Tell Me

Chapter: 17

Sydney...

I sit in my bed, thinking about last night over and over again. It was pretty amazing, up until the part with Dirk.

I glance at my ruined dress and feel dread. That dress was perfect and he just ripped it apart. That guy is scary, he has been for a while. He's never gone far, and I've tried to tell my mom to stay away from him numerous times, through writing of course, but she never has listened.

She thinks I'm crazy. That not speaking has made me insane. No, I'm not lying, I'm not insane, and Dirk is a total piece of trash.

Now that the morning bliss is over thanks to that memory, I get out of bed to head downstairs. My grandpa is sitting at the table, eating some cereal.

I grab a bowl and spoon and sit across from him. "They went to the store," he says, without looking up from his newspaper that he's reading.

I just nod my head and eat. The quiet is nice and if I can avoid Dirk for the day, it will be even nicer.

Josh texts me, What are you doing tonight?

I reply, I have to go to my mom's friends house and eat dinner with her family, can I get a rain check?

He sends me a thumbs up emoji soon after that.

After breakfast, I decide to go on a walk. I see April driving by on a golf cart. She pulls over to the side.

"You want to hop in?" She asks. I pause for a minute. She laughs, "Don't worry, I'm completely sober. I'm just doing some errands for my mom. I won't invite you to come on any more dangerous things with me, I promise."

I smile and nod. It's about 1:30 in the afternoon right now so I have a couple of hours to kill before the dinner.

I hop in the golf cart. April speeds up the hill. I feel the warm breeze on my face and the fresh scent of corn is so apparent up here. We stop at a few houses to drop off mail. April tells me that her mom has an in home business where she paints and sells her paintings. She says that her mom is an amazing artist.

"So, do you have any amazing talents?" April asks me.

I shake my head, I really don't do anything special. I'm very smart and I do cheer, that's it.

"I've always wanted to be an artist like my mom, but my dad tells me that I'm too smart to be an artist. I should use my brains to do something great in the world. Did I mention that I'm going to Harvard? I really don't want to go. I don't have any plans for careers and I don't know if I could stay away from my family that long." She rambles off, but I don't mind. I like listening to people.

She sighs and puts the cart in Park for a second. "Do you have any idea what to do when your parents are telling you one thing, but you want to do another?"

I shake my head. My mom's never cared about my future. She hasn't ever asked about the colleges I'm thinking about. I've received letters from numerous places, granting me a full rides because of my grades and SAT scores. It would be better to receive a full ride because money has been a problem in my family pretty much my entire life.

"Come on, I'll show you my work." I nod as she puts the cart in drive and we speed off to her house.

I've actually never been here. Judging by the group Josh hangs out with, I expected the house to be big, but this place is huge.

I gaze in awe as I walk into the decorous dining room that has a table that seats twenty. I follow April into the gigantic kitchen with all state of the art appliances. There is a lady standing at the stove. I'm guessing she's a housekeeper since she doesn't share any resemblance to the McCallister siblings.

She says something in Spanish to April, who fluently replies.

Then, the lady walks up to me and holds out her hand for me to shake, "Hi, my name is Lily. I'm the McCallister's housekeeper. Can I make you anything to eat?"

I shake my head, but smile politely.

"Oh yeah," April says, "Lily, Sydney here doesn't speak. I'm sorry I didn't mention that before."

"I see," Lily nods her head, "Well, if you girls need anything, just ask. I'll be cooking lunch for the boys."

April leads me upstairs and opens a door. The room is amazing. Not only are there numerous canvases and papers all beautifully painted or sketched on the floor, hanging up, or on tables, but also all of the walls have been painted to match the four seasons. The room is absolutely magnificent with its colors and beautiful pictures.

I stand there, jaw dropped for at least three minutes straight. April looks at my face and laughs, "Well I guess I'll take that as a compliment."

I nod my head and step inside. I feel that walls, not being able to process that they're real. April walks around also, looking at some of her paintings.

"Although this is my art room, I can't take all of the credit." I look at her with my eyebrow raised.

"Okay, you have to promise not to tell anyone."

I sigh and put my hand on my hip.

"Oh right, you don't speak." She chuckles. "Okay, anyways, Josh painted the walls. He's a better artist than me, I'll admit. I've never told anyone this. He's always wanted to keep it a secret and stuff, so don't tell him that I told you. He wants to keep his football reputation or whatever." She rolls her eyes.

I nod my head, understanding that I can't tell Josh that I know about his secret talent. One that he's amazing at.

"Good," She says. "I'm kind of hungry so I'm going to get something to eat. You can stay in here if you want. Make yourself at home," She says as she walks out.

I study the walls more. I can tell that throughout the years, he's made additions to them. I look at the winter wall to see a ton of snow on the ground and Josh and April having a snowball fight, while their younger brother is sledding. I turn to the fall one to admire the moment he captured of being on the field during a football game. He used the fall colors like yellow and orange to signify his happiness while playing football throughout the whole wall. On the summer one, Josh painted a picture of him and I'm guessing his grandfather at the dog track. That one, I could tell was painted a long time ago. I see a few buckets on the floor near one section of the wall. I walk over to it to see a half done painting of him and I dancing in the grass with the lights over our heads. I'm half painted with my light pink sundress on. Even half done, I can tell how he captured the moment so beautifully.

When April comes back, hands me a mini burrito. "I know you said you weren't hungry, but you've got to try Lily's burritos. She makes the best.

I try it and I totally agree with April on that one.

After a few more minutes of staring at the paintings, April drives me back to my grandparents' condo.