Work of Art

Chapter 34

Not being able to do anything was so exceedingly boring. 

Well, 'nothing' would be a lie, she was more than able to do her schoolwork, but the weekend was just starting and she'd have plenty of time for that later. Instead, Nick lounged on her living room couch, foot propped up while a Christmas movie played on the television. She and her mom had been making predictions through the entire thing as the cheesy Hallmark plot unfolded. 

Nick had already reached out to the hospital to explain her unfortunate circumstances. They willingly agreed to extend her deadline until she was physically able to continue painting, as climbing a ladder with a sprained ankle would be nearly impossible.

Nick grinned, pointing at the screen. "They're totally going to end up together," she said as she gestured between two characters.

"Oh, absolutely," her mom replied as she popped a piece of popcorn in her mouth.

On the outskirts of town, a weary Carlisle was pulling into his long driveway. Once parked, he sat in his car for a moment, staring out at the trees. He needed to get a grip, he was over 300 hundred years old for goodness sake. He had no excuse for the way he's been slipping. He shook his head, clearing his mind of all thoughts of the girl, and walked inside.

Alice was waiting at the entryway, having heard Carlisle coming.

"Is Nick okay?" she asked the doctor, concern evident in her voice.

Hearing the girl's name he was so desperately trying to forget seconds ago was jarring. Carlisle struggled to maintain his mask of indifference.

"Yes," he answered. Afraid to say any more in fear his tone may give away more than he wished.

Alice dropped, relieved. "I had a vision of her getting injured." She frowned. "I like the human and I wish I could have changed her course."

Carlisle wished the younger vampire would have as well, but kept his lips sealed.

"But she's alright though?" Alice asked again.

Carlisle nodded, "Just a sprained ankle."

Jasper came up behind Alice then, sliding an arm around her shoulder and allowing a wave of calm to comfort her. Carlisle took that as his chance to slip away up to his office before the delicate hold on his emotions slipped in front of Jasper.

Alone in his office, he ran a tired hand over his face. It was times like these he wished he could still sleep, to embrace the momentary nothingness. Carlisle couldn't really remember what it felt like from his human years, but he missed it nonetheless. Instead, he sat in his chair, staring at the wall trying to think about absolutely nothing.

...

Maggie groaned, flopping back onto Nick's bed. "If I study any more, my head is going to explode," she complained.

It was Sunday and the five friends had found themselves in Nick's room. Around an hour ago, they had rang her doorbell with pints of ice cream and their bookbags. Nick's mom had let them in and pointed down the hall to her room, letting her know she was in there. Nick had been staring blankly at her pre-calc review guide, trying to convince herself to actually start studying when Maggie pranced into the room. The purple-haired girl immediately took a seat on Nick's bed and pulled out two pints of ice cream: one for her and one for Nick.

Henry headed straight for the desk, saying something about how he couldn't stop studying for long. Nora rolled her eyes at him but sat in the basket chair over by the desk nonetheless. Jonah looked around the room, seeing the only two chairs in the room taken, and flopped down onto the floor. Sitting cross-legged, he pulled out his own pint of ice cream as well, taking off the top.