THE WROUGHT IRON GATES of 317 Lakeview Crescent loomed over me, making me feel small and insignificant. My car slid through the enormous gates, flanked by stone pillars, and down the gravel driveway that snaked its way to the oakwood, front door. 

Levi's house was massive to say the least, with its modern brick walls that extended so high. His house reeked of affluence  - a stark reminder of how different our worlds were. 

Making my way to the front door, I couldn't help but notice a bed of wilting sunflowers. Their leaves were scorched and their stems were limp and shrivelled. Instead of greeting the sun, the flowers drooped sadly, forgotten. They were distinctly out of place against the grandeur of the house. 

By the time I reached the front door, it was already open and an adorable, inquisitive face peeked out at me. The girl's auburn hair was braided back into a plaited ponytail and her emerald eyes were filled with joy.

She rushed out to me and quickly introduced herself, "Hi! I'm Lila," before pausing and adding, "You're very pretty! Like a fairie!" 

I laughed at her innocence before lowering myself to her height. "Hi Lila! I'm Sadie. You're very sweet, by the way! And I love your hair! It looks very beautiful."

At that she broke into a wide grin and smiled proudly to herself.

"Thank you! I did it all by myself, you know!"

"That is very impressive! You've got to teach me sometime," I replied back to her and her smile grew bigger.

Remembering why I was here in the first place, I asked her, "Is Levi home by any chance?"

At the mention of his name, her face dropped. "Are you one of those girls he always has over?" she asked sadly. "The ones that end up leaving the next morning and I never see them again?"

I was taken aback by her words.

"Ermm...no, I'm just here to complete an art project with him," I replied, still trying to understand what her words had meant. 

Her face broke back into a grin that was missing a few teeth. "Good," she said before adding, "because I like you."

She led me into the massive house which was so quiet I could hear my footsteps echoing on the cold tiles, and into the kitchen where a boy sat, alone.

Levi's elbows were perched on the countertop and he was casually flipping through a thick book. 

Sensing us enter the kitchen, he slowly shut the book, and I was able to catch a glimpse of the title: 

The Sadness Will Last Forever - A Memoir of Vincent Van Gogh. 

Levi swivelled in his chair to face me and his expression remained blank as he caught sight of me. He reached out and handed the book he'd been reading to me, not bothering to even greet me. 

How rude. 

"I think that we should try to re-imagine one of Van Gogh's artworks for the project. There's many elements of his work that we can translate into our own," he stated nonchalantly. 

Of course it had to be Van Gogh!

"Van Gogh? Are you sure? Isn't that a bit ambitious?" I answered back to him, although I had no doubt about his painting capabilities. In all honesty, I was just annoyed at his iciness.

"The idea isn't to paint like Van Gogh. It's to think like him - understand why he chose to incorporate certain elements into his work. That way we can really encapsulate his essence in a piece of art that is authentic from us," he replied, like I was the dumbest person on earth. He pointed to the book he'd just given me. "And I think reading that may help."

I didn't miss the way his eyes lit up as he talked about art. There was an emotion there that I had never seen or expected from him. It was clear as day. Passion.  

"It'll give us insight into his personal life - why he painted the way he did. We can draw inspiration and ideas from th-"

Before he could finish, a loud clattering sound erupted from the hallway and both Levi and I whipped our heads to the side.

"Oopsie," the little girl - Lila said as she hurriedly attempted to pick up the chess pieces that were sprawled on the floor. She tucked them back into the chess board before hauling everything to the kitchen counter where Levi and I were.

"Umm...what are you doing Li?" he questioned.

"What does it look like i'm doing, dummy? I'm setting up this board game so that Sadie can play with me. She looked super bored talking to you."

I had to suppress a chuckle from emerging. That girl was sassy!

Annoyance flashed across his face and he looked at me accusingly.

"Sadie and I are busy, Lila. We're trying to complete our project. Go play with one of the twins or something."

Something about the way he said my name caused my stomach to flutter. He'd never even acknowledged me before, let alone say my name. It was a weird feeling.

Lila simply ignored him and continued setting up the pieces. "Black or white, Sadie?"

I looked at Levi who was now glaring at me like I wasting his time.

"Black," I said, the corners of my mouth lifting up as Levi became more annoyed - if that was even possible.

✵✵✵

The game continued for almost an hour. Lila was deceptively good at it for someone her age.

"Check mate," she said for the third time, a smile dancing on her lips.

I looked down at the board. She had me trapped on all sides.

"Damn Lila. You're really good at this!" I said caving in and accepting my defeat.

"What can I say? I'm just too amazing," she replied tossing her hair sassily over her shoulder, causing me to chuckle.

At that moment I realised that I had forgotten all about Levi. He wasn't in the kitchen anymore and the book about Van Gogh had vanished.

"He's probably sulking in his room because you paid me more attention than him," Lila said jokingly, packing up the chess pieces.

"Lila...is he always this cold and distant from everyone?" I questioned, genuinely interested. His demeanour was always unpleasant and it was rare to catch him ever smiling. Was it just me or was he like this to everyone?

"My brother's not as bad as you think, Sadie. I promise. I mean, he may not come off as the nicest person, but he really is. He's just been through a lot. It's torn him down a bit I guess."

She looked down at the floor sadly. Suddenly, I felt like she was the older, wiser one even though she was clearly years younger than me.

I instantly felt bad for judging him so quickly, and I felt compelled to be a little kinder to him.

As if reading my thoughts, Lila hopped off the barstool and said, "Here, i'll show you to his room."

She led me up a long flight of stairs until we reached a dark, blue room door. I knocked gently and called out his name but no one answered.

Lila impatiently opened the door, revealing a pristine room that didn't look at all like it belonged to a teenage boy. The bed was made perfectly, like it hadn't been touched in days. The room looked like it had been frozen in time; an exhibit rather than a home.

I caught sight of some paintings on the wall. The first one was the outline of a boy. His head was tilted up towards the ceiling. From his eyes, trickled a waterfall of tears. They seemed never-ending, engulfing the boy - slowly drowning him.

The second one was interesting. It was a picture of rainbow clouds overlooking a deep, blue ocean, the colours juxtaposing one another. From the ocean, the silhouette of an arm emerged, almost as though it belonged to a drowning man. From the rainbow clouds, a similar arm extended down to the ocean. Both arms reached to grab the other. They were inches away, so close. 

But not close enough to touch.

Before I could catch a glimpse of the third painting, an angry voice from behind me interrupted my train of thought.

"What are you doing in here."

 It was phrased more like a statement rather than a question.

I quickly whirled around, smacking into someone's hard chest. I pulled away and saw the fury blazing in green eyes. 

"Ummm...It's not what it looks like, I swear. I wasn't snooping around. Lila led me he-" I turned to where Lila has been standing less than a minute ago, but she had gone. 

Great. Just great. 

Levi clenched his jaw, clearly not believing me. 

And to make matters worse, it was precisely at this moment that I realised it.

Levi was half-naked.