Aurora Emily King
The boy was staring at me with his warm chocolate-colored eyes, probably wondering if I just swam in my clothes or something, because I had just then realized that I was soaking wet. I blushed--which is something that I rarely ever do--when he looks me right in the eye and says, “You’re not supposed to be in here.”
Even though that was the obvious thing for him to say, I have to admit, I was shocked. Out of all the things that I thought he was going to say, I didn’t think that he would say that. He has every reason to say that to you. I thought. After all, he’s right. I’m not supposed to be here. I trespassed. Though I think that, I still wonder why I was so surprised when he spoke.
From his voice and his appearance, I guessed that he is 13-15 years old, due to the fact that his voice is deeper than any child’s voice and his face--
“What are you doing in here?” he asked again. “Are you mute? Do you know english?”
I was starting to like this boy less and less. “Yeah, I know english.” I replied, just as rude as he was being. “Why am I in here? I don’t really know. Besides, I don’t even know where ‘here’ is.”
He narrowed his eyes, standing completely still. “Oh really? What’s your name, then? Or do you not know what it is, because you seem like you don’t know a lot.”
I narrowed my eyes also, trying to act like I’m superior in a sort, I guess. I didn’t really have any clear thoughts. All I could think was, He’s so rude. Why am I here again? “Why should I tell you my name? What’s your name?” I questioned.
“Mark.” He said instantly. “My name’s Mark.”
“Oh,” I didn’t think that he was even going to answer me. I was surprised that he did. So, of course, I sound like an idiot when I said, “Mine’s Aurora. King. My name is Aurora King.” My voice squeaked and I just wanted to go over to the wall and bang my head against it until my brain finally started to work again.
“Aurora King, what happened to you not telling me your name?” he gave me a crooked grin as he walked over to a makeshift chair that he probably made and sat down, all while not taking his eyes off me.
“Oh, just shut it!” I said, and plopped down on the ground. “Why are you giving me such a hard time with all this anyway?”
All of a sudden, he stood up and swiftly walked over to where I sat. He looked down at me and something changed in his eyes that I couldn’t quite identify. Then, he seemed to make up his mind and sat down next to me. “I’m sorry. I’m just not that used to girls. Or people in general.” He gave me a sheepish grin, like he couldn’t believe that he actually said the words out loud, searching my face to see if I heard them.
“Yeah, I’m not that good with people either.” I admitted to Mark. “My sister is though, she’s a real people-person. Always in the spotlight, has a whole bunch of friends, very popular. I’m just the twin in the background that is quiet. I don’t mind though.” I gave him a sad smile and he just stared at me. The silence that rang out after the words that I had said made them sink in, and when they sunk in, I thought to myself in horror, Why did I say that?! I just blurted my problems out to a boy that I literally just met 5 minutes ago! Trying to fill the awkward silence, I said, “So do you live here? By yourself?”
He gazed at the walls all around us and sighed. “Yep, that’s me. The 14 year old boy that lives by himself and paints to fill up the time.”
I could practically feel my eyes pop out of my head. “You were the one who painted these?!” I exclaimed. “They’re amazing! You are so talented! All I can paint is a tree. A tree! And not even a good tree! A stupid tree that only has a trunk and then a little bush-like thing that sticks out of the top!” I knew that I was rambling, but I couldn’t make myself shut up. All the days of being overwhelmed and silent exploded within me and I just kept talking, and talking, and talking. “I guess when I was seven I painted a decent-looking flower. It was pink.” I grimaced as I said this. Pink had got to be the most awful color in the universe. I had only painted it then because Ariana and I had decided to “switch minds” and pretend we were one another that day. While I had painted a pink flower to represent how girly Air was, she painted a (horrible) monster truck that was supposed to represent the monster in me. What a bunch of dirt! (Don’t tell Air I said that.) That was one of the reasons she eventually started calling me “Roar”.
“Thanks.” Mark gave me a sly grin. “It’s not everyday anyone sees my wall art.” He paused. “Actually, nobody’s seen it...but I’m okay with that.”
“Well I think it’s great, but I guess that doesn’t really matter to you, coming from me. My opinion isn’t worth much.” I told him.
Mark shook his head. “It matters. Don’t tell yourself that. You have to boost your self-confidence.” He paused to think. After a few seconds, I imagined a light bulb come over his head as he said, “Come on, let’s go for a swim! I’ll show you how I live around here!”
Oh no, here we go again...
