Page 8
Story: Paint Me Dangerous
Why do I hurt myself with my own thoughts?
“When do I move in?” Kira asks as she pops her gum. “Whenever you want to,” I say, and then my phone vibrates in my pocket.
After I check my phone, I gasp. How could I not remember?
You really like making people wait, don’t you?
I get a text from Austin and check the time. Oh no.
“Skye,” I say in a sweet voice as I flutter my eyes. She laughs and asks me what I want.
“Take me to Austin’s house?”
Her eyebrows go up in surprise, and she starts to cough and choke on her spit. I say, “For the assignment,” and Kira looks at me.
“Sure,” Skye says, sounding excited once she has calmed down. They look at each other and give each other a knowing look. I ignore it and go outside with Skye.
It takes us 15 minutes to get there. She texts me that Kira will be moving tonight. Austin lives in a wealthy area. Of course, the school norm is that the mystery boy has to be attractive, wealthy, and sexy. Also, fit. With a fit body. His body. Hey, Lyra!
Skye is amazed by the mansion in front of us. It looks very nice.
Skye says with a dreamy look in her eyes, “You could be living here in ten years, Lyra.” My eyes get bigger.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” she says shyly. I roll my eyes and wave goodbye as I get out. I take a deep breath and go inside. I groan when I remember that I still had on the same black blouse and hadn’t changed into something more comfortable. Let’s see if I get hit on for the seventh time, I mumble as I stand in front of the door.
Austin answers the door without a shirt on, with a towel around his shoulders and wet hair. He gives me the same blank look that he always does.
“Hey,” I say, trying not to look at his body. I’m telling you, it’s very hard. Very hard.
The mansion is very quiet. I ask him, “Do you live alone?” He says yes quickly and keeps going. When we get to the door to his room, he turns around and looks at me with something I don’t know.
He opens the door a second later.
I look around. The room smells like him. The colour is off-white, and everything is in its place, which is very different from his personality. He keeps surprising me, doesn’t he?
But my eyes see a small bag on the floor in the corner. A bag from Victoria’s Secret.
I see that the tips of Austin’s ears are turning red. I look at the bag again, and it finally hits me.
The bag I dropped when I ran into him. My eyes get bigger and my cheeks get hot, turning red.
What is my bag of underwear doing in Austin’s room?
I point to the little bag and say, “What is that doing here?”
He scratches the back of his head and says, “I can explain,” even though the tips of his ears are still red. He blushes in the ears.
He goes into what I think is a closet. Of course, a mansion like this would have a walk-in closet. He finally comes out, and his black t-shirt fits his muscles perfectly and shows off his arms.
“I didn’t know what was in the bag. I tried to call you and even went after you, but you were gone. So I brought it home,” he says like it’s normal.
“And why would you bring it home?” I ask, my cheeks still hot and I’m pretty sure I look red.
“I thought I would see you again, and I didn’t want to leave it on the road.”
“Why do you think we’ll meet again?” I push.
“Come on, lady. Have some mercy,” he says, and his ears get even redder. Who would have thought Austin could be so cute? I stop talking about it. For now.
We get comfortable in his bed while we think about what to write our essay about. For a senior, this is a very simple task. God knows why Mrs. Reeves would pair us up for such a small job.
We haven’t gotten anywhere in an hour. I understand now. He probably wants to teach us how to work together because every idea I come up with isn’t good enough for him, and I don’t like the ideas he comes up with. We don’t get along at all.
That’s how an hour goes by. I groan as I get angry. He looks at me with a glare, and I look at him with a smile. He has the guts to look happy.
“We have to pick a topic,” I complain.
“Yes.”
I promise that I will hit him in the face very hard. I take a deep breath and fight the urge to do it.
“I sigh, “Painting.” His eyes start to twinkle, which makes me think this is interesting to him.
“Painting?”
“Yes.”
“Colours,” he says. Of course, he couldn’t agree.
