Finding Technicolour Page 13

  “So what do you want to do first? Your choice.”

  I searched the low-lit room. Coloured lights from the arcade games layered across the space. My eyes found the air-hockey table. I smiled. “How about air hockey?”

  “OK.”

  We stood at either end of the large table that had the scoreboard raised in the middle. The air from the sides rose up and brushed my face. With smirks on our faces we each held a mallet. I felt the competitiveness bubble. Kai dropped the puck on the table. He hit it towards me and it bounced from the barrier back to his side of the table. When the puck came back to me, I knocked it with one fell swoop, lunging into the slot. I looked up at the scoreboard – one nil.

  Kai took the puck from his end then shook his wrists. He bounced up and down and performed a couple of simple stretches. I lightly bit my lip to stop myself from laughing. He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, then aligned his mallet and the puck. His eyes targeted the goal. He hit the puck with such force it bounced in and out of my goal and straight into his.

  “No!” He clutched his hair.

  This time I couldn’t stop myself from laughing.

  Kai pointed to the scoreboard. “I let you have that one … two actually. But I can’t be so giving anymore. The air hockey gods gave me this gift and it would be a shame to hide it away.”

  We played three games. Each one I won, proving that my talent at air hockey wasn’t a hoax.

  “You know, when I was talking with Liam before we left, he told me you cheat at air hockey.”

  “Did he now?”

  “And after being defeated a few times, I might have to agree with him.”

  “What? I won fair and square.”

  “Well I wouldn’t say fair …”

  “But the air-hockey gods gave you the gift, doesn’t that make you the cheat?”

  “They clearly gave me the gift of losing. Who knew I was playing against such a pro?”

  Next we played hoop shooting. Kai grabbed the basketballs and flicked his wrist with ease, only missing one basket and getting the highest score and a bunch of tickets.

  “Why do I get the feeling basketball is more your sport than football?”

  “Well it kind of is. But I do like football. Really.”

  “I believe you. Can I have a go?” I played a round and I wished I hadn’t asked for a turn. I was useless at sport. I had never really been an overly competitive person and took a shine to inside activities.

  “Do you want another turn?” Kai said.

  “I don’t know. That round was pretty awful,”

  “Come on, you can do it.” He smiled.

  “OK, but if this round turns out to be worse than my first try, you have to promise me you’ll erase the memory from your mind.”

  “Promise.”

  Kai placed the tokens in the machine. The large red numbers counted down.

  5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

  A buzzer sounded. The basketballs were released. The timer was set. In a rush I reached for a ball and threw it into the hoop. I continued throwing them, trying to keep up a momentum. Kai had made it look so easy. As the time fell away, Kai reached for the balls too. He didn’t miss a shot.

  The buzzer sounded again. Time was up.

  “Hey, look at that!” I smiled as I high-fived Kai. “Fifth on the leader board!”

  “Now I don’t have to erase that memory of you.”

  I smiled at the floor as I tucked my hair behind my ear.

  “So are you up for bowling now? Or did you want to grab something to eat?”

  Kai and I exchanged our shoes for bowling shoes then made our way to our designated aisle. We each picked a couple of bowling balls and placed them on the ball-return machine.

  “Ladies first.”

  I clutched the heavy ball with my three fingers, resting it in my other hand as I lifted it to my chin and walked to the line. Music played through the speakers. I didn’t know what the song was called, or who it was by, but I liked the beat. Pins from the other aisles crashed to the wall. Voices cheered. Talking spread through the air. I liked the sounds. The distractions. I focused on the ten pins in front of me. Adjusted my stance. Pulled my arm back. Brought it forward then released the ball. I knocked down a few pins. Then went for my second ball.

  We were just over halfway through our second game and I had somehow thrown two strikes.

  It was my turn again.

  Kai began to commentate. “Peyton grabs the ball. Adjusts her hold until it’s right.”

  I smiled at him.

