SMOTHERED LIES

twenty (Aspen)

Chapter TWENTY!! I almost need to pinch myself 

And it is all thanx to everyone's support and love <3

So I'm gonna let you guys enjoy this longish chapter and hopefully like the changes, secrets and shocks that might be revealed. So please, go ahead :)

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Oliver.

His name repeats over in my head. Nothing else clouds the thoughts I carry.

How could he know?

When was the last time we looked into each other’s eyes?

I’m sure during the speech his eyes didn’t interlock with mine, simply skimming over my face and moving on, treating me like a stranger. His hazel eyes never seem to look into mine, never show emotion towards me. It’s been four years since we’ve been together last, but that doesn’t excuse his actions.

At least his words have meaning, I understand what he says and why. I know my parents have been hiding away money and possessions, doing something unimaginable. I could never pin-point it and I don’t think I would’ve. The only smart enough person who could is my brother.

The same brother who comforted me and now is gone, his whole demeanour is different, somehow off. But I trust him, because I know he is right. He may have not been with me lately but I’m sure he cared. He would’ve had to.

I’m not sure how Adele and Raine feel about his presence, the way he changed the whole story and flipped it upside down, how he told us he was protecting us.

It’s time to face my fears, to say the words that conjure up inside of me, to let them slip from my swollen lips. Oliver needs to know how I’ve felt, what I’ve been through. As I walk through the halls, losing my sense of direction, allowing my feet to guide me until I come to my brother.

Every hallway looks the same when I don’t look at the furnishings, when I notice it bare. It is simple and clinical. Something I want to be.

Nothing fancy, simply modest. Now my eyes are opened, to see what doesn’t matter – money and fame because it all leads to a heartless life. One of selfishness, one of pain. I don’t want to live that way. I want to be a person with qualities, with inner beauty. I don’t want to be someone ruled by what they own or what they look like.

All the coverings; glitter and gold reminds me of my past; how the veil of greed took its place upon my eyes and covered me from seeing the truth. Anger blazes through my bones. I don’t understand who I was, what I wanted. But it surely wasn’t what I want now – simplicity.

Adrenaline moves my arm, swiping at the sheer curtains as they tear underneath my fingers. Ornamental flowers lay beside me and I latch onto them and let them hurl towards the ground, towards their crash. Everything meaning greed rushes from within me.

I feel exhilarated and alive.

Finally I see a strip of the bare hallway, no costumes cloaking the sheer emptiness. And for the first time in my life, I see this as beautiful. I see bare as bringing no words to lips, leaving me speechless. Only allowing a smile to cover my mouth and my eyes to shine once again. This is the way I am meant to live.

Everything comes into perspective. There is a reason for this whole ordeal. For me, I’ve learnt that happiness doesn’t come from the price tags but from love, honesty, trust and friendship.

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A hand grabs onto my arm, pulling me towards my destination. Ollie.