Chapter 1
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Each step in rhythm with the counting in his head. The tips of his feat sliding on the floor in movement.
It was simple. All he had to do was walk in a box and not slip up.
Fingers interlaced with another's as they stepped in the box motion.
Again. It was simple.
Just one step, two step, three step, and turn fourth step- Stumbling a bit they started to turn with each step. Misplacing his foot he tried to sync himself up with the new rhythm. 1 step turn. Wider step down and turn.
Stumbling again, the woman he was dancing with opened her eyes as a loud clap stopped their dancing.
“Enough. We’re done for today.” His instructor's voice filled the room.
As their hands let go and the women walked away his Mother stood up and motioned for him to leave.
Flash hated dancing.
“Im gonna see if I can get more lessons for you, your dancing is sloppy and it looks barely presentable.” His mother said as they sat in the car
Knowing not to respond, Flash just looked out the window, the city scape flashing by.
“Your 16 Flash you should be better at this” She continued
He knew better but right now all Flash wanted to say was “Well you could have taught me sooner”. But he didn't. He knew better than to say something like that to his Mother.
“By the way how are you doing in school” The words were said like a calm venom. Like a rattlesnake, if you made the wrong step it would be game over.
Sucking in a deep breath Flash kept his shoulders straight and didn't dare look at her.
“Good”
.
.
.
“ Good? ”
Fuck.
“Not great or excellent just good .”
Flash stayed quiet. Which was not a good idea.
“ Well? Are you going to say anything” She demanded voice level but you could still hear the frustration lining the words.
“Im passing all of my classes with high grades” Flash assured, picking his words out carefully. Of which most were true. Yeah he was passing all of his classes, some just barely but still passing.
There was another beat of silence.
“Thats more like it.” She remarked opening the car door and stepping out grabbing her expanse purse and walking over to the front door where the driver sat.
The car door was still open and she seemed to be saying something to the driver but Flash wasn't paying attention.
He’d gotten off easy this time. If they were at home this conversation would have been much, much different. As used to it as he was the thought of this going in a different direction still made his breath hitch and his mind panic.
But nothing happened.
Besides he was with his dad for the weekend anyways so Flash didn't have to worry about his Mother until Monday.
Hearing the clacks of her heels Flash looked back over to the car door where Mother has leaned over to look at him.
Looking at him her eyes slit into a glare.
“You better not be lying to me.”
And with that the car door was slammed shut and it felt as if he could finally breathe again.
As the car started moving again Flash took another deep breath and leaned on the door. Watching as they pulled out of the driveway and away from the large house.
He should probably be worried about the threat his Mother said but that will be a problem for Monday.
Flash stood in an elevator slowly taking him to the top floor. Gripping the duffle bag in his hand tightly.
Father wasn’t home. He wouldn't be home at all this weekend which gave Flash the time to do whatever he wanted.
Usually Flash wouldn't be allowed at his Fathers unless he was here. But he didn't seem to care about that rule and neither did Flash. As long as he didn't have to spend the weekend with his Mother, being in an empty flat for two days was much better.
Tapping his foot on the ground Flash stared at the red up arrow that just blinked over and over again.
The elevator was stupidly slow. Like the building itself was fine, expensive but when did that matter when you have two rich parents. But if you wanted to get anywhere using the stairs was the best option because the elevator was fucking slow.
Lolling his head back, Flash groaned. He should have just taken the stairs.
Finally there was high pitched ding and the elevators opened. Flash entered the dark flat. Carefully moving not to trip over or to not knock anything over.
It wasn't dark fully outside yet. The sun was still setting. But there were no windows in the entrance area. Also Flash didn't feel like turning the light on just yet. He always enjoyed the blue soft light from windows and blaring LED lights tended to give him headaches. Just natural light was preferred but the soft blues were his favorite.
Dropping his backpack off in the hallway he slipped his shoes off as well as the coat he was wearing and opened the door to the living room greeted with warm oranges from the sun.
Setting the duffle bag down on the long couch, Flash walked over to the kitchen and checked the fridge. Although he wasn't expecting there to be any actual food in here, that didn't stop the small pit of disappointment from forming.
Grabbing a sparkling water out the fridge, it was lime flavored as Flash gulped down some and slumped onto the couch letting the bubbling sizzle fade off his tounge before swallowing the drink and grabbing out his phone.
It was around 6:30 and if he ordered food now it would probably arrive sometime around 7.
Pulling over the bag Flash unzipped it and pulled out a long canvas and some paint.
Ms. Finnie has assigned them to do a painting based on their favorite movie and Flash wanted to get a head start on the project since it was one of those long ones. They were required to work with charcoal in some sort of way throughout the painting and Flash hated charcoal. It was messy and flaky and just hard to work with. He also hated the texture they had. It reminded him of chalk but not chalky.
Pulling out a large piece of brown paper Flash unraveled it onto the cleared coffee table and placed the canvas on it. The canvas was a special one he had picked out specifically for this project. Instead of the usual square of rectangle canvases this one was long, maybe like a 36 by 14inch canvas. Long and thin is how Flash would describe it.
Anyways when the teacher assigned the project and gave them time to sketch out ideas Flash found that the idea he wanted to go with would go perfectly with this certain type of canvas and Ms. Finnie said that they were allowed to buy their own supplies so now Flash was here with his canvas, oil paints, and that damned charcoal.
Getting onto Hulu Flash played the movie on in the background and let himself get into the motions of sketching out basic ideas till it all flowed smoothly.