Not a Fan (Wilbur Soot)

Old Friends, Green Strangers

"Is my voice still pink?" Niki asked, her words swimming with curiosity.

"Yes, it's still a light pink." Aurora smiled, returning her gaze to the phone. 

"I missed you, Rori." Niki said, somewhat out of the blue. 

"I missed you too, Niki. I'm sorry I dropped off the face of the earth when I went back home. Things just weren't, uh, too good for me over there. But the important thing is I'm back!" Aurora answered, convincing herself as much as she was trying to convince Niki. 

"Okay." Niki said softly, her smile still faintly visible. "Well, I'm just about ready to hop on a stream with some friends, so I have to go. We're on for tomorrow though, right? I'll text you my address." She finished, already waving to her camera. 

"Yes, see you tomorrow!" Aurora answered quickly, Niki's face and the small clouds of pink both disappearing from her vision. 

She stood from her bench, her eyes wandering over to her largest suitcase. She walked over slowly, unzipping it to reveal her paints, a few canvases, and her brushes, all neatly packed away. 

"I've got to start somewhere." She spoke to herself, hesitantly pulling out the supplies. She hadn't painted in over a year. 

Muscle memory was a powerful thing. She had set up her canvas, her neutral paints spread across her palette, and her hand already beginning to shade in the vague shape of a face. She sharpened the jawline, her hand movements precise. She hadn't started on any of the facial features yet, but the man already felt familiar. 

A crackling laugh made it's way through her walls, faint spots of dark green interrupting her yellow playlist. She groaned, not even caring about the risk of wet paint on her fingers as she brought her hand to her face. She closed her eyes as the laughing subsided, seeing the last bit of green slip away. 

"Wait." A whisper escaped her. She looked back up to her painting, holding onto her memory of the green she had just seen. She sighed, laying on her back. 

"I'm painting chocolate chip guy. I'm an idiot." She muttered to herself, embarrassed for her subconscious still thinking about his smile. 

She sat back up, returning to the painting. At least now that she had a muse in mind it would make the process easier. She started filling in the shadows, darkening around his hair line, the hollows of his cheeks, and under his jaw. 

Several hours passed, the occasional laughter from next door had subsided long ago. She mixed together various green paints, trying to recreate the same slightly lighter version of sacramento green of chocolate chip guy's voice. She smiled, satisfied, as she looked down at the color she had created. She blended soft green clouds around his face. 

Aurora stood and stepped back, getting the full view of the painting. It was far from her best, but after being out of practice for so long, she couldn't help but feel a small tinge of pride rise in her chest. 

"I'm still me. I'm still Rori." She whispered, feeling validated in her sudden decision to pack up her life and move. Painting was impossible once she returned home. Nothing seemed to bring her joy anymore in the US, not even her passion. But now, on her first night in her new apartment, she painted a beautiful portrait of a clumsy stranger. 

She set down her brush and palette, walking over to her medication pouch that sat atop a stray duffle bag. 

"I knew I wouldn't need you here." She said, lifting the bottle of small white and green pills up to the light. She made her way to the bathroom, removing the bottle's cap, hovering her hand over the toilet. 

"I can fix myself. I don't need you making me numb anymore." She continued, closing her eyes as she tilted her hand. The sound of the soft splashes from the dozen pills were foggy white flashes. Her heart pounded as she leaned forward, flushing the toilet. She tossed her now empty bottle into the trash bin before exiting the bathroom. She felt exhilarated. 

She practically skipped into her living room, eagerly pulling out her bedding and laying it out on her hard wood floors. It was well after 1:00am and as much as her neighbor didn't care about being noisy, she didn't want to wake anyone with the whirling sound of an air pump when inflating her temporary bed. 

She laid on the ground, plugging in her phone. Niki had texted her the address, a heart at the end of her message. Aurora smiled, pretending her back wasn't already hurting from the less than desirable sleeping situation. She closed her eyes, her smile still lingering on her face.

Light flooded into her apartment through the large window next to her. Aurora squeezed her eyes shut, attempting to roll over and away from the light. A dull ache in her lower back stopped her halfway. She let out a muffled groan into a pillow before slowly pulling herself up to sit cross legged in the scattered mess of pillows and blankets.

It was just after 9:00am, the sounds of cars honking during the rush hour were faint orange specks in her vision. She stood, slowly stretching her back as she made her way to the kitchen, starting up her kettle. 

The morning drifted by slowly. She unpacked her kitchen supplies, putting away the few dishes and pots she brought with her. She also set up her latest painting against the window, still feeling the same pride when she looked at it as she had the night prior. 

Everything was falling into place. She had her tea, unpacked, organized her clothes, and baked the cookies for Niki- all before noon. In the US, she probably wouldn't even have been awake yet, often spending the majority of the day hidden away in her childhood bedroom. She was simply meant to be in Brighton. 

Her phone vibrated aggressively in her back pocket as she pulled the last batch of cookies out of the oven, an incoming call from Niki. 

"Hey! I got the address but I didn't know what time you wanted me to come over." Aurora answered with a smile.

"Good morning." Niki grumbled, clearly having just woken up. Aurora laughed lightly at this, looking down at the puffed up cookies with a smile. 

"Wanna come over soon? My friend Wil is going to come over later and he's, well, just so awkward, I don't want to deal with him being flustered if you're here at the same time. I just wanna see you." Niki laughed at the expense of her friend.

"Yeah, just let me shower and get ready and I'll text you when I'm on my way!" Aurora's excited tone filled her empty apartment. Niki laughed in agreeance, soon hanging up. 

Aurora transferred the cookies off the hot tray and onto a cooling rack before heading to the bathroom. 

She stepped out of the shower, wrapping herself in a towel that felt warm from all the steam in the room. She wiped off the fog from the mirror, staring at herself. 

"Rori wears makeup, you can do this." She hyped herself up, grabbing her mascara. She applied a thin layer on her lashes, quickly realizing her makeup hadn't been used in so long it had nearly completely dried out. A small piece of her was thankful for this, not wanting to look like a fool when she arrived after not having practiced doing makeup in over a year. She stopped wearing makeup around the same time she stopped painting, neither had brought her joy anymore. 

"I'll just pick up more later, it's no biggie." She soothed herself, brushing through her wet hair. She really needed a hair cut. When she first arrived in Brighton in undergrad, her hair was only to her collarbones. She hadn't done anything with it since she arrived back in the states, it was now grown all the way down to her lower back. 

She packed as many cookies as she could into her lone tupperware container, still half a dozen remaining. She looked over to the wall that conjoined her and her noisy neighbor. He was definitely an ass, but maybe cookies could act as a subliminal message for him to be more considerate to her. She wrapped the cookies in a plastic bag, attaching a small note. 

-Your new neighbor in 606B 

She slid the knot at the top of the bag of cookies around his door handle, knocking lightly a couple of times before making her way to the elevator. She heard the door swing open just as she stepped inside, quickly pressing the lobby's button.

 ------------------------------------

(1,465 words)