painted flowers

2

minho's pov:

home at last.
i pull into the driveway just before it starts to rain.
'great' i think to myself, before searching through the backseat for an umbrella. luckily i'm always prepared.
as i walk to the door, i realize that my grandmother's car isn't in the car port.
'she's probably at the church'

i've lived with my grandmother since i was 3. my parents weren't the greatest people. my mother got pregnant with me at 16, and to say my father wasn't pleased would be an understatement. he wasn't present for most of the pregnancy, and would often bring other women around to the house without my mother knowing. he left 4 months before i was due. my mother wasn't horrible necessarily, but she wasn't great either. after i was born, she got into heavy drinking aqnd drugs. during the day, she would often neglect me or leave me with my grandparents for days at a time. so, naturally, she lost custody. and now she's fuck knows where. i've always wondered what my parents would think if they saw me now. would they care? did they ever care? i try not to think about it too much.

my mother never treated my grandmother with respect. she was always dropping me with her and leaving. no warning, no nothing.
my grandfather died just before i was born in a motorcycle accident. a driver just got a little too impatient and tapped the back of his bike. he liked to live on the edge. at least that's what my grandmother tells me.

i shake off my umbrella before entering the house, removing my shoes in the process. the house was quiet, too quiet. without my grandmother home, there was no music filling the living room, no smell of food cooking in the kitchen, no sitcoms on the tv.
i didn't really like to be home alone. it meant i couldn't distract myself by talking to my grandmother and actually get shit done.

——————
it was finally time for the football game to begin, and to say i was nervous was an understatement. i knew i only had to snap a few photos for the yearbook and get out of there, but it was being there in the first place that had my stomach in knots. i pulled into the parking lot and parked. i sat for a second, not wanting to get out yet. it's nerve racking to go into a crowd of people when you have nobody to sit with. but, it was for a grade and i promised mr. kim, so it was non-negotiable.
walking through the gate to the ticket stand already had my heart beating out of my chest. i approach the women at the cash register.

"um, hi. i'm here to take pictures for the yearbook. how much?" she smiles up at me.

"don't worry about it, minho, mr. kim told me beforehand that you were coming. no charge."
i give her a small 'thank you' and proceed to the bleachers. our school often went all out for football games, as do most, so the bleachers were almost completely occupied. my eyes searched the crowd as i tried to find a safe place to sit. i finally resorted to sitting all the way at the top, for which there was no one. probably because it was really hard to see clearly from up there. walking up the bleacher stairs had me holding my breath. i could feel some students eyes on me as i passed, and tried to swallow the lump in my throat.
'i just need a few good shots..'

i take my seat and take my camera from my bag. it was so loud here, i hated it. why do people get so excited about sports anyways? i mean, all it is is boys throwing around a ball and wrestling each other. what's so exciting and impressive about that? i zoom in on the team's quarterback, bang chan. he was undoubtedly the team's mvp. he probably already had tons of colleges reaching out to him for scholarships, and honestly the team was nothing without him. even someone who doesn't understand sports could see that.

i snap a few action shots and crowd shots, before focusing on the cheerleading team. they were probably the only interesting part of these games because they always came up with crowd catching routines. i could tell they worked hard. i snap a few pictures of the team when my lense lands on a particular member of the squad. he had dark hair and soft features that juxtaposed his built figure. i don't know why, but i found myself watching him for awhile. i didn't even know who he was. but something was keeping me there.

he had lifted one of the girls into the air, balancing her on his palms, and i was amazed. the amount of strength and endurance. i knew that the main focus for the yearbook page had to be on the cheerleaders. they got almost no recognition for their high in complexity stunts.
i zoomed in on the boy, studying his face, before taking a picture while he was smiling. it was a really good picture.

—————
the game ended at around 10:00, and i had unintentionally stayed for the whole thing. i didn't regret it though. it was nice be out for a bit. as much as i hated to admit it.
i pulled into the driveway and grabbed my bag from the passenger seat. it was freezing due to it being mid-october, and my hands were ice as i struggled to find my house key. i quietly opened the door knowing that my grandmother was most likely already in bed. i came in to a once again dark, quiet house. i kicked my shoes off and hurried up the stairs. entering my room, i tossed
my backpack onto my bed and went to sit in my desk chair. i knew some editing was in order, and i really didn't remember what all i had taken.

i clicked through the photos after loading them onto my laptop, scanning for ones good enough to bring in tomorrow. my finger hesitated against the mouse as the picture of that boy came up. what was it about him that made me hesitate to click to the next photo? i didn't even know him. but something about him just drew me in. he seemed like the perfect person to draw, in my opinion. he had delicate features and and his eyes seemed to sparkle under the stadium lights. he was textbook sketch material. i pulled my sketchbook out from my backpack, and flipped to an empty page. right away i got to sketching those delicate features lightly against the paper, closely imitating the picture i had taken.

after about an hour of sketching, i was laying in my bed staring at the ceiling. i was dreading school tomorrow. i wasn't sure how much more i could stand, honestly. everyday felt so heavy and useless.

as i closed my eyes, i kept picturing that boy in my head. i couldn't shake the thought of him.

the boy with the sparkling eyes...

—————
word count: 1,209

i'm not sure how i feel about this chapter so please lmk your thoughts. chapter 3 is coming very soon!!