Heart | N.H.

three - getting wet

From Niall: hereeeeeee

 "Mom, Dad, Callie's here!" I grabbed my purse and kissed King good-bye, rushing for the door. 

"Bye, Miracle! Have fun!" Mom said, intercepting me to give me a hug.

I nodded mechanically, praying she wouldn't look out the window and see the monstrosity of a vehicle that was parked in our driveway instead of Callie's polished silver Chevy. 

From somewhere upstairs, I heard Dad yell, "Bye Miracle!"

"Bye!" I yelled, dashing outdoors so fast that I almost tripped my way down our porch steps. Niall was fiddling with the knobs on the radio when I got in.

"Hey-"

"Drive!" I commanded.

"Put on your seatbelt."

I did as he asked, then slapped his arm. "Let's get out of here."

"Okay, okay," he said, backing up with a rusty squeal of protest from his car. "Geez, what'd you do, rob your own house or something?"

"No." I explained to him why I had asked him to pick me up in the first place. "I really do not want to spend time at their workplace. Cardiology offices are so not fun, and neither are surgery rooms."

Niall kept his eyes trained on the road. "I see."

"Not that you aren't... I mean, I guess I am using you, but I just..."

"It's okay. I owe you," he said stiffly. "Where do you want me to drop you off?"

Crap. I hadn't thought this far ahead. Any normal teenager would've been psyched at spending the day out; the possibilities were endless: theater, mall, arcade... "The library is fine."

Niall's mouth twisted wryly. "Oh my God."

"What?" I snapped, not in the mood. "I don't want to be somewhere with a ton of people."

"Fair point, but you can't stay in the library all day," he said with a shrug. "What else do you like?"

I decided to not answer, I specifically instructed myself not to answer... but unfortunately my mouth didn't comply with my wishes. "Art."

"Should've guessed, from the way you tugged around that stupid paintbrush bag."

I physically flinched away from him and Niall frowned. "I- Sorry. You okay?" He looked a little annoyed, probably dismissing it as me being oversensitive. If only he knew... That stupid old leather bag...

I bit my lip and nodded. "I'm fine." I clenched my fingers into fists and stared out the window.

Ten minutes passed and I finally spoke again. "Where are we going?"

"An art supplies store," Niall responded. "I figured that'd be your idea of a fun day shopping, yeah?"

"That sounds..." I grappled in thin air for a word to use, my face stretching into a smile. "... ace. It sounds ace."

I hadn't said that word in forever. It tasted strange on my tongue. It tasted of salted caramel hot chocolate and coconut pastries; it brought back the smell of fresh paints and apple scented shampoo; it stirred more memories: the feel of silken paintbrush tassles on my cheeks, the sound of our laughter, the ruffle of papers on an easel. 

I shouldn't have said that word. But I couldn't not... Anything to do with art made me think of that word. Made me think of-

"Are you okay?" Niall was peering at me when I came back to my senses. The car was parked in front of the art supplies store; Niall had gotten out, but I'd just sat there clutching my seatbelt like a fool, staring at nothing.