Dear Iris [h.s]

chapter twenty one.

Iris Grace

I haven't seen Harry in days and I'd be lying to myself if I said I haven't thought about him. It's hard not to, and I hate myself for that. I've been exceedingly busy though, which probably helps. Apparently the entire population of this town wanted art done this week, I went from a couple pieces to eighteen in a few days.

That's no coincidence though, it's because of the exhibition tonight. People want to brag and say they bought art from local artists, the only painter in this town is me, but will I get any of the credit? Of course not.

I stayed at the family home last night, didn't really get much conversation out of anybody but I suppose that's better than arguments. My mum helped me fasten the back of my dress and told me I looked nice, which is the nicest thing somebody has said to me in a while.

The town hall was filled with people who looked intrigued by the art around them, however they're all there for the money side of things. I'm here to see the art, take inspiration and hope one day a piece of mine will end up at an exhibition like this, but everyone else is here for the money. I wish people knew art was worth more than just a figure.

There are some incredible pieces here, some totally realistic ones that look just like pictures taken by an actual camera, not a paintbrush, and there are ones that aren't realistic at all, with colours and shapes overlapping the actual focus, giving it that stylised look to it. I'm genuinely amazed at the range of art here at one time.

It's just me on my own right now, which I have no objection to. I could spend days here, admiring the different artworks, and imagining the time spent behind each one. There isn't an art gallery near here which is unfortunate, so this exhibition all centred around capitalism is the closest I'll ever get.

One day though, I'll be able to wander to art galleries every day, maybe I'll have a piece of my own in one too. One day I'll live somewhere art is appreciated and not just an opportunity for people to flaunt their money. I don't know when that day will come, but I just hope that one day, it does.

"She's pretty," I heard a voice beside me say, and I turned to see Harry and Harper holding hands, her pointing up at one of the paintings of a woman in a white dress holding flowers, clearly about to get married or something along those lines.

"Yeah, look at that one." Harry said, pointing to one of a dog.

He was smiling, holding her hand and he looked genuinely happy, until we caught eyes. Then it became awkward, none of us knew whether to talk or whether to ignore each other. Instead we smiled awkwardly at each other, maintaining eye contact which none of us could break.

"Hi Iris." Harper waved, giving me a reason to talk to them, an excuse to break this intense eye contact.

I wandered over to them to say hello and crouched down to Harper who was admiring some of the paintings. "Hey, I like your dress."

"Do you have any pictures here?" She asked me, which made me smile more than it probably should have. I guess it's nice for people to think I have the capability to be part of things like this, even if Harper is just an extremely optimistic six year old.

"No," I smiled, "My pictures aren't as good as these ones."

"I think they're good." She told me, looking at the paintings then back at me.

"Thank you, Harper." I responded, smiling like a little kid.

I stood up and it was Harry's intense eye contact that caught me off guard. He looked nervous, and I felt it. I guess we should have spoken about the elephant in the room properly, maybe then it wouldn't have been so awkward right now.