Blind Love (Edited)

Chapter 6: A little crazy

Lauren had a good time. The neighbor was really sweet and her son was as sweet as she was. There was one thing that kept bothering her, though. Her parents had told her that Laura had two sons. And unless she hadn't seen the other son, she only saw one, which was Lance. Lance was really sweet and he felt like the type of guy who would listen to you no matter what. At least that's what it looked like, because whenever she had something to say, he would turn all of his attention to her. It was the same way when Lauren's mother or father talked. But what she really had loved was the attention he paid to his mother. One could tell that Lance was the family type of guy. There was sweetness in his blue-green eyes. His mother, Laura was really sweet and she's a great cook. The food she made was enchiladas: tortillas filled with meat and cheese on top. They were delicious and Lauren wanted to go back to her house someday so that she could teach her how to cook in the same way she does. Whenever Lauren tried to cook, it never came out as good as she wanted it to come out so maybe Laura will be willing to teach her. Before Lauren and her family had left Laura's house, Lauren asked Laura if she could come over some day so that Laura could teach her how to cook. Laura gladly accepted and Lauren was looking forward to that.

Throughout the dinner and the talk, a lot of things were said. Lauren's father had told Laura and Lance that they were from Santa Barbara and that the reason that they had moved here to Sacramento was because there had been a job opportunity for him. Lauren's father was a lawyer and a new law firm was debuting. They needed good lawyers to employ. Lauren's father had the experience and the most perfect record. He had won most of the cases that he had gone to court with the exception of three cases.

Though she had had a great time actually talking to people who she knew could be trusted, she couldn't stop thinking about the whereabouts of Laura's other son. All she thought about was the fact that he was not present at the table. She had been thinking so much about that it was obvious that she had been distracted. It was in a way mysterious. What happened that Lance's brother couldn't be present at the dinner? Why had he decided not to come downstairs with everyone else? All of these questions plus a lot of others filled her mind. This had made her interest in this mysterious boy rise. She had known that he had been home. At the last minute, before she and her parents had left the house, Lauren had looked back and she saw Lance enter someone's room and she could see another figure. She couldn't really see his face but, he was definitely there. That in itself made her think about Lance's brother even more. She had never met anyone who had not wanted to be with their family and other people. For her, it was the perfect distraction from the hardships that she had encountered, or something to put all of her attention to. What was it that prevented Lance's brother to come and talk with them?

All of this thinking was leaving her mesmerized with this unknown boy. She went upstairs to her room and turned on the light. She turned to look out the window and there she saw that the light in the window across from her was on. The curtains seemed to be of light cloth, because she saw the outline of a young man. From his build, she guessed he was about seventeen, the same age as she was. She didn't mean to spy on this young man but if it had been Lance she would have recognized him. "I mean, I'm an artist," she thought, "I know these things. I can look at him and then when I want to remember his outline and his build out of memory, I can just close my eyes and he'll be there. This is how I learned to paint."

It made her feel like she was spying. And honestly, she didn't like it. The feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that it was the worst thing she could do. But she couldn't help it. She had to know something about this guy. She just wanted to figure out what it was that kept him isolated. There was something that attracted her to Lance's brother, even if she had never met him. "Ugh...it's starting to feel like I'm obsessed." 

But as much as she felt like she was obsessing, Lauren felt like there was something else. Lance's mother had told them that her other son had a headache and so he preferred to stay upstairs in his room. But the way that she kept looking away from Lauren as she said it, made Lauren realize that Laura was lying. Laura was a good woman. Her blue eyes were honest and there was so much sweetness, love and care in those eyes. When she had said that her other son had a headache, there was a hint of pain in her eyes. That pain had flashed in one second and had left a moment later. If one hadn't been paying much attention to Laura's eyes, one would have missed it, but Lauren had been studying Laura's eyes and she had seen it. "She must have said his name," Lauren thought, " I'm pretty sure she must have said his name. Think Lauren. Think back to that moment." 

