This Is How You Remind Me

"Ready to tackle this room?" Adrienne asked, looking around at all the walls.

"Sure, why not," I answered her.

"Alright, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go change into some crappy clothes so it doesn't matter if I get paint on them," Adrienne said.

Not too bad of an idea, I thought.

"Yeah, maybe I'll do that, too," I said as though I was still deciding.

After Adrienne left my room, I closed the door behind her and walked into my closet, looking for a pair of pajamas or something that I wouldn't wear out of the house. I found a pair of grey sweats with teal stripes down the side to pair with a black tank that was sitting at the bottom of my suitcase. Yes, I still hadn't unpacked.

Moments after I changed into the clothes I picked out, Adrienne knocked on my door, wanting to come inside to start painting,
"I completely forgot that the two cans of purple paint are in the garage. Would you mind going to get those for me? I have to go and get the other paint, primer, and paint brushes."

"Sure," I said warily, not remembering one hundred percent where we placed the cans of paint in the garage.

Walking down the stairs, through the foyer, and out door to the garage, I felt a breeze of air sweep around me. Walking further into the garage, I pulled the top of my tank top up a little farther, seeing as it was slipping down ever so slightly too low. I was searching on the back wall, not really paying attention to anything but trying to find the paint until I heard a lawn mower. It sounded like it was coming closer and closer yet I wasn't able to tell where it was.

Just as I found the paint, I heard the lawn mower turn off. I picked up the two cans and turned around, trying to figure out who was there.

I heard a familiar voice, "Hey, weren't you the girl buying paint at the store the other day?"

I lifted my head up as soon as I heard someone talking to me. What I saw was the guy from the paint store, his chocolate hair was held back by a white bandana, iPod tucked in his pocket while headphones sat in his ears. He stood clad in a pair of shorts and a shirt was draped over the handle of the lawn mower. The sun shone just right on him, making the sweat glisten across his torso.

"Yeah," I smiled nervously, finding it quite hard to create words. "What's up?"

"Just mowing the lawn, trying to earn a couple of bucks. My normal job is good pay, but sometimes I need a little extra. How about you? What're you up to?" he asked, his chocolate eyes sparkling as a smile was plastered on his face.

Is that damn smile etched in stone? 'Cause I could work with that.

"I'm just getting some paint. My…er…mom and I are going to paint my room," I told him honestly.

"Cool, cool," he repeated. "Well, have fun with that."

"Yeah…fun, mhmm," I smiled with a negative shake of my head.

"Hey, it could be fun. Some things take work to make fun," he spoke, "but everything has potential."

That sentence…it was twisted. It could be taken at face value, thus interpreted very easily, but it could also be profound if thought in depth. I never had figured out how to decode it.

"Carmella, did you find the paint?" Adrienne called as she leaned out the door, paintbrushes in hand.

"Yeah, I did," I told her, lifting up the paint cans a little higher as I turned to her. After she acknowledged the fact that I had them and I'd be back in in a little bit, she turned around and, I assumed, headed back up to my room.

I turned back to Austin, "Well, it was nice talking to you."

"You too, Carmella," he responded, a half a smile set across his lips.

I turned on my heels and went back inside, hitting the door closed with my butt. I made my way upstairs as quickly as possible with two paint cans weighing me down.

"I see you met our neighbor, huh?" Adrienne spoke as I entered my room.

"Mhmm, something like that," I muttered.

After the primer had been applied to the walls, I looked down at my clothes and was thankful that I had changed into things that I wouldn't normally wear out. I was covered, head to toe, in pinkish and greenish colored primer. It was…an interesting look to say the least.

"So, I say we take a break and let it dry completely," Adrienne said, stepping back by me to get a look at our work so far. Letting out a sigh, she finished her thought, "This is going to take a few days."

"Well, I can keep going by myself," I offered, "I think I got the hang of it…"

"Oh no! You don't have to do that," Adrienne chuckled. "I'm going to help, it's just that I thought it wouldn't take this long. I think it's safe to say that we'll have to move you into the guest room for the time being."

After switching rooms, Adrienne and I decided to take a break and go down to talk to the boys.

"Amazing," Adrienne muttered as we stepped through the swinging door.

