Chapter 9

Chloe

Chloe paced in front of the games room. Nash's laugh echoed out of it, making her heart flutter repeatedly and she bit her lip. Why was she so nervous? It had been days since he'd spoken to her after the cooking contest and to Chloe's surprise, she missed him. She worried he gave up on her and now she was pacing, debating on approaching him first.

With a sigh, Chloe told herself to suck it up. For days she wished to approach Nash, to for once, make the first move, and now she finally had the chance. She couldn't chicken out now.

Chloe marched into the room, her uniform wrinkled from pacing so furiously around the Elites building. In front of her, Nash, Caiden and Elijah all sat on the couch facing the giant television screen. In their hands were PS5 controllers as they played a match of Call of Duty.

"Nash," Chloe said.

Nash turned to look at her, his eyes widening at the sight of her and she bit her lip again. She stopped in front of them and Caiden grinned at her. Elijah gave her a small smile.

"Hey, Chloe." Caiden's grin grew. "What brings you here?"

"Um..."

Chloe clasped her hands together. Her eyes remained on Caiden, ignoring the way Nash's eyes bore into her.

"Hi Chloe, it's been a while," Elijah said, waving. "How are you?"

"Great." Chloe finally broke out into a smile. "How have you been?"

"Great. My team is winning the chest competition. Just a few more weeks until we go into the championships."

"That's incredible!"

Chloe beamed at Elijah. He was usually on the computer playing some sort of game, which meant he didn't spend much time with the Elites. He had always been a homebody, a bit shy too, and Chloe had never minded that. Despite them knowing Elijah the least, they all had a soft spot for the shy boy.

"You said my name," Nash said. "What's up, Chloe?"

Chloe's eyes drifted towards him and she stilled. He had an arm casually rested on the headrest of the couch and a few buttons on his shirt were undone. His brown eyes glowed under the lights above them and his hair was a disheveled, but done in a way that Chloe couldn't help but stare. What had gotten into her?

"Chloe?" Nash said. "Helloo, are you there?"

"Oh, yes." Chloe flushed. "I-I came here to challenge you. To a contest."

"Oh really, what kind of contest?" Nash smirked. His eyes turned playful and Chloe gulped.

"Painting. Or drawing if you prefer that. At your house, if that's possible."

Nash's eyebrows shot up. Chloe felt her heart pound, wondering why she said his home. But something about his home made Chloe feel closer to him. Maybe it was the emptiness or maybe it was the way Nash had opened up, but Chloe wanted nothing more than to go back to the moment and learn more about him.

"Deal," Nash replied, moving to stand. "Let's go. Prepare to lose."

"In your dreams."

*****

Chloe sat on the chair in front of Nash's bed. His bedroom was enormous - probably double the size of her kitchen and living room combined, and Chloe's eyes drifted around the room. In the centre of it was his king sized bed and on the walls hung posters of rock bands and singers. Off to the side lay his guitar against the wall and a mirror table and a bunch of drawers stood next to it. All the furniture was the same marble that the rest of the house contained.

Chloe swung her legs back and forth. She thought they'd be in the kitchen or living room, but Nash said let's do this room since most of his supplies were there and Chloe had went in while Nash went to grab two new easels.

"Hi, sorry that took a while," Nash said.

He shimmied into the room, carrying two easels and two new canvases. Chloe jumped to her feet, but Nash waved her off when she tried to help.

"I got it," he said, setting down one easel in front of her and placing the canvas against it. He set down another on the seat next to Chloe's and went to his walk in closet. "Let me grab the paints and brushes."

Chloe's eyes followed him into the closet where he wandered and wandered off until she couldn't see him anymore and after a few minutes, he returned with a giant bin of supplies that almost seemed to be spilling out of it. Chloe tried to conceal her awe. She could tell it made Nash uncomfortable whenever she reacted, but she couldn't help it. She thought homes like this only existed in the movies.

"Why painting?" Nash asked once he was settled into his seat. The bin of supplies sat between them, and Nash went to fetch a few pots of paint and a bunch of brushes. "Are you some sort of secret artist?"

"No, I just think painting is fun."

Nash shot her a small smile and Chloe smiled back. Things had changed. This year already felt so different than last year and Chloe wondered what had happened. What made Nash finally soften up to her when he had been so determined to make her his enemy?

"Well, let's begin," Nash said.

They began to paint. Five paints sat next to Chloe on the table and she had five brushes - one per colour laying across the table as well. She first painted the sandy ground a lovely beige colour, her teeth worrying at her lip as she took her time with her art. All students of Sakuya had to take art classes, but The Elites got special classes with some of the most talented artists in their country. It was moments like that where Chloe understood why people had begun to resent them.

