❝Art is a mirror reflecting the complexities of life, capturing its tumultuous waves and serene shores alike. In the strokes of a painter's brush or the words of a poet's verse, we find echoes of our own struggles and triumphs. Just as life is rife with trials and tribulations, so too is art often born from the crucible of adversity. Yet, within the very fabric of art lies a profound lesson about resilience and redemption. For just as an artist may paint over mistakes or a sculptor may mold anew from a flawed creation, so too can we, in the canvas of our own lives, find the courage to move beyond past missteps.❞
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Aurelia looks at her phone screen, which she got fixed yesterday with Adrian, she was going through the pictures her best friends sent her. Sabrina sent her pictures of her time she spent at a beach, and Cameron sent the group chat pictures of him at the club partying. They haven't changed even though it feels like it has been forever since they've been together.
"Aurelia, baby, are you listening?" Her mother's voice speaks through the speaker of the phone, causing her to finally close the group chat and actually engage in the conversation with her mother. She sits her phone on top of the dresser before resuming her search on finding something to wear.
"Yes, ma'am." Aurelia says, looking through her drawer. "But I already told you, I wouldn't know until I get to that point."
"Relia, I told you that you need to be more organized. You need to know how much it'll cost to be in student housing for the next year." Her mother lectures, but she didn't understand that they were hardly approaching the middle of the term.
"Yes, momma." She sighs softly, pulling out a long black denim skirt. "I'll call you later, I'm busy right now."
"Alright, Aurelia. Make sure you study well, I love you."
"I love you too, momma." Aurelia says, ending the call just as Nina walks in.
Nina sighs and shakes her head. "Your momma must have forgotten you're an adult, not an adolescent."
Aurelia shakes her head and pulls out a black cropped tank top from her other drawer. "She's just worried. My momma spent most of her time working, so when I got accepted to this school, she started realizing that she hadn't really been around me that much. You know, she feels like lost time with me."
"I see." Nina walks her way, opening her drawer, looking through her clothes before grabbing her blue denim skirt, one that's similar to the black one, and replacing the top she pulled out with an off the shoulder lace top. "What about your dad?"
Aurelia watches her friend, Nina, go through her things, picking any outfit out for her. She sits down on the bed and sighs before shaking her head. "He was a teacher, so I spent more time with him than my mom."
"My dad was a professor, until word got out about the affair he was having with a student." Nina says, grabbing her ankle high leather shoes and walking the outfit to her. "My dad divorced him, I have two dads, and here I am ten years later, a beautiful, tall, and talented artist."
"I-I'm sorry, Nina." Aurelia says, grabbing the outfit for her.
"For what? That was ten years ago? I haven't spoken to my other father in years, but I still love my dad." She says, putting her hand on her hip. "Now, are you going to tell me why you're getting all dressed up?"
Aurelia smiles, appreciating that Nina felt comfortable enough to share that part of herself. "Elijah is taking me to an art museum."
"Oh?" Nina raises an eyebrow, picking jewelry out for her as well. "Just to think, last night you were having such a hard time grasping the idea of going out with the man."
She wasn't completely wrong, Aurelia was a bit nervous when she thought about going on separate dates with her, but after spending that one moment with him, she couldn't help but wonder. Was it wrong to wonder.
"I mean, It was my idea to go. He seemed on edge, so I suggested he take me to an art museum." Aurelia explains, smiling a bit before taking the clothes Nina set out and walking towards the room door. "I'm honestly curious about him too, maybe this would help him break some of those walls down he has up."
Elijah seems like an open book, but she could tell that he hides something away, but even as he hides it, his thoughts and true emotions always break through his facade whenever he's mad. Even last night, when he looked her in the eyes and said her smile helps him. No one who's an open book and people could read without a problem says things like that.
"Well," Nina crosses her arms and smiles. "I know you'd be a better person than their ex, trust me."
