Remind Me

Chapter Twenty-One

"Next on our list," Owen says once the three of us are up and dressed for the day, "is the Falice Art Shop downtown."

"Really?" Joey groans. "That place is so boring. I can't stand it."

"You can stay," Owen raises his eyebrows. "Me and Brinley will have a nice time together."

"No," Joey sighs. Looks up in a dramatic fashion. "I'll go. I just think it's lame. I'll never understand girls and their need to stare at abstract things and find beauty in them. It's so boring."

"Do I look like a girl to you?" Owen asks Joey. "I find that entertaining too."

"Well," Joey says. "When you spend all your time around girls, they transform you, man."

"Right," Owen rolls his eyes.

"How far away is the art shop?" I ask Owen, placing my hand on his shoulder to grab his attention.

"About thirty minutes," he says. "Why?"

"Just wondering if," yawn, "I will have time to sleep on the way."

I lean my back against the wall, closing my eyes to yawn once again. It's hardly seven in the morning and I was up late last night rereading the Harry Potter books. I only got through the first two, of course. It's worth it, even being my tiresome self.

"You went to bed at nine last night," Owen says, looking confused. "Why are you suddenly so tired?"

"I-" yawn "-didn't go to bed right away," I shrug, taking long blinks. "Why're we leaving so early anyways?"

"I'd like to know the answer to that question, too," Joey says, placing his hands in his hips.

"Don't you sass me," Owen rolls his eyes at Joey. "I told you, you don't have to come."

Joey mumbles something under his breath that sounds quite a lot like 'Too early to suppress it.'

"And yes," he turns to me, "you can sleep in the car."

I don't take anything to the car except for a blanket that I'll be enjoying on the ride there.

Joey goes to open Owen's passenger side door, but Owen gives him a pointed look.

"She's going to sleep! She can do that in the backseat, don't you think-"

"You have no manners, Joey," Owen says. "Don't you think so, Brin?"

"Huh?" I ask, in the midst of another yawn. "Yeah... Sure... Right."

"See, there you have it," Owen says.

With that, Joey takes his place in the back seat and I join Owen up front. We listen to his favorite playlist, consisting of The Killers, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Pearl Jam, and Thirty Seconds to Mars. I fall asleep fairly quickly, the words of Beautiful Lie sticking in my head.

<•>•<•>

"Look at this one!" I say, smiling through my tiredness. I almost can't believe I fell asleep on that car ride.

"Absolutely stunning," Joey mumbles, rolling his eyes.

The painting is of a woman standing near a cluster of trees, the sun just hanging above the horizon. I can tell straight away that the warmer colors were used surrounding the woman to give a sense of comfort, yet the trees have hints of blue and green, giving a mysterious touch to the picture.

"Oh, and this!" I say moving a few over. It is a night sky, but the stars and planets create a woman's face.

"Exquisite," Joey grumbles sarcastically.