"Things have been tense lately." Chloe continued to paint, but she could feel Nash's eyes on her. "I wonder why everyone is watching our every move as if they're waiting for us to screw up... Thomas said we don't deserve our spots, but I don't think that's fair. They were fine with us being Elites last year."

"Ignore them," Nash said. "When you're at the top, people will try to bring you down. They're just jealous."

"Maybe... But I don't want anyone hating me. I don't think I did anything wrong."

Chloe sighed. A minute of silence passed by and Chloe's paintbrush slid across the canvas, now filling in the blue sky.

"No matter what people will hate you for the dumbest reasons possible, but never let it get to you," Nash said. "They don't deserve you even thinking of them. Don't let them win."

Chloe smiled sadly, finally meeting Nash's eyes. He had stopped painting - he was just looking at her, his eyes gentle.

"You're right, but easier said than done." Chloe smiled sadly again. "Do you ever wonder how we got here? Like why us? Why did we become Elites when there are hundreds of other students out there who could have gotten our spots?"

"Well, we worked hard. We're smart, talented, and more. It makes sense. Even if people don't want to believe it, we do deserve this treatment because we're the top five. Those hundreds of people could have taken our spot at any time, but they never did because we are the best of the best."

Chloe's eyes drifted back to her painting. The best of the best. It was crazy to think about and sometimes, she didn't understand how she could be part of that group, but Nash was right. They did work hard. They were intelligent and talented. But still, it blew her mind how year after year, they were Elites.

"I hope I'm an Elite again next year," Chloe said. "I'm scared I'll lose everything, but I know I've been first twice. But I don't know... This all seems too good to be true."

"Chloe, I hate to admit this, but you are one of the most hardworking, intelligent people I know," Nash said. "You will never not be an Elite. If anything, the rest of us should be worried."

"You're scared of losing everything?"

"Of course. Why do you think I try so hard to beat you? I need to keep getting better. I need to make sure this isn't all temporary."

Chloe's eyes flew wide. Now, Nash stared at his painting. Where Chloe's panting was all sunshine and summer, Nash's was all nightfall and winter.

"You really think your spot could be taken? But you're Nash Andrews. Always so sure of yourself. Alway so confident."

"I think I deserve all this, but I also know that if I don't keep working hard, this could all end."

Nash sighed, rolling his shoulders back. Chloe put her paintbrush down, forgetting about the contest and everything. She just wanted to talk to Nash forever.

"It's stressful, isn't it?" Chloe sighed. "Everyone thinks we're perfect, but honestly being an Elite is stressful. Some of us don't feel like we deserve it, others are scared of losing their spots, and we have people hating us for simply existing. I wish people would understand it's not all rainbows and butterflies."

"I know, but it's like being a celebrity. People think celebrities have everything and hate on them out of envy, but they don't understand how hard it is and that they have their own problems and struggles like any other normal person. People often see what they want to see."

People often see what they want to see. Chloe nodded, the words ringing true. No one knew how hard her home life was. They probably just saw a privilege white girl and assumed she had been given everything on a silver platter.

"But there's no point in stressing over this. As long as I'm an Elite, I'm going to enjoy every last moment of it," Nash said. "We deserve to be treated like royalty because I know all five of us worked hard to be where we are."

Chloe smiled, feeling reassured a bit. He was right. They all did work hard, even if others didn't want to believe it.

They went back to painting in comfortable silence. Nash's house was silent and it felt like only two of them in the giant, vast world and they continued to paint, their colours blending into the canvas smoothly.

After a couple of minutes both of them finished and they grabbed their paintings, making them face their chest as they stood face to face. Chloe looked up Nash, noticing how much taller he was.

"Well, let's reveal our paintings," Nash said.

They both turned their paintings to face each other and Nash's eyes immediately shone at the sight of Chloe's painting. She had painted the beach with a bright blue sky and sandy ground, and laying on the ground was a boy who looked like Nash and a girl who looked like Chloe, admiring the sea in front of them.

Chloe gasped at Nash's painting as well. It was the middle of winter at night and there was a boy and girl throwing snowballs at each other in the middle of a forest, and Chloe's heart stirred at the sight of blonde hair and brown hair. They hadn't planned it, but both of them had painted each other.

"Well, Picasso is about to have some competition." Nash grinned. "Perfection. I rate you painting ten out of ten."

"I can say the same for yours as well," Chloe said, laughing. "Look at us."

"A tie? What do you think."

"Definitely a tie."

Nash grinned and Chloe giggled, and for a moment, they just stared at each other. There was so much Chloe wanted to say, so much she wanted to learn about Nash, but she said nothing. She just let the moment live on longer, basking in the way her and Nash's relationship was evolving.