A Painter's Mystery

7. Nature Calling, Me Answering

Ignore any typos, or better yet, tell me about it.

Picture above- Aurelia (couldn't find  pictures for Leo's dad) .

.

.

I was ecstatic. I've been happy before but never have I ever immersed myself in ecstasy. Yet here I was, standing in a stretch of what I assumed a moor with small flowers splattered over the green land. Just at the edge of my vision I spotted a cluster of trees amongst which birds raised a cacophony of their chirruping. No, it wasn't pretty. It was absolutely breathtaking.

And beside me stood the guy because of whom I was experiencing this. As soon as we went out of his house, we sat back in his car and he took me to 'his' place. I was glad that Aurelia had urged Leo to come outside, lest I would've never discovered this gem. Leo looked over my face, a smirk evident although it looked like he was trying a lot to not smile. Stupid guy, stupid smirk. "I'm going to go and see if there's any blanket back there." He moved towards the car. I simply shook my head and plopped down on the ground. It was a little musty, but nothing could shake the pleasant feeling I had right that moment. Leo came around. "Sorry I couldn't find any..." He stopped mid-sentence when he saw me sitting. "Well, that's cool too."

He dropped down beside me and both of us just sat there looking at the sky darkening and the birds singing. After a while, my train of thought decided to run again. "So, how did you find this place?" He looked at me and sighed. "I don't think I've the choice to not answer. I used to come with my dad here whenever the family was on vacation. We told everyone we came to golf but instead, it was just to lie here. That was," he seemed to be thinking, the smile still evident on his face. "Wow! That was like a long time ago. I guess I was 10 and Aurelia about 6 or 7. It was before..." Suddenly his face darkened.

He entirely stopped speaking and the mood itself darkened. I had no idea what just happened but I wasn't going to probe any further. Again, it wasn't my place, yet, I guess. So, I decided to lighten the mood. "When I was like, 6, I have this memory of going to a creek with Frank and my cousin Wico. When the both of us were swimming and Frank was in the cabin grabbing something, I had this mischievous idea." I gave him a sheepish smile.

He made an "O" and gave me a horrified look. "Don't tell me you drowned Wico." I raised my hands in surrender. "In my defense, I was little and I'd heard Wico say, like a thousand times, that he can't drown. So, I decided to test him on it." He gave me another aghast look. "No, he is not dead, although he was miffed with me for the rest of the trip."

"We can't deny this right though, he earned this. Hey, makes me remember to never tell you that I can fly or some hyperbole like that. You'd test your theories and the next thing I know, I would be laying face first on the ground after falling 50 feet." I smacked the back of his head as he groaned and flicked my nose.

I sighed and leaned back, until I was completely lying on the grass as Leo followed suit. Night was quickly approaching but I wasn't ready to move yet. "I used to watch this show Girl Meets World and it was so damn good. I fondly remember one of its episodes. I guess it was season 2. There were four main characters..." Leo interrupted me. "Riley, Maya, Farkle and Lucas and later on, Zay, right?"

I was astonished and nearly yelled. "You used to see it too?" He gave me a chuckle and if we weren't lying down, I was pretty sure he would've ruffled my hair. "No need to flip on me. I saw it and I practically forced Aurelia to see it with me." I looked at him sideways. "Then you must know this episode. They were given this science experiment as partners where they had to drop the marble in a beaker and the other had to identify what it was. In most cases the ones who dropped the marble were to be girls while the guys did the experiment." I took a moment to breathe and Leo started continuing for me.

"Yeah, the girls revolted, led by Riley. Riley asked Farkle why he didn't want her to do science and grow to which he replied that he didn't care whether she was girl just as science didn't care about the body; just the mind. And the experiment was to not drop the marble. It was about equality of the genders and how girls tend to stray away from STEM subjects because they are told they won't do well." He sighed.

Although he still lay, my excitement got the better of me and I jumped up to sit down and face Leo. "That changed me, utterly. I knew that the world wasn't butterfly and cupcakes, but you know, it was as if it made me aware; what I spoke, to whom I spoke and how it affected them. Uncle Frank was mighty scared when I asked an elderly man what pronouns he'd prefer at the age of 11," I chuckled as Frank sat up. I turned my head to the side before continuing. "Even I thought the man was going to hit me with his cane."

The stars had started emerging but with no moon, it was evident that this was a new moon night. I heard Leo clear his throat before he started speaking again. "I guess I got to know about it all when I was with my mum and we had to take the subway 'cause our car broke down. This man in a pea coat kept staring at her and then he cat-called her. When I asked mum what was going on and she explained it to me, I was mortified. I went home and right to my laptop. I was awake all night and by morning, I had written a poem. It was titled- "She is underestimated". Mum cried when she read it."

I looked at him. "So new things I learned about you," I counted on my finger. "You are school's apparent bad boy, name's Leo, loaded rich boy, awesome sister, pain in the ass tutor and now, a poet who writes woke poetry."

He gave me a grin and said. "Wanna know what I learned about you? You love novels but aren't too keen on studying one, you're scary when dared and stubborn as a mule, you've an uncle that you adore, you write stories and you love the outdoors but detest crowds and prefer nature."

"Can someone decide a champion?" I yelled into the night. Wait! Night! "Shit Leo, it's late. My uncle's going to butcher me," I quickly stood up as I kept muttering. "This is two times in a row. I hope he doesn't ground me and take my novels away..." Noting the absence of a certain someone, I turned around to see a bewildered looking Leo still sitting. I clapped my hands to get his attention. "Chop, chop pretty boy. Get me home." He lurched out of his daze and settled in the car.

"What about your books at my house?" He asked.

I winced. "Looks like I'll be collecting them tomorrow."

"I knew it! You just want a reason to meet me. Fear not my child, I'll be there."

Suppressing my laugh, I rolled my eyes as we sped off towards my house.

.

.

A/N

Not going to even lie, I suck. Period.

So Q/A for this chapter- Anyone started using Disney+?

The new app has me on my feet. Marvel, Zack and Cody, all the classics. Gosh! I'm gushing.

Don't forget to vote, comment and recommend/share.

Peace out, bean sprouts!