Hey,
I hope everyone is staying safe during this tough time. Sorry for such a late post. I hope everyone is doing well and thank you to those who have favored, followed and reviewed. I hope you guys liked Chapter 2. I'm excited/nervous for you to read Chapter 3. This chapter goes into the subject of tribal boarding schools, not too much in-depth but it can be a hard topic to talk about for some people because of the past traumas. I had a bit of a hard time with this chapter, I am half Tohono O'odham and I was able to connect a bit with this because of what my grandpa endured in those horrid places and the stories I have heard from others. Sometimes, when the kids came back they weren't the same and they turned to substance abuse to escape the pain.
Always and Forever,
Ari.
Warnings: Mentions of anxiety, stress, tribal boarding schools, abuse, and a small amount of abandonment.
Disclaimer: I only own my OC's and parts of the plot you do not recognize from the Twilight Saga.
Chapter 3: Are You Sure?
"We accept the love we think we deserve." - Stephen Chbosky, The Perks of Being a Wallflower
9:48 a.m. Inside the Chiago House, La Push, Washington
Paul looked around the room, noticing the various paintings hanging around the room. The room was full of life. "This is where you work?" He asked, staring closely at the artwork of the forest with light streaming from between the trees. It was a breathtaking scene, and he couldn't pull himself to look away.
"Yeah," She hummed, moving things around. "Sorry about the mess," She winced when a cup of paintbrushes fell. Paul moved to pick them up, smirking slightly; when she waved her hand at him to ignore it. "Thanks," She blushed when he handed her the cup. Laryssa set it off to the side, wincing when the cup; fell over again on the paint-splattered desk. Laryssa shrugged, turning her attention back to the projector she had set on the colorful desk. "Let me just pull this up real quick and we can get started."
He nodded, turning his attention back to the forest painting. He focused on the detailed light streaming from the trees. It almost looked like people emerging from the trees in a light form. "What do you see," She asked, moving to stand next to him. He glanced at her. "There is no wrong answer." She sent him a shy smile looking back at the painting. Paul realized she wanted his opinion on the piece.
"It looks like people coming from the trees. In the form of light," He gestured to the painting, focusing on one of the fallen trees that looked familiar. He couldn't place the fallen trees, he knew that he had seen them somewhere. "This looks familiar," He commented, trying to figure out the place where he saw it at. She stepped closer to him, and he could feel her warmth. "I feel like I've been there."
"You might have. I got inspired by one of the hiking trails. Alex wanted to hike near the beach, and we stumbled across this beautiful scene." She smiled, pointing to one of the fallen trees. "My dad used to tell me that my grandfather loved the fallen trees. I guess he would always climb them as a boy. My grandfather had to go to a boarding school, and he would get beat for climbing the trees. So when I came across it. I felt like I had to honor him, so I climbed it, and when I reached the top, I knew what I was going to draw next." She sighed, reaching out to touch the tree. Paul recognized the pain and anguish. The trauma from those schools often bled through the generations as time went on. "The light symbolizes our people." Laryssa trailed off wistfully. "I viewed it as the souls of the children broken in the schools. When they came back home, their light tried to come back."
"It looks like the darkness around the light is still trying to put them out." Paul frowned, eyeing the way the darkness swirled around the light figures. It brought him back to what his grandfather used to murmur after a couple of beers. He was too familiar with the phrase: kill the Indian, save the man. "The symbolism you have is mindblowing Laryssa." He murmured, looking at her, wishing he could form something better. A compliment; that would do her art justice. There was pain and suffering in the painting, yet he could sense the hope. Hope that as the generations healed, the cycles of pain would break. "The way you have this. It gives the finger to what they did and what that stupid saying tried to do. It shows that our people survived, our way of life and culture still survived."
Laryssa stared at him, her eyes trailing over his face. "Yeah, survivors." She looked away, he could see her eyes starting to water. He felt his throat start; to tighten. He wished that his ancestors never had to have been survivors."The projector is up." Laryssa breathed in sharply, rapidly blinking her eyes as she stared back at the painting.
"What's wrong," Paul moved away from the painting, sitting on one of the wooden stools. He pulled the other one, patting it gently.
"RYS!" A young male yelled, poking his head through the door. Paul looked at him, nodding at him when his eyes passed over to him. Paul stared at the kid, noticing his hair sticking up in different directions. "Oh, hey," He smiled, nodding back.
"What's up," She asked, fiddling with a paintbrush. Laryssa moved towards him when he yawned, running her fingers through his bed hair. "Did you sleep well?"
"No, Alex is blowing up my phone. I thought I told you to tell him to lose my number." He stated, holding his phone up, batting her hand away. "But it looks like you're busy. So I'll handle it." Paul watched Laryssa fidget uncomfortably when her brother mentioned Alex.
