Chapter two: What's your name? / The first lie.

Hey, there sweeties. Thank your for your sweet reviews. Now to be brutally honest...I don't really know where I want this story to go, if you could give me some ideas I would love to hear them. Now the disclaimer.

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I cried and cried and after a while I stopped. I kept whimpering but no tears came out…I think I ran out…

"Do you feel better?" He asked gently. I nodded passively. I felt completely drained and my body felt numb…I just wanted to go to sleep, but I also felt a lot lighter now. I had finally let go of the chain that was holding me down…and I felt grateful…

"T-thanks…"

"No problem." I gave him a weak smile to signify my gratitude…

"So..uhh what were you drawing before…" I asked meekly…

I felt grateful towards him for helping me through my emotional breakdown…the least I could do was get to know him…After all he's the only one to have shown me genuine kindness after the whole liar incident…and I didn't want that kind of kindness to just up and leave. This was my chance…what's even better is he doesn't even now about the liar incident. He hasn't heard the nasty things, he's only heard about the previous rumors, which meant he thought I was the genuine article…and if I play my cards right I can keep it that way…

"Hm…Oh! I was just trying to improve my skills at drawing backgrounds. I usually just leave my characters behind a blank background because I'm not very good at drawing the scenery or I just don't have an idea for the background. I really suck at it." Raising his hand towards his curving lips he let out a sheepish laugh. His shoulders shook slightly from his laughter and his cheeks still retained that rosy red signifying that he was embarrassed. By God was he cute. I want to hold him.

"Let me be the judge of that." He stopped laughing.

"Huh?" He blinked in confusion...

"Come one, fork it over." He hesitantly handed me his sketchbook and I took it from his shaking hands.

The sketch portrayed the park we were in. The buildings and pathways were illustrated with dark lines and even darker lines illustrated the main focus of the picture which was the elegant water fountain in the middle that precipitated water. The clouds were made with simple strokes of the pencil and lightly blended inward. He even added some birds, probably the birds that used to be here till I scared them off. The birds were more sketchy and messy than the rest of the picture, but he managed to capture the movement very well. The trees were also given life using the same technique, primarily on the leaves of the trees. Light, quick pencil strokes created the sense of a gentle wind blowing. In short it looked really good. Nathanael sat quietly as I inspected his drawing. From the corner of my eye I could see him hold his breath waiting with anticipation for my evaluation…I had to give it to the guy he sure knew how to make someone feel important.

"It looks good. I really like the light messy pencil strokes you did to stimulate movement. It really gave the whole thing a little bit of life."

"You really think so!? I wasn't sure about those parts because I thought it looked unfinished and unpolished. Plus, it was super hard trying to get the birds right because they kept moving. I'm so very glad you like it!" He smiled and his eyes glimmered with pride. I was a little taken back by the amount of passion the quite boy was showing, but I guess I shouldn't, it was quite clear from the moment I saw him that he was an artist and this was his passion.

"So I'm guessing art's your passion." In response he gave me a 'no-duh' look before going on with his little passion rant.

"It's just my life! Do you have any idea what it means to me that YOU actually like MY art!?" Badump…Why is it important that you gain my approval..? "I heard you were one of the best, if not THE best, artist in you entire school back in Italy and that you won a lot of Art Contests. To top it all of you lived your whole life in the place I've always dreamed of going, Italy! Michelangelo, Raphael, Da Vinci, the renaissance, oh the art culture there is amazing, and the architecture just fills me with inspiration! You are just so lucky and amazing and cool!"

I was completely thrown off by the amount of energy that was radiating out of his small body. His eyes had dilated and he seemed to have thousands of twinkling stars of admiration in his eyes…It took me a few seconds to register everything he said, because he was talking so fast…let me think…greatest artist from my school….Ohhhh no! He was probably talking about one of the hundreds of lies I told. I couldn't draw to save my life!

"Oh! Well I-." He interrupted before I could finish my sentence.

"Tell me, what's it like in Italy? The scenes, the smells, the art, the architecture, I want to know it all!"

"Wow, wow hold your horses little red; one thing at a time."

