I felt the tears rise and I looked down for a minute, gathering all of my resolve. I looked up again and stared him right in the eye.
"You know what? I trusted you!" I jabbed my finger in his chest and he recoiled.
"I trusted you and you broke my tr...
"I heard you finally got kicked out. Figures, with all the fights you got into, it was only a matter of time." A voice said from behind us and we groaned simultaneously.
"What do you want, Mirabelle? Why can't you leave us alone especially since we have expressed time and again that we do not want you to come near us? Just leave us alone for today." Aiden replied to her, rolling his eyes as we continued walking and she continued trailing behind us.
Mirabelle was not like the cliche head cheerleader who wore a lot of make up and slutty clothes. She was naturally beautiful and was a source of envy for the rest of the girls in school. But she had a horrible attitude to go with that fake smile and blood red talons that she called nails.
"Oh, but today is the last day that I will be attending this school. I have been accepted into Philips Academy. My father was an alumni there and thinks that it would be better if I finished the last two years of high school there." She replied with a smug smile and Aiden and I looked at each other in horror. God, will this horror movie ever end.
"What? Cat got your tongue? I think you should be wiping my feet right now, don't you? I mean, I don't think you could get in even if you wanted too. It's a very selective school, you know?" She finished and looked at us with a smug smile. Well, this little girl is going to have the ground pulled out from under her, wouldn't she? So Aiden and I did what we do best. We flipped her the bird and gave her a smirk and then left the school. We headed back to that house and crept in through Aiden's window and got the rest of our things before sneaking out again.
We went back to the hotel and packed the rest of our stuff into bags and then got a cab to the airport. We made it to our flight and sat down in our seats in first class. I saw Mirabelle get onto the plane and we grimaced but she just passed all the first class seats and ended up in Economy Class and sat down between a lady who was pregnant and a little kid who kept elbowing her. I felt sorry for her for a moment before remembering that it was Mirabelle. So I ignored it and settled back into my seat to get some sleep. I raised the center armrest and leaned my head against Aiden's shoulder as he watched F.R.I.E.N.D.S and fell asleep.
When I woke up next, it was because Aiden was shaking me awake, his eyes alight with excitement.
"We're here, Lex. Get up." He said, grinning like a madman. I rubbed my eyes and stretched while getting up. We got out of the plane and collected our luggage and headed to the apartment we had near the school. We settled in and unpacked our things as we made the slightly abandoned feeling house into a home.
I felt really weird for some time but I shook it off after some time. There was a vaguely ominous feeling in the air which prompted me to do something, anything to get my mind of it. Though Aiden was the artist, I too enjoyed art though I would never be as good as him. I set about making my room exactly the way I wanted it. Even back home, Aiden and I had this one wall in both our rooms that we could paint on to relieve stress. Every time we started a new project we painted over the existing one.
I drove to the nearest store and bought everything I might need.I came back and began preparing the wall for the painting. It would take some time to dry so I scrolled through Instagram to pass some time. I read a few reports Janice (F.R.I.E.N.D.S flashback) had compiled before returning back to the task at hand. I started at the left top corner and started moving downwards, sketching out the layout of the painting that I would be doing. I was just about to start when there was a knock on the door.
"Hey, you okay? You seem stressed." Aiden asked and I spared him a glance and a smile before turning back to the wall.
"Just peachy. I just needed something to distract myself." I replied as I started but then paused. "You want to join?" I asked him with a smile and offered a brush.
"Nah, I have to resolve this issue that Jane's been having with one of the buyers. Is pizza fine for dinner?" He asked as he left the room.
"Yep." I shouted back as I continued doing the painting. I don't know for how much time I painted but by the time Aiden came and took the brush from my hand it was more than halfway done.
"Come on, eat something. You need the energy." He reminded me as we both sat down in the living room with a couple of boxes of pizza on the table. He put on Big Bang Theory and I curled up next to him as we watched the TV show, the air punctuated with laughter and Sheldon's voice. When we were done, Aiden offered to do the dishes and because I was so tired, I agreed. I staggered to my room and fell into bed, the bruises on my body screaming in protest as I shifted, trying to find a position in which it didn't hurt too much. I found a position in which I was at least a little comfortable and soon fell asleep.
I hadn't been asleep for long when I jolted awake. The anger and guilt burned through me. I still remembered that day when he died. All because of me. I wiped furiously at the tears. I still remembered his laugh, his heart-breaker smile, his beautiful eyes you could get lost in and the light fading from his eyes as he died in my arms. The recurring nightmare was the reason I didn't sleep well at night and fell asleep all over the place. But the problem was that this wasn't a dream. It was a memory.
Since there was no way I was going to fall asleep after that I decided to continue with the painting on the wall. It was barely 3 a.m. and I knew that I had at least 3 hours before Aiden woke up so I continued painting. I took a brief break to make breakfast for Aiden before returning.
I had been painting the same thing over and over for the past 15 minutes and I just about threw the brush across the room in frustration when brush was plucked my hand.
"What's wrong?" Aiden asked as he scrutinized my face.
"With me or with the painting?" I spat bitterly running a hand through my hair before my face softened.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to snap. The bridge is getting on my nerves." I replied, pointing to the bit I had been having a bit of trouble with. He expertly finished it and then stepped back.
"This is amazing, Lex. Now tell me what's going on with you?" He said as he handed me the brush. I sighed as I packed everything away before standing back and admiring the painting.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I took my sweet time to answer and he waited patiently for me to start talking.
"It's happening again." I replied finally, my gaze still trained on the wall but I still caught the crest-fallen expression on his face.
"Are you sure you don't want to see a professional, Lex. It might help." He suggested. I felt a flare of irritation but quelled it. He was only looking out for me.
"No, there's no need. It will pass." I replied as I got up and stretched, yawning. "Come on, I need coffee if I have to survive school." I said as I headed to the coffee pot. After breakfast, I changed into the uniform and we both left the apartment to drive to the school.
Who do you think he is? What do you think the innocent face of Alexis harbors?
Comment, Vote and Share the story if you liked it? Pretty please?
