Finding Beauty

Brooke

As Janet left, my head was spinning. Did she actually just give me a job to work with her?! I looked at Cason and he just had a smirk on his face and I wasn't sure what to say or what to do. An idea flashed in my mind.

"I wanna show you something," I smiled.

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "What?"

"Just come with me," I grabbed his hand and led him to his car and threw him in the driver's seat.

He chuckled and started the car. "Where are we going? Since I'm driving and all."

"Hey, in about five weeks, this thing will finally come off," I defended. "Just turn where I tell you to."

"Bossy, bossy," he joked, pulling out of the parking lot.

As I gave directions to our destination, I thought back to the day I found it.

I was thirteen and my dad was gone for a week. I'd just gotten out of school and didn't feel like going home, so I took a detour. During my detour, I came across an art wall. People had painted and spray painted on it, but it wasn't trashy. It was amazing. I'd stayed there overnight, just because I couldn't make myself leave. I brought chairs there and even painted something on the wall.

"We're here!" I chirped and Cason parked the car.

"Where are we?" He asked.

I'd made him park a little bit away from the art wall, so I could show him myself. I just got out the car and he followed behind me. I made sure we wouldn't interrupt anyone working before I told him to follow me.

"What are we—? Whoa," Cason said as he saw the wall.

"You have a treehouse, I have an art wall," I smiled.

"You do all these?" He asked.

"No. I did one down there," I pointed further down the wall, "but it's not nearly as good as anything else here. Plus it's almost five years old."

"What are we doing here?" He asked.

We sat in the chairs that the artists never got rid of and I looked at him. "I'm not good at planning amazing days like you, but I wanted to do something special for you. And no one else I've ever met knows about this through me."

He understood what I meant and nodded. "I like it," he said.

My heart was beating faster than usual and I looked at the wall. I didn't know the stories behind most of these pieces, so I couldn't tell him anything about them. We just sat in a silence for a while. I enjoyed his company and I knew I was really falling for him.

This morning, it took everything I could to not kiss him. I'd opted out of it, because I wasn't sure where he stood on me. Would he have pushed me away? Would he have went with it? What would've happened then? Apart of me thought that he liked me, but another part thought I missed my chance.

Plus Cason wasn't like the guys I'd slept with and not given a second thought about. If we ever escalated to more than friends, I wouldn't want to jump into bed with him straight away—although he looked fantastic shirtless—I couldn't do that to him. I cared about him too much to just sleep with him and not ever think about him again.

"I found this place on accident," I said. "I was thirteen and going home, but took a detour, because my dad was gone for a week and found this place. It made me feel safe and that was when I drew my piece."

"So is that how long you've been drawing?" He asked.

I shook my head and looked at him. "I started drawing at nine. It was about a year after my mom died and my school counselor suggested I take up a hobby. So I kind of just started drawing and things started to make sense. Drawing is me putting my thoughts into a picture and getting clarity."