Be Yourself, or be Nobody- Part 2

Posted on Sun May 16th, 2021 @ 10:21pm by Unawakened Zosia Galantis

Mission: The Factions
Location: Galantis Residence- Upstate NY

Zo dropped her backpack onto the wooden bench in the foyer of her home. Hayden had just dropped her off, she could hear the music in his jeep rising as he got ready to drive away. There was a small ding, notifying her she had received a new text message. Pulling her cellphone from her back pocket she read the message as the screen lit up. See you soon! Her stomach dropped as realized Lexi would be there soon. Grunting Zo entered the house and ran up the stairs to her bedroom.

When she opened her door she rolled her eyes, of course it was a mess in there. She didn't even bother entering. Shutting the door she raced back down the stairs, scooping her backpack from the bench and headed through the house towards the garage. To her makeshift art studio. Her haven. Luckily her parents had plenty of storage space in the basement and attic that they had cleared out half of the garage for Zo to use as a studio, mostly because the paint stains in the carpet of her bedroom drove her mother insane.

The studio was a no entry zone for her parents or the twins, without her okay anyway. There was a method to her origination skills and she threw a tantrum anytime someone came out here to poke around or clean. The studio wasn't dirty, just...messy. Half the garage was used to store totes of holiday decorations and other items her parents had moved out here. It still left a decent amount of space for Zo. The walls were layered with sketches, paintings, notes and paintings already finished hung all over. There were even stacks of empty canvases leaned up against the totes.

Banks, the families Chartreux cat was curled up on a bench Zo had placed near the window so he could sunbath when she spent hours out her on the weekends painting. She scooped him up, kissing his head a dozen times before placing him gently on the floor. "Sorry Banks, I need your stool today." Zo dragged the stool to a wide work table her father had built her. She started removing the items from the table, half done sketches, paint brushes, palettes with paint dried on them as well as pens and pencils. Moving everything to a self that lines the back wall.

"One day i'll actually put effort into organizing this space." She said to the empty room.

After opening a window to let in a breeze, Zo turned on the Bluetooth stereo system. Selecting a slower alternative rock station on her phone she continued to clear room for her and Lexi to study.

Before she could finish making the studio presentable her phone chimed, "Here!! :) . Zo took a deep breath. It was just a study session, so why was she so nervous? She headed back out of the garage and around the house to greet Lexi out front. When Lexi caught sight of Zo she got out of her car. Was it her car or her parents? It looked new, too new for a teenager to be driving around in.

When Lexi came around the side of the car her face lit up, causing Zo's stomach to start summersaulting. She returned the smile, her eyes trying to find anything else besides those ocean eyes to focus on.

"Hi! Thank you so much for agreeing to help me out." Lexi's voice was laced with excitement. A bit unusual for a study session but Zo pushed the thought away as she matched Lexis smile.

"No problem, its no biggie." They were close enough now they both stopped walking, the breeze picked up Lexi's floral perfume and sent it towards Zo. The scent the sweetest thing she had every smelled. She wanted to submerse herself in the scent, get lost in its beauty. "We're going to be studying out in the garage, I hope that's cool?"

"Of course! Lead the way!" Zo had never seen Lexi this excited in school, her demeanor was always cool and collected. Her perkiness never too high, never like this. She tried to convince herself to not read to far into it, to not get her hopes up foolishly.

Lexi followed Zo around the house and into the garage, the girl gasped the moment she saw the canvases and artwork plastered throughout the space. Lexi stepped past Zo to stand before the wall of sketches, some finished but most not. The wall was made up mostly of pieces Zo had thrown together quickly so she didn't lose the picture from her mind, especially in the mornings when she awoke from a dream she could vividly recall.

"Wow....I never knew you were this good." Lexi turned to Zo wearing an expression that made her feel paramount to any other person in the world. A feeling she never got when Hayden looked at her or her artwork. Lexi began to move from the wall to the half finished canvas still on the easel, it was only half finished but you could make out the crashing waves that glittered in the sunlight. "I like this one a lot," She flashed those cerulean eyes at her. Zo wondered if Lexi had any idea she had inspired the piece she stood in front of.

"Maybe when its done I'll give it to you."

"Really?! You don't want to display it somewhere? Like an art gallery?"

Zo laughed but shook her head, "No. It will just end up sitting out here."

Lexi moved from the easel towards the work table Zo sat at, her delicate hands traced paw prints that ran along the table. "These are cute, and surprisingly realistic! I'm impressed."

Scoffing Zo replied," You shouldn't be, I didn't paint those. Those prints are curtesy of my cat Banks. He has a habit of walking through wet paint and tracking it everywhere, it was one of the reasons my mom had me move all my supplies out here. She got tired of scrubbing the carpet."

Lexi laughed, the sound stirring something in Zo she couldn't describe. Lexi sat in the seat next to Zo. Pulling out her history book, notebook, and a pen. It took Zo a second to remember the whole purpose of Lexi's presence there. She retrieved her supplies while asking, "What is it you would like to study?"

Lexi tapped her pen on the book in front of her, "All of it. I'm just struggling to believe this is actual history were reading. Like this prince, he was seventeen! I can't imagine having that much responsibility now, even if I was groomed for it from birth. He was still a kid... and these historians ran his name through the mud. What if he didn't even want to be king? What if he had a bad day? Did anyone even ask him if he was ready? They tell it like he purposely allowed his people to die...."

Zo couldn't believe what she was hearing was true. It was almost as if Lexi had tapped into her thoughts and read her mind out loud. When Lexi finally looked up from her book and read the expression on Zo's face her own paled a bit. "Sorry, I didn't mean to ramble..." Lexi shifted in her sit, looking uncomfortable."

"No, I mean, don't be sorry. I'm just shocked, I thought I was the only one who saw the situation like that...." Zo gave Lexi an encouraging smile.

There was a pause, somewhere, because the world stopped spinning and there was only them. It was like something clicked, and she didn't know what that was or what it meant, but it was there. Between them. Connecting them. When Lexi started laughing, Zo did as well. It was the most innocent, carefree moment Zo had ever shared with anyone. When her tan cheeks felt hot she looked down and opened her notebook. Hoping her thick curly hair was act as a wall, shielding her blush from the girl who in a short period of time had already given her more to smile about then anyone else.