“Okay, colours it is,” I say as I check my watch. It doesn’t make sense for him to pick the colours for the topic because he only painted with shades of grey last time.
“I have to go now,” I say to him. Kira could be moving in at any time.
“Okay. So, tomorrow morning, the library?” he asks. “Okay,” I say as we get up and go outside. That’s when I remember he has something that belongs to me. He turns around and raises one of his eyebrows when I stop suddenly.
I remind him, “The bag.”
He walks to his room and says, “I’ll get it.” While I wait for him, I feel shy. I look around. It’s strange that he lives alone in a big house. Where are his mum and dad?
When he comes back and gives me the bag, our fingers touch, and I feel a spark. I look at him, and from the look of surprise on his face, I think he feels it too.
He says, “I’ll drive you,” when we’re outside. I start to say no, but he gives me a pointed look.
“We don’t want a repeat of your first day,” he says as he walks to his garage, leaving me in front of the mansion with the Victoria’s Secret bag in my hand.
He drives out in a fancy grey sports car, of course. It smells so good when I go inside.
A bad thought comes to mind. With my new confidence, I think about teasing him a little.
“Seriously, you thought we’d meet, huh?” I say in a soft voice. “Did you look inside the bag too?” I tease a little more, but it backfires on me.
He slowly smiles.
He looks at me for a second before focussing on the road again. “I did,” he says with no expression.
My eyes get bigger.
He says in a low voice that makes my stomach clench, “The white one with little bows on it.” His face stays the same.
“R-really?” I ask.
He hums.
“Can I picture you in them?”
His voice is dangerously low now, and the air around us gets thick. I take a deep breath and try to take my mind off of things by looking outside.
I can see him glancing at me out of the corner of my eye, and I can see the smirk on his face.
“Not at all!”
He laughs.
I look at him when we get to my flat. I take a deep breath, lean in closer, kiss him on the cheek, and mumble a small thank you. He opens his mouth and his eyes get bigger.
Ha!
“When do I move in?” Kira asks as she pops her gum. “Whenever you want to,” I say, and then my phone vibrates in my pocket.
After I check my phone, I gasp. How could I not remember?
You really like making people wait, don’t you?
I get a text from Austin and check the time. Oh no.
“Skye,” I say in a sweet voice as I flutter my eyes. She laughs and asks me what I want.
“Take me to Austin’s house?”
Her eyebrows go up in surprise, and she starts to cough and choke on her spit. I say, “For the assignment,” and Kira looks at me.
“Sure,” Skye says, sounding excited once she has calmed down. They look at each other and give each other a knowing look. I ignore it and go outside with Skye.
It takes us 15 minutes to get there. She texts me that Kira will be moving tonight. Austin lives in a wealthy area. Of course, the school norm is that the mystery boy has to be attractive, wealthy, and sexy. Also, fit. With a fit body. His body. Hey, Lyra!
Skye is amazed by the mansion in front of us. It looks very nice.
Skye says with a dreamy look in her eyes, “You could be living here in ten years, Lyra.” My eyes get bigger.
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing,” she says shyly. I roll my eyes and wave goodbye as I get out. I take a deep breath and go inside. I groan when I remember that I still had on the same black blouse and hadn’t changed into something more comfortable. Let’s see if I get hit on for the seventh time, I mumble as I stand in front of the door.
Austin answers the door without a shirt on, with a towel around his shoulders and wet hair. He gives me the same blank look that he always does.
“Hey,” I say, trying not to look at his body. I’m telling you, it’s very hard. Very hard.
The mansion is very quiet. I ask him, “Do you live alone?” He says yes quickly and keeps going. When we get to the door to his room, he turns around and looks at me with something I don’t know.
He opens the door a second later.
I look around. The room smells like him. The colour is off-white, and everything is in its place, which is very different from his personality. He keeps surprising me, doesn’t he?
