Dressed up in Faded Costumes

The world was nothing more than a watercolor painting washed with a bit too much water… It was blurred, and nothing existed but us.
And then something dropped on my foot hanging at the edge of the shadow of the tree. It was a drop of water, and our trance seemed to disappear. I suddenly sat up and it immediately made Liam do the same.
“What is it?” he asked.
I was looking at my Red Chucks which had a drop of water on its vamp.
“I swear water just dropped on my shoe.”
And then I heard a somewhat roaring sound come closer; and it happened… It rained in LA. It was quite uncommon and I started to panic a little because of the brand new camera. I was afraid it would get wet.
“Let’s go!” I said, my hair starting to get wet with rain.
“Wait,” Liam said as he walked from under the tree into the open space where he got drenched faster.
“But the camera,” I said.
“The bag is waterproof,” he smiled and my worry started to fade and turn into a certain befuddlement. He looked at me and held my hands; the rain was getting stronger. I was soaking wet and he pulled me out with him. “I’ve always wanted to do this…”
He smiled, and then he kissed me… His hands were still warm and were resting on my cheeks; my arms froze at my body’s sides until they finally responded into an embrace around his waist, 3 seconds into the kiss.
It was the first time I got kissed in the rain; kissed for that long, even. I felt the rain drip from my hair to the ground; the pressure of his fingertips on my cheeks; his lips to mine… I felt everything rather well, like I was some sort of superhuman.
We stopped slowly as he slid his face up my head where it stayed. I was smiling and I held him closer, tighter.

He brought me home to my house a few minutes after 1, and still raining. We sneaked up to my room without being noticed by anyone; not mentioning it wouldn’t be long before my mom would find the wet footprints leading up to my room. I got a towel for me and for Liam and tried to dry ourselves.
I took off my over shirt which left me wearing a wet JAGK tank top. We took of our wet shoes and placed them inside the bathroom where they could drip. I wanted to get out of the wet clothes so badly and probably so was he since he started to take off his button-down shirt to reveal his white shirt… which he also took off.
“Uhm,” I looked away from him and shielded the side of my eyes the way horses wear blinders.
I secretly smiled and was living curious at the moment.
“What?” he asked.
“Oh, uhm… *fake cough* you’re… not wearing a shirt…” I said still smiling, but he couldn’t see it ‘cause I had my back turned on him.
“Oh…” he laughed slightly.
“I’m going to change…” I said, running to my closet and getting some dry home clothes I never even bothered checking, and then running to the bathroom still trying to cover my eyes. I closed the bathroom door and I could hear him chuckle a bit and mess with my stuff.
I took off my rain-drenched pants and my top leaving me in my underwear. And then I heard my mom call from her room, and all kinds of panic ran through me.
“Michelle?” she shouted.
Oh, no… Liam was in my room half-naked!? What if she saw him like that? Aaaahhh!!!
I opened the bathroom door and grabbed Liam’s hand and his wet clothes, which were close by, and dragged him inside the bathroom with me. I dropped his clothes on the floor and I made him face the other way as I reached up to cover his eyes too.
“You do realize tha…”
“Sshh! I hear my mom,” I whispered, cutting his sentence short.
“Michelle?” she said as I heard her walk in my room, and knock on my bathroom door. “Are you in there?”
“Yeah, mom. I got rained on so I’m about to take a shower…”
“Oh, well then, okay,” she said. “How was your date with Michael?”
I felt Liam smile and keeping a laugh to himself.
“Mom! Can we talk about this later? Showering…” I said as I reached to turn the shower knob while I was keeping a hand on Liam’s eyes.
“Okay, dear,” she said as I heard her leave the room.
I dropped my hand from Liam’s eyes and held his arms from behind so he still couldn’t turn around and see me in my undies.
“You need to get out,” I told Liam.
“Are you sure you’re willing to risk me getting seen by your mom again? That was a close one,” he said partly amused.
And he was right; I couldn’t risk it again. He couldn’t wear the same clothes he was wearing, and I couldn’t get him something from my brother’s room yet. I didn’t have the time to think and I was getting cold.
“Fine,” I said. “You keep quiet, and wear this—“ I said as I handed over a blindfold. “—while I take a super quick shower and dress up.”
He nodded, immediately following my plea for him to keep quiet, and tied the blindfold by himself.
I quickly got into the shower and washed my body. I took the clothes I got from the closet, and put them on as fast as I could. As I struggled to put on my shorts, I looked at Liam who was just standing and resting his bare back on the cold wall and his hands scratching the back of his head every once on a while.
“Are you done?” Liam whispered. “Because this blindfold is a bit itchy.”
“Wha? Oh, yeah, sure. You can take it off.”
He took off the blindfold I found inside the medicine cabinet and looked at me and smiled in a mischievous way.
“What?” I asked still keeping my voice low.
“Look at us,” he said as he tried to keep a laugh in.
I smiled just the same as it did seem silly what we just did.
“Stay here; Im’ma get you some clothes,” I said as I opened the bathroom door. “Take a shower! You might get sick…”
He nodded as I rushed to Chris’ room without a noise and rummaged through the clothes he rarely used and rushed back to my room.
I opened the bathroom door and Liam was already behind the shower curtains taking a shower.
“Michelle? That you?”
“Who else would it be?” I replied. “Uh, so these are Chris’, and he doesn’t really wear ‘em anymore, so I’m pretty sure you can use ‘em for now.”
I walked out of the bathroom; got the Mac Book Air that Garrett gave me, and sat on my bed. Not even a minute from then, Liam came out of the bathroom drying his hair.
“Thanks for the clothes,” he said. “Are you sure your brother won’t notice these?”
“Nah, not at all.”
He went back to the bathroom to hang the towel and sat on the carpet, just beside my bed.
“Can I borrow a guitar?” he asked.
“Sure, of course,” I said as I stared at him while he was getting it from the other side of the room.
“I wanna sing you something,” he said.
I closed the laptop, and arranged myself on the bed so I could face him properly. He looked up to me and smiled as he started to strum an intro of a song. It sounded familiar. He was singing ‘Your Song’ by Elton John. It sounded beautiful, and it was then that I knew that he could actually sing better than me.

