Song: Don't get any closer- Bebe Rexha

The room is lighted by natural sunlight coming from the many windows along the far wall. WINDOWS!!! I look outside and it's so bright and sunny not a cloud to be seen. I know the wind is blowing by watching the leaves on the trees dancing back and forth with each other. Across the way is a river...it looks so peaceful out there. I wish I was out there instead of in here. I watch how the birds fly tree to tree and then swoop down to the ground and beck, then gracefully fly back up. I think about that freedom. 

"You know you can get cleared to go outside," someone says beside me.

I blink out of my thoughts and look over to see Zoey standing right beside me. She is still wearing her long sleeves and she pulls them down even farther by grabbing on to the ends to pull them past her wrist. 

I raise my eyebrows at her. "Cleared!"

"Yeah, Sarah has to approve of it, just show her you're getting better and cooperate with whatever they want you to do and then all you have to do is ask."

"Really!" I attempt to smile back at her. That's all it will take is if I show that I am improving, that I am trying to get better. 

"Yeah...really!" She wrinkles up her nose and winks back at me.

She goes back over to the large table in the center of the room. I walk over to her and look over her shoulder to see that she is doodling in a notebook. "Wow...you're really good."

"Awe...thanks...I've been doing sketches for a while now, kinda gets my mind off of things." She makes this expression like she is coocoo. 

I roll my eyes at her. Really aren't we all a little crazy up in here, why else would we be here.  I watch her draw for a few minutes and I will say she is really talented. I think back to the first day I met her; I was so mean to her. "Hey...I'm sorry for being rude to you the other day."

"It's cool...I've been there...we all have." She waves her hand in the air like she is referring to everyone in the room.

The teacher comes into the room and turns on music. I've never heard anything like it before and never thought that I would actually like it considering it doesn't have any words to it.

"Today I thought we could do some finger painting," she says with a bright smile. It amazes me how all the people that what to help up always has a freaking bright smile on their face. I wonder if it is a policy, a requirement to smile.

"Seriously we have to use our hands." Some guys ask from across the room.

"Yes Jake it won't kill you to get a little messy," she laughs.

"It might," he tells her and everyone around the room starts laughing along with him. Except me because I don't find him that funny at all. 

She gives us all an over-sized piece of paper. Then she puts colors of paint bottles on the table for us to share. I reach for the blue bottle the same time someone else does and my hand covers his...touching him. When I look up, Zayden is looking back at me with those emerald green eyes. Holy Shit!!! We stare at each other for longer than a second...ok maybe longer, more like several seconds.

I let go quickly while my heart feels like it is going to thumb out of my chest.  "Sorry."

He suddenly has the biggest smile on his face. "Don't be sorry; you can use it first." He hands it back to me.

Makes me wonder if he is really this nice or is he fooling me. I've been fooled many times in my life. A part of me says to look the other way...let go...don't look at him again. But another part of me says just do it...he is just a boy...a bad ass boy I should say beside it's just looking right.

I let the music take me over and the feeling of the paint is like icing on the cake. The paint is super smooth between my fingers...it's cool against my warm hands and the feeling is unbelievable calming, so relaxing and I know this is what Sarah was hoping for. I need to find away to be calm so that I can let my body finally relax. I need to feel that I am safe.

I know some people can't stand the texture or the thought of being messy from the paint like Jake, but I actually love the feeling. I like watching the colors blend in with each other to make a new color. For some reason my mind drifts to a time when I was little and Carter and I are painting outside on the table. We were trying to make our mom a special gift for Mother's Day. Carter got a little messy and painted on top of my hand. I remember reaching over and taking the brush to paint on his favorite shirt. I thought he would get mad at me but we both started laughing and before you knew it we were covered in paint. Dad didn't think it was that funny and we had to wash off in the pool house before we were allowed to step inside the house.

When I reach for the bottle of red paint, I grab it first but his hand comes over on top of mine...touching me again. I try to jerk away but he doesn't let my hand go. My heart stops in that moment. My breathe catches in the back of my throat and I can feel myself go a little pale. 

"Do you mind?" I tell him sounding a little annoyed while looking down at my hand and trying so hard to avoid those eyes.

"Oh sorry," he says and moves his hand away. "Great minds think alike I guess."

I pour some of the red paint out onto my paper then hand it back to him so he can use it.

When he grabs it from me he looks at my painting. "Kinda dark...what is it?"

I look into the painting. It is dark; my darkness. I sigh and softly say, "The shadows that lurk in the darkness."

"Makes me not want to be in the dark," he smirks.

I'm not sure why I am painting thing but it's what came out as the music played. "I know right...you never know when they will get you."

He stops painting and looks back up at me. "Hey."

I stop to look up at him...damn those emerald green eyes stare back at me. I can hear Cora in the back of my thoughts daring me to come on to him. She wants him and I have to tell her to calm down let me handle this. Cora only wants one thing but I want something a little more. Maybe I do, maybe I don't these feelings that I have are so mixed up.

He looks away and then back at his painting. "The other day...I'm sorry...I was having a really bad day."

I shrug and look back at my own painting. "So you took it all out on the new girl."

"Sorry...I can be a prick when I want to be."

I continue to paint while I talk back to him, trying my best not to look back at him. "Well then...I can be a bitch when I want to be...I'm sorry I choked you hope you're ok."

"I will be fine." He reaches up and touches his neck as if it just happened. I can't help but look in his direction. "I should have known when to stop."

We both laugh and then there is an awkward silence between us.

"So are you coming to movie night?"

I shrug. "I don't know; what is movie night?"

"Oh...they play a movie in the Commons Area on one of the big screens...you should come."

"We'll see." I smile back and I swear I think I am blushing. I can feel my cheeks heat up. I can't be doing this, oh my goodness he can't have this effect on me.

I finish my painting and we have to leave them in the room to dry. Zoey looks at mine. "Wow...I like it...dark...but I like it." She smiles back at me.

I have to smirk at that. "That's what he said." I tell her gesturing over to Zayden.

I used several colors but in the front there's like a dark shadow. It looks rather creepy...ok so it's dark. Only I know who it really is and I am not planning on telling anyone about him, not yet anyway.

I never said I was an artist.