The Lies We Share ✔

Chapter 10

Laura's vision was still blurred with tears, and she noticed she still had her coat on, which was cold and wet from the fallen snow. 

Why did she care so much of what he thought? Was she just being overdramatic? Yes, she was aware of that. Was it always just her thinking way too into things that got her in trouble? Probably.

Tonight, with Ryan felt so different, tonight, he made her feel a chill or longing, she didn't feel for anyone else. She didn't want to say "love" and yet it was about to roll off her tongue just moments ago.

She felt her heartbeat fast as she checked her phone again, maybe she could talk to Marie?

She wanted to talk to someone, so she didn't feel so lonely.

From downstairs, she could hear the sound of guests all saying their goodbyes. Over the course of minutes, the noise dropped in volume, all she could hear then was the beating of her heart. She didn't have that feeling of needing to text anyone anymore, she put back her phone. Instead, she felt like drawing. Just drawing anything, at that moment she felt nervous. The feelings were so unusual and put her off. Was this what it was like to be falling for someone that you know you shouldn't?

She took out her sketchbook from her dresser and flipped to a blank page in the back. This was where she kept her more emotional drawings, it felt more private back there. She often drew when she was upset. A natural artist as she was.

She took out a pencil and started scratching in details of a winding path, the path that leads to nowhere. She drew in trees surrounding the path. A young girl walking on it, in a white lacy dress, her dress waved in the apparent breeze of the forest. She kept walking deeper her silhouette was far away from the point of entrance. The picture as she worked on it started to take shape and before she knew it, she could only think of its majesty and all the pain of liking a boy went into the picture. The soft details of the little girl brought just a bit of joy as Laura continued on well into the night.

It was Friday, the day before Christmas Eve. She had all the time in the break to forget about Ryan for a while. 

Her lips curled up in realization, she could relax, take a break from the daily pressures of being a student. She took her time with the drawing, falling into a trance-like state. Her eyes grew weary as she put the finishing touches on it. The color she could do tomorrow. She felt her shoulders relax of tension; she had done it. She placed the drawing under her bed, she turned off her bedside lamp the world finally goes out of view. Like clockwork her eyes closed she was already asleep, her breathing became heavy. As Laura drifted off, she imagined Ryan's eyes cloaked in sadness, he was a mystery.

As Laura dreamed, she dreamed about Ryan.

Ryan is waiting at the edge of a road, the end of a long highway that leads to nothingness. His hand waves but, he is so far away. Laura can tell he is waiting for her by his stance, but he seems tired and slumped over. Laura has trouble making out his face, the details are foggy, as she gets closer his features are distorted, and he looked different even more attractive than he was. She glorified his looks to be perfectly symmetrical. It didn't even really look like Ryan. He starts to tear up, Laura calls his name, but he doesn't notice. In a moment Laura is awake, fresh from sleep she can still remember the dream. 

A sudden realization that it was Christmas Eve hit her, and the loneliness that she had felt from last night had stayed.

When Laura came to this realization, she also knew that she wouldn't see Ryan for a whole week. She didn't know how she felt about this, but she texted him anyway, she grabbed her phone that was now on her bed, beside her and texted him.

Merry Christmas Eve!

Ryan was probably at his Grandma's or something, she thought that was where he'd said he was for Christmas Eve, Laura's family would stay home today.

She got out of her bed to start her day fresh, she squatted down to pick up her artwork from underneath her bed, its gloominess hits Laura in a different way today. She held her hand to her cheek thoughtfully, she looked at the girl, the woods, the fabric of the girl's dress, it was ripped among the thorns of the forest. Laura was brought back to last night again. She felt a tear slip, and saw it spread out onto the artwork, it clung faintly to the artwork like a souvenir before submerging itself into the page.

Laura then heard a sudden buzz coming from her phone, she looked at the screen to see an unknown number is calling her.

"Hey," she answered.

"Hey."

A cold chill drowned her thoughts.