The Art of Dilapidation (Kellic)

7: Crooked Smiles and Bathroom Sob Fests

My heart was hammering painfully in my chest when I awoke. I shot up into a sitting position in the blink of an eye, my breathing both unsteady and heavy. Vic looked over at me from where he was sitting at the end of the bed and his eyes widened in concern. "Kellin? Are you okay?" he asked. No, I was not okay. I was anything but okay. That nightmare had been unsettling. No, it was more than unsettling. It had been horrific, terrifying, bone-shaking. Goosebumps raised on my skin and shivers crawled up and down my spine like hundreds of tiny spiders.

"I'm fine," I lied. I gave a feeble attempt at a smile, but it came out as more of a pained grimace than anything. "I'm glad to see you're up," I continued, trying to steer the conversation away from the oh so wonderful topic of me.

"Yes, but are you okay? You look a bit rattled," Vic pressed, unfazed by my evasion tactics.

"I'm fine," I repeated. "Sorry you've had to sit here all by your lonesome. It must've been boring."

"Kellin-"

"I'm fine, Vic," I recited my previous sentiment again. I was beginning to sound like a broken record. "It was just a bad dream." My eyes fell on my sketchbook which was open to my drawing of Vic. "Oh, so you saw that, did you?" I said with a sigh.

"Yeah," Vic said reluctantly, tearing his eyes away from me. "It's certainly amazing. You even managed to make me look beautiful." I frowned and shook my head. It doesn't even begin to do you justice, I thought.

"Well, Kellin, then you must be blind." My eyes widened in surprise. I hadn't meant to say that aloud. Silently cursing myself, I shrugged. "Nah, I'm right," I said, attempting to climb my way out of the hole I had just dug myself. "I didn't quite get your nose right. The shadow was a little off." Vic rolled his eyes and sighed. "It's perfect, Kell," he said, looking down at the drawing. I jumped a little at the unexpected nickname. I'd never really liked it when people would call me Kell, but for some reason when he said it I wasn't bothered in the slightest. I quite enjoyed the way it sounded when the word rolled from his tongue.

"Eh, nothing's perfect," I replied, getting off the bed to close the window which was allowing a cold breeze into the room. It was true. Nothing was perfect. If anything was I do believe life would be quite boring. What would we do with ourselves? What would we have to strive for if not perfection? There are some things that are not meant to be attainable and I've always believed perfection to be one of them, along with happiness, a chocolate fountain, sanity, and peace and quiet. I've always wanted a chocolate fountain. I think it'd be quite pleasant to own one. Although I'm not sure that it'd be unattainable. I'm just too poor to afford one.

"I like to find perfection in imperfections," Vic said. I could feel his gaze on me as I drew the curtains closed. "That's quite contradictory," I said absentmindedly. The whole perfectly imperfect thing had always been strange to me. The very definition of perfect is free of flaws, or imperfections. How could anything be perfectly imperfect? It was entirely impossible.

"I suppose it is," Vic said. I leaned against the dresser casually, frowning at him. Was this how everyone else felt when I spoke cryptically? It was horribly annoying, the way he never quite said what he meant. Evasive maneuvers like that were my specialty. I must be a real pain to be around, I thought. Of course, I already knew that, though. I'd been told it plenty of times before.

Vic's growling stomach broke the silence and I raised an eyebrow at him amusedly. "You could've woke me if you were hungry, you know," I said nonchalantly. Vic blushed, his cheeks becoming the same pinkish hue as fresh roses. I shook my head at him, looking down to hide a crooked smile. "Do you want to go in to town? We can get something to eat," I suggested once I had forced back the laughter that had attempted to break free.