"Oh sorry, I'm just so excited." He tucked his bangs behind his ear as he gave a sheepish smile. "I was so nervous when you were looking at my art and then to hear you say you actually liked it! It was so nice to hear a compliment from a fellow artist. It made me feel really happy." I let out a giggle…but then realization hit…If he found out I couldn't draw shit, than I can kiss any redemption goodbye…this was bad, REALLY bad… If he asked me anything about art I was screwed…maybe I can steer the conversation away into something I do have knowledge about…

"So umm…what would you say is your favorite art style?" Fuck! Ok, think art, art, art class…What did we even learn in art class! What were two styles we talked about!? I think…uh…idealism and the other one…realism! Wait, no aren't those just ethnic principles or are they also used in art?! Oh surrealism is one! Ok, ok I got this.

"I prefer surrealism and umm maybe idealism…"

"Really, that's cool I prefer idealism myself." Alright, I dodged a bullet and bonus that's his favorite too. "Why do you like idealism?" Crap!

"Well idealism can let us ignore the reality of a situation and let us dream of a more ideal world or situation even if it may seem like a lie or a farfetched dream. It lets us see what the artist values most and what the artist strives to become and strives to accomplish, what he or she wants to see the world become…and surrealism lets us throw logic out the door in favor of emotion and imagination. We can put to images juxtapose to each other and still have a cohesive image that exemplifies a certain idea or point of view." I am completely making this shit up.

"I don't think I could have said it better myself." He bought it! "So umm well actually I was wondering." He looked down at his feet and began twiddling with his fingers nervously… "I was wondering if you would…" Oh my god was he going to ask me out! "Can you draw something for me!?" he blurted out…I felt an icy, cold wind blow by…

"Huh!?"

"Well…I…I would really appreciate it if maybe you could draw me something and give me some pointers to improve my art skills!" Crap, crap, crap, crap! That's it! The truth's going to come out and he's going to find out I'm a liar. I'm going to be alone again! He's going to hate me! The only way I can soften the blow is if I tell him the truth now before I get myself into any more trouble…

"You see the truth is…" But I'm not strong enough… "I think there's a misunderstanding."

"Huh?"

"You see the truth is…." I'm not brave enough to tell him the truth…. "Apparently everyone here was just so excited to see the exotic transfer student from Italy that they let their imaginations go wild and they made these huge misconceptions of me…That's why everyone is calling me a liar, even though it's not my fault. That's why I got really upset…I mean there was no way I could have ever lived up to the standard they set up for me. They placed me on this huge pedestal and I ended falling of it…." Liar.

"Oh my god…I'm so sorry! I-I didn't mean to I j-just….all that pressure to succeed must have been so stressful…and I only added on to it…I'm so, so sorry. I should have known better than to listen to those rumors and hyped up gossip…"

"No it's fine; you didn't know…I'm just glad I told you the truth before you got the wrong idea about me." Liar, liar.

"W-well I'm sure you still draw beautifully." I gave a heartfelt laugh.

"I can't draw to save my life! But that doesn't mean I don't take an interest in art. I still love looking at it and analyzing it….umm so….Where you born here or did you move? I sure any aspiring artist would love to live here."

"Yeah, I was born here and I do think of myself as fuckin lucky to live here. Beauty just leaks out of every street and it's super easy to get inspired, but I've lived here my whole life and I would love to see other places especially what I consider the birthplace of art, Italy." I was going to talk to him more when suddenly I heard the buzzing of a phone.

"Hmm…oh it's my parents…I guess they want me to get home now before it gets dark." Dark? Have they really been here that long…?

"Oh…okay…?"

"Hey…" He took my hands in his and looked up at me. Badump "Even if everybody else hates you and calls you a liar and you're all alone…I'll be your friend! Okay, so don't go off and cry on any more park benches…okay?" I just nodded dumbfounded. "Since tomorrows Saturday do you want to meet up later? I can show you around Pairs if you want." I just nodded. "Great we'll meet up. Does 1:00 work for you?" I nodded and he smiled. "Cool, see you then!" He waved goodbye and flashed me a small smile before jogging off...I just stared at his back until I could only make out his tiny silhouette …

"W-wait what's your name, again?!" I don't think he could hear me anymore…I didn't even now this guy's name and I was going to meet him again tomorrow at one o' clock…alone…for a private tour of Pairs….wait… Did he ask me out on a date?! Am I going on a date with a guy whose name I don't even know! Mama mia…at least I wasn't lonely anymore…