The Truth Hurts

38 │blank canvas

Paige reluctantly eases down to sit on the mattress, acting as if she were descending into the fiery pits of hell, and glares over at Kira and then back to the bed.

Clearly neither of them has seen the news report, as yesterday's murders are the talk around town.

"What?" Kira asks. "Is something wrong?"

She shakes her head. "Nothing."

"Is your bed better?"

"Actually—" Paige bites her tongue, her usual attitude on the verge of rolling off of it. She's been putting on a front for so long that being a bitch comes as a second nature to her. "No. Far from it actually. Your bed is really comfortable."

As she runs her fingers along the comforter, she gazes around the spacious room, mostly decorated in a dark shade of purple and pink. Kira is a girly-girl and clearly isn't afraid to show it off. "And you're room. It's beautiful. I wish mine was half this size."

Kira cocks an eyebrow. "Are you messing with me?"

"No, for real. I'm being serious."

"You see what I mean." Kira, more than intrigued, moves her computer chair in front of the bed and spins it around to sit on it, facing Paige. "You can be a really nice person. Why do you act so mean sometimes?"

Paige stares at her, not sure of how to respond. For some reason, she is seeing Kira in a new light, and she's not sure whether or not she likes it yet. She sidesteps her question. "So, why did you invite me here? I'm assuming it's not to give me moral advice. If that's the case we would probably be here all weekend."

Kira laughs. "No, sorry. I don't mean to tell you how to act. You should be yourself. But the thing is, I think the way you portray yourself is nowhere close to who you really are. But anyways, there I go again. To the point. Yeah I invited you here to see if you could help me with something."

Cupping her hands, Paige sits up attentively. "What's up?"

Scooting the chair back, Kira stands up and walks over to her open closet. She reaches into it and pulls out what looks like a rolled up poster and a small plastic toolbox. "The boys are all anxious about the football game. I got other things on my priority list."

She sets it down on the floor and unrolls it to reveal a banner. It reads 'HOMECO' unfinished in elegant cursive letters. The corners of the banner are painted with dark purple swirls bordering the edges. She slides the box next to it and opens it to reveal brushes as well as small canisters that contain various colors of paint.

"Homecoming." Paige smiles as she reads it. "Kira, you can't be serious."

"It's our senior year! We have to make it something to remember." Kira continues to unroll the banner and places a book at each corner to keep it from rolling back up. "Besides, Mrs. Krueger put me in charge of the homecoming committee and nobody wants to help me decorate. It's my butt if I don't at least finish these banners by Monday."

"No, I mean... you've seen me in art class. Drawing, decorating, whatever craft-related is not my strongest suit."

Kira shrugs. "It doesn't have to be perfect. Just put your personality into it."

"You sure you want me to put my personality into it?" Paige gets off of the bed and kneels down on the floor on the opposite side of the banner, facing her. "You may regret that."

Kira flashes an innocent smile as she hands her a paintbrush. "Nah. I doubt it."

Taking it, Paige smiles as she watches Kira take a brush of her own and dip it into a small canister of light blue paint. Paige reaches over and dunks her brush in the bright red container, following Kira's lead as she watches her gracefully swipe strokes onto the banner.

♫ ᴛᴇᴍᴘᴏʀᴀʀʏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ / ᴛʜᴇ ʙʀɪɴᴋs ♫