Like Catching Lightning

Chapter 24

i sighed, scrolling through some of the comments, good and bad, before powering off my phone completely. that was always the best way to get peace and quiet after posting. staring at the blank walls of my art room, i did my best to decide what to do with my life. i haven't been to the studio for the past two days, and i wasn't allowed to go again today. because, well to put it simply, 

i was in quarantine. 

well, not really actually. i wasn't sick, so that was a blessing, but now that paparazzis know that i am back in salt lake and people are going crazy, i am not allowed anywhere. and i mean anywhere. any exiting my house meant that people could know where i lived and that would be the second biggest problem of my lifetime. 

the first problem being basically everything else. 

even more disappointing, i haven't seen ricky at all for the past three days. actually, that's wrong, i have seen him. just not really. he hasn't failed to text me 'good morning :)' or 'good night :)' the past couple days and he has skated by my house everyday at 4:00, waving wildly when he would reach my window. the boy always knew the best ways to put a smile on my face. 

i really did love him, but it wasn't the place nor the time. 

"what to do, what to do, what to do." i mumbled to myself, placing my hands on my hips. 

currently, i was standing in my art room. yes, i have an art room what type of artist doesn't have an art room you psycho! the thing is, my art room is literally the most boring this in the world. it is a blank room with white walls, a white shelf with art supplies on the wall, and an easel by a window. how am i supposed to get any inspiration through that? 

i huffed, grabbing a small canvas and setting it on the easel, squirting my usual colors of yellow and orange paint onto my paint pallet, lightly dabbing the painting onto the fabric. i wasn't really thinking as i painted; that's what happens with mindless painting, you just go with wherever your hand takes you. it takes a lot of patients and so much focus to the point that you are just not focusing. it took me years to learn how to do it, but i have had a lot of practice as well. 

just as i finished the background color, the door of my art room swung open and ricky strutted in proudly. 

"morning, loser!" he exclaimed with a jolly smile, placing an iced coffee on the window ledge beside me. 

i raised an eyebrow in amusement as ricky leaned against a wall and smiled at me as if him just walking into my house was the most normal thing in the world. "it's not morning, silly." i retorted, taking a sip of my coffee.

ricky shrugged his shoulders shamelessly. "with my sleep schedule, it's morning." 

"that's nothing to be proud of." i laughed, shaking my head slightly. "and how did you even get into my house?" 

smirking again, ricky held up a shiny golden key, jingling it in my face. 

my eyebrows furrowed together. "how did you even get that?" i asked, completely confused because i had no recollection of giving him a key. ever. 

"honestly, broski, i have no idea." ricky admitted, looking at the key as if it were some type of foreign object. "i didn't even know they made these things anymore." 

"ricky-" 

"no neens, i wasn't followed." ricky cut me off, crossing his arms and leaning against the wall again. "i made sure to check." 

i titled my head in confusion, still trying to process the fact that ricky had just said he didn't know that keys were still made. "that's not what i- you know what never mind. that's not important." i giggled, putting down my paint brush and making my way over to him with a shy smile. "what is important is that you are here and i've missed you very much."