Audrey's POV:
It had been a few days since she sent me that text I received.. Have I responded? No, I sure haven't. And as I sit here, watching the kids play around at the daycare I work at, I'm starting to wish I had the balls to actually say something. Then again, did she texted me again since then? No, she hasn't. I don't blame her though; she probably thinks I was fucking around with her emotions and hates me for what I did. I can assure you though, that fucking around with Holland's emotions is the last thing I'd ever think about.
"Audrey? Are you okay?" I heard a familiar young female voice ask me. I turned around to see a cute little brown hair girl staring at me, her bear hanging down from her shoulders. I smiled at her as I pulled her on my lap.
"I'm alright, did you fall down again?" I asked as I looked at the bruise she had on her knee. All she did was smile though.
"Michael pushed me off the swing." I looked at her with a startled expression. Then I looked over to see the culprit swinging happily. When I moved to walk over and scold him though, Aly just grabbed my hand and shook her head. "Please don't Audrey; I like him a lot and I don't want him to think I'm a tattle tale." Isn't it truly amusing how a 6-year-old can feel like this and still use the word tattletale?
"Are you sure?" I asked her as I sat back down. She sat next to me, swinging her legs back and forth.
"Yeah. Are you okay? You seem really sad. Did you get pushed off the swing too?" I couldn't help but laugh at how adult and childish she sounded at the same time. I placed my hand on her head and hugged her.
"I guess you could say that. Now, how about we round everyone up and go draw or paint?" I asked as I smiled down at her. She gasped and jumped up; running over to the bell to let everyone know it was time to go inside.
Work was as fun as it always is. Nothing makes me happier than teaching kids how to paint, even though they aren't very good at it. That's not the point though. As I sat there watching them paint on the cheap canvas I closed my eyes as I remember who it was that got me into painting in the first place.
--- Flashback ---
"Come on, Rey. Why won't you at least try it? It's really fun!" Land giggled as she shoved the paintbrush in my face. I glared at her as I tried to move away.
"I like drawing more, I wasn't very good at painting, so can you please get the brush out of my face?" I asked her as I moved her hand away. She pouted at me with no sign of giving up. You'd think for twelve-year-olds, we'd be over that phase. But not Land.
"But, you draw so good already! I want you to paint me a pretty picture, Rey! What's the big deal anyway?" She asked as she pouted on the bed next to me. I gave her a stern look as I continued to draw some sort of animal for my art project.
"I don't like how messy it is, remember when we were ten and your mom bought you that paint set? It ruined my favorite shirt." I frowned but all she did was laugh though, flinging the paintbrush at me. I sighed as I closed my art book and walked over to her desk. I took a seat and stared at the assortments of paints and brushes. It was like she had planned this the moment I got there. I turned back to her and gave her a sad look. She of course just rolled her eyes and egged me to paint the picture she had left on her desk. I turned back and around and sighed as I noticed it was a picture of the both of us at the beach one day when we were younger.
"Please? Consider it my birthday present?" I turned back around to give her an amused look. I couldn't help but smile at her innocent one.
"Your birthday already passed! And If I remember correctly, I drew you a picture and colored it in with pastels." I argued while I pointed to the huge pastel drawing of the ocean hanging just above her bed.
"Then paint it for your birthday present." She said with a sly grin as she got off the bed and sat in my lap as she smiled and pointed to the canvas. I raised my brow at her sneakiness.
"Fine, I'll paint the picture, on one condition." I challenged as she leaned her head back on my shoulder, waiting for me to start the painting process.
"What?" She asked with curiousty. I winked, opening the brown paint and dipping a brush in it.
"If I suck at it, please don't bug me to do it again." I demanded more than asked.
"You won't, but sure."
--- Present Time ---
She was right, by at least one hundred and thirty percent. I was far better at painting than I was at drawing. After that afternoon in her bedroom, I couldn't put the paintbrush down. In fact, after a year or two, I began to take private painting classes. When high school began, Land would come with me to the art museums in L.A. Sometimes, I wondered why she'd even go, considering the fact that every time she got home she'd be yelled at by her parents. Mainly because she'd skip her classes to come with mine.
"Audrey?" I heard someone call me. I shook my thoughts out of my head as I noticed a painting being shoved into my face. I leaned back to take a better look at it and smiled as I noticed who must have painted it.
"This is very good, Jacob." I said as I grabbed the painting to stare at it. I looked over it to see the small black haired boy smiling widely at his accomplishment. He had painted a picture of a typical big house with trees and a sun. It was cliché for little kids to paint, but nonetheless he was pretty damn good for a five year old.
"Is it really that good?" He asked with an hopeful obvious answer from me. I smiled as I gave the picture back to him.
"Would I lie to you?" He laughed and ran off back to his table. I sighed as felt my chest tear apart.
As seven came around, I clocked out and said goodbye to my co-workers. I got into my car and noticed I had a text from Autumn saying she couldn't pick up Joel from Rylee's house because of late hours she had to work. The first thing that came to my mind was 'Bullshit...' I smiled as I thought about the real reason she couldn't pick him up. Her and Rylee wanted time to themselves. So I did what a good sister would do.
Me: No problem, I just got off work anyway so I'll pick him up for him. I'll probably take him out to get ice cream. See ya when you get home.
As I drove to Rylee's house I felt myself smile every once and a while. Why? I really don't know nor do I understand. But, who gives a fuck, right? Oh well, maybe I'm losing my mind. I shook my head as I caught myself talking to myself in my head. When I pulled up to Rylee's house I saw the two boys waiting outside for me. They said their goodbyes and Joel ran over to me, jumping into my car and slamming the door.
