The Boy Who Paints Me (8 page)

"Thanks," I replied as I tugged the edges of his jacket around my shoulders and slipped my arms into the sleeves. Leighton's presence had a calming effect on me that I couldn't explain, and I liked it.

"What time did you come out here?"

"Around lunch."

"Wow, you do know that it's three in the afternoon, right?"

"I've been out here for three hours?" I asked in shock.

"Yup," he chuckled before he turned towards me and zipped up his jacket. "You look cold," he explained when I lifted my eyebrows at him. I actually felt slightly dizzy when he touched me but I was trying to ignore the feeling. 

"What are you doing here?" I asked curiously.

"I have two choices now, I can either lie, and say that I wanted a nice relaxing walk to the lake," he said as he smiled at me.

"Or?" I asked as I smiled back at him.

"Or," he paused as his eyes searched mine, "I could just be honest, and say that I hoped to spend a little time with you before Megan steals you away tonight," he said as the smirk on his face increased.

"I appreciate the honesty," I chuckled.

"I'll be right back," he said before jumping to his feet. I watched as he ran off the deck and started collecting something off the floor. "Come on," he said as he pulled me up with one hand.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I stood next to him.

"Watch."

He opened his hand to reveal the pebbles that he was holding before laying them down on the deck. He picked up one of the pebbles, and I watched as he effortlessly threw it towards the water. It bounced off the water four times before disappearing beneath the surface.

"How did you do that?" I asked as a smile filled my face.

"The same way you're going to do it-"

"Me? No, I can't do that," I interrupted.

"Have you ever tried before?" 

"No."

"Then how do you know that you can’t do it?" He asked as the smile on his face increased. "Come here," he said as he gently pulled me in front of him. "Ok, turn to the side, slightly and part your legs," he said as his hands guided my waist into position making it extremely hard to listen to what he was actually saying. "Now, take one of these." He handed me a smooth, grey pebble, keeping one hand on my waist. "Right, now I want you to throw it at a slight angle. Not with too much force, otherwise it'll go straight under. Don't try to make it bounce. Just hit your first point and the rest will follow, ok?" 

I nodded my head.

When his hand left my body, and I could finally concentrate, I took a deep breath. Taking in everything that he had just told me, I threw the pebble in my hand and watched in anticipation. I let out a deep sign as it disappeared under the water.

"Don't worry, nobody becomes great without failing a few times, try again," he said, causing me to smile as I picked up another pebble.

* * *

Ten minutes later, and I had managed to get my pebble to bounce two times.

"I did it again!" I squealed in excitement as I watched the pebble bounce away. For the first time in a long time, I felt happy. For no other reason than the fact that I was just being Rainie.

"You did great, Rai," he beamed as I stood smiling to myself.

"Only because of you," I replied excitedly.

"No, that was all you. I showed you once. It was your own determination that did the rest." Maybe I was wrong but he looked proud, and for some strange reason I wanted him to be. I wanted to make him proud and make him smile.
Why? I have no idea.

"I want to show you one more thing before we go," he said as he let his hand slip into mine, causing the fire inside me to ignite. I liked the feeling his skin gave me when it touched mine, and it was something that I wanted more and more of. I quickly picked up my sandals and followed behind him.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we walked in between a few trees.

"Here," he said as he pointed ahead of us.

"A tree?" I asked in confusion as I looked up at the tree that stood in front of me.

He just laughed before placing his hands on my waist and lifting me up.

"You want me to climb it?" I asked curiously. I don't know why I asked because I was going to do it anyway, for him.
Why did I trust him so much?

Maybe you can't....

I pushed away the voice in my mind and focused on pulling myself further up the tree.

"Not too far, I've seen your climbing skills remember," he chuckled.

"That was once," I said as I giggled at the thought of him catching me as I fell from the ledge of Aunt Sarah’s house.

“Wow,” I gasped once I was firmly sat on a thick branch. It wasn’t long before Leighton was sat next to me, admiring the beautiful view. The lake had always been beautiful to me but from up here it was...different. “It’s beautiful,” I whispered. “Is this where you painted it?” I asked remembering his paintings.

