Fourteen

The sound of soft rain paired with the dull, gray morning makes working on the mural today oddly peaceful. I focus on the rain droplets hitting against the corridor's skylight while my paintbrush traces the white lines I had finally finished yesterday. Everything is quiet, but in a few minutes, I'll have to stop, pack up, and return my art supplies.

I push through the pain of cramping in my hand as I reach the end of another line. The mural is coming out a lot better than I had expected. Of course, the process is slow, but patience is key. I tell myself it will be worth it in the end.

The days pass fast now, and November is quickly coming to an end. Thanksgiving break is right around the corner, and then, once December arrives, soccer practice will commence. That means even less time to work, so getting ahead now is a good idea.

I check my watch and realize it's time to stop. It saddens me how fast an hour passes whenever I was creating.

As I make my way back to the art classroom to return supplies, I picture Jamie sitting in her usual seat. She'll look up at me and probably give me a teasing smile, like she usually does, and I'll grow hot in response. Maybe she'll hang out with us for lunch today...

Once I reach the classroom, I knock. Familiar hazel eyes meet me at the door as Jamie offers to take some of the supplies from my hands.

"Here," she offers. "Lemme help."

She moves in close and her hands graze mine as she grabs a paint can. Had she been waiting for me to come back? She looks excited to see me. The dismissal bell rings and releases the rest of the student population to lunch. I move farther into the room to put things back where they belong.

"How's it comin' Peyton?" Mr. Z asks from his desk.

"Great," I reply. "I'm really excited about it."

He just gives me a warm smile.

Jamie and I put away the supplies I had used today and head for the door.

"I think it's taco day," I say.

"That means Gibbs and Darian are probably already stuffing their faces."

"Most likely."

Jamie and I leave the safety of the art classroom and slowly make our way toward the cafeteria and, without discussing it, we both decide to take the long way around. As we walk, our hands touch every now and then. My heart is in my throat when she breaks the silence.

"So, am I allowed to know the story behind the mural?" she asks. "You know, whenever it's finished."

I smile. "It depends."

"On?"

My heart squeezes at the thought of telling Jamie the meaning behind my art. In my head I can see it fully finished, the girl's happy expression, the swirls of every color in the rainbow painting her skin, the way her eyes glow with life... and then the mask she's taking off, plain and boring with dull eyes and lips pulled into a noticeably fake smile.

Of course, it should be open to interpretation. Was she taking the mask off? If so, was it because she finally felt comfortable in her own skin to reveal her true self? Or was she putting the mask on, in hopes of covering up her flamboyancy that was too much for the society around her?

Right now, I personally feel like the latter.

"Peyton?"

I snap out of my head and look at Jamie.

"What?"

"You don't wanna explain the meaning behind your art?" she repeats.

I feel a pull in my chest.

"It's meant for interpretation," I dodge. "It should be able to explain itself."

Jamie falls silent and refuses to press me about it. I appreciate the fact that she never pries. She respects the fact that sometimes I didn't want to reveal personal things to her, which inevitably makes me want to anyway.

We're almost to the cafeteria, but it's the last place I want to be. We'll just be surrounded by our peers since no one is outside due to the rain. My friends will ask what the hell took us so long. Jacki would probably intervene somehow...

"I say we ditch taco day..." Jamie suggests, as if she's read my mind. "And go get burgers from the diner down the street."

"Are you telling me you don't want stale tortillas, cold shredded cheese, and lukewarm meat?" I tease.

"Well, when you put it that way..."

Jamie and I just laugh as we detour for the parking lot. My heart races at the thought of being alone with her, but it's getting easier to manage. Yet, the way our hands and shoulders touch while we pace to my car still makes it hard to keep my composure.

Then, before we're in the clear, Jacki, of all people, quickly rounds the corner.

"Are you two ditching taco day?" she mocks. "Gibbs and Darian are gonna be hurt."

"They're big boys," I retort.

Jacki just gives me a conniving smirk.

"Besides," Jamie intervenes. "The tacos aren't that great. They'll understand."

"So, you're blowing off our lunch date?" Jacki says.

Jamie tenses, which makes me think she had previously made plans and forgotten about them. Why was Jacki always able to ruin a moment?

"We have a lunch date?" Jamie asks.

"We eat lunch together every Friday." Jacki rolls her eyes. "Jamie, you know this."

There's tension between Jacki and Jamie that I don't quite understand. It seems as if neither of them are on the same page. Jamie just seems confused.

"It's cool," Jacki forces. "No biggie, hun."

Then, out of nowhere, Jacki goes to kiss Jamie, but Jamie pulls back and rejects her. I feel my heart sink in response.

"What the hell?" Jacki spits.

"What?" Jamie asks.

"So you don't wanna kiss me now that Peyton's around?"

My eyes must be the size of golf balls because they're burning from not being able to blink. What the hell is happening?

Jamie's eyes narrow. "What are you even talking about...?"

"I didn't stutter."

Jamie's getting fed up and Jacki is about to crawl out of her skin. I feel as if I'm an innocent passerby caught in the middle of a two-car, head-on collision.

"We're not together Jacki," Jamie reminds. "I'm allowed to hang out with other people, and I'm certainly allowed to tell you no if I don't want you to kiss me!"

I step away from them. As much as I'm enjoying the scene, I can tell Jacki is pissed. It almost seems like the first time she's ever been rejected, because for once she's speechless. Her furious brown eyes find mine and there's a hate I've never seen before, but maybe it's because she's embarrassed.

Then she storms off.

It's silent between Jamie and me for a few minutes, as if we're riding the aftershock of an earthquake. I have no idea what to say after that.

"Jeez..." Jamie exhales heavily. "I've been dying to say that... I just didn't mean for it to sound so..."

"Brutal?"

"Exactly."

I take in a deep breath, and then, out of nowhere, begin to laugh. This causes Jamie to laugh along with me, because, let's be honest, Jacki had it coming.

"I've never seen Jacki so angry," I say.

"I'm pretty sure she's gonna kill me now."

"Probably."

"Guess this means I'm officially evicted from the gay squad." Jamie composes herself. "Jacki's never gonna let any of them talk to me again."

I roll my eyes. "That fact that she can dictate who they talk to is sad, anyway."

"You're totally right."

"Of course, I am."

Jamie looks at me with a teasing smile, and I can tell she isn't upset about it at all. She doesn't care if she loses a group of friends because the relationships are rooted in toxicity anyway. Just because people are gay, just like you, doesn't always make them good people to be around, especially if those people are like Jaqueline Ross.

Manipulative and easily manipulated friends are never good, gay or not.

"Let's go get lunch," I finish. "I think we both deserve shakes after that."

"Absolutely," Jamie replies.

Jamie and I leave, but I have a feeling this wouldn't be the end of whatever battle Jacki thought she was fighting. There was this look in her eyes that screamed "you'll pay for this," but I wasn't sure if it was just my paranoia showing.

But, for now, I'll just enjoy the freedom of hanging out with Jamie until that downfall came.