All in my head

Exhibition

I slept over at Sara's house but Hale did not. He went back home after eating pizza.
Sara woke me up by shaking my entire body sideways. I couldn't have something else that would be as better as this energizing technique she possessed.
"What is it?" I asked with my sleepy eyes.
"How can you forget it? Get ready this instant." She yelled from across the room.
"Oh, Shit! I'll be ready in no time." I hurried towards the bathroom and saw that Sara was already dressed up in her black bodycon dress.
I swiftly took a shower and did all the morning necessaries within twenty minutes. I straightened my hairs which were not very long and I regretted this fact. I did minimal makeup.
"You ready?" Sara asked after she hung up the call she had been on.
"Yeah!" I said, sighing in relief.
"Wow. You look better than me." She gave me an expressionless look.
"Should I say 'thank you'?"
"Never mind, let's go." Off we went when she said this. To be honest, she pulled me vigorously through my arm. I almost lost my balance and was about to trip but I handled myself to regain my balance.
We were about to enter the car which Mr. Rylie was about to drive and Sara asked me, "Has Hale been informed?"
"Yeah, I did; yesterday." I said.
"Well, did you remind him? What if he forgets?" She said.
"You're right. I'll text him." I said as I opened the back door of the car.
"Call him!" She yelled in excitement.
"Okay. Okay. I'll call him." I did as she asked me to do. He picked up. "Hale!" I exclaimed.
"Hi."
"Shut up. Are you ready?" I asked in a hurry as we were getting late.
"Yeah, I'm ready. I'll leave in a few minutes." He said.
"Hurry Hale, or else Sara will kill me." I was about to hang up but Sara asked me to ask him whether he had the address or not.
"Hale, do you have the address?" I asked.
"Yes, I do." He said.
"Alright then, get going. I'll meet you right there. Bye."
"Bye." He laughed and I hung up.
"Wait, what about my parents?" I asked Sara.
"They're on their way, Aura." Mr. Rylie said pushing me back to earth.
We were there in half an hour. Sara rushed in to disappear. Mr. Rylie and I were slowly walking as we weren't the ones whose artwork was to be showcased.
"Ever wondered how she became all that?" Mr. Rylie made a sly comment.
"That's natural. It's good until it's natural." I replied.
Mr. Rylie giggled through his way and said, "Let's get inside, Aura." He smiled as he kept the car keys in his back pocket.
We went inside. The hall was huge. Bigger than any hall I'd ever seen. The paintings were displayed but I couldn't see the one which Sara had made. I saw her talking to an older man who seemed to be explaining something to her. She saw me and I waved.
While she came closer, she patted the file in her hands on her forehead. I gestured in a way to ask her what happened.
"My painting's locked in another room. They've placed it in there." She sounded worried.
"We'll see it, right?" I asked.
"Of course, we'll see it. They're waiting for the producers to come. Once they arrive, there'll be man to explain every painting to the producers along with the painters who created them."
"And then they'll open the door?" I continued.
"And then they'll open the door." She confirmed.
"How long do we have to wait?" I asked as I was starting to get bored.
"I don't know." She bent low with her hands on her waist and instantly got up. "Oh, they've arrived. Let's just wait here until they cut the ribbon and all." She gestured with her hands.
The short ceremony was done very quickly. A crowd gathered on one end of the hall and the guy to whom Sara was talking to, guided everyone. He explained a few things about the painting and then the artist said a few words. Each one of them was skittish and highly strung. They fidgeted and cracked their voices in the middle of their speech.
"Hi." I heard a voice from behind me. It was Hale.
"Hey." I said, slowly.
"Did I miss anything?" He whispered. He was wearing a suit which made him look very dapper.
"No, you didn't." Sara replied.
That was the first time he noticed her. "Oh. Hi. Congratulations girl."
Sara gave him a quick hug and the men standing behind, looked at them with wide eyes.
"And now... we move forward to the most awaited section for today. This painting has been named the most creative painting of this year. I would like to kindly call the little girl who, at such a young age, had the idea and determination to bring out this painting as the most creative painting of this session. Miss Sara Elizabeth Rylie, please come up." The guy announced.
We clapped when she went forward to address everyone.
"Good morning, everyone..." She paused. "Well, I'm not good at speeches." Everyone laughed when this was the only sentence that she came up with. "But I am an artist... and I think I'm good at my work." Everyone chuckled again. "I have tried my best to portray what it means to have a life in this painting of mine. My sister standing right there has helped me lot... I hope you guys can relate to what I have tried to put in my piece of art. Thank you." She pouted in nervousness when she said 'thank you'."