"What's that, babe?" Billie Joe asked from his same place from when we left.

"You're all still exactly in the same place as when we left, except for Joey and Jakob," she laughed.

"We're trying to figure some important stuff out, leave us alone" Billie spoke with mock hurt. "So, I thought you girls were gonna paint Carmella's room. What's up?"

"We did, we already put the primer up, now we're just waiting for that to dry and then we're possibly going to go back in and paint it up."

"Sounds good," Billie said, as if his opinion was the deciding one.

A doorbell sounded through the house, and Adrienne went to go answer the front door.

Great, leave me alone with the three people I know the least.

"So, how's the painting going?" Mike asked, laughing. "Judging by your clothes, I'd say it's…getting everywhere."

"Oh, it's going fine," I said, noticing that I was standing against the back wall, kind of away from everyone. "I guess we're going to start painting later today once the primer dries."

"What're you doing all the way over there? You do know that we don't bite, right?" Billie informed me. "Well, Mike and I don't. I'm not so sure about Tre` over there. So, as long as you stay by Mike or myself, you're safe."

"I don't bite either…Billie just wishes I do."

"I have a wife, fucktard."

"Billie!" his said wife exclaimed. "We have company, watch your mouth."

I looked up to see Austin, white bandana still tied around his head, but a grey-blue shirt clung to his torso. Once he saw me in the kitchen, he let out a slight laugh. He pointed at my tank and my sweats, making blush.

I was covered in paint, and looking ragged, and here he was, looking…well…amazing.

"Hey Austin," Billie greeted with a upwards nod of his head.

"Hey," he responded. He sent me one last smile and disappeared into the foyer.

I realized that I was no longer needed in the kitchen as Billie, Mike, and Tre` went back to talking, and Joey and Jakob sat at the table, Legos spread out around them, some towers already created.
So, instead of just standing around awkwardly, I went and followed Austin into the foyer.
I saw him spacing out, just staring at nothing.

"Hey," I spoke quietly, making him jump.

"Shit!" he hissed in a whisper. "You scared me!"

"Sorry," I smiled sheepishly. "Just figured I'd say hi."

"Oh, cool," he said. He seemed to say that a lot. "So…you're new here?"

"Yeah, I kind of just…er…moved in," I told him. "So, how about you? What's your story?"
I didn't feel like going all out and telling a stranger- my new neighbor- my life's story. It wasn't worth it.

"Me? Hmm, let's see. I've lived in that house for my whole life- seventeen, almost eighteen years now, and I'm not looking forward to going back to school in a few months. I'm not too interesting."

"Really? You've lived here for that long?" I asked in awe. I would love to live in one place for that long. "Do you know of anything fun to do around here? I kind of want to get out of the house," and then I noticed Adrienne walk in from the garage, so I added, "after we're done painting."

"Austin, can you give me a second? I can't find my purse…at all. It may take me a minute or two," Adrienne told him, hope in her voice.

"Yeah, it's no problem," he told her, a smile across his face.

"Thanks! I'll be right back," she said as she took off up the stairs to the second floor.

"So, looking for something fun to do?" he asked me, turning back to look at me. I gave him a nod, and he continued, "How about, when you're done with whatever you need to do, come on over and we'll go out and explore the city. Sound good?" he asked.

I couldn't believe it. Was he offering to take me out around the city?
"Yeah, that uh, sounds really good," I couldn't wipe the smile off my face.

"Alright, it's a deal," he confirmed. "I live to the right of you. Just come on over whenever you want."

"Found it!" Adrienne exclaimed, walking down the stairs, check book in hand.

Adrienne had written a check out to Austin, thanking him for mowing the lawn, and he left soon after.

Walking back into the kitchen with Adrienne, I heard Tre` squeal, teasingly, "Oh my God! Carmella's already going somewhere with a boy! Better watch her, Billie!"

I widened my eyes, shocked that they were able to hear our conversation. "Umm, well, uh," I scratched the back of my neck, my face heating up to no extent.

"Do we need to have the talk?!" Billie Joe asked jokingly, laughing as my eyes widened more. "Relax, I was kidding."

"Well Carmella, let's call it a day, okay? Your paint is probably barely dry," Adrienne decided.