x cutoutkid (8:10:19 PM): [thatd be you. i dont have the noteeboook :D]
poisonbitterswt (8:12:04 PM): I smirked, ringing up the magazine as well. I rattled off the total as I bagged it all up. "You know...for all the supplies you're probably going to come in here for, you should sign yourself up for a card. It'd save you quite a bit. Believe me, I know how expensive supplies are."
x cutoutkid (8:13:21 PM): I shrugged a little bit. "Doesn't bother me much... plus I usually go to this place on the other side of the city... closer to my house, you know? I just got lazy today."
poisonbitterswt (8:14:11 PM): I laughed and nodded. "All right then. Have a good day."
x cutoutkid (8:15:08 PM): "I... um... you too." I took the bag quietly, and a bit quickly, and scampered away from the counter. I didn't like the vibe I was getting from him... the feeling of sickening familiarity.
poisonbitterswt (8:15:56 PM): I couldn't help quirking a brow at him. He seemed like a deer caught in headlights. I tried to shake it off...that look in his eyes.
x cutoutkid (8:17:34 PM): I crawled back into my car, sitting with my head back and closing my eyes. I could see it... him... younger... and for some reason it didn't completly freak me out. There was a house, people coming and going... little kids running around playing a wayward game of rugby... and I took a deep breath. None of it made any sense to me... but I didn't think it was supposed ot.
poisonbitterswt (8:21:30 PM): All the thoughts were whisked away as Lilly came running in from the back room. "Aidan!" she squealed, looking around. I let out a sigh. It was as if he'd become an obsession of hers.
x cutoutkid (8:22:39 PM): The next three days passed by, the memory... or should I say "images"... stuck in my head. I was spaced out during dinnertime, my mom asking me all sorts of questions. She just didn't believe I was "ok" when I tried to brush her off. Maybe she was right.
poisonbitterswt (8:24:25 PM): More pictures. More questions I couldn't answer. Four words that ran through my head in a loop. He looks like Da. No way. I wouldn't even let myself look at him in class. I couldn't. Or I'd start thinking the same thing.
x cutoutkid (8:25:40 PM): I found myself back in the classroom with him at the front. This time I was painting people... a group of friends with surfboards tucked under their arms. I was concentrating on the sunset, tounge stuck out of my mouth.
poisonbitterswt (8:27:00 PM): Looking at the blank canvas in front of me, I was grateful I'd gotten a babysitter. I couldn't handle Lilly running up to him and such.
x cutoutkid (8:29:03 PM): Everytime I was near him I could feel the build up of a weeks worth of thoughts.... the images flooded me even more. Half-way through the painting, I sat there staring for almost 10 minutes. I felt frustrated, angry...maybe even lost.
poisonbitterswt (8:30:34 PM): There was a knock at the classroom door and I looked up to see Kate holding Lilly. I let out a sigh and went over to the door. Apparently Kate had an appointment. Oh great, I thought as I took Lilly and brought her over to my desk, setting her up in her chair.
x cutoutkid (8:32:29 PM): I set my paintbrush down, frown deepening. Before I knew it, there were stray tears on my cheeks. I brushed them away quickly, hastily.
poisonbitterswt (8:33:49 PM): Lilly practically flew from her chair and I couldn't stop her. She toddled over to him and crawled up onto the empty stool beside him. Before I could even think, she had her little arms wrapped around his neck. "Don't cry, Aidan."she whispered, kissing his cheek.
x cutoutkid (8:34:48 PM): I felt bumps on my skin... her arms wrapped around me and snapped me out of my daze. "Hello, Lilly..." I said softly, a sad smile on my lips.
poisonbitterswt (8:39:02 PM): She gazed at him for a long time before her tiny fingers wiped at his cheeks. I think I just about died right then of mortification. I rested my forehead against my palm.
x cutoutkid (8:40:39 PM): "How have you been, sweetheart?"
poisonbitterswt (8:42:22 PM): "I drew pictures of you. Wanna see?" She grinned wide at him now, hands still on his cheeks.
x cutoutkid (8:43:23 PM): "I would love to see them."