  “Miss Swift is fairly new to the Annual Pearson Bowling Tournament, but it looks like this isn’t her first rodeo.”

  I stood listening to his comments and chuckled, unable to take my next shot seriously.

  “She’s about to strut her way to the line. Ladies and gentlemen, your eyes do not deceive you – if she gets this strike, she will have made a turkey.”

  I stepped away.

  “She’s going for it!”

  I looked back and laughed. It felt good to. I shook my head, focusing my thoughts, and followed through on my shot. The pins crashed to the wall and spread across the shiny floor. I threw my fist in the air.

  “She’s gone and done a turkey!”

  Kai and I bounced towards one another. Our hands clapped in a double high-five. He took his hands and gently touched my cheeks as he brought his face down to mine and kissed my lips. His arms wrapped around me, lifted me off the ground then spun me round. He set me down. A large smile printed across his face as he walked towards the ball-return machine and gripped his bowling ball.

  “My turn then, and no laughing if I don’t get a strike. Have I even made one this game?”

  I looked at the screen but my eyes didn’t register what was written. “No.” Without looking I found a seat, my bum only just setting on the edge. I almost fell to the floor and I hoped no one saw as I awkwardly adjusted myself. I felt my heart beating – it thrashed the blood through my veins. I wasn’t numb. The sensation was still accessible. It was just my mind focused solely on the moment just passed.

  Without blinking, I watched Kai bowl. We’d just shared our first kiss. I thought I liked it. It was quick. But it was sweet. Almost perfect for the moment. Or maybe it was just simply perfect. For some reason I hadn’t thought we would be kissing that night. I’d thought about kissing him when we were on earlier dates, but that all seemed different now that we were boyfriend and girlfriend. I was captured in the spontaneity, my lips still tingling. I didn’t focus on the dark, instead I latched onto the colours we made.

  Kai picked up his second ball then walked back for his next throw. I found myself smiling. Happy our first kiss had happened like that. Knowing if it were more planned out, I would have talked myself out of it. I wouldn’t have let it happen.

  We finished bowling and received our own shoes. I liked the way he wasn’t making our first kiss a big deal. It was unexpected. Fun. But I wanted to know what he was thinking. If he liked it. If it was OK.

  We made our way to the cafeteria and ordered.

  “So have you had fun?” Kai said, dunking his hot chips in sauce.

  “Yeah.”

  “Well I got you to laugh a little. So that’s progress.”

  “Hey, I laugh.”

  Kai smiled as he nodded.

  “I do.”

  “I’m looking forward to hearing it more.”

  A stone turned in my stomach, weighing me down. I suddenly felt a pressure to always be this fun girl. This girl who goes along with things. Who absorbs her surroundings. The colours. The sounds. The girl who laughs, who’s happy. But I wasn’t always that girl. When I was with him, that girl got to shine through – when I let her – but most of the time I was afraid to set her free. To allow myself to let go. I’d allowed the darkness – my past – to leach its way into my every day. It was hard to detach from how it had intertwined itself into my thoughts and the moments that were supposed to keep me happy.

 
Instead of replying I took a sip of my drink. Twirled the melting ice cubes with the straw. I didn’t know what I should have said.

  Before we made our way outside Kai told me to wait by the door. A few minutes later he came walking towards me.

  “Close your eyes and hold your hands out.” Kai said.

  “What?”

  “I got you something.”

  “What?”

  “Close your eyes.”

  I held out my open palms and quickly shut my eyes, wanting to open them as soon as possible. I felt something small drop into my hands.

  “You can open them now.”

  I looked to see a small basketball keychain. My smile grew.

  “With the tickets we won, it was either that or a miniature slinky that was extremely stubborn. We can grab the slinky if you prefer.”

  “No. It’s perfect.”

  “Do you know you have to win something like a billion tickets, well not exactly a billion, but a lot of tickets to get something from the top shelf?”

