Finding Beauty

Cason

I'm so glad Brooke decided to show me the art wall. It was amazing! All those different pieces of art that people from all backgrounds created. I could never expect to be half as talented as them! That wasn't the only reason I was happy about her showing me the art wall though. I showed her my treehouse, so she showed me her art wall. I didn't want her to feel like she could only tell me things if I showed her first.

I want her to feel comfortable telling me how she feels, anytime she feels like it. I want her to completely trust me, to feel like if she can't tell anyone else anything, she can come and tell me. I could feel her changing. She looked me in the eye and told me the things her dad said about her weren't true. It broke my heart to look at her painting of daggers with words her "father" had called her.

What kind of father calls his own daughter those terms? There were some very derogatory terms in each dagger, phrases that would make even me cry if they were directed at me. That reminded me, I wondered what happened yesterday; Brooke was fine before she went to work, but when I picked her up, she was quiet. I thought I had finally gotten through to her, I thought she finally trusted me enough to tell me anything.

I guessed I was wrong. Whatever, I wouldn't force her to tell me anything. She could tell me if she wanted. If not, then all well. I respect her too much to force her into doing anything. She's had enough of that in her life. I shook my head, clearing my thoughts.

Today was Memorial Day, the holiday that gave us Monday and Tuesday off of school to study for our finals and celebrate as a nation. I guess it was about time to show Brooke what I wrote on her cast.

Cason- You don't know you're beautiful:)

But first, we had to celebrate Memorial Day with my family. We were riding to Mississippi today (Sunday) to go to Gram's house, then tomorrow see some of our other family members for our annual Memorial Day cookout. The cookout wasn't until tomorrow of course, but it was basically a ten-hour drive to get from here to Mississippi, so we had to leave today. It was 8:00 in the morning. Too early, I wanted more sleep. I'd just sleep in the car.

I sighed and knocked on Brooke's door. A muffled "Come in" sounded from inside of the room, so I went in. Brooke was sitting on her bed, putting in her shoes. She was all packed and ready to go, which was great because Mom would have had a fit if she weren't.

I smiled at the memory of the time my mother and I had been going to Michigan to visit my uncle and she went nuts because I wasn't packed when she was ready to leave. I shook my head off those thoughts and smiled. "It's great to see that you're packed."

Brooke smiled back and said, "Good morning, Cason." She stood up and brushed the imaginary dust off her pants. She looked up at me and exclaimed, "Let's go, you don't want to make Mom angry!"

With that, she grabbed her suitcase and took off. Mom? Did she just call my mother mom? My eyebrows furrowed while I thought that over. In the end, I just shrugged and went downstairs to head out for Mississippi.

*

After 50,000 long years of playing car games with Aiden and Brooke—okay, maybe I was exaggerating a bit but come on! I was trapped in a car for ten hours straight because Mom didn't feel like stopping unless someone had to go to the bathroom—we arrived at Gram's house.

I tried to hop out of the car, but almost fell because my left leg fell asleep. Does that ever happen to you? One of your legs falls asleep while the other is wide awake? It sucks, I don't recommend it. It's even worse when both legs fall asleep.

I grabbed suitcases from out of the trunk and wheeled them to Gram's front door. Brooke protested and tried to take her suitcase, but I was already carrying it so I just stuck my tongue out at her and kept walking. I shook my head when she poured. And girls say chivalry is dead. Jeez, I wonder why?