a bit. you saw three boys standing all together in a line, looking at a painting. you noticed two other boys joining them with small plates of food.

you ignored them and looked away. "the glory of you". the painting was of a woman's collar bone, neck, and some of her chest. there was a masculine hand gently wrapped around her shoulder, the other gently wrapped around her neck. did it mean sex or anything sexual? if it did, then it made more sense.

"excuse me," a male voice had said from behind you. you turned around with a small smile on your face. you were brought to eyes with a tall boy with brown hair and blue eyes. "hi, my name is daniel, and i'm here with my friends. one of them is jack, and he thinks that you're beautiful, but you didn't hear it from me," his comment made you smile a bit wider as you looked back at the boys. the one with curly hair that resembled one of your favorite foods was looking over at you. "we couldn't help but notice that you've been staring at this painting for quite a while. were you thinking of, well, buying it, i guess?"