poisonbitterswt (8:47:12 PM): She scrambled down again, running right past me to her little bag, and brought out the pictures. I wanted to melt right down into the floor. She brought them back to him and smiled wide.
x cutoutkid (8:47:38 PM): I took the small papers from her, smiling at them. "You're a very good artist, Lilly."
poisonbitterswt (8:51:22 PM): "I get it from my daddy."She beamed proudly, then went around and looked at his easel. "That wooks wike my unca weesie."
x cutoutkid (8:51:55 PM): I could feel my cheeks burn at her words... Weesie... Reesie... it sounded so fucking familiar...
poisonbitterswt (8:53:28 PM): "Lilly...baby...come here please." She glanced at me, but didn't listen. "He wooks just like that."
x cutoutkid (8:54:01 PM): "Does he really?" my voice was a bit of a whisper, confusion etched onto my features.
poisonbitterswt (8:56:51 PM): She nodded. "He wives in Engwand...with Wevi."She giggled. "Silly Wevi."
x cutoutkid (8:57:36 PM): MY eyebrows furrowed now and I pointed at another figure on the paper. "Who is this?" [pointing to cai]
x cutoutkid (9:05:32 PM): "Do you know?" The boy looked about 15, a reddish pink surfboard beneath his arm, a necklace around his neck, and dark roots beneath his blonde tipped hair.
poisonbitterswt (9:06:32 PM): Her grin widened even more. "That's my Da."She said, nodding and her amber brown eyes sparkling.
x cutoutkid (9:07:06 PM): I looked down at her, biting on my lip. She looked a lot like him... a lot like me... and I could feel a painful poke in my heart.
poisonbitterswt (9:07:59 PM): "Lilly Madelyne. Get over here now." I tried to keep the frustration out of my voice.
x cutoutkid (9:09:46 PM): "You're daddy's calling you, love."
poisonbitterswt (9:16:24 PM): She frowned and looked over her shoulder at me. "He's mad at me,"she said softly, bowing her head and dragging her papers after her as she came back to the desk.
x cutoutkid (9:23:03 PM): I frowned a little, looking at her and then at him.
x cutoutkid (9:25:40 PM): There was a knock at the door and I looked up, seeing my Mum with Adrianna on her hip. "Aidan!" I smiled and stood up, forgetting about the two of them for a moment. Stepping into the hallway, I looked at her. "Can you take Adri home, Aid? I've got a lamaze course in another half hour to teach and your fathers running late tonight.
"'
poisonbitterswt (9:27:12 PM): I sighed and took Lilly into my arms. "No more bothering him, okay? He's got a class to tend to." I kissed the top of her head and brought her back over to the small table I'd set for her.
x cutoutkid (9:31:11 PM): I took Adrianna from her, barely listening to her as my little sister started going on and on about her day. I smiled, looking back at my mum. "Andre'ws already at Jame's for the night, so you won't have to pick him up... I guess thats it..." She smiled and I took Adri from her, balancing the four year old on my hip. She left, giving us both kisses on our cheeks and a quick "love you". Walking back into the room, I set her down on the stool next to me.
poisonbitterswt (9:32:30 PM): I went back to my desk and glanced up to where he'd come back. I raised an eyebrow. "Have a guest today, Waters?"
x cutoutkid (9:35:13 PM): "I.... my Mum didn't have anyone to watch my sister..." I said quietly.
poisonbitterswt (9:36:22 PM): I chuckled a bit. "No prob. You can give her some stuff here, keep her occupied." I glanced over and saw Lilly's eyes light up. "Or someone..."I smirked down at her as she tugged on my pant leg.
x cutoutkid (9:39:06 PM): Adrianna laughed a little and I smiled. "Why don't you go play with Lilly?" Her eyes lit up aswell and she was off, walking quickly up to the front of the room. "My name's Adri." She grinned from ear to ear and I smiled faintly.
poisonbitterswt (9:41:08 PM): "I'm Lilly. I have dolls in the back woom. Daddy lets me keep em there." She took Adrianna's hand and led her to the room behind the podium, and I grinned a bit.