  We made our way to the car. As soon as we stepped outside the smell of rain sprang into my nostrils. The pavement was soaked. Small puddles scattered on the ground. It wasn’t raining anymore, but the clouds remained grey. As the sky continued darkening into night, the stars began to sparkle.

  Kai kept his promise to my mum to be a gentleman as he opened the passenger door. I got inside and buckled up, still silently questioning what he was thinking. We drove to my house.

  “Knock knock,” Kai said.

  “Really?”

  “Come on … knock knock.”

  “Who’s there?”

  “Ya.”

  “Ya who?”

  “Wow. You sure are excited to see me.”

  I laughed. The jokes he told were really lame but that’s what made them better. Laughter gave me a feeling like I was releasing clumped-up energy. I liked laughing. I wanted to do it more. Maybe Kai would get to see my smile more.

  He told me a story about when he and his two little brothers were caught playing a practical joke on their dad, by hiding his car keys and all of his shoes. Their mum got them to clean the lounge until she could see it shine, and the fact that his brothers were quite a bit younger than him, resulted in him doing most of the work.

  Kai walked me to the doorstep. I was happy to let the colour in. Kai was the only bright place I felt safe in. When I was around him it felt OK to catch a glimpse of colour. To acknowledge it. To not be afraid.

  “Thanks for tonight,” Kai said. “It was fun. And next time I will beat you at air hockey.”

  “We’ll see about that.”

  Kai kissed my cheek then locked his arms around me. His hugs were strong and warm. I couldn’t help but feel secure within them. He slowly moved back, keeping his head close to mine. I could hear him deciding whether to kiss me. I could hear him pondering whether I was OK with it or not. I lifted my face slightly closer to his. He closed his eyes and I kissed him. My body tingled. Our lips sparked.

  “Sweet dreams, Peyton Swift.”

  Kai made his way to his car.

  I stepped inside and smiled. I didn’t even try to erase it. Or dispose of the light I was exuding. And for the first time in what felt like forever, I believed that I was going to be OK. Better than OK.

  Chapter TWENTY-SIX

  The next morning I woke with a smile on my face. I wanted to keep it there for as long as I could. Until it no longer felt natural. Until it no longer sent a surge of happiness through me. I shoved my hair into a messy bun and wrapped myself in my dressing gown then made my way down the hall. A sweet aroma drifted towards me. I stepped into the kitchen to find Mum baking and Liam stationed at the worktop.

  “What’s all this?”

  “Mum’s making pancakes,” Liam said.

  “Yum.” I plonked myself on the stool next to Liam. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  Mum pointed to a collection of jars and small bowls. “You guys can just grab those toppings and take them to the table.”

  Liam and I grabbed the toppings and placed them in the middle of the table. Mum had already set it with knives, forks and plates. We sat down to a large plate heaped with golden pancakes.

  “Breakfast is served, my lovelies.”

  The three of us stacked pancakes on our plates and topped them with ice-cream, chocolate sauce and strawberries.

  “So how was your date last night, P?” Mum said.

  “Yeah Peyton, how was it?”

  I laughed. “Stop it.”

  “What?” Liam said.

  “Teasing.”

  “I’m not teasing. Just wondering how my baby sister’s date went. Was he good to you?”

  “Did you two have fun?” Mum said.

  “Yes and yes.” My smile grew. “We played a few arcade games and a couple of rounds of bowling.”

  “Did you beat him at air hockey?” Mum said.

  “Three times.”

  “That’s my girl.”

  The three of us kept talking as we filled our mouths with home-made pancakes. This moment was coloured to perfection.

  “Liam, I dare you to eat your last pancake with a bunch of awful toppings that should not be put together.”

  “OK. What do I get out of it if I do?”

  “Um …”

  “I want a drawing or a painting.”

  “Um … OK. Deal.”

  Mum and I watched with disgust as Liam topped his pancake with mint-flavoured ice-cream, spray cheese, chocolate sauce and maple syrup, sprinkled with crushed cornflakes and olives.

