Love to Hate You

Chapter Seven

My fingers slide together, pressing on either side of the deep blue paint tube to effectively empty the last of the paint inside. Biting my lip, I gently mix the deep blue paint with the white beside it, making a light, Alice blue shade.  I’m brushing away pieces of stray hair when the doorbell rings, followed by a couple of soft knocks. Sighing, I place my pallet and brush on the desk and jog to the front door, wiping my colorful hands on my apron as I go.

Pulling the door open, I reveal a pleasant surprise.

“Sean,” I grin, “what are you doing here?”

He smiles back and then looks around behind him, noticing Stephanie’s house. “Can I come in?” he asks.

“That would be a good idea,” I nod, also turning me head to glance at my crazy neighbor’s house before stepping aside to let him in. He steps forward, being careful not to graze me, noticing the wet paint staining my apron. I close the door and turn to him as he stands waiting for me in the entryway.

“You’ve been painting,” he comments, eye-dropping my attire and dirty hands.

You would think I’d be more embarrassed standing front of a boy with my hair piled messily on top of my head, an old, baggy t-shirt hanging off of my frame loosely, and a paint stained apron tied above wore shorts; but, I’ve learned not to take this boy’s consideration too seriously. Especially considering that we’ve gotten in a paint fight before and a majority of my face ended up covered in black. So, no, I’m not even close to being embarrassed.

I look down at myself and shrug. “Yeah, I was in an artsy mood,” I explain and then look back up at him, “So, what are you doing here?”

“Austin texted me this morning.  He said that since there’s no practice tomorrow, he and Kris are going to spend the night at Alex’s and set up for a Karma band practice. I’m going to go over there later tonight as well. All you have to do is show up. Won’t be too suspicious if it looks like one big slumber party, yeah?” he says while pushing his hands into his pockets.

I nod and then walk past him down the hall toward the office.

“Could’ve texted me,” I say, looking over my shoulder to make sure he’s following. He’s close behind, smiling a little as he raises his phone for me to see.

“I did. Twice.”

I frown, turning into the office where the room reeks heavily of acrylic paint. Sean follows me in, looking around while I stride over to the desk to check my phone. Turns out I have five missed text messages: two from Sean, one from Austin, another from Alex, and a fifth one from Kris. All are telling me to show up to practice.

“Hm, looks like I forgot to turn my volume back on after band practice today,” I note, setting my phone back down and turning on my heel to face Sean again. However, he’s far too interested in the painting I was working on. He’s bent over a little, his eyes roaming about the surface of the canvas.

He hums lightly in response to my comment and peaks a glance at me, backing away when he sees me watching him.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to—“

I laugh a little and roll my eyes. “I don’t care.”

He seems to take my answer as permission to stare at it some more, tilting his head as he observes the unfinished painting a little longer.

“Birds, right?”

“Bluebirds,” I correct him quickly, “there were a pair of them outside my bedroom window this morning. Sketched them at first but pencil doesn’t do them justice. I’ve been working on them since I got home from practice. I’m actually surprised you guessed what they were, seeing as I’m only half finished with their bodies and the one on the left has only one wing.”