Alyssa was finally opening up a new chapter in her life.
Her whole life she's played it safe, but when certain circumstances are unmasked, some nice things aren't necessarily the best.
The next week, Committee Planning had to meet for longer hours in order to prepare for the dance that was approaching really quickly. Sugawara and I decided that we would meet around 12:00 pm to paint the last of our big props.
Sitting in front of us was a giant cardboard tree with long, ethereal looking branches that would be perfect for couples at the dance to take pictures. It was daunting though... Everything Sugawara and I prepared so far was small, but this was a focal point of the dance.
"Alright, can you grab the paints please? I got them last time," I pleaded to my partner.
Begrudgingly, he obliged. Something about him agreeing to get them without any vocal argument made my stomach flip.
I sat scrolling on my phone until I heard his footsteps crunching on the fallen leaves scattered on the pavement. My eyes widened when I noticed how he brought a whole basket of paints.
"What are all of those for? Don't we only need green and brown?"
"I thought it would be cool to add some different colors throughout the leaves. It'll look cool, especially in the dark when the lights bounce off of it. Like an acid trip."
I was skeptical of his idea and continued my argument. "But. It's a tree. Trees aren't pink and blue and red, Sugawara. I don't know if Sarah will appreciate a tree that looks like a unicorn barfed on it."
"If we go for what's somewhat safe here, it'll mean we never change. C'mon, it won't hurt to be creative. If it looks bad, we can always go over it with green again. So, are you in, or what?" His voice softened. I didn't mean to offend him by turning down his idea. He was right though, I should try to have some fun with it.
"Alright, let's do it," I grinned at him and he beamed back.
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Finally, we put our paintbrushes down and took a step back.
"It looks so good." I noted in reluctant awe. He stood with his arms crossed.
"What did I tell you?" he smiled smugly. How could he be so right sometimes?
"Wait, it looks like we missed a spot up there." I grabbed a paint brush and walked over to the tree, standing on my tippy-toes to reach the spot. After I fumbled for a couple seconds, I felt something warm against my back.
Startled, I turned around and collided with a hard chest. My arm still in the air holding the paintbrush suddenly lost weight as I felt his hand steal the apparatus from my own.
"You're too short. Let me do it." he said gruffly, brushing the missed spot.
"I could have found another way without your help." I huffed, ducking under his arm and out of his body's trap.
"What's wrong? I slightly grazed your back. Scared Noah will come and beat me up?" he teased. I let out a weak laugh and bit my lip. "Also, you're red again." He winked.
