SPECTRAL

Chapter 13

 Although Parker soon got better, Noah was slowly getting worse. Bags appeared beneath his eyes and he seemed to be thinning out. But what really worried everyone was that he was isolating himself. Again.

If Noah was completely honest, he was beyond embarrassed. They aren't supposed to know that he is a mess. They aren't supposed to know how vulnerable he still is. Especially not Parker. God, how could the small boy ever look up to him again? Noah felt pathetic.

To get away from everyone, Noah began to work more. Of course, his boss had been surprised and slightly worried. When he adopted Parker, he had asked if he could work slightly less so he had more time to spend with his new brother. But now, she knew something must be wrong. But she couldn't do anything.

Noah's downward spiral did nothing but motivate Parker more. He had to make his brother happy again, he had to stop the panic attacks and the haunting memories of the past. But most importantly, he had to learn how to paint. Yes, he can paint. But Parker wants to be able to paint better than an amateur. He wants to paint an array of Noah's favorite flowers, he wants to paint everyone together, he wants to paint Noah again.

Joey and Josh were in on his plan, helping him learn techniques, find flowers, and critiquing Parker's paintings. Josh would offer him canvas sizes, "Do you want a 1-foot by ⅔-foot canvas or a 1-foot by 1-foot canvas?"

"Josh, those are a 15 by 10-inch canvas and a 15 by 15-inch canvas. Where did you even find those sizes?!"

"Your point? Anyways, these really are a 1 foot by ⅔ foot canvas or a 1-foot by 1-foot canvas!"

Joey grinned, "Well, it really depends how you measure a foot, doesn't it!" Parker blinked, and then he grinned. He had totally forgotten!

"I forgot to research how large a sugar glider's foot is!"

"Don't worry about that, I couldn't even find how large an ostrich foot is! Come on people, this should be common knowledge! We need to know this!"

"What are you going to do, hunt down an ostrich just to measure its foot size?"

"What else would I do? I'm dead."

---

Teachers and some of Parker's peers seemed to be walking on eggshells around him. He didn't want that. Instead of pitying him for what had happened, they should be working on how to prevent it in the future!

Parker had taken a proactive role against bullying. Ever since he returned to school after his injury, he was on the lookout for bullies and victims. Not only that, but Parker also slowly got the majority of his peers to warm up to him. He wanted everyone to know that they had someone who would be there for them in the school. And Parker also began to speak to the teachers more, trying to get them to enforce rules and policies that would reduce the bullying that occurs inside the school walls.

Hardly any teachers wanted to listen to him, except one: Mrs. Mills. She could never forget the sight of Parker at the bottom of the stairs. She never wanted herself or anyone else to see that again. No matter who the student may be.

It was frustrating. The majority of teachers would always say that he is "Just a child" and "Too young" to do anything. That there was "No point" in fighting against the inevitable. But Parker wouldn't give up. He couldn't.

Now, Parker has three life goals: research ghosts, make Noah happy, and stop the bullying epidemic. And he would be damned if he didn't accomplish all three.

---

Nowadays, Parker always seemed to have paint on his hands and clothes. Sometimes he would even have paint splotches covering his face. Of course, Josh and Joey wouldn't tell him this, because they enjoyed seeing how flustered Parker got when he realized he had paint on his face all day.

Maybe Parker was a little biased, but he really thinks that he is getting good at painting. He has a greater understanding of values and some colors, although he still lacks the more complicated side of color theory. He also has begun to learn the anatomy of the human face, although the rest of the human body is kind of a mess. But all in all, he is ten times better than he used to be.

He had already painted some of Noah's favorite flowers and hung them on the walls around the apartment. Now, he was working on one large family portrait. It was the biggest painting he had ever done so far, but it would be perfect. It had to be.

Noah was standing in the middle, Charley in his arms. On his face, Noah had a large grin, one he seemed to be lacking lately. On Noah's right stood Joey, Josh, and Parker. Josh was ruffing Parker's and Joey's hair as the two made funny faces. On the other side of Noah stood Claire and Mia. The two girls were grinning. Mia was held up by Claire and was giving Noah bunny ears. And on the outside stood Mildred and Anthony. The two elders had thrown their arms around the person next to them and had content smiles on their faces. And of course, Parker made sure to put a little bee near Anthony's face.

This painting had to be perfect. It just had to be. Parker wanted Noah to be happy and he knew how much Noah loved the smaller family portrait. And now that their family has grown, so should their portrait.

Parker was nearing completion. His paintbrush would move delicately along the canvas, leaving trails of paint in its wake. Unconsciously, Parker's tongue made its way out of his mouth and was sticking out. His eyebrows furrowed together in concentration as he put everything into the painting. It had to be perfect.

The sound of a door slamming shut knocked Parker out of his trance. It all seemed to have happened in slow motion. The palette with his paint flew from his hands and onto the canvas. Parker winced as paint flew out in clumps onto the painting.

Hurriedly, Parker tried to scrape off the paint and he removed the palette. But it was no use. The painting was ruined. There was black where there should have been white, there were red and greens in the background, there were splatters of white covering some of the faces, and even more!

Tears began to leak from his eyes. He couldn't make Noah happy with this. He just couldn't! And he was so close to being done! Now he had to start all over again. He couldn't bear it. He would have to watch Noah slip even farther into a dark hole. He wouldn't see Noah smile for a long time.

And to his horror, the door to the painting room opened. There was only one person who it could be. With tears rolling down his red face, Parker looked up into Noah's eyes.

Noah, who had been fuming because of a terrible customer at his work, was frozen. His brown eyes trailed around the room and quickly landed on the painting. Parker's lip trembled, oh god, the painting.

"Is-Is that us?"

Parker could hardly see Noah now, his vision was blurred with tears. Shakily, he nodded.

"It's perfect."

Parker snapped his head up and quickly rubbed away his tears, "Perfect? But- But..."

Noah grinned, for the first time since he had been at the hospital, "Perfect. It is perfect."

Warmth bubbled up in Parker's chest and he ran to Noah and hugged him. Every feeling he had seemingly locked away seemed to be breaking free. Parker was sobbing, "I missed you, I missed you so much." Noah hugged him tighter as Parker continued to sob, "Never do that again. Never never never...

Noah began to tear up as realization crashed onto him. He hadn't meant to hurt anyone, he hadn't wanted to make anyone unhappy. He was too selfish to realize what he was doing to his family. And for the first time, Noah spoke, "I love you so much, Parker."

Parker tensed in his arms. Never, not once, had he heard those words. "I love you too..." He paused before he whispered, "We'll get through this together. You don't need to do this alone."

Noah closed his eyes and relaxed in the warmth of the hug, "I know... I know..." He slowly pulled away and looked down at Parker, at his little brother. "You'll always be my little brother."

Parker grinned, "And you'll always be my misguided big brother."