  “P, you dared me, remember. You can’t judge.” Liam scooped up his first forkful and chewed. “It’s actually not that bad.”

  As we cleared the dishes, I smiled at the three of us. This moment reminded me of the time Mum got offered the full-time position at the hospital and Liam and I decided to make a feast for the three of us. I remember us searching for the best lasagne recipe online. When we finally chose one and got all the ingredients, we tried to follow the recipe as much as we could. We dropped ingredients all over the counter, which was covered in too many utensils. When it was finally in the oven, Liam went to his room and played on his PlayStation and I went to my Art Cave. I had my headphones in and I remember the foul stench. I rushed down the smoky hallway as Liam yelled out my name. He stood in the smoke clouds and chucked the burnt lasagne in the sink, whooshing his oven-mitt-covered hands around. I opened all the doors and windows and we both panicked, realising Mum would be home in twenty minutes. Luckily Liam had a good plan that required a little distraction on my part.

  Mum arrived home and I told her to have a shower ‘cause Liam and I had something special planned. When she came out of her room she asked where Liam was, as she made her way to the kitchen, but I grabbed her arm and directed her towards my Art Cave. All this while Liam rushed to the restaurant his friend worked at. Before he left he rang and explained the emergency. What felt like an hour later, Liam came and found us in my Art Cave. After my lame excuses to keep Mum in there, I think from then on she knew the best way to capture tone in a painting through the use of implementing shapes and colours in way more detail than she ever desired. The three of us made our way to the table that was set with three freshly baked pieces of garnished lasagne.

  It was one of the best lasagnes we’d ever eaten. As the three of us stood at the sink washing and drying the dishes, Mum blurted out laughing and told Liam to thank his friend for making it. She said she knew we couldn’t make something so delicious and that she smelt the burnt food halfway down the street. We all threw our heads back laughing.

  I also thought of the countless fast-paced breakfasts we’d had before we went off to school and work. We’d rush through bites of food as we shoved books in our bags, then brush our teeth and button our clothes to look as presentable as possible in between the many times Liam and I fought over petty things – even though we’d both get over it in minutes.

  Right now, I soaked
up this moment, knowing how rare they were. Wanting to remember the details, I safely stored it away, making sure my darkness was unable to taint it.

  I got washed and dressed then checked my phone to see one unread message. My heart flickered at the sight of his name.

  Kai: Good morning. I hope u slept well. I have a question. But I don’t know if I want to ask u just yet. I’m still deciding.

  Me: You must ask me now. I’m intrigued.

  I imagined him smiling at my use of the word “intrigued” because that was what he wanted me to be. And I was.

  I flopped on my bed with a sketchbook and pencil and began to draw. I was so intrigued with eyes and smiles and faces that I would draw them without thinking. I also loved capturing the beauty of plants and animals and would incorporate them into my work. But people have always inspired me. Not knowing their stories fascinates me. I wanted to seek out their truth and express it through splattering and blending, gradually transitioning the colours as if it were their story growing. I would lift my paper or canvas and let the water paint run down the page. I loved how the effect could impact the tone and the meaning of my work.

  I placed the pencil on the paper and began to shape a female’s face without using a reference – just the fact that I had done it countless times before made me confident. A feeling I had been lacking.

  Drawing came so naturally that before my mind truly registered what was happening, I was already comfortable with my action. There was no need to cease the flicking of the pencil in my fingers or pressing it down to allow for a darker line. The swift movement of my paper to angle it just so, allowing me to create the right shape, making me feel free. Creative. Happy. There was no need to force myself into my darkness.

  My phone beeped.

  I released my pencil but straight away I wanted to pick it back up.

  I already knew the text was from Kai. I unlocked my phone and read his words.

  Kai: OK then. How do u feel about my motorbike?

  I took a deep breath and reread his question. We’d never spoken of his motorbike since the small mention at the start of our second date. My stomach turned.