Under The Skin

C h a p t e r S i x

© Amber Kalkes 2015

Song: "Rise" By Azure Ray

C h a p t e r S i x >

Gold paint tips the bristles of the small paintbrush in her hand as it moves across the untainted white surface of the mask. Her tongue is sticking out of the edge of her tongue as she concentrates on the task at hand. Cassidy isn't concentrated though. She's thinking about Connor again. She shouldn't be, as she keeps telling herself, he's annoying but here she is thinking about him all the same.

He asked her to go to lunch this morning but she made up some lame excuse about being busy with vaguely labeled 'stuff'. In reality, she wasn't in the middle of anything at the time and she feels bad about lying but something about him makes her nervous. Cassidy doesn't like being around things or people that make her nervous. She likes what she likes and doesn't like venturing much past that, even if her hobbies do seem...odd.

Letting out a heavy sigh and whine, Cassidy buries her face in her hands. He won't stay out of her head! Its even worse because of the gold paint she's using. All she can think about is the flecks of gold in his hazel green eyes and the equally bright strands of gold in his hair. She shouldn't have used gold. She should have used silver like she originally intended. Maybe then she could have avoided losing her mind over someone as silly as Connor O'Shea.

The image of his disappointed face comes into her mind then. He didn't look pleased to know she was turning him down...again. They've tried setting up that lunch date three previous times and each time she's made some excuse. Last time it was reorganizing her shoes...which she doubts he bought but he didn't argue with her about it. All he did was walk away with a bruised ego no doubt. He doesn't seem like a guy gets told 'no' a lot. 

She should stop being such a baby, she scolds herself. She should just put her nerves on a shelf, go out with him and then let him down gently. Its obvious to her he's just wanting to know her because he's curious. Why else would he want to go out with her? She's not very pretty, at least she doesn't think so. She's comfortable about how she looks but she knows that most people don't think she's classically pretty.

Her hair is a dull blonde and made up of limp unruly curls. Her eyes are too big and a murky brown color that she doubt could inspire any sonnets. Her two front teeth are a little too big for the rest of her teeth and if she doesn't remember to close her mouth, can make her seem like a gopher. She likes her skin though. Its clear and a pretty pale that she often tries to protect with large brimmed hats in the summer. Her body is thin, too thin some would say but she can't seem to gain any weight no matter how much she eats.

Not exactly someone would look twice at, she surmises but that's okay. Cassidy is fine not being the prettiest in her family. In fact, she thinks Poppy is the prettiest girl in the family or maybe its just because Poppy looks so much like their mom. The point though, she reminds herself, is that there isn't really a reason for Connor to be interested in her romantically. He probably just wants to talk about Poppy. She has no idea why that thought suddenly makes her so sullen but she quickly pushes it away. Now she's the one being silly.

"What are you doing?"

Cassidy looks up to see her niece Selah in the doorway. It never ceases to amaze her how much the little girl really looks like her parents. She has the same dark brown eyes as Rae and herself but Colton's light brown hair which falls down to her tiny waist. She also has deep dimples in each of her apple cheeks and when she smiles, most of her teeth missing. Adorable.

Cassidy gives her a big smile, "I'm painting."

Selah goes on her tippy toes and looks at the mask in Cassidy's hands but doesn't come further into the room, "Why are you painting that?"