Time Warp: Paintfall [Brendan]

[Chloe Singleton]

2002

With classes finished for the day, Chloe was practically skipping down the halls and humming merrily to herself. She already had plans to meet up with Brendan and give him a hand building and painting sets for a play that the drama class was putting on, plus her weekend was looking to be homework free. She had every reason to be in a good mood, not that it was common for little miss Chloe to be anything but cheerful. She was nothing if not an optimist.

Prancing into the auditorium, Chloe spotted her best friend immediately and waved her hand in a wide arc over her head. “Breeeendaaaan!” She called, skipping through the rows of chairs and then to the very edge of the stage. It was over her head, but that didn't stop her from grabbing the edge and pulling herself up just so that she could peer at him and start giggling. “I seeee you!” When he looked her way, she dropped down again, then took the stairs up to the stage proper. Smiling as brightly as she could, she kneeled down beside him, taking a look at what he had accomplished so far.

“Wow! You look like you've been busy.” Chloe had always admired Brendan's talent when it came to art. She loved to watch him draw and paint, fascinated with how creative he was. Smoothing out her dress over her knees, she tilted her head to the side and asked, “Do you need any help?”

[Brendan James]

Since Brendan had technically graduated, there wasn’t really any reason to be spending any extra time at Hammel outside of his training. But he liked sticking around, helping out with the theater sets. Sure, some might have thought it was a little odd, a nineteen year old unnecessarily hanging around the high school he’d attended. There wasn’t a second thought about it though.

After all, he was attending college classes and had made friends there too. But Hammel… Hammel was something special. It felt right being there. Even if he didn’t need to be there as must as he was. It almost felt like home to him. Especially the auditorium.

When he heard giggling and his friend, it only reminded him of his second reason to be here more than he needed to be. Chloe. Perfect Chloe. “Hey there beautiful!” He jumped up from the large piece of wood he’d laid out on the floor, because he was going to give her a hand and help her climb up onto the stage. But he hadn’t been fast enough and she used the stairs. His face fell slightly from the smile that had been there. Unwilling to let her see that though, he turned back around and kneeled back to the floor.

“Yeah, just a little busy.” Now that he was no longer a student, the staff didn’t object nearly as much to him using some of the more dangerous tools to build sets. As for right now, it was a house front. He still had to build a stand for it. One with wheels. His father would probably have to help with that. Brushing a wood shavings off his pants, Brendan stood up. “Of course, if you really want to. Gotta paint the thing now.” Being the gentleman his Uncle Stefan (and both parents) taught him to be, he lowered his hand to help her up. “The paints are just over there.” He said nodding his head over to the side of the stage where multiple cans and paint brushes sat.

[Chloe Singleton]

"I wouldn't have offered if I didn't want to, silly." She chirped, laying her hands in his so he could help her to her feet. For once she was wearing sensible shoes, although her one true love was still heels, she thought the little mary janes looked super cute with her outfit, and it also meant that she was a little less wobbly when she skipped or ran. Less noisy too. Not that Chloe would ever admit that the staccato of heels clicking on a hard floor was anything other than beautiful music.

The blonde scurried over to the paints, grabbing as many cans as her little hands could hold, and toted them over to the set that Brendan had been working on. "What color are we painting it? Pink?" She giggled, looking a little hopeful before giving Brendan's hair an affectionate ruffle before running back to fetch more paint and the brushes. She fixed her best friend with a brilliant smile, sitting down and examining the colors on the cans of paint.

Chloe was incredibly glad to see Brendan still hanging around the Hammel campus. Despite their age difference, she felt closer to him than she ever had to anyone else. He was always there for her when she needed it, whether it was cheering her up when she had a bad day, or giving her a hug when she felt like she needed it most. She trusted him endlessly. But she knew that eventually he would move on to college and while that saddened her, she pushed it aside. He was here now and they were going to have fun.

[Brendan James]

“Well, you know, sometimes people offer their help to do things they really don’t wanna do. You, Chloe Singleton, just might be one of those people.” Chloe was nice. More than nice. She was helpful too. So much so that he wondered how in the world she’d survived this long in life without somebody taking horrible advantage of her. Though, anybody who could take advantage of such a sweet, trusting, good hearted girl like her… Well, somebody like that was dirt.

“Just wanted to be sure. It is painting after all. Wouldn’t want you to ruin your pretty outfit.” He said with a smile and wink in her direction as he lugged the large piece onto a tarp, trying his best not to show how much he had to strain against the piece to move it “God… You’re such a girl.” He teasingly chastised her, hiding his little gasps for air. After covering up his gasps as a coughs, he continued. “We’re not painting it pink. I got a few different colors. But I was thinking white for the house. Dark blue for the roof. And red for the door. The door would be all POW! Ya’ know?” He said, looking down at the set piece. “I suppose I could get pink curtains. Add those later. If you really wanted.”

Yes, he was willing to turn the ‘house’ he built into a girly froo froo… thing, if Chloe really wanted it that way. But he would not be held response for making a pink house. Kneeling down, he used a flat head screwdriver to open the first canister of paint. After a big sigh, he went back on what he said. “If you reeeeally want to… I guess we can paint it pink. But not hot pink. We can mix the red and white paint. It wouldn’t be too big a deal.” Anybody could tell that Brendan crushed hard on the young girl. Anytime she was around, his face lit up. And he couldn’t say no to her. I wonder if it’s still called being whipped when you aren’t dating the one whom has you whipped.