x cutoutkid (9:46:39 PM): I smiled a little bit, feeling better about the day just from that little notion.
poisonbitterswt (9:49:46 PM): Sitting back down at the podium, I started to paint, hearing giggles every so often from the backroom.
x cutoutkid (9:52:37 PM): Almost a half hour later I picked my painting up off the easel and went up to the front to show him.
poisonbitterswt (9:53:04 PM): I felt his presence and glanced up. "Whatcha got for me today, huh?"
x cutoutkid (9:53:28 PM): I held it up as I always did, biting the side of my lip.
poisonbitterswt (9:54:53 PM): My breath caught in my throat. I swallowed, not knowing what to say.
x cutoutkid (9:55:32 PM): "I...uh..." My voice trailed and I looked at the clock, trying not to look at him.
poisonbitterswt (10:00:58 PM): "Where does this stuff come from, huh?" I whispered, staring at Caiden and Reese and a couple of the others.
x cutoutkid (10:02:21 PM): "Images... just... in my head... I see it and I paint it. Half the time I'm not even sure what I'm doing until it's half done..."
poisonbitterswt (10:07:21 PM): "I know how that one goes..."I shook my head a little. "Do you have any idea who these people are?"
x cutoutkid (10:08:48 PM): "No..." I said slowly, looking at him. "Well, I mean your daughter said something about two of them... but I don't know what she was talking about..."
poisonbitterswt (10:20:11 PM): I raised a brow. "She did?" My heart slammed against my ribs and I felt like it would fly from my chest.
x cutoutkid (10:21:11 PM): "Yeah... something about her uncle..." The look on his face made me feel nervous, uncomfortable.
poisonbitterswt (10:27:54 PM): I nodded a bit. "Thought so..."I bit my lip, shaking my head and then wrote down marks. "It's a brilliant painting. Like always."
x cutoutkid (10:28:26 PM): "You really think so... nothing I've done since this class started has been my style..."
poisonbitterswt (10:32:49 PM): I looked up, meeting his eyes. "Sometimes you just have to let things work through you to find out what you're truly meant for."
x cutoutkid (10:35:17 PM): "I guess I'm just not used to drawing things like this... usually its something more fantasy that I completly makeup... but this feels familiar when I look at it... not like other things I've done..."
poisonbitterswt (10:36:34 PM): I startled a bit at the word "familiar". How could it be familiar to him? He'd just said he didn't know the people. Didn't know Caiden...or Reese...or Justin...and Chuck...none of them...
x cutoutkid (10:36:54 PM): "Sorry... that must sound ridiculous..."
poisonbitterswt (10:39:39 PM): "I've heard a lot of things in my life. That's just one of em." I shrugged.
x cutoutkid (10:40:22 PM): "Oh..." I felt my cheeks go red, nodding and turning away.
x cutoutkid (10:40:34 PM): Him brushing it off as nothing... didn't feel right.
poisonbitterswt (10:49:17 PM): I couldnt wrap my head around it. This was fucking insane.
x cutoutkid (10:51:50 PM): When I left class that evening, I had to tear Adri away from Lilly. I left my painting on his desk as he went into the back room to get Lilly.
x cutoutkid (10:55:12 PM): and left as quickly as possible.
poisonbitterswt (10:58:03 PM): When I came out with Lilly, I noticed the painting there. Lilly started chanting "Da. Weesie." over and over again. I packed everything up, taking the painting reluctantly with us.
x cutoutkid (10:59:44 PM): The week went by with Adri asking me constantly if she could come to the next class and play with Lilly. I'd left our home number on top of the painting just in case. She was always like this with new friends.
poisonbitterswt (11:04:34 PM): Lilly wouldn't stop. She was insistent upon seeing Adrianna again. She had a wicked temper too. "All right. Jesus!" I dialed the number, tapping my foot.
x cutoutkid (11:05:55 PM): The phone rang on my desk in the basement and I lazily picked it up, "ello?"
poisonbitterswt (11:09:10 PM): "Is Aidan there?" I asked, looking down at Lilly who kept pulling at my pantleg
x cutoutkid (11:10:42 PM): "Yes, this is him... who's this?"