"Jay, this is my friend Paul. Paul, this is my little brother Jayden," Laryssa introduced, holding her hand out for the phone. Her brother grinned, setting the phone in her palm. Jayden moved over to the empty seat, staring at Paul, releasing out another yawn.
"You friends with Alex," He asked, rubbing his eye, grabbing a bottle of purple paint twirling it around in his palm.
Paul paused, staring at him, noticing the dark circles underneath his eyes. "No." He glanced at Laryssa, frowning slightly at the frustrated look on her face.
"Don't like him," Jayden inquired, staring at him, tossing the bottle to the side. He snickered, standing up stretching. "I can already tell from your face, you don't like him." Jayden eyed Laryssa, "I don't like him that much either, but I trust my sister." Paul smirked, shaking his head lightly. He found himself watching Laryssa again. He watched her bite on her bottom lip as she typed on the phone.
"Here," She put his phone on the desk, picking up the paint bottle he tossed to the side. "If he messages again, just ignore it. Sorry, he woke you, Jay, did you eat yet?"
He picked up his phone, shoving it in his pocket. "Not yet, but Seth is coming over. After your done, can you make that chicken thing?"
"Yeah, pull out the chicken and put it in cold water." She instructed, tying her hair up. Laryssa turned to Paul, "After this, do you want to stay for lunch?"
10:53 a.m. Inside the Chiago House, La Push, Washington
I kicked my legs back and forth, staring at the image. "At first, I thought it was the colors or the decor, but it feels like something more than that." I glanced at Paul, watching him as he studied the projection. I studied him, watching his brow furrow as he concentrated. Why are you helping me? I wanted to ask, but I bit into my cheek.
"What's supposed to happen in the scene," He asked, leaning forward.
I hopped off the desk moving, to the side of the projection. "Jack's wife was just murdered by the man who was stalking her. This scene resembles what happened when Jack found Mel. I have Jack holding Mel's body and the stalker-" I paused, looking at the room I'd sketched.
"What is it," Paul asked, moving to stand beside me.
"I forgot the stalker's eyes. In the book, my mom had the stalker in the bedroom as Jack held Mel's body." I rushed towards the computer, quickly sketching the eyes gleaming from under the bed. I grinned, looking down at the completed piece. "It feels complete now. Thank you. Are you sure you don't wanna stay for lunch?"
"You're welcome." I glanced up at Paul, seeing him grinning down at me. "I want to. Unfortunately, I have to get to work. But I'll see you Monday?"
I smiled at him, "Yeah, Monday." I walked him to the front door. I watched him jog to his truck; he turned back to me waving, I waved back, shutting the door. I leaned against the door, letting the feeling of relief wash over me. I closed my eyes, remembering how kind he had been when I panicked. I breathed in deeply, remembering his warm hand in mine, "You have no idea how much you helped me." I had misjudged him for being an ass, and that was a mistake I wasn't going to make again. I smiled to myself when I thought of how he asked questions, and patiently let me talk about each scene.
"I think that's the first time you've brought a guy home that wasn't Alex," Jay muttered, leaning against the wall in the hallway. I looked at him, standing up from the door. "That was Paul Lahote, wasn't it?" His tone didn't sound accusing; instead, Jay's tone conveyed how worried he was.
"It's not like that, Jay," I cringed, realizing what my brother was thinking. "He's a-" I paused, realizing that I wasn't sure if we were friends, "friend."
Jay eyed me skeptically. "You don't sound so sure."
I wasn't sure, but he didn't need to know that. "What are you getting at?" I asked, wanting him to get to the point.
"You never show anyone your art, and suddenly this stranger is in your art room. You hate it when Alex goes in there," He explained, rubbing the back of his neck. "I'm just curious Rys, what are you doing?" I sighed, rubbing my face. Paul had offered to help, and I was desperate, and he hadn't given me a reason to not trust him. In fact, he had given me multiple reasons to trust him. "You don't even know, do you?"
"I'm making a new friend." I huffed, not understanding why I was getting the third degree. "I understand your worries, and I don't want to dismiss them. But, I trust Kim. Paul has been nothing but nice to me." I wanted to tell him everything that happened at the beach, but I knew it would only fuel his anger towards Alex.
Jayden rolled his eyes, moving closer to me. "You've heard the rumors-" I held my hand out to stop him. He was starting to sound like Alex, and I didn't want to hear it. "But-"
"I don't want to hear it. I've heard it from Alex already," I stated, brushing past him. He scoffed, and I realized that I had made him mad. I shouldn't have brought up a similarity between him and Alex. "He might be a nice guy Jay, shouldn't I be able to figure that out for myself?" I called, walking into the kitchen.
"You can be too sensitive sometimes," He grunted, hopping on the counter. I glanced at him, seeing the worry plastered on his face. "I don't want you to end up like the other girls."