“Yeah,” he said as he kept his eyes fixed on the lake. “I come up here every now and again, when I want to be alone,” he continued. I felt like I had invaded his space but it was his choice to bring me up here. “You see, no matter how bad life is, no matter how messed up everything is, it could always be worse. We spend so much time trying to deal with our situation when all we need to do is this,” he said as he gestured to the view ahead of us.

“What?” I asked.

“Look at it from a different angle.”

That was the last words that he spoke as we sat silently, staring out at the beautiful landscape ahead of us. I didn’t breathe a word because his comment had me deep in thought.

Did my life have another angle to view it from? Yes, no...maybe?

Maybe this was the angle but I just couldn’t keep it, and that was something that I would have to learn to deal with. No matter how attached I was becoming.

* * *

I was pretty nervous about going to Megan’s house tonight. I wasn’t used to being around people, not normal people anyway. Would they even like me or talk to me? I was driving myself crazy with all of the questions. After we left the lake, Leighton and I went our separate ways. I couldn’t stop thinking about the time that I had spent with him today. He was so easy to be around. I didn’t feel on edge when I was with him. I didn’t feel like I had to pretend to be somebody else. I just felt like me, and it was nice.

I heard the light knock on my door before turning towards the mirror. I had thrown on a pair of jeans, a dark blue tank top, and a pair of converse. The heat was making me resent the length of my hair and so, I decided to wear it all up tonight and give my neck a break.

“Hey,” Leighton greeted as I opened the door and took in his lopsided grin.

“Hey.”

“Ready?”

“I think so, am I dressed ok?” I asked. I had no idea what people wore to a barbeque, not that I had much else to change into anyway.

“You look fine,” he said before looking at my face, “you look nice, stop worrying,” he said as he chuckled to himself.

I felt the familiar presence of his hand in mine as he dragged us towards his Chevy. He held the door open for me before jumping into the driver’s seat.

We began our journey in a comfortable silence before he decided to break the silence with a question that caught me completely off guard.

“Are you and your mom close?”

I didn’t feel as nervous as I should have. My mom was a subject that I didn’t touch upon but for some reason I found myself answering.

“We were.”

“What changed?” He asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

“She started to see life from a different angle,” I said in a dry tone.

I watched as he nodded his head from the corner of my eyes. He turned the radio up, letting me know that he wouldn’t dig any deeper. I felt thankful that he understood that I couldn’t talk about her anymore than that, not if I was going to make it through the night. Before I had the chance to let the thoughts of my mom effect my entire evening, I felt his hand slip inside of mine. He didn’t say a word and neither did he look at me but one simple touch, and I felt completely calm.

That is how we spent the rest of the journey.

* * *

“We’re here,” he said as we pulled up outside of a house that looked pretty much identical to Aunt Sarah’s. “Ready?” I nodded my head before slipping out of the car. I took a deep breath as I heard the sound of talking and laughing coming from inside. “Come on.”

Here goes nothing.

“You came!” Megan beamed as soon as she opened the door. She threw me into a tight bear hug. “I know you don’t hug but I’m just happy to see you. Hey, Leighton,” she continued before hugging him as well. I felt a strange feeling go through me as I watched her hands touching him but I pushed it to the back of my mind. I was being silly.

“Hey, Megan,” he said as he glanced at me.

“Come on in, I want to introduce Rainie to everyone,” she said as she slipped her hand in mine. It was comforting but nothing like the feeling that Leighton’s hand gave me. “Ok, everyone, quiet! I want to introduce you to my friend,” she said as we entered a room full of people. Everybody stopped eating, talking, laughing and whatever else they were doing, to watch me. I felt nervous until a light touch on my lower back reminded me that I wasn’t alone. I didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. “Ok, so this is Rainie.  Rainie, that there is my Uncle Ricky, his wife Tina and his kids Elle and Bessie,” she said as she pointed towards a thin brown haired man who was sat in a chair with his arm draped around a very attractive blonde lady with brown eyes. Two cute little girls with piggy tails in their blonde hair were sat on the floor, in front of them. They all waved at me with huge smiles on their faces. I returned the wave and listened as she continued to introduce me to the whole room. We finally got to the last few people. “Ok, so that’s my dad but you saw him at the diner already, that beautiful woman there is my mama and that egotistical maniac over there is my brother. I would introduce you to my sister but she’s too busy playing in her room with all her friends,” she chuckled. I don’t know why but for the first time, I noticed the southern twang in Megan’s accent. I liked it.

