"I've titled it, 'How I Feel About You."
Leah and Rei stood back to admire Leah's work.
"It's amazing Leah," Rei said, smiling. "I love the movement throughout the piece, and the material you chose seems to be physically breathing."
"You should be an art critic Rei, I may be biased, but I feel like you have a good eye."
"Ha! Some art critic I'd be, most people in the city like paying for those strange balloon sculptures and canvases covered in entirely one color."
"Well, just like you said to me not too long ago, don't sell yourself short."
Leah's face turned from proud beaming to anxious worrying.
"What if he doesn't like it?"
"Then he's an idiot and I'll take it for myself. Although I might want to rename it…."
That got a small laugh out of Leah, but Rei noticed her anxious face.
"Look, if anything, then you've told him how you feel. And getting that out in the open is way better than holding it in."
Leah nodded slowly and looked back again at her sculpture.
It wasn't often that Sebastian heard his mother raise her voice towards Demetrius. But when he quietly opened the door to head out of his bedroom, there it was. He crept up the stairs and paused before the lab, where Robin and Demetrius were apparently arguing.
"You don't even know her Demetrius! Give her a chance!"
"That's exactly my point Robin, that girl is trouble. I will not have her affecting our kids and their futures!"
"You mean Maru."
"I mean both of them. Look, Sebastian needs to get his head on straight and hanging with that Rei isn't going to help him focus!"
"She's not her father!"
"I don't care, she's not allowed in this household!"
Sebastian turned away when he heard his mom huffing. Robin would continue this fight the rest of the night, and he was certain she'd win. His mom was not spineless, but Demetrius was persistent.
What was he even going on about? What could Rei possibly threaten his family with? To be honest, she seemed exactly like the "good influence" Demetrius might want for his daughter. She seemed harmless, even shy at times, as she tended to avoid the Saloon most nights, and had to be dragged to community festivals by Abigail or Leah. A small thought of her in a frilly white dress entered his mind, but he shook it away with a smile. If anything, Rei would wear something classy, like a black cocktail dress. Still, he recognized that he was still thinking of her in a dress.
His thoughts and aimless wondering had taken him back out to the train station. As he lit up a cigarette, he thought more about Rei. She mentioned her father. Demetrius and his mom were arguing over her father. Who was her father? He felt like he was missing something, which wasn't hard for him to do as he spent most of his time in his bedroom or skulking around late at night. He'd just have to ask Rei, which he learned was almost as impossible as anyone asking him about his life. He guessed they had that in common.
"Seb I've looked for you everywhere. Did Demetrius say something rude again? He was all pissy when I checked by your house." It was Abigail, puffing out a few extra breaths from climbing up the stairs to the station.
"They were arguing about Rei."
"What? Why? Rei's cool."
Sebastian shrugged, "Fuck if I know." He looked over at her, something seemed off, so he figured he'd ask. "Whats up Abi?"
"It's Sam. He's just…ugh I can't."
Sebastian said nothing, knowing his friend probably wanted to rant. He took a drag of his cigarette as she continued.
"It's like, he's so cool you know? And he plays guitar and skates and he'll be so popular in the city when you guys decide to move there. And I can't help but think how cool he'll be and how many girls will like him. And what if they're all basic? What if he likes that? I'm not a girly girl, how do I compete with skirts?"
Sebastian rolled his eyes. His friends had been crushing on each other since high school. They were so blind and thus began a series of trying to be "cool" whatever that meant. Well, he thought, Rei probably knew what that meant. She had been "cool" ever since she stepped foot in the town.
"Don't sweat it Abi. You're far more interesting than those skirts. He knows."
"But I'm so far in the friendzone! And he hangs out with Penny, who's like…pretty and petite and dainty…." she looked miserable. Then she perked up slightly. "Maybe I could ask Rei a thing or two about seducing my best friend."
He never thought about Rei seducing anyone. Of course, she had a slight come hither smile that seemed to come out when she was teasing him. But now, Sebastian tried to picture her in that cocktail dress again, at a bar chatting up others. She's probably great at it, he thought. He was about to tell Abi so but when he looked up, she was already walking away, hellbent on her mission to find Rei and scour some information from her.
He gave a heavy sigh. Even if Rei had some mysterious past, she was still the most interesting person in Pelican Town. Why would she want anything to do with him? He was a loser, who couldn't find a job right out of college and lived in his mom's basement. He snubbed out his cigarette, shoved his hands in his sweatshirt pocket and started walking back towards his house. Maybe his mom and Demetrius were done arguing by now.