Painting Sky (11 page)

“I’ll be in the hallway. Call me when you’re done—unless you want my help.” His smirk was weak, but I knew he was trying to make me smile. I shooed him out of my room with a wave of my hand and took my time changing out of my clothes. My body hurt, especially my ribs.

“I’m coming in,” Keith warned, as soon as I pulled the tank top down. “Can you get up?” I obeyed him, unsure of why he wanted me to get up if I didn’t have any clean sheets to change the bed with. My bedroom swung around me and I had to sit back down again. I was too weak to stand. Keith sighed and put his arms under me. I stiffened instantly, not just at the gesture, but also at my lack of clothing. He picked me up and left my room.

“What are you doing?”

“What do you think? I’m taking you to my room. The sheets are clean, I haven’t slept there this week, and they are dry, at least.” He winked while pushing open his bedroom door with his shoulder. I had been in his room once or twice to bring him his clean clothes, but I’d never taken the time to look around. I wouldn’t do so this time, either, as the only light on was from the lamp on his bedside table.

The space was clean and tidy. I imagined all his clutter was in the attic, where he spent most of his time.

I whimpered against his cold sheets. “Come on, scoot over,” he said, as soon as he laid me down. I did what he asked and the next thing I felt was his warm body against mine. I gasped at the contact, but scooted back against his chest. I tried to ignore the chuckle that came from him, which shook my body slightly.

His hand came to rest on my stomach for a second before he pulled my tank top up. I was prepared to turn and punch him in the face when I realized what he was trying to do. He lifted his own shirt and hugged my bare back. I sighed, trying not to moan. For the second time tonight, I wasn’t cold, as his body was warmer than mine.

“Just so we’re clear, in the morning, we go back to not caring much for the other, right?” I asked, more to try and clear the air. I felt him tense before answering me with a weird shrug.

“I guess,” he mumbled.

“Why do you hate me?” I whispered. I resisted the urge to put my hand over my mouth. I was never one to speak my mind. Why did it have to start with Keith, of all people?

This time, he not only stiffened, but also pushed away from me. I felt the difference in temperature and shivered.

“I never said I hated you.” He looked offended now, and hurt. I would never have guessed I could hurt Keith Hale.

I sat against the headboard and pulled the covers to my chin.

He shrugged again and looked everywhere but at my face. “You’re the one that never liked me much.”

I laughed at that one. “Me? I can’t believe you said that. I tried to be nice many times. You were the one pushing me away.” I crossed my arms, letting the covers down to my stomach. Keith’s eyes left my face and darted down to my chest. Before I could realize why, they came to rest on my face again, before looking over my shoulder.

He, at least, had the decency to look embarrassed for checking out his brother’s girlfriend. I hadn’t thought much about Cody tonight and felt a little bit guilty, only to notice how he hadn’t come home and it was two in the morning, from what I could read on Keith’s alarm clock.

“I don’t hate you,” he said, sheepishly. I wanted to laugh at that face, but remembered all the times he was a jerk to me and to his brother.

“Yeah, right. I was only six, but I remember how you treated me that first time.”

“You have no idea how much I regret that,” he mumbled with a faraway shine in his eyes. I sat up straighter at his confession, careful to keep the covers up.

“Why?” My curiosity was too strong for me to care if I was sending this conversation in an unpleasant direction.

“That’s a story for another day.” He lowered himself back onto the bed. His answer just made me more curious.

“Oh, come on. Just tell me why you disliked me so much that first day. I was just six.” The last part of the sentence came out as whimpering. Keith’s rejection that day had haunted me my entire life. I just couldn’t understand why.

“What will you give me in return?” He asked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. I joined him under the covers, trying to ignore the part of my brain that really wanted to know what had happened.

Once again, before my brain could filter my words, my mouth said, “What do you want?”

He seemed amused that I was playing along. “You have to let me get you drunk one night.”

“Drunk? Why the hell do you want me drunk?” I asked, suspicious.

“Because I bet you’ve never been drunk. I would also guess you’re one hell of a happy drunk. You need to let yourself go once in a while—live a little.” I wasn’t going to deny that I had never been drunk. I wasn’t of legal drinking age, anyway, and didn’t care much for the taste. I turned my back to him and he snuggled against me again. After ten minutes of watching the alarm clock, I turned to Keith and let his hand rest on my hip.

“What if I say yes? Can I ask you whatever I want?”

“Not whatever you want, but I can compromise.” His gray eyes glowed in the almost-dark room. There was a full moon tonight, and it reflected some light over us.

“Why did you treat me like that?” I whispered to the silent room.

Keith looked away and turned on his back to face the ceiling. “It’s not a happy story, as you might already know.” I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. Almost nothing with Keith was happy—not really. His eyes had always been kind of empty, which I couldn’t understand. Cody was the exact opposite.

“That day, Carl, my father, had promised he would spend some time throwing balls with me. I had always been a fan of baseball, instead of football, which my brother liked.” He paused and I listened to his breathing.

“My father never had the time, so it was a big deal to me. I was in the backyard practicing alone when I saw him leave with Cody. My brother was so happy that I had an idea of where they were going, but I went to ask my mother anyway. My father had taken Cody to sign up for football that afternoon. That’s why I was so mad when you came skipping into my yard, so happy and carefree. I regretted yelling at you and pushing you to the ground the moment I saw you falling, but it was too late: you had already run to your house, crying.”

He paused and covered his forehead with his arm. “A few days later, I saw you from the kitchen door. I had felt bad every time I looked at your house, but, before I could make up my mind and go to you, Cody stepped out, picked up a flower, and gave it to you.” He was still looking at the ceiling, lost in his thoughts. I never imagined he would remember all of it so well. I always guessed that Keith had never paid much attention to me. “When you looked up to him and smiled, I knew Cody had you. I had no chance apologizing, then.”

