Dead by 24: An Autobiography

A Perfect Painting

 It's been a few years since I lost my baby. It was hard, sure, but I had the greatest support system. I had my best friend, Bobby, living next door, and I was living with my girlfriend. Amara and I had been dating since that day. I was 18 now. She would be 18 in a few weeks. I finished the sketch of her and I in front of the window, and while she was at work or school, I would work on painting it and finishing up the little details. This was the most effort I had put into anything I had ever done, but I needed it to be perfect for her. The way she was perfect for me. I was going to ask her to marry me this year. I had a beautiful rose gold engagement ring, with small diamonds around the band and a slightly bigger one in the middle. It was cute, and simple, as both of us liked. I kept it in the nightstand by the bed on my side.

I had a steady job at the library, stacking books and checking them out to customers. I loved it. I always loved to read, but never really had books at home to read. We had books at school, but I could never finish any of them. Now, I can finish as many books as I want. Amara and I had also adopted a puppy around Christmas last year, named Fudge. He was a little Golden Retriever puppy, and the fluffiest little ball of energy, I had ever seen. We both loved him very much, and took walks with him, together, every morning. Life had been getting better, and I thought I had finally outrun my past.

I finished up the painting of my picture for Amara, and was getting ready to put it in a box when I heard a knock on the door. I walked over to the door, pausing the early 2000's pop punk I had playing, and opened it.

"You will never guess what just happened to me. God. Could this day get any worse?" Bobby stormed into my apartment. Keep in mind this was around 11 AM.

"Come right in, there." I giggled a little bit, even though I knew she was upset.

"I walked into work this morning after being dumped. Then I dropped a few plates that had food on them by accident because the floor was wet. To which, I was fired for doing so, and even after trying to explain, they still fired me because apparently I 'had been a terrible employee for months' and they were waiting until I really screwed up. And you think I couldn't get worse, but it does. On my way to Starbucks, to pick up my 'pick-me-up', this idiot backed into me and dented my bumper." As she was explaining this all to me, she flopped down on my couch with her coffee. After hearing how the rest of her morning went, I'm surprised it didn't spill. Glad, but surprised.

"Wow. That does sound bad. You can stay over for dinner tonight if you'd like. I don't think I would trust you cooking with fire right now." She giggled at my comment, and nodded her head.

That night at dinner, Bobby re-told the story of how her morning was so terrible. Amara had told us what she did in class that day, and all about her favorite customer that comes in everyday and orders his drink, and one for his late wife, that had passed a few months back. I didn't do much that day, so there wasn't much for me to tell. After we finished our meals, chicken alfredo, garlic bread, and a side salad, Amara and Bobby went to the couch and watched some anime, while I did the dishes. Once I was done, I joined them. And there we spent the rest of the night.

A few weeks later, it was Amara's birthday. Unfortunately, that day was one of her full school days. Unfortunately for her, however, not me. It meant Bobby and I had the entire day to set everything up for her big surprise. She knew I was planning my proposal that night and that I wanted everything to be perfect. We set up pink roses and sunflowers and pink candles, strawberry shortcake scented of course. I had written a note for her lunch that I made this morning on a small pink sticky note. "Can't wait for you to come home <3". I also put a pink sticky note on the door to our apartment, saying "Come home to paradise <3 <3". We set the rest of everything up, and waited for Amara to come home.

I heard the door to the elevator ding, and I knew she was home. Bobby was gone, and I was waiting in a small space, hidden from view, but I could clearly see the trail of pink rose petals, leading to the window. I heard the keys jingling in the door, and watched it slowly creek open. The look on her face when she saw the rose petals made the four hours of work so worth it. She followed the rose petals over to the window, and I snuck behind her and popped down on one knee before she read the note. "Turn around :)". Once she turned around, the 3 notes in her hands, and they flew right up to her face.

"Amara, from the day I met you, I knew something was here. Even before that, and I was just watching you, I knew that we could have something. When you tapped my shoulder that day on the street, I knew it was fate that led us together here. I love you more than anything, and I cannot wait to spend the rest of our lives together. You saved my life, and now I want to pay you back with the rest of it. So. With all of that said. Amara Rein. Will you do me the honor of being my wife, and marrying me?"

By this point we were both crying. She couldn't get out the yes, all she could do was nod her head. I stood up and hugged her as we were both shaking and crying. I slipped the ring on her finger and kissed her.

"I have one more thing for you. I've been working on this since I moved in." I grabbed the present, and handed it to her.

"You knew I was going to say yes, didn't you?" She giggled, and I shrugged my shoulders. She opened the box, and when she took out the painting, she started crying again.

"You painted this?" I nodded my head, and she hugged me. "It's absolutely beautiful. I mean the detail of the sunset, the blending of all the different colors. The reflection on the building windows. The shine on our hair, it's all just absolutely perfect. I love it. And I love you." She kissed my cheek, and we recreated my painting, standing in front of the window, watching the sunset, but the one difference was the engagement ring on her finger. My life had become the perfect painting.