𝐰𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐚𝐥𝐥

chanel

Friday night I found myself sitting at my vanity carefully putting on my necklace before looking in the mirror on my wall. I wore a black, off the shoulder dress with heels to match and my hair was straightened with two white clips on the right side holding it up a bit.

"Lia, the boy from the bakery is downstairs waiting for you," Romeo said from the other side of my door. I walked downstairs and saw River sitting at the kitchen island with my parents. He was wearing a tux and had a silver Rolex sported on his wrist.

Oh my god.

My mom was the first to notice my presence. She smiled, "You look lovely Ophelia." I smiled back and noticed my dad's eyes were fixated on River's who stared back with a small hint of fear and a large percentage of blankness.

"Dad," I rolled my eyes at my father. He finally looked away and River let out a small sigh before turning to me. His cheeks instantly went red as he looked down at the floor.

"How come I didn't know about this museum event," he asked. He clearly wasn't buying the fact that we were on our way to a museum on a Friday night.
"I told mom, she was cool with it," I shrugged walking over to River, "Anyways we better get going seeing that he's the main person at the exhibit tonight."

My mother said goodbye to both of us smiling as my dad watched with narrowed eyes.

Get a grip old man.

We walked out of my house and into the driveway to River's parked Mustang.

"You look beautiful," he said looking down at me as he opened the passenger seat.
"Thank you. You look handsome," I smiled which he returned as I got in.

"1970?" I asked as he closed the driver side's door.
"Yes. You know a lot about cars?"
"Older ones, they look nicer than sports cars in my opinion."
"Me too."

We drove in a comfortable silence as a popular radio station played lowly and I looked out the window at the scenery. I turned my attention towards River. His left hand was gripped on the steering wheel while the other rested on the arm rest and his eyes were concentrated on the road with his brows furrowed. I had the sudden urge to put my hand on top of his which made him tense up before turning his hand over to interlace his fingers with mine hesitantly.

We were only holding hands but I could feel the heat from his hand spreading through me as I leaned against the seat. He seemed relaxed but every now and then I'd rub my thumb against his hand making him flinch at the sudden movement against his skin.

We pulled into the parking lot and walked into the museum hand in hand. He seemed nervous so I squeezed his hand and smiled at him reassuringly.

After he talked to the owner we walked over to his section seeing two women were already standing by the covered art pieces. One of them had a dark skin tone and long voluminous curls wearing a genuine smile that seemed very uplifting. The other was a brown-skin with a silky straight high ponytail and wore a more serious look but still looked happy.

"Hi moms," he said once we approached them. They gave him a quick hug before turning to me, "This is Lia."

"Hi," I smiled as they took me into a hug.
"I'm Salani and this is my wife, Amani," the darker woman said with her smile.
"It's nice to meet you," I replied.

"You look oddly familiar," Amani said squinting her eyes, "I could've sworn-."
Her wife, Salani, nudged her looking at her a certain way.

"Well, we've been going to the same school since 3rd grade, maybe that's why," I suggested.
She hummed in agreement as the people started pouring in.

Rowan and Rider walked in with Alex and Emma along with them. They smiled walking towards us. After saying hi to them all and meeting River's parents, Alex looked around, "I'm like genuinely excited to see what you made. That's saying a lot."

"Congratulations on your art being displayed, this is a great museum for publicity," Emma smiled which River thanked her for.
"You should start greeting the other guests, honey," Salani suggested, "Take Lia with you."

She softly pushed us away from the group. River extended his arm for me to grab onto and we walked towards a couple of people. I could notice his nose slowly turning red before we completely made it towards the other guests so I quickly stopped him, turning his arm so that we were face to face.

"Don't be nervous, you're going to do great," I whispered, reassuringly.
"If you noticed I was nervous I doubt I will."
"They'll love your art and they'll love you. I've seen how talented you are and you're a great person. I promise, it'll be perfect."

He hesitated before nodding and we walked over to the guests as they greeted each other and had small talk. I was used to having to do this with my dad at his work parties.

Laugh at this guy's terrible joke. Smile at the nice lady. Agree with Gerald. Say hello to Ms. Reed.

It was finally time for River to go to the front for his speech and by now he looked as if he was ready to vomit. I hugged him and smiled, giving a reassuring comment. He ended up doing great and the drapes over the art dropped revealing his pieces.

A mirror stood in the middle, broken glass replaced with different colored glasses and the mirror was surrounded by oil paintings, sketches, and small sculptures all black and white with splashes of color for life.

The paintings had different people looking through mirrors, tv screens, and rivers where complex reflections looked back at them. One of the paintings included was the one he showed me of the boy in the tv. But one painting in particular caught my eye, instantly dragging me to its place in the exhibit.

It was a little girl sitting by a creek looking through a river with a purple care bear in clutch. She wore a dress with small flowers printed in various spots and had colored butterflies and birds laying around her. Through her reflection an older girl with a pair of red, teary eyes, a bloody nose and a nonexistent mouth looked back at her. She was being pulled down into the lifeless water with stars harbored deep in its waves. It was me. I looked at the title displayed on the wall under the painting.

Chanel
"I see both sides"
River Atkins

I felt a presence behind me, turning to see River looking at the painting. "I should've asked," he said looking away.

"I like it. It shows the reality," I admitted, "You're observant, not a lot of people can say that."
"Maybe."
"The care bear, the Frank Ocean reference, the butterflies, the nose bleed. It's perfect," I said, still concentrating on the painting.

He seemed to know more about me than I realized. My yearly fall and winter nose bleeds. My childhood obsession with butterflies and care bears. My love for Frank Ocean. Even my pain, something my friends never really saw. It wasn't their fault. I had always been the "counselor" in the group, helping everyone else and giving good advice. I was just terrible at doing the same for myself or even letting anyone know that I needed it.

I looked around the room at the paintings that slowly all became more and more familiar and then back at River, "They're all people around us. People we know. Aren't they?"
"Yes, but so far you're the only one who has noticed. I guess you are also observant."