Aurelia watches the tall girl for a second before she leave her room, closing the door behind her. She looks at the outfit and shakes her head at how cute it was. Though she would've gone for a darker color, she trusts Nina's judgment so she doesn't mind wearing what she chose for her. Since she had been living with the woman her entire wardrobe changed, for the most part. It's not like she went out to buy new clothes, Nina just helped her style the clothes she does have to make them look different. Even though it changed, she was still comfortable with the way it made her feel.
Confidence is surely building inside her. She's also starting to find herself very beautiful.
As she walks inside the bathroom, Aurelia washes her face, since she already showered an hour before she got a phone call from her mother. When she finish washing her face, Aurelia begins undressing, putting on the outfit. She thought she looked cute, and normally she would think the clothes themself look cute, but not herself. This is the first time she believes she's actually cute. As she finishes dressing up, she walks out the bathroom hearing talking downstairs. Aurelia takes her clothes to her room before going down the stairs to see who's there. As she gets half way down, she could hear Nina snap.
"I don't care what you have to say, leave and don't even think about coming back!"
Her voice sounds so distress, and that really bother her. Aurelia walks down the stairs, seeing Nina standing at the front door, crossing her arms as she talks to someone standing outside the front door. The woman was the same height as her. She has big dark brown curls, and her style matched her mysterious vibe she had going on. Who was this? Why was Nina yelling at her?
"Nina," the mysterious woman says calmly, crossing her arm. "I told you i had to leave the city, and the night that i did leave, I also told you I'd be back. We are best friends, why are you being this way?"
Nina scoffs, holding the doorknob. "Correction, we were best friend, and best friends don't fuck with people they best friend down't like and they definitely don't fuck people over because some guy asked them too."
"Is that what this is about, Nina? I already told you, no one told me what to do. They were being over dramatic and assuming shit. All because I am friends with Aiden." The woman says, causing Aurelia to tilt her head as she approaches.
"Nina who is this?" Aurelia asks, crossing ehr arm, causing the woman to look over her shoulder.
"Oh, just a nobody, that same nobody who got five seconds before this door connects with her face if she doesn't get the fuck away from my door." Nina says looking back at the woman. "Five."
"Real mature Nina." The woman says, looking over at Aurelia. "Who the fuck are you?"
"Four."
Aurelia looks up at Nina before looking at the woman again, not sure if she should answer. "I rather not give a stranger my name, sorry."
"Three." Nina says, her voice getting lower, and more threatening. "Bitch if I get to one, I'm just going to beat your ass."
The woman sighs and shakes her head. "You know, Aiden was right about you, You replaced me and sided with them. Fuck you Nina."
Nina slams the door on her face, and groans out of frustration and walks around Aurelia and storms to the kitchen to pour herself a drink. "That girl get on my nerves."
"Who was that?" Aurelia asks, watching Nina pour herself a large glass of wine.
Nina shakes her head. "My ex best friend."
"Oh."
"Don't worry about her, she's literally butt hurt because of what happened between her and—" Nina stops herself and shakes her head. "It doesn't matter."
Nina drinks the wine, and begins to walk towards the stairs. "I'm going to do some brainstorming in my room, let me know when you leave, I don't want to be working the whole time."
"O-Oh, okay." Aurelia watches the tall woman walk up the stairs, causing a sigh to fall from her lips before putting the bottle away and resuming her task of getting ready before Elijah shows up.
After finishing up with her hair, an hour later, she gets a call from Elijah. Aurelia answers the call and presses it to her ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, baby, I'm outside." He tells her as she grab her bag and walks out of her room. "Also, I noticed that the trash outside, on the curb, is knocked over."
"Oh no," Aurelia nibbles her lip. "Uh, I'll be right out, give me a moment."
"Take your time, love. I'll be waiting." He chuckles softly, making her bite her lip at the sound of his voice before ending the call.
She walks to Nina's door and knocks before walking in. Nina is stretching on the floor, with headphones on her head. Aurelia waves a bit to get her attention, and when she does, Nina smiles and nods.
