Not My Hero

We meet at the front of the vehicle, and Colton takes hold of my hand then presses a slow kiss to my lips. “I’m sure it’s going to be a masterpiece.”

Lifting on my toes, I press another kiss to his mouth before we start to walk toward the building.

With all the faith Colton has in me, it feels like I can do anything.

The day is just like any other. Lindy made a snide comment about me killing Serena, but weirdly it didn’t get to me like it would’ve in the past.

There’s so much truth to what Colton said the other day – I shouldn’t let people who don’t matter upset me.

After school, we go pick up Mom then stop at the bank so I can open an account and deposit the check with them. The process takes forever, but I know it has to be done. The instant we get home, I change into comfortable clothes, and taking my art supplies, I go sit on the floor in the living room. I position my sketchpad and pencils on the coffee table, and soon, I’m lost in my drawing.

Colton comes to lie on the couch with a book, and it makes the corner of my mouth lift.

This is nice. Us just doing our own thing.

When it begins to grow dark, Mom turns on the light. She gives us a loving smile then goes to prepare dinner.

I manage to complete the sketch minutes before dinner is ready and stretch my arms out above my head.

Then I hear Colton say, “Wow, you’re definitely winning with that sketch.”

I look at what I’ve drawn, then grin at Colton. “Yeah? You think so?”

“I know so,” he states as he gets up from the couch. He holds a hand out to me, and when I place mine in his, he pulls me to my feet, then folds me in a hug. “I have a talented girlfriend. Lucky me.”

I glance at the kitchen, and seeing Mom’s back is turned to us, I quickly steal a kiss before we set the table.

Mom places the lasagna on the table, and once we’ve all scooped some into our plates, she asks, “I think you should both go check out the campus before you decide to enroll.”

“That’s a good idea,” Colton agrees.

My gaze darts to him. “Mom said both of us. Does that mean you’re going to study further?”

He thinks about it for a moment, then answers, “Yeah, but I have no idea what to study. Definitely nothing office related. I’ll die if I have to sit at a desk and stare at the screen all day.”

“What about something where you get to work with people?” Mom mentions.

“You’ll be great with people,” I comment. Excitement builds in my chest, and then I begin to ramble, “I’ve dreamt about opening an art healing center. You know, a place where people who have difficult home lives can come to express themselves? Maybe if you study something along the lines of social work, then you can help them?” I suck in a deep breath of air and finish, “Like you helped me.”

Mom and Colton stare at me, and then a smile begins to spread over Colton’s face. “I really like the sound of that.”

“Yes,” Mom agrees. “And you have the money now to get the art healing center off the ground.”

I grin like a happy fool, and we all begin to mention ideas of how we can make it happen. We discuss what the center can look like and suitable areas we can look at property.

My heart feels like it’s going to burst as my dream begins to take shape with Colton and Mom’s support.COLTONIt’s been two weeks since I decided to study social work, and we’re taking Mom’s advice to visit the campus before we enroll.

Yesterday, Mom and her lawyer left to attend a settlement meeting in California. Hopefully, they can come to an agreement, and the divorce can be finalized. I’d hate for it to be a long dragged out fight in court. I wanted to go with, but Mom wouldn’t hear of it, saying this is a battle she has to fight on her own.

I still don’t like it, but I take some comfort that the lawyer will be with her. Also, I get to be alone with Brie. Last night I made us nachos, and we started binge-watching The Flash.

Fine, so we spent most of the night making out and didn’t take in much of what was happening on TV. It’s just… I can’t get enough of kissing Brie, and my emotions keep growing stronger. But I want to take things slow with her. I want to enjoy every kiss, every touch, and not just go from one to one hundred in a single day.

I want to treasure what we have.

Driving to the university, I pick up Brie’s hand from where it was resting on my thigh and press a kiss to her knuckles, then ask, “Are you excited?”