As the door was about to be opened, I saw Dr. Larsen standing at a distance from me. My face grew fire hot. "Is that Dr. Larsen?" I nudged Hale.
"I guess he is." He said, trying to control his laughter.
"Shit." I waved at him anyway. He did not wave back. He smiled, instead.
Everyone shoved inside the room which had been opened finally. It wasn't a room, actually. It was a miniature form of the hall. Not a room definitely. It was big enough. We could not see any trace of a painting in the Hall. Everyone started to mumble and talk amongst themselves. The guy who was guiding everyone said, "May I have everyone's attention?" The noise reduced gradually. "We have Miss Sara Elizabeth Rylie's painting hung on top, right above our heads. Everyone kindly raise your heads and look above."
"Where have they-" I said but I stopped. No sound went into my ears. I felt numb and bodiless. My heart pounded at its maximum speed and I began to feel dizzy. My mouth was hung open and my eyes burned with tears, wanting to come out. I heard weird noises from my surroundings. It was the sound of people complimenting Sara but to me it was like a thousand pin pricks on my ear drum. I started to gasp and I noticed Dr. Larsen. He was numb too. He stood right in front of me, motionless looking into my eyes. He was staring at my face; completely expressionless.
"Aura?" Hale saw me having a breakdown.
I looked at him but I still remained speechless. I couldn't find words at all. "Aura..." He said once again but I chose to look at Dr. Larsen's face. He was wonderstruck too.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to hug the nearest person in my vicinity. Dr. Larsen left the room. My eyes followed his direction until he disappeared into thin air.
"Aura!" Hale said aloud, not too loud.
I shuddered and came back to life. "Huh?" I whispered. My eyes and cheeks were flaming hot. "What happened? You're scaring me." He said; his hand on my shoulder and the other one on my face. "I'm sorry. I have to go for a wee." I said and left immediately.
I headed towards the restroom. I barged in and to my luck, I found it empty. I sat down on the wooden chair kept inside near the basin. I tried to control it but I couldn't. I was crying. I've been holding up these water droplets since a long time to lose them in oblivion. But now, sorrow rejoiced over my skin. My deep and long forgotten fears had revived.
My cry grew much louder. I did not think about what Sara would be doing without me. All I thought was about the painting. It was his painting. Sara had painted different canvases with different colors to put them together like a puzzle. The puzzle we created formed his face.
I gasped for air and continued to cry again. The tears never stopped. My brain couldn't even think of why and how Sara drew it. She said it popped into his head. But how? How was this possible?
Hale came inside the restroom when he heard my loud crying noises. He bent down on his knees to look at my face. "Why are you crying? You were okay just a few minutes ago." He put his hands on my cheeks.
"I was okay? No! I was never okay." I cried even more.
"What are you saying, Aura?" He said; his voice showing care.
"You're an illusion. You'll fade away too." I said; my voice was even loud. I threw his hands away from my face but he brought them back.
"What? What are you saying, Aura?" He got tensed about me.
"You know what... I'll have things haunting me. And I just fear that everything surrounding me will fade away. I can't take it now." I nodded as the tears fell through my cheeks and traced my jawline.
"Nobody's haunting you."
I paused for a moment.
"It's him." I finally confessed. "It's him. It's him. It's him."
He understood what I was trying to say. His face hardened and he said, "How is this possible?"
"I don't know. It is right there; hanging on the ceiling." I had a control on myself.
He did not speak anything for about a minute; removed his hands from my face to rest it on my lap.
"And what's with the therapist? Why'd he go away when he saw you frozen over there?"
"I know nothing about him." I whispered when I had a control over sobbing.
"We'll... We'll do something." He assured me.
I couldn't handle it again so I started to cry. He wrapped his arms around me like a protective shield.
When I confirmed to be alright we went out of the washroom. I pretended to be alright and saw Sara addressing the crowd who were astonished by Sara's work and thought.
I faked a smile at her and she came running towards me.
"Where'd you run away?" She asked; her voice was happy.
"I got sick... started to feel dizzy."
"Oh! Are you alright now?" She asked with her caring tone.
"Yes. I'm fine. I'm okay." I almost cried again but I managed to keep them inside my eyes.
"Are you sure?" She reconfirmed.
"Yeah I'm sure. Definitely... You go and have fun with your friends. You're having an after party, right?"
"Yeah. It's my first actual party. I'm so excited." She jumped.
"Have fun." I said.
She got carried away with her friends.