“Hey, I’m Callum,” the tall guy – who Megan introduced as her brother - with the same brown hair that Megan had, said as he walked up to me with his hand stretched out.

“Hi,” I replied as I shook it.

“Hey, Lei,” he said as he walked behind me to talk to Leighton. 

“What a pleasure to meet you, Rainie, I’m Lena,” Megan’s mom said as she wrapped her arms around me. Great, they’re all huggers.

“Nice to meet you,” I replied once I was finally released.

“Ain’t she pretty, Mama?” Megan asked as she looked from me to her mom.

“Beautiful, you look just like your Aunty Sarah. Now, Megan, stop scaring the poor girl and take her next door, to mingle with some people her own age,” she said as she raised her eyebrows at her daughter. I could tell they were close, I missed that.

“Yes, Mama, come on, Rainie,” she said before pulling me across the hall into another room, with less people. Thank, God.

“Hey, girls, this is Rainie. Rainie, that there is Layla,” she said as she pointed towards a girl with short hair that was as dark as mine. She was very slim with no curves. She wore glasses and a yellow summer dress.

“Hey, Rainie, nice to meet you,” she said as she smiled at me and moved her bangs out of her eyes.

“Hi.”

“And that one down there, who is putting on my lip gloss like she owns the dang thing, is Caroline!” She said before releasing my hand so that she could snatch the tube out of her grasp.

“Oh, calm down, you’re always using mine,” Caroline replied as she and Layla chuckled. “Hey, Rainie, I’m Caroline, the fun one,” she beamed, taking my hand in hers as she flicked her red hair over her shoulder. Great, she wasn’t a hugger.

“You’ll get used to these two. They fight like cat and dog. Can’t live with each other and can’t live without,” Layla giggled as she patted the space on the floor next to her.

“Of course not, my little Megan Wegan loves me, right?” Caroline said as she pouted her lips and giggled.

“Oh shut your cake hole, woman,” Megan replied, causing us all to burst out laughing.
How did I not notice her accent before?

“So, Megan here said that you came with Leighton,” Layla said as a big smile filled her face.

“Erm, yeah,” I replied nervously.

“Don’t look so nervous, she just has a huge crush on him and she’s jealous,” Caroline said before Lalya stuck her tongue out at her very childishly.

“Who doesn’t, have you seen Leighton lately?” Megan added.

“Oh, I’ve seen him! He’s like the cheery on top of every good pie!” Caroline responded, causing all the girls to cackle. It was funny but I didn’t want them to suspect anything so I was doing my best not to react.

“We’re just friends,” I defended quickly.

“Mmm hmm,” Caroline said as she wiggled her eyebrows at me.

“Really, we only met a few days ago,” I said nervously.

“Who cares, Romeo and Juliet only met one night and that didn’t stop them from falling in love, right?” Caroline replied with a huge grin on her face.

“They weren’t real,” Layla defended. I was thankful. These girls were forward. Fun, but forward.

“Sweetheart, there are no rules when it comes to love. When it picks you, it picks you. It doesn’t discriminate, and it doesn’t care if you’re ready or not,” Megan said as she raised her eyebrow at me.

“She’s right ladies, sometimes you’re just minding your own business and along comes a rock to trip you up, and make you fall,” Caroline said.

“True, when you fall, you fall. Just make sure that you’re wearing a parachute and there’s a chance that you might just survive the fall,” Megan chuckled.

“Ok, ok we’re scaring the poor girl now, she’s only just met us,” Layla jumped to my rescue.

“She’s right,” Caroline added.

“So, Rainie, are you planning to work this summer?” Megan asked.

I hadn’t really given it much thought since I had all that money but I knew that I was going to have to make Aunt Sarah believe that I had some way of paying her, other than pulling money out of a magic sack.

“Yeah,” I replied quietly.

“Great, then it’s settled,” she beamed.

“Huh?”

“You can trial at the diner on Monday. Daddy’s looking for someone to work over the summer, and he told me to find someone. It couldn’t be more perfect, right? Unless you don’t want to?” She said in a sad tone.

