Hide Me In Your Thoughts

Chapter 6- Orange Paint And Her

Song - I See Fire by Ed Sheeran

…/…

“Hi Mace,” Carl shouted from the driver’s seat. “Why didn’t you just tell me it was Carl?” he asked. “Nah, that would’ve been way too boring. The way you were getting jealous was more fun”. “So, is it an actual date or are you guys just going out to have fun?”

“What do you think?” I responded, obviously having fun with it. It feels nice to have the upper hand for once. He sighs and then says, “Do you want me to wait for you till you get back or can I tag along?”. “Nah, this is just for Carl and me. You can wait up though, I'll be back in the next three to four hours”.

“20 seconds,” Carl shouts, and I immediately rush to hug Mace and run to the passenger seat. “Bye,” Mace shouts and I wave in response.

The entire ride to the Cinema, my mind was fixed on Mace and the possible things that he could be doing to have fun. “He wanted to come, you know?”. “Who? Mace?” Carl asks. “Yeah”. “You sure about that?” he asks further.

I looked at him and said, “Yeah, I guess. Did he tell you he was going to do something?”. “Uhm no,” he says. I looked at him, narrowing my eyes, trying to decipher if he was telling the truth or not. His response didn’t give me much assurance and it leaves my mind to suspect a lot of things, most of all, “Is Mace hiding something from me?”.

…/…

“Thank you so much, Carl. I had so much fun,” I said. “Of course you did. You literally threw popcorn at all the couples making out in there,” he says, still amused. “Definitely. It was a lot. They could’ve gotten a room. I should’ve told them to get a room. You think I can still go back to tell them to get a room,” I said. Carl laughed in response, out loud, might I add.

I looked at him and smiled because his laughter might just be the most beautiful thing about him. “Nah, I think that’s enough for tonight. Remind me to do this some time again with you,” he says, smiling. I smiled back at him and said, “Definitely”.

The ride back home was filled with both of us singing along to the songs playing on the radio and remembering very funny scenes in the movie.

When his car pulls up at the front of my house, I tell him “thank you” and peck his cheek. He smiles and says, “Anytime”. I walked to the door to press the doorbell. Carl waves as he drives off and I wave back. I turned my head back to see Collin there.

“Creep,” I muttered as I walked past him into the house. Jane walks into the kitchen and I immediately say, “What’s she still doing here?”. “Apparently, she’s staying the night but don’t worry, she’s leaving tomorrow,” Collin responds.

I watched as she did the dishes and rolled my eyes. “Know where Mace is?” I asked Collin. “Uh yeah, I think the garden”. I went to my room to confirm that he wasn’t there and changed out of the clothes I wore to my pajama shorts and a blue tank top.

I opened the doors to the garden and looked for Mace with my eyes. I see him seated on the bench, resting slightly on the pillow close to the left. He’s on a call, talking to someone and visibly smiling. My mind remembered what Carl said in the car and I started doubting the wholeness of Carl’s truth.

I walked to where he was and took a seat beside him, resting on the bench. He motions for me to come closer with his hands and then he puts his arms around me. Instinctively, I rested my head on his chest. Then he says, “Bye”, ending the call.

“Hey, you”. “Hey,” I responded. “So, did you have fun?” he asks. “Yeah, the movie was quite interesting and funny”. “Okay, that’s good,” he says and I sigh. "What's wrong?" He asks almost immediately, looking at my face and scanning it. "Nothing, who were you on the call with?" I ask, trying to clear my mind of all the assumptions I had made.

"Uhm Van," he replied. "Really, your sister?". "Yeah, why?" He asks further. "I don't know. Carl said something in the car that made me think about what happened this morning and other stuff. Basically, it seems like there have been lots of secrets between us lately". "Definitely no secrets from my end," he says, sitting upright.

"I know what you're getting at. Look, it's just one thing and I'm definitely still going to let you in on it. I just need to be sure of a lot of things, on my own". "With Joyce too?" He asks. "Yeah, something like that. I know it seems like you're left out but I promise I'll let you know soon enough". He looks at me, searching my face, and then says, "okay".

"I'm gonna go to bed now. Are you coming?" I asked. "Not yet, I just wanna stay here for a while,” I looked at him and then said, “Okay”.

…/…

HARRY’S POV

“You’re really kicking me out of the room because of her,” Collin said as he pointed to the door. “Don’t see it like that. It’s really not that big a deal, she’s just staying the night,” I explained. “I know she’s just staying the night. You know what, it’s cool, man! I’ll go”.

We both stood there looking at each other. After a few seconds, I stretched my hands to the door. “Fine, I’ll go. Only if you want me to,” he says. “Trust me, I want you to”. “I’m never going to forget this and I’m going to get you back for it,” he says, with utmost sincerity and a little bit of humor. “Of course you are,” I responded.

As he leaves the room with a pillow, which was just out of spite, Jane comes in with a bag that I’m guessing is containing her stuff. “Your bag is really big for just one night,” I say, trying to lighten up the mood.

“Oh don’t be silly Har, You didn’t think I’d come for one night only, did you?” she says, not looking at me the entire time. As she said that, my heart went into frenzy mode. I began to think of all the awful things Lily would do to me and all the awful things she’d make Mace do too.

Maybe she’d kill me and tell Mace to bury my body in a place where no one would find it. Oh! Don’t get me wrong, Lily is a sweet soul. It’s just if she doesn’t like you, then yeah, she doesn’t like you and there’s nothing you or anyone can do about it.

“You can’t stay longer than a night, Jane. I already told Lily you’re leaving tomorrow and my mum is coming back tomorrow and the timing is just not perfect. I’m sorry,” I explained, whilst holding her. She lets me hold her for a few seconds before snatching her hands away.

“You’re lying,” she says. “What?” I reply in pure disbelief. “You’re cheating and I know it. Do you want to know the truth? I knew from the very beginning and yesterday, yesterday was just the confirmation. You cut the call so suddenly without any explanation and didn’t call back”.

“Jane, I already told you, I had to carry Lily to her room. She slept off in the garden. Look, I'm sorry I forgot. I was so sleepy and I just got so carried away". She doesn't respond to me verbally and I sigh. She walks to the bed, lays down, and says, "If you don't want me anymore, then just tell me". I sigh again, my heart breaking with every second passing.

I know the feeling of not being wanted; not being loved. I lay down on the bed beside her and hugged her slim frame. We stay there in silence, just breathing and existing in our space. Then, I kissed her neck and said, "You know I want you. Always have, and always will". I kissed her neck again and added, "I love you Jane. Always remember that".

I hugged her frame some more and pecked her on her right cheek, whispering, “Goodnight”.

…/…

My eyes were still wide open several minutes after Jane shut hers. The bed wasn’t comfortable, the temperature wasn’t good enough. Nothing felt right. I stood up and decided to drink milk, hoping I’d feel sleepy after a glass.

On my way to the kitchen, I saw the art room. I opened the door slowly, just to see an unframed canvas staring back at me, looking as inviting as ever. I listened to the voice in my head and walked in. The orange color had been stuck in my mind for some days now.

So I picked up the bucket filled with orange paint and followed the detailed instructions in my mind regarding her.