"Have fun, and don't let him hit it on the first date." She jests, but the thought of sleeping with Elijah scares the hell out of her. She wasn't ready for that, and honestly she doesn't know if she would ever be ready, this soon.
"Bye, Nina." Aurelia smiles before closing her room door and quickly makes her way downstairs, looking herself in the mirror before walking towards the front door. Elijah is standing there, beside his car, looking down at his phone. He's dressed up, but casually dressed up, not anything fancy. Sort of how she's dressed. It was getting chillier by the day, and wearing the stocking underneath the skirt was the right thing to do. The man had his hair in down, and it shaped his face nicely.
"You look nice," she compliments, and his eyes widen. "I look real good in neutral colors."
"Oh? Do I?" He grins, opening the car door for her, before taking her hand and bringing her knuckles to his lip. The whole time, his eyes were on her, making her melt inside. "Well, I think you look beautiful in everything, Aurelia."
She smiles and murmurs a small thank you before getting into the car. Elijah closes the door and sits in the driver seat. The trip to the museum felt different from when she got in his car before. Before she was much more quiet, allowing Elijah to lead the conversation, but now she's asking questions, joking around with him, and laughing.
"So," he chuckles. "Besides that, what happened today?"
"Oh," Aureli shrugs and looks out of the window. "Nina ex-bestfriend showed up and caused a ruckus, but Nina told her to leave the moment she got there."
Elijah stops the car, swallowing hard before forcing a smile. She knew it was forced because that charm wasn't there. The same charm she's used to seeing when he does smile.
"Okay," Aurelia says, folding her hands in her lap. "Who is she?"
"She's our ex," Elijah told her right away. "There's no point of keeping it from you, it's not like we want anything to do with her, but she's someone we used to be with."
Aurelia didn't want to know more, knowing that she was their ex was enough. "Thank you for telling me, I appreciate it."
Elijah smiles and parks the car on the opposite side of the museum. The both of them walk in together, and the place wasn't as crowded as it could've been, but seeing the different pieces of art made her envious. She always wanted her own little section in an art gallery or museum. Observing people's reaction when they see her work is something that she desperately wanted to experience.
"My grandfather owns this building," Elijah whispers in her ear as she looks at the painting on the wall. "He bought it out when I was seven, and he took Arthur and I here every weekend."
"Wow." she smiles peeling her eyes from the painting. "What was your favorite piece here?"
Elijah tilts his head, making a thinking face before holding her hand. The man leads her further inside, going up a set of stairs before bringing her to a large painting hanging from the ceiling. It was titled the ocean's fire creates the earth's wind. It is a huge painting of the oceans and above the ocean is a sunset, cascading the beautiful illusion of fire onto the ocean.
"This piece was hand painted by my great great grandfather, Frederick James. My grandfather used to tell me stories about how long it took him to paint the piece. He's actually the person who inspired me to do art to begin with." Elijah explains, as Aurelia just stares in awe.
"It's so beautiful, Elijah, really." Aurelia compliments the piece before admiring it some more.
"Who inspired you? Or inspires you today?" He asks, making Aurelia smile fall before looking away, walking to the next piece.
"Well," Aurelia sighs. "When I was a kid I watched a cartoon and saw a beautiful painting, and from then I loved art and wanted to make works of art on my own. When I got to high school, I followed... your brother a lot. He was my inspo and I loved his work. I never witness art like his, art that's so good that it just takes your ability to talk away."
"Really?" Elijah says, his tone changed, causing her to glance at him.
Clearly talking about his brother bothers him, and she could tell right away that he's jealous. "What about my art? Does it make you feel that way?"
Aurelia shrugs. "I never really took the time to look at your art. Maybe you can show it?
"We'll have to change that then." He chuckles leading her to the next set of art pieces. They were all so beautiful she could hardly decide which one she loved best. Elijah told her more about the pieces that he loved as a kid, giving her more details to who made them and why his grandfather picked them. It was easier to walk around and get details than she was reading it herself.
For the rest of the evening, they walked around some more before Aurelia calls the evening to end.
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