Scream It Silently

So, you may have heard this story before: Girl moves to a new town. Girl meets cute boy in said town. Boy falls in love with girl. Boy is a vampire.
Well, this is not that story. Girl doesn’t move. Girl and Boy don’t fall in love. Girl doesn’t beg Boy to suck the life out of her. Sorry if that’s what you were expecting. But this story is better. ...I think.

Mom’s voice called up to me from the kitchen, “Kayla, can you take a break? I made you a snack!”

I paused in my work, and bent to balance the small paintbrush carefully atop the paint can before stepping back to admire my work. My bedroom wall, which I had been working on for weeks, had been transformed from a flat, solid purple to an old, crumbling, moss-covered brick wall. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and turned to go downstairs to see what my mother had made.

“Honey, you’ve been working on that mural all day. Don’t you think you should do something else? Maybe go outside or rest a bit?”

“Mom, it’s almost finished. I can’t just quit now. I only have a few days left of summer anyway, so why stop?”

She sighed, “Fine. But at least eat something,” she put a food-laden plate on the counter-top.

I had just sat down to eat when the phone rang. Mom motioned for me to stay seated, and hurried up the stairs, “Don’t worry, I’ve got it!”

I looked out to the mid-day sky, wishing that summer wasn’t nearly over. I didn’t want to be a senior in high school yet. I wanted to be a slacker freshman again. Those were the good times.

“Kayla, that was the school guidance counselor,” Mom called as she came down the stairs, “You’re showing a new student around for the first few days of school.”

“Awesome,” I mumbled, without much enthusiasm, “Boy or girl?”

“He didn’t say that, but I guess there are three of them. They’re from....oh what country did he say it was? Somewhere in Europe.... Oh, I don’t remember. They’re not from the U.S. is the point.”

“That’s pretty cool, I guess. Anyone else call this morning?”

She smiled slyly, “No, Wes didn’t call. You told him not to, remember? You wanted to paint the wall by yourself, no distractions.”

“I know, I was just wondering. It’s not like him to go this long without harassing me,” I pushed away from the counter, “Well, I’m done here. I’ll be in my room finishing up if you need me.”

“Just so you know, you have paint on your forehead!”

“I like it there!”

I hammered the lid back on the paint can and gathered the brushes I had to rinse off. As I cleaned them in the bathroom sink, I gazed out the window at the night sky. The night was almost cloudless, and millions of starts winked at me.

“Kayla, are you decent?” Mom yelled up to me.

“You mean, ‘am I naked’? No, I’m fully clothed.”

I heard someone walk in, and a male voice say, “Aw, that’s a shame. I was kind of looking for a show.”

I laughed and turned to face my best friend, “Very funny, Wes. I missed you, too”

This made him laugh and he hugged my sweaty, paint-covered body.

“You have terrible timing,” I told him, as we walked back to my room, “You came just in time for the cleanup.”

Much to my surprise he grabbed all three paint cans and asked, “Where do you want them?”

“Bathroom closet, next to the shower. Bottom shelf. You’re the best!”

“Damn straight!” I heard him say from down the hall, “And don’t you forget it!”

“So how was your summer?” I asked, watching him plop own on my bed, “Have fun with your uncle in Washington?”

He snorted, “Yeah, totally. God, summer there is worse than summer here.”

“Oh, come one. Maine summers are, like, sixty degrees at the warmest.”

“Yeah, and Washington’s are, like, fifty and rainy and cloudy,” he said, mimicking me, “It wasn’t even worth it to go to the beaches.”

“There were beaches?! It’s kind of hard to picture a rainy, cloudy beach...”

“Yeah. So I hear we’re getting new people tomorrow.”

“Mhm,” I mumbled, digging through my drawers for an un-painted shirt, “I’m showing one of them around tomorrow. I hope they’re not complete yuppies.”