POETIC JUSTICE | #Wattys2016

put it in a poem/painting,

"so you work for a magazine part-time?"

"yes, it's so lovely, i have a column where i can endorse small authors and publish my own stuff. it's honestly such a blessing."

my mother converses with addie over dinner with a silent, pleasant wonder in her expression, and i know by the the way she keeps looking over at me that she understands what drew me to her. addie attracts people like the sun she is.

"but i recently applied to this really cool literary-visual arts organization, the one that asami works at, so i'm keeping my fingers crossed," addie says excitedly. i ghost my hand over her fingers and wrap my foot around hers under the table. she winks shyly at me and grins.

"that's wonderful. i'll have to read some of your work sometime," my mother says genuinely. addie nods as a promise.

we clear the table together while my mother digs for ice cream in the freezer.

"asami, your mother is amazing. i see her in you so clearly now, she's like you, matured," addie gushes. "i love her."

"me too," i say honestly. addie smiles proudly, coming closer to me.

"you are the bravest person i know, sam. you inspire me," she says genuinely. "God gave me you as my personal motivation. i don't know how i got so lucky."

"so i guess you are my goal, then, yeah?" i suggest.

addie reaches upwards me from the tops of her toes, her lips brushing over and then crashing into mine. her mouth tastes warm and sweet. my hands rest softly on the curves at her sides.

"you got me."

once my mother returns, i spoon chocolate mint ice cream for the three of us into tall, clear glasses. addie and i escape into my backyard, sitting side-by-side on the feathery grass and may flowers. i pluck two deep purple ambrosias from the ground and slip them behind addie's ears. she can't stop smiling, leaning in to kiss me in between bites. her ice cream tongue becomes the loveliest thing in the world.

"you wanna know something, baby?" she says, sultry tones in her speech.

"what?" i ask her, mesmerized my the feeling of her curly hair on my hands, obsessed with the full, strong tawny brown curvatures of her body against my skin. it distracts me from everything else.

"i wrote about you, for my submission to literary art," she tells me. "i called it poetic justice: all the things i've felt and gone through, since i met you. everything. what happened with will, and chris and maggie. tributes to my mom and dad—all those experiences and people that have shaped me into the me i am today."

she lowers her voice and smiles thoughtfully at me, her fingers tracing over face.

"but most of it is about you, and us, and how you make me feel. because of that, because i know you get me, i want you to be the one to paint it, if i am accepted."

"when you get in," i correct. she flicks my cheek and giggles.

"okay, when. but promise, you'll do what you have to do to be the one to paint it. promise me you will, sam."

already i could see the color palettes and shades i would use to paint addie: rose reds over amethyst. silver glaze to make her sparkle. will, a solid onyx, passionate lines and stripes.

and then i think about how i will paint myself, something i had never done before: honeyed and blued, a compilation of pastels and vivid hues. beautiful.

"i promise." 

she smiles widely, sighing blissfully while my hands dance along her arms and stomach. 

the way she had me feeling—like heaven was on earth and i am the only one who could talk the pretty angels—i'd ask God to let me paint the whole sky over in a different color, if she wanted me to. the supernatural things you can do when in love. 

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the end is nigh !!