But my eyes see a small bag on the floor in the corner. A bag from Victoria’s Secret.
I see that the tips of Austin’s ears are turning red. I look at the bag again, and it finally hits me.
The bag I dropped when I ran into him. My eyes get bigger and my cheeks get hot, turning red.
What is my bag of underwear doing in Austin’s room?
I point to the little bag and say, “What is that doing here?”
He scratches the back of his head and says, “I can explain,” even though the tips of his ears are still red. He blushes in the ears.
He goes into what I think is a closet. Of course, a mansion like this would have a walk-in closet. He finally comes out, and his black t-shirt fits his muscles perfectly and shows off his arms.
“I didn’t know what was in the bag. I tried to call you and even went after you, but you were gone. So I brought it home,” he says like it’s normal.
“And why would you bring it home?” I ask, my cheeks still hot and I’m pretty sure I look red.
“I thought I would see you again, and I didn’t want to leave it on the road.”
“Why do you think we’ll meet again?” I push.
“Come on, lady. Have some mercy,” he says, and his ears get even redder. Who would have thought Austin could be so cute? I stop talking about it. For now.
We get comfortable in his bed while we think about what to write our essay about. For a senior, this is a very simple task. God knows why Mrs. Reeves would pair us up for such a small job.
We haven’t gotten anywhere in an hour. I understand now. He probably wants to teach us how to work together because every idea I come up with isn’t good enough for him, and I don’t like the ideas he comes up with. We don’t get along at all.
That’s how an hour goes by. I groan as I get angry. He looks at me with a glare, and I look at him with a smile. He has the guts to look happy.
“We have to pick a topic,” I complain.
“Yes.”
I promise that I will hit him in the face very hard. I take a deep breath and fight the urge to do it.
“I sigh, “Painting.” His eyes start to twinkle, which makes me think this is interesting to him.
“Painting?”
“Yes.”
“Colours,” he says. Of course, he couldn’t agree.
“Okay, colours it is,” I say as I check my watch. It doesn’t make sense for him to pick the colours for the topic because he only painted with shades of grey last time.
“I have to go now,” I say to him. Kira could be moving in at any time.
“Okay. So, tomorrow morning, the library?” he asks. “Okay,” I say as we get up and go outside. That’s when I remember he has something that belongs to me. He turns around and raises one of his eyebrows when I stop suddenly.
I remind him, “The bag.”
He walks to his room and says, “I’ll get it.” While I wait for him, I feel shy. I look around. It’s strange that he lives alone in a big house. Where are his mum and dad?
When he comes back and gives me the bag, our fingers touch, and I feel a spark. I look at him, and from the look of surprise on his face, I think he feels it too.
He says, “I’ll drive you,” when we’re outside. I start to say no, but he gives me a pointed look.
“We don’t want a repeat of your first day,” he says as he walks to his garage, leaving me in front of the mansion with the Victoria’s Secret bag in my hand.
He drives out in a fancy grey sports car, of course. It smells so good when I go inside.
A bad thought comes to mind. With my new confidence, I think about teasing him a little.
“Seriously, you thought we’d meet, huh?” I say in a soft voice. “Did you look inside the bag too?” I tease a little more, but it backfires on me.
He slowly smiles.
He looks at me for a second before focussing on the road again. “I did,” he says with no expression.
My eyes get bigger.
He says in a low voice that makes my stomach clench, “The white one with little bows on it.” His face stays the same.
“R-really?” I ask.
He hums.
“Can I picture you in them?”
His voice is dangerously low now, and the air around us gets thick. I take a deep breath and try to take my mind off of things by looking outside.
I can see him glancing at me out of the corner of my eye, and I can see the smirk on his face.
“Not at all!”
He laughs.
I look at him when we get to my flat. I take a deep breath, lean in closer, kiss him on the cheek, and mumble a small thank you. He opens his mouth and his eyes get bigger.
Ha!