"Hey now, watch the merchandise buddy." I said as I frowned at him. He just rolled his eyes and smiled.
"I thought Autumn was going to pick me up sis?" He asked as he bounced around in his seat.
"Put your seat belt on, and she was. But you know how mean her boss is. She made her work extra hours. Do you not wanna hang out with your older sister hm?" I asked as I teased him. I poked him in the side and enjoyed his silly laugh.
"I want to!" He laughed as I continued to tickle him. I smiled as I put the car in drive and drove to downtown. "Where are we going?" He asked as he looked out the window, noticing we weren't taking the direction to go home.
"I figured we'd get some ice cream. Or do you-." Before I even finish that sentence I was interrupted.
"Yay! I love ice cream!" I smiled as I turned into a coldstones creamery. Joel picked out some crazy signature cone while I got my old time favourite; simple chocolate chip ice cream. It was mine and Land's favourite as we were growing up together.
As Joel and I sat in the booth, eating our ice cream cones, I couldn't help but remember when Holland and I took Autumn here almost every day back when we had first gotten our licenses. I shook the memory out of my head. 'I need to stop letting my thoughts be consumed by her again as if we had just broken up... it was years ago. I need to stop torturing myself.' I thought to myself. I can't seem to help it though... whenever I see Rylee and Autumn I'm reminded of the two us, how alike we are to those two. How we share the same interests, but yet, so different at the same time.
"Aud?" I looked over to Joel to see him pointing to my phone. "Your phone just rang." I picked it up to see it was Autumn. So, I called her back with a confused thought.
"Hey, you should come home right now. What's taking you so long?" She asked with a hurried voice. I felt my brows cease as I looked at Joel chomping on his cone now. 'God, that looks weird.' I was never one to bite ice cream.
"I'm at Coldstones. I bought Joel some ice cream. I thought you had to work late?" I questioned her with a motherly tone.
"Uh, just forget about that." She said with a slight laugh in her voice. I could hear Rylee snickering in the background. I rolled my eyes and smiled down at the mess Joel had made. "There's something you have to see. So get home!" With that, she hung up on me.
"Well, I guess we better go, eh little man?" I asked as we threw the trash away.
It didn't take long to get home. Joel grabbed his day bag and hopped out before I could even say anything. I rolled my eyes and gripped my neck a few times before turning off the car and getting out. I noticed the two girls right away, cuddling on the front porch.
"Uh, don't you care if mom sees you guys...?" I asked them uneasily. Before they answered though, mom stepped out of the house, leaning against the doorframe. My body stiffened so hard, I wouldn't be surprised if I ever moved again.
"I've known for the past couple of days." Mom said as she looked at the two, who smiled up at her as they held one another. I stood there with my jaw dropped as I looked at the three of them.
"Uh, what?" Was all I could muster. Mom laughed as she walked up to me and help me up the porch steps.
"We'll talk about this later. You however, have a guest waiting for you in your bedroom." She said as a warm smile grew on her face. I looked at Autumn and Rylee, still baffled by what I just witnessed. Am I high on ice cream? I looked at my mom with a confused look as she had a tear streaming down her face. I raised my brow at this as she eased me into the house. "Hurry up, don't keep them waiting."
"But, mom..." I started but was silenced as she shut the front door on me. I turned around with a still confused expression on my face. As I walked passed the living room I noted Joel watching T.V. When I got to my room I noticed it was cracked. Thinking it was just Neil; I opened the door and frowned. There was no one there. I scratched the back of my head but when I walked more into my room I saw a piece of paper on my pillow. I picked it up and felt my chest sink into my stomach. I recognized that handwriting.
Rey,
I was waiting in your bedroom, but I figured that wasn't dramatic enough. You'll find me in your backyard. Hurry though, It's freezing out here.
-Yoursalways,Land
I dropped the note as I ran to the backdoor only to have the air leave my lungs as I stared at the blonde hair girl swinging back and forth on the chair swing. She glanced up and stopped herself as she stood up, but remained in her spot. The wind was whipping up my hair around my face as I stared at the beautiful girl before me. 'Am I dreaming this...?'
"Hey Rey..." She spoke shyly. I walked forward, down onto the grass and now in front of her. She didn't disappear like I thought she would though. She smiled up at me. I felt my legs buckle from under me, forcing myself to move quickly to the chair swing. She grabbed my waist to help steady me though. "You okay?" Her angelic voice came again.
"Land...?" I asked as she stood before me. Her hand moved to my cheek, forcing my eyes to shut. Gaining my composure, I stood back up and opened my eyes to see myself staring at her crystal blue ones. "I thought... you were in New York?" I asked as I kept my hands on both sides of me. She dropped her hand as she crossed her arms; obviously cold.
"Why do you need to ask such questions, I'm here aren't I?" She asked in her typical tone. I smiled as I finally moved my arms around her and pulled her into me. To. Y pure enjoyment, she still wore the same perfume I had gotten for her on her sixteenth birthday.
"Kiss her already, Audrey! I taught you better than that!" I looked over Holland's shoulder to gawk at my mother. Everyone, including Joel, just laughed at my expression. Holland placed her hands on either side of my face, her thumb gently swiping the tears away from my eyes. I didn't even realize I had started crying.
"Well, are you going to kiss me or what?"