“No, I would like to, thank you,” I replied. I wasn’t sure what I wanted but this would keep Aunt Sarah convinced when she got back so I suppose it worked out best for all of us.

“Great, that gives us even more reason to celebrate,” Megan chuckled.

“What’s the other reason?” I asked curiously.

“Layla here has only gone and gotten herself into Harvard!” She said proudly as Layla’s cheeks darkened.

“That’s great, congratulations,” I replied as I smiled at her.

“Thanks.”

* * *

The night was going great. The girls were loud but they were also some of the nicest people I had ever met. I had forgotten what it felt like to be a part of a group, and it felt nice. I even found myself talking, a lot. Like Leighton, it was like they were all aware that my past wasn’t up for discussion and none of them brought it up. I was grateful.

“Oh, great, look who it is?” Caroline said as she rolled her eyes at the tall, blonde, who was stood a little too close to Leighton.

“Who is she?” I asked without thinking.

“That is Victoria Weasel -”

“Her real name isn’t weasel,” Lalya interrupted with a giggle.

“It suits her,” Caroline continued. “Anyway, she is stuck up, fake and sadly Leighton’s ex girlfriend,” she continued.

My mind went blank after she said ‘Leighton’s ex girlfriend’. Suddenly I felt like I could sense her every move. I watched the way that she leaned a little too close to him. The way she giggled after everything that he was saying. No one was that funny. The way she curled her hair around her finger, and fluttered her eyelashes. I didn’t like this girl, not one bit.

“Hello,” Megan said as she waved her hand in front of me.

“Huh?”

“I said are you having a nice time?” She repeated as I tried to pry my eyes off of Leighton and Victoria
Weasel
.

“Erm, yeah, it’s great,” I replied, trying to sound normal.

“Good, I’m really glad that you came tonight. The girls really seem to like you, and they don’t like everyone,” she chuckled as she looked towards Victoria.

“I’m glad you invited me,” I replied genuinely.

“Well, the best parts yet to come. Fireworks!” She squealed before pulling me towards the back yard where everyone seemed to be gathering. I left Leighton and Victoria behind reluctantly as I followed Megan.

It had been ten minutes, and I was enjoying the fireworks but my mind was elsewhere. It shouldn’t be because I knew that eventually I would have to go so I shouldn’t be thinking about Leighton anyway but I couldn’t help it. Something about him had opened up a part of me that refused to close.

I was suddenly snapped out of my thoughts when I felt a warm breathe against my neck, instantly calming me.

“Hey,” he said.
How did I know that he was smiling, just from the sound of his voice?

“Hey.”

“Have you enjoyed yourself?” He whispered. Everyone was making noise and talking about how beautiful the fireworks looked. The moment Leighton came along, I had left that world and somehow entered my own private cocoon with him. I nodded my head.

“Good,” he said as I tried not to focus on the heat that I could feel radiating from behind me as his body seemed to be getting closer. I fought the urge that I had to close my eyes and let my body lean against his. “Ready to go?” He whispered, sending a vault of heat up and down my entire spine.

“Mmm hmm,” was the only words that I could get out.

“Ok,” he replied before his hand slipped into mine.

It took us ten minutes to say our goodbyes. Everyone was saying that I had to promise that I would see them again. Megan kept reminding me about my trial shift at the diner and that me, her, Layla and Caroline would be meeting up over the weekend. The truth was; I was glad that I had come but I was even happier to be leaving with Leighton.

“The cars that way,” I said as we began walking in the opposite direction.

“I know, I want to show you something,” he said with a huge smile on his face.

“Again?” I asked as I tried to hide the smile on my face.

“The worlds full of wonderful surprises, there’s always more to show,” he chuckled as pulled me through more and more trees.

When we finally came to a halt I gasped.

“How did I not know about this?” I asked as I slipped free of his hand and looked ahead of me.

“Not many people do,” he said with a proud smile on his face.

“It’s beautiful.” I glanced at him. He nodded his head as he watched me. I couldn’t believe that I was stood in front of a waterfall. I had seen them on TV, even in my dreams but never this close up. It was breath taking. In the silence of the night, the sound of the water was so calming. The breeze felt great against my skin, and the refreshing smell that bounced through the air made me want to run around like a little child. I had never seen clearer water in my life.