It’s a little bit funny
This feeling inside
I’m not one of those who can
Easily hide

I don’t have much money, but
Girl, if I did
I’d buy a big house where
We both could live

And you can tell everybody
That this is your song
It maybe quite simple
Now that it’s done

I hope you don’t mind
I hope you don’t mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

If I was a sculptor
But then again no
Or a man who makes potions in
A traveling show

I know it’s not much but
It’s the best I can do
I’d write you a song and
This song’s for you

And you can tell everybody
That this is your song
It may be quite simple
Now that it’s done

I hope you don’t mind
I hope you don’t mind
That I put down in words
How wonderful life is while you’re in the world

I stared at him as he sang and played the song with emotion; and when he was done singing, I wished he wasn’t.
“That was beautiful,” I told him.
“Thanks,” he whispered.
“Your voice,” I said. “I never realized before that it’s actually very… soothing. I mean, I for one think it’s actually a much, much better voice than mine. Mine is ordinary; nothing special about it.”
He chuckled at my choice of words. “Whatever anybody else thinks, I gotta say that I’m your biggest fan.”
I smiled at him. “How? How are you my biggest fan?”
“Well, I wouldn’t get bored even if I stared at you sleeping, 24/7. I’d be fine to carry you wherever you want to go; even if it’s up Olympus Mons. I’d be happy to lend a shoulder whenever you need one; and even if you sing a song over and over again with a hoarse voice, I’d listen to you the whole year through. I’d be happy even just to see you in a crowded room. I smile whenever I see you, whatever the situation. Okay—“ he rubbed the back of his neck and looked down. “—that sounded so damn cheesy.”
I felt my cheeks turn tomato red as I tried to keep my stopping heart running… I was melting with the words he uttered. It felt unreal and fairytale-like. I felt as if I was in my own storybook; surreal but amazing.
“I love you,” I said as I lifted his chin to reach my lips and kissed him. “I’m definitely sure about it.”
I don’t really remember what happened next, but I do remember that I fell asleep and woke up to Liam still on the same spot surfing through the internet using my old laptop which he now knew the password to.
I pretended to still be asleep, and kept my eyes just slightly open to see what he was doing. He kept mumbling stuff I really couldn’t make out. And then I heard it, he whispered, “Bradley McAdams.”
I stretched my arms upward and acted like I just woke up. It was already 4pm.
“Hey,” I said with my voice a bit low.
“Hey,” he said. “Hope you don’t mind I used your laptop.”
“Not at all,” I replied. “What’re you doing?” I asked as I stood up and sat beside him on the carpeted floor.
“I—“ he looked at me, “I’ve been doing a bit of searching. I’m sorry if I went through your stuff.”
I looked at the screen and saw a page on the internet about my dad.
“He lives somewhere in Cleveland,” he said as he looked at me then looking back at the screen to read off of it… “He’s a widower at 41. 41? He’s quite young; never mind, I think I have it wro…”
“No, my parents were really young when they had Chris… Is there a picture?” I whispered excitedly and terrified at the same time.
“Sorry, but I couldn’t find one,” he said, scrolling down the screen.
“My dad,” I said, and a tear left my eye.
“I’m sorry,” he said as he closed the laptop and put an arm around me. “I shouldn’t have meddled with these things; I-I just wanted to find out… I thought that this wou…”
I cried even more remembering those times when there was a ‘Bring-your-Dad’ event anywhere and I couldn’t go; when I had a huge problem mom could never understand… And now that I found out that he was just a few states away, it made me scared of what would happen if ever we meet.