I grimaced at his sensitive comment. "I'll take what you say into account, but you aren't my protector," I leaned against the counter, crossing my arms. "You are my brother. It's not your job to fall into Dad's role."
"It's our job to watch out for each other," He grumbled, picking at the mint plant on the window sill. "If pop were; here he would be on my side. He is bad news, Laryssa."
But Dad isn't here.
"Yes, we watch out for each other, but I feel like you are trying to be Dad right now. Paul genuinely apologized for ruining a drawing of mine." I started frowning at how judgmental he was being.
"That doesn't mean anything. Paul could be doing that to spend some alone time with you," My brother bit out, ripping a leaf from the plant. "Guys do that all the time."
"Do guys help you through attacks?" I asked, watching Jay freeze with my words. "If you want to believe the rumors and go along with the crowd, then I'm not going to stop you. He helped me today, and I know his apology was genuine. I can befriend anyone I want too, and if I happen to get hurt, that's on me," I said, moving to drain the water out of the sink.
"Why did you have an attack," He demanded jumping off the counter, rushing over to the medicine cabinet.
"I stressed myself out about today," I lied, watching him search through the medication. "I already took my medication." He shut the cabinet leaning against it.
"You haven't had one in a while," He whispered, staring at me. I moved towards him, tossing an arm over his shoulder.
"I know, but I'm alright," I squeezed him to me. "It scared me too, but Paul helped me without judgment." I pulled away hearing, a tentative knock on the door. "Seth's here. Everything is going to be alright."
He nodded, shuffling towards the door. He paused, turning to stare at me, "I do trust you, I just don't want you to get hurt."
"I know." I smiled at him. "Lunch will be ready in an hour."
1:10 a.m. Inside the Chiago House, La Push, Washington
"Have fun," I called, waving at the two boys taking off towards the beach. I shut the door heading towards my art room. I looked at the scene on my wall, grinning slightly. I really owed Paul. I pulled out my phone, debating on whether or not I wanted to text Kim and ask her if Paul liked brownies. I eyed the scene again, sending a quick message to Kim.
Laryssa: Hey, quick question. Does Paul like brownies?
I sat in the chair, finishing up a few details. I saved the scene, quickly scrolling through the document. I opened up my work email, seeing ten new emails from my mom. I huffed, clicking on the draft I had saved earlier.
To: Jack Harlson
From: Laryssa Chiago
Date: Sunday, September 8, 2019, 01:18:33 EST
Subject: Project S
Good Afternoon,
Attached below is the PDF of Project S. I sincerely apologize that the document is being sent close to the deadline. Let me know what you think.
project_S
Thanks,
Laryssa Chiago.
I clicked the button before I could chicken out. I tapped my fingers against the desk, slowly reading my mother's angry demands. I sighed, sending her a quick email that I sent the doc.
Kim: I like brownies. I'm more significant than Paul.
Kim: Coconut brownies...
Kim: I want something sweet now :'(
Kim: Yea, Paul likes brownies. Not the ones with nuts tho...
I smirked at Kim's messages. I powered down the projection and the computer, before returning to the kitchen. I opened the pantry, pulling out the bag of coconut shavings.
Kim: Why does he get brownies? I deserve brownies bc of how many miles we ran together!
Laryssa: He helped me out, and I just wanted to do something friendly. I'll bring some for you tomorrow.
I rolled my eyes at Kim's antics. I looked at the brownie mixes, tapping my fingers against the counter. I bit my lip, letting my thoughts wander. "Will he think I'm being weird if I'm giving him brownies?" I asked the air, trying my best not to get worked up.
Laryssa: Should I not bake him brownies?
I sighed as I started to pull out the ingredients. "You are being stupid," I started pulling down a big bowl. "This is what friends do," I reassured myself, pouring the mixes into the mixing bowl. "What if he doesn't think we are friends, and I read into it?" I cracked the eggs into a separate bowl. "It doesn't matter, either way, because I'm grateful for what he did." I soothed myself, focusing on the clock tick on the wall. "I'm putting too much stress into the brownies, and they are going to come out terrible." I murmured, stepping away from the batter, checking my buzzing phone.
Kim: No!
Kim: Don't overthink. He LIKES brownies!
Kim: ALOT!
Kim: Laryssa make the brownies. He will appreciate it!
Laryssa: kk
I took a deep breath, trying to pull all the happy thoughts that I could think of. I moved back to the batter, pouring half of it into another bowl. I added coconut shavings to one of the brownie batters lightly folding it. "Please let these turn out good," I mumbled, pouring it into the pan. I added some of the shavings to the top before I put it in the oven. "It's going to be okay."
Let me know what y'all think!
Edited on July 24, 2020.