“You’re wrong, you know. If you had apologized, I would’ve forgiven you. Even now, you still have time.” I smiled at him, not believing that Keith would ask for forgiveness.

“I’ll take you out to get drunk to make up for it. How does that sound?”

I laughed again. “That doesn’t seem to be the way to my heart. I’ll keep that one for when I need a favor from you.” My face turned serious. “Your father was wrong that day, but Cody isn’t to blame.”

“You want to know what my father said when I confronted him that night about why I couldn’t sign up for baseball?” I nodded. “He said, ‘If you have good grades next year, you can.’ The thing was: I’d had good grades up until then. It was the next year that I rebelled. I stopped trying to earn his respect.”

“That’s awful. I never saw that side of him. He always seemed fair and nice.” Cody’s father wasn’t the kind of person to throw out hugs and pleasantries, but he was always nice to me and never seemed this cold.

“Well, he isn’t to me,” he answered.

“So, if I had stayed and asked you why you were so mad at the world, we could have been friends?” I turned to the ceiling, taking my eyes off Keith’s face for the first time.

“Nope, probably not. I was eight—much, much older than you. At that age, it’s like dog years. You were six and I was nine going on fifteen. We would never have been friends at that age,” he trailed. “Come on, we need to sleep. You’ll be tired tomorrow. Let me check your temperature first, though.”

He grabbed the thermometer from the bedside table and placed it gently into my mouth.

“It’s not ideal, but at least it lowered a bit.” He turned the lamp off again and snuggled against my back, this time keeping my shirt between us. I fell asleep instantly.

The next thing I heard was angry voices in the hallway outside Keith’s bedroom.

“What the hell is wrong with you? You show up at seven in the morning and start waking up the whole house?” Keith whispered.

“Yeah, when my brother’s sleeping with my girl.” Cody’s voice wasn’t controlled. He didn’t care if he woke me up. I was hot—sweating even—and my legs were tangled in the sheets. My head was pounding.

“She’s sick, you bastard. You weren’t here to take care of your girl.”

“So you jumped in to take my place, right, big brother?”

“Don’t be bitter—it doesn’t suit you.” I heard Cody groan so I decided to step in.

“Cody?” I asked, surprising myself with my rough voice. I covered up with the covers, not wanting to add fuel to their argument.

“Baby, I’m here. I’m sorry I wasn’t home last night. I had a study group.”

I was getting tired of his excuses, but today wasn’t the day to argue with him. I turned away when he tried to kiss me. “I don’t want you getting sick.” He looked hurt, but nodded, and threw a glare at his brother, who was at the door.

“Why didn’t you sleep in your bed?” he asked.

“Long story short, my sheets were wet and I had no clean ones.” He opened his mouth to complain more, but Keith put his hand on his brother’s shoulder.

“If you’re going to keep interrogating her, you can leave. She was awake most of the night. She’s tired and probably hurting. Your insecurities can wait.”

Cody shoved Keith’s hand away and turned, prepared to keep arguing. My head was pounding. “He’s right, Cody. I need to rest.”

“Fine. I have a class in an hour. I can’t get sick now, when I have quizzes every week. I’ll text you at lunch.” He turned and left.

I felt tears come to my eyes at his cold tone. I blamed it on the flu and on Keith caring for me all night, not worried whether he got sick.

My brother wasn’t home. If it hadn’t been for Keith, I could have died in this house and my body would have only been found a couple of days later. I shrugged at the thought. I never imagined I could feel so alone in a house in which four people lived, and where, every weekend, there were dozens of party guests over.

“He’s a jerk and school’s getting to him. You need to rest, so stop thinking about my brother and try to go back to sleep.” He wasn’t as nice as he’d been last night, but at least he cared enough about my health not to sound pissed at me.

Keith left the room for half an hour, but came back before I could fall asleep. He complained about me still being awake and lay by my side, just like he had last night. My eyes darted to the door, but he shook his head.

“He already left. Try to rest now, Jane.”

“Why are you calling me Jane now?”

He looked confused by my question. “You… don’t like when I call you Sky?” He spoke slowly, as if it were a question, even though he knew very well what my answer would be. To be truthful, I had missed him calling me Sky, but I didn’t comment on that fact. This was already weird, Keith actually being kind to me.

I spent the rest of the day in bed, in Keith’s room. I heard the washing machine running, so I supposed he’d washed my sheets. I was probably being a burden. I tried getting up after Cody’s text asking about my health, but ended up tripping on a shoe.

“What are you doing up? I told you to stay put. You’re too stubborn.”

“Look who’s talking,” I mumbled, getting under the covers again. “I need to go to my room. I don’t want you and Cody fighting.”

He sat next to me, dropped a pill in my mouth, and pulled the covers to my chin. “Don’t worry about us. You don’t have any sheets, yet—maybe tomorrow. I’ll sleep upstairs, that way Cody can take care of you.” He averted his eyes and shrugged.

That night, I felt much better, so Cody didn’t have to stay with me. Keith left for the attic soon after dinner. I didn’t sleep very well. After being in bed all day, my brain was too rested to shut down.

I was disappointed with Cody, as he seemed so out of sorts lately that it was like he wasn’t pleased that I was here. I didn’t understand him at all. All summer, he had been excited about having me come to live with him. I hadn’t expected to become friends with his brother, though.

Keith was the other surprise. After so many years of being shut down, ignored, and teased by him, I found out that he was actually a good person. Maybe we weren’t that good of friends, but sometimes he surprised me in a way I’d thought wasn’t possible.