The Bad Boy Wants Me(32)

‘Well?’ she asks, when I have looked at the last painting.

‘I think they are strangely beautiful. I don’t mean that they are chocolate box pretty, but they have a lot of passion and they are different.’

‘Really?’

‘Absolutely. I don’t know much about art, but these are good. I’ve never seen anything like this before. They are completely original.’

‘Thank you,’ she whispers.

‘Who are these figures? I ask pointing to the featureless people.

‘Me,’ she says simply.

I look at her curiously. ‘What do you mean?’

‘It’s how I feel sometimes. Unfinished. The most important parts of me missing.’

‘Oh, Brit,’ I whisper softly, my heart breaking for her. Her art is the outward manifestation of her instinctive knowledge that something is missing or lost inside her.

She shakes her head. ‘I don’t want you to pity me.’

‘Come here, you silly Billy.’

She takes a step towards me and I stroke her hair. Strange how much affection I have for her now that I have seen the real her.

‘I don’t pity you,’ I tell her. ‘You have everything. You’re beautiful, you’re talented, you have a family that loves you dearly, you’ve got friends, you’ve got a trust fund, even if you never work a single day in your life you will never starve or be homeless. Why on earth would I pity you?’

She stares at me as if she can’t believe I mean what I say.

‘In fact, I wish I had half of what you have,’ I tell her honestly.

‘No you don’t.’

‘Actually I do. Do you know that you are luckier than anyone else I know? Everything falls into your lap. Designer clothes and shoes, music classes, expensive holidays. You just have to open your mouth and ask for it and it’s yours. It’s not like that for me. I’ve had to take summer jobs to get the things I want. When I go back I’ll have to take out a student loan just to complete my studies. A debt that I will spend a great deal of my working life paying back.’

She doesn’t say anything, but I can see she is thinking about what I said.

‘When I was young my dad told me a story and it kind of changed the way I thought about things. You want to hear it?’

‘Yes, please,’ she says quickly.

‘It was about this set of twins. One of them was an eternal optimist. No matter how bad the situation he would find a reason to be happy, and the other was the eternal pessimist. He would do the opposite and find something to be sad about no matter how good the situation was.

‘So one day their father decided to see if he could change their attitudes. On the boys’ birthday he filled the pessimist’s room with every imaginable toy. He practically bought his son a toy store. Then he filled the optimist’s room with donkey dung. Just a big stinking pile of dung right in the middle of the poor kid’s room. When the boys came home from school the father said, ‘Boys your birthday presents are in your rooms.’

‘The pessimist ran into his room and began to berate his father for buying so many toys. He complained and cried about how he would never have enough time to play with all of them. In the other room the optimist began skipping around the dung heap, laughing. ‘Woo hoo,’ he sang happily. ‘There’s a pony around. There’s a pony around.’

Britney laughs. ‘I’d like to be the pony boy in your story. He’s cute.’

‘You could be,’ I tell her softly.

‘Thanks for the story. It’s a good one.’

‘You’re welcome.’ I look at my watch. ‘I have to go. My aunt will be waiting for me. Let’s talk again when I get back on Sunday, OK?’

‘OK,’ she says slowly.

I start to walk to the door.

‘Tori,’ she calls. ‘I’m sorry you have to take out a student loan just to finish your studies.’

I smile at her. ‘It’s OK. Most people have to, Brit. Just be grateful for everything you have.’

‘My brother likes you, you know.’

‘What? Why?’ Whoa, that had come out like high pitched squeaks. I clear my throat. ‘Er … what makes you say that?’

‘Everybody knows you only get pushed into the water by a girl who’s jealous of you, or a guy who has the hots for you.’

‘Oh.’

‘Do you like my brother?’

‘Um … I never really thought about it.’

‘Really? Most girls can’t stop thinking about him.’

‘Well, he must be very bored of it all then.’ I look at my watch. ‘I should get going.’

‘Have a nice time with your aunt.’