Losing Grip

Chapter 20➷ Because I Have a Hook for a Hand

She knelt to pick up the paintbrush and quickly wiped away the tears with the back of her hand.

Though she tried to be subtle, the drops of paint on her hands stained her cheeks and gave her away.

She offered a hesitant smile. "Is this Avery?" she asked, more to her nephew than to me. "You look so much like your sister that for one second, I—"

Avan cleared his throat and she puckered her lips together to stop talking. She looked down at her hands and tossed the paintbrush on the side again.

"It's nice to meet you, Avery," she said, extending a hand smeared with drops of acrylic painting that I shook anyway. "Call me Elena."

She turned to her nephew and squinted her eyes to examine his face. "Why are you hurt?"

I glanced at him. I hadn't noticed the cut on his lower lip.

"It's a long story," he said, with a sheepish smile he seemed to believe would fool her. "You don't want to hear about it."

"Let me decide that for myself."

Avan didn't argue. He sighed and followed his aunt up the stairs after telling me that he would be right back.

I stood at the center of the living room and looked around me in awe. All the objects in the room, from the chairs to the guitar rack, radiated individuality and creativity and practically screamed that an artist lived here.

Many of Elena's paintings were abstract, and although I knew nothing about art, the emotions she depicted seemed to bleed through the canvas and grab my heart.

But one of her portraits didn't only seize my heart, it pulverized it and reduced it into an unidentifiable heap of broken strings.

Riley stared back at me from the canvas, portrayed in the brightest of colors. In her right hand, Riley held a sun, dimmed beyond recognition compared to the dazzling gleam in her eyes. Wild sunflowers gravitated towards her as they would the sun itself.

The notable resemblance everyone talked about hit me but the evident contrast between us was even more striking. As amplified as it was, the portrait was not wrong. Riley was an untamable light that this world could not subdue, while I gladly welcomed the shadows. Like the sun, she shared this light with everyone she encountered out of her never-ending well.

Her joyful smile seemed directed at me and the unique angle of the painting made it look like she would fly out of the linen fabric of the canvas to hug me.

"This one is my favorite."

The voice startled me out of my reflections and I glanced at Avan next to me. His eyes were fixed on the artwork as though enchanted.

"This is amazing," I said, backing away from the painting so that I wouldn't be tempted to drag her out of it.

He broke out of his reverie and turned to me with a smile. "Ready?"

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Victoria's party was not like the high school parties I heard about. This one did not smell like alcohol. But even though the music wasn't very loud, a place brimming with cheerleaders and enthusiastic athletes couldn't remain very quiet.

Arson came to celebrate their victory with them even though he had not been able to play. He stayed silent as they went over the shots they did and he cheered for their accomplishments.

I wished I could find a way to comfort him from the disappointment I knew he felt. He would probably know what to do if it were me, but I couldn't even begin to figure it out.