Lauren closed her eyes and thought back to that precise moment in which Laura excuses her own son. In a few seconds, the aroma of Laura's house and the food filled her nostrils once again. The white walls of the house appeared again, and she was again faced with Laura and her honest blue eyes.  

"I'm sorry for my other son's absence. He has a headache and he preferred not to be downstairs. Landon gets very irritated when he gets headaches. Maybe next time." 

Lauren opened her eyes again. She couldn't believe that she had done it. "I found out his name," she squealed. " I can't believe it! I did it ! Okay, now you know his name, Lauren. His name is Landon." 

Turning back to the window, Lauren saw that Landon was still in front of the window. But instead of standing he was sitting on some sort of surface. "I'm guessing a bed," Lauren thought. 

Landon was looking down. His shoulders were slumped over and from the outline she could see that he was sad. Lauren could see that he was thinking about something. All of a sudden, without her expecting it, Landon looks up. Lauren dropped down immediately. She was sure that if she could see him, he could also see her. "Oh damn," she thought. She was glued to the wall under the window. "Oh damn. I think he saw me. Oh my god. I think he actually saw me." From her current position, Lauren changed to all fours and slowly crawled over to her bed. Her heart was racing in her chest, and it was threatening to literally jump out of her chest. Once she finally made it to her bed, Lauren just laid there. "What were you thinking, Lauren? What in the world were you thinking?" "I don't know," she answered her own questions. "I mean, it's my own fault that I could have gotten caught. I knew the risks. I knew that this wasn't right but I did it anyway. I know I wouldn't like it if someone tried to spy on me." 

She thought about it a bit more and then she said to herself, "Why am I doing this? I know it's out of curiosity but this is not right. I mean. I don't think other people would be doing this. So, why am I doing this? I've never met Landon before, yet I'm so interested in him. I feel like I have to know who he is. Not only because he's Lance's brother, but because I don't know who he really is.... ugh. Lauren, you're talking nonsense." 

For a few moments she just laid in her bed staring at the ceiling. It was a while before she decided to stand up again. When she was up, Lauren looked out the window. This time though, the light was off and there was no sign of life inside the room. All of a sudden, she had the urge to paint. She looked for her easel, her paint, paintbrushes and her clean canvas. One by one, these materials were carried down to the living room. Then they all went to the backyard. When she went into the backyard, she saw the bright stars shining, and the moon was full and smiling down on everything it saw. A smile crossed Lauren's lips and she looked up," Hey, moon. I did the craziest thing today. You wouldn't believe how ridiculously stupid it was. I'm stalking a guy I don't even know. Crazy, right? It's fine. You don't have to answer me. I know what you would say." 

Grabbing the tubes of paint, Lauren squeezed a quarter amount of paint on her palette. Then she dipped the paintbrush into the paint, mixing colors and just getting everything ready. As soon as she was done with that, Lauren closed her eyes and she was transported back to her room, at the exact moment when Landon had looked up out the window. Her hand found the canvas and it started to form the outline of they window, the crease of they curtains and the blurry face of the guy that was sitting on the bed. His face was sad but there were no concrete details. His face was just a blur, it was an outline of his face, yet it had the effect of making you believe that he was truly sad. It was almost as if anyone who looked at the painting was also looking into the face of the young man that was in the painting. Every detail on the canvas was painted with delicacy. An hour later, Lauren opens her eyes and studied her most recent piece of art. Then she looked up at the moon. "I wonder what's truly behind the fact that he didn't want to be downstairs with us. Why was it that he would rather stay by himself than be with other people? What is he hiding?" 

She looked back down at her painting and decided that she was done for the day. She had to get some sleep and sitting there, looking at the painting wasn't going to help her with that. Slowly and one by one she started to take everything upstairs. Her palette was washed and then she took it upstairs with her as well. Setting the canvas next to her bed, Lauren went to brush her teeth and changed into her pajamas. " What are you hiding, Landon? What is it that you don't want other people to know about you?" Lauren asked the painting. But that surely wasn't going to help.  

"Someday," she thought. "Someday I'll get the chance to know."