Revelations (Formerly known as Promises and Lies (EDITING)

Chapter 4

 Four.

A r i a.

I pulled on the black trousers my mom dug out from her closet and the blue silk top Rowan let me borrow. I figured that I had to at least attempt to look nice, since it was an art show. I could almost believe that the other people going would be all done up, in fancy clothes and expertly styled hair. Especially if they were friends of Daniel's family. From the things I saw being carried in from the moving trucks, Daniel's family seemed pretty well off. 

I slipped on black flats and pulled my hair into a loose up-do, letting the soft curls fall in their own way. It was all I could manage. I hadn't paid much attention to cosmetics in a long time. I didn't feel... worthy. I guess it was a sort of depression complex.

My eyes were a mess, complete with dark circles. They were puffy and bloodshot and the deep rings under them made me appear ghastly. I didn’t know what to do with them. I glanced at the mirror.

What was I doing? Dressing up, and going to out to a fancy art show. This wasn't me. This wasn't who I was.

Well, who are you then? That annoying voice said agian. I didn't exactly know what I liked and didn't. I had spend so much time feeling sorry for what I couldn't change, that I didn't even know myself. But I did know that I wasn’t fit to go anywhere. I looked so frail as if I could break any minute.

I stopped in the middle of putting on my earrings when Rowan walked in.

“Hey, are you ready?” She asked.

She was dressed in a caramel colored dress with her dark hair cascading down her shoulders in long waves. She was stunning. Her skin was healthy. She glowed. She was confident. She didn’t look as if she might pass out any minute. She looked comfortable in her own skin. She knew who she was. Rowan was everything I wasn't.

“I don’t think I should go. I mean I don’t think I could handle it.” I said, having second thoughts about everything. looked down at my feet.

I didn’t think that one incident that happened so long ago can affect someone in such a huge way. I needed to get over it. But I couldn't. Not yet at least. There were too many things that I didn't and needed to know. There was so much I didn't get to say. I never expected that I would end up like this, half alive and clinging to anything that might make me forget. But unexpected things happened all the time, and for the first time, I realzied that I hated Jonah for this. He destroyed everything that I was. I couldn’t be myself anymore. I didn’t know how to.

“Hey, I’ll be there. Don’t worry if its too much we’ll leave. But we really need to go out once in a while. It’s not going to do you any good to be held up in the diner or the house all the time.” She looked up at me with gentle eyes. I knew she was right. The more I spent dwelling on the past, the more it was going to haunt me. I had to let it go. I had to move on.

I gave in and finished getting dressed and then we headed off. The drive to the art studio was peaceful. I suppressed the urge to smoke as we walked in. I needed to calm my nerves before I faced Daniel. He was just the strangest person, always putting me on edge. He was always so mysterious. I didn't know what to think of him.

When we pulled up to the art studio, I could hardly believe this used to be the old run-down garage that we passed almost every day.The whole place was remodeled and elegantly designed. There was an antique, rich and timeless feeling in the atmosphere. Like I could spend an eternity in here.

There was a vast collection of artwork in varying colors. There was also a section for antique furniture and jewelry. The vintage jewelry were polished and cleaned until the light shined off of them. It was hard to believe that these items were from the early nineteen hundreds. It was beautiful. Paintings lined the walls, with different brush strokes and painting techniques and various sculptures were closed off behind ropes, but shone brilliantly under the lights. Everything about the place screamed ancient, and beauty.