Page 17 of The Art of Us

Fixing herself up felt good though. Maybe that was the point. Instead of looking nice for other people, maybe you fixed yourself up to look good for you. It was an idea she could get behind.

In spite of the day having been productive and her feeling good about it, by the time evening rolled around, her anxiety spiked all over again. She could still see that message scrawled on herwall as if it had been seared into her brain—as if it were still there on the wall, which was entirely more distressing. She locked herself in her bathroom but then wondered if the moment it would take to unlock the door would be her undoing when the poltergeist decided to come after her.

Stop that!she admonished herself. “No poltergeist is coming to get you.” But the statement took several hours of repeating over and over to herself along with all sorts of breathing exercises to calm her heart enough for her to go to sleep. And even then, her dreams were fitful and brimming with things chasing her, catching her, clawing at her curly hair; and when she saw the creatures who were after her, there was bright pink lipstick smeared over their faces as if a child had tried to make them look pretty and failed.

Ireland had never been more grateful for school than she had after a weekend of being in her own head. She needed the company of others. So when she slid into her seat and saw Kal smiling at her, her heart rate leveled off for the first time in days.

“Hey there,” he said.

“Hey.” There were a lot of things Ireland could have said. She could have asked after his weekend. She could have thanked him again for letting her watch him and his band play and sharing their dinner with her. She could have asked if he got the homework assignment done. But all she managed was that one word. She felt all the stupidity of wanting desperately to talk to someone all weekend and then not knowing how when the opportunity finally showed up.

Luckily, Kal was not as tongue-tied as she was.

“It was really great having you there to see us play. Thanks for coming and supporting us. It’s good business if it looks like we have friends who can bring customers to the restaurant.”

“I didn’t exactly bring customers.”

He waved away her protest. “It always looks good for therestaurant to look full. It makes it seem like a hot spot and encourages people to come back. It’s totally a FOMO thing.”

“Glad I could help?” Ireland hated that it sounded like a question. But she wasn’t entirely sure that he wasn’t just making stuff up about her helping the restaurant. She didn’t want to be anybody’s charity case. But she also didn’t want to look too deeply at the possibility that shewasa charity case. Because what she really wanted was a friend, and she didn’t want to sabotage that by overanalyzing.

Kal was tapping an art pencil on his desk before he blurted out, “I have a favor to ask. So I’m in charge of this art project for Wasden’s class. And I’m thinking I could use some help. It’s pretty intense, and it’s going to require a lot of support from students. And I could use somebody who loves art the way I think you love it. What do you say? Want to be on my art team?” He waited expectantly as if she would be excited about whatever this project was, but he hadn’t saidwhatit was.

The image that came to her mind was the lipstick on her bathroom wall. Maybe the art project had already started, and she was a victim of it.Stop that,she thought. Kal was not running around sabotaging her life in the woods. In the first place, he had no idea where she was living. In the second place, he was not a villain. She was a pretty good judge of people, so she was sure of that. She smiled at him.

“So? Why are you smiling at me like that?”

This time, the smile felt like it went all the way down to her toes. “You haven’t actually told me what this art project is. So how am I supposed to know if I want to be involved or not?”

Kal’s olive complexion took on a much rosier hue. Blushing. Ireland hadn’t been aware that men could blush, since she’d never seen it. His blush warmed her up inside.

“Right. Sorry about that,” he said. “So, Wasden put me in charge of doing something that would bring the student bodytogether, whether they were artistically inclined or not. And it seems a mural would be an amazing way for all of us to kind of get to know one another better. A chance to be creative. I want to create a mural that anyone can add their creative flair to. What do you think?”

“Sounds pretty straightforward. What would you need me to do? Hang the butcher paper?” She couldn’t see how she could help with this at all.

“Not paper. We’re doing this on the actual wall. It’s going to be a semipermanent part of our school. At least, it will be if I can get permission. What you will do is help me get the wall ready. Then you and I will put the very first art projects on the wall. That way we can kind of show students what to expect.”

It was hard not to be suspicious. Why would he pick her? It’s not like she was in the advanced art classes. Wasn’t Kal in the art club? Didn’t he have people in the art club with him who would expect to be part of a project like that? Ireland wasn’t sure if it was because she looked skeptical and probably more than a little suspicious, but Kal interrupted her wandering thoughts.

“I chose you for this because I’ve seen what you can do. You have an incredible amount of talent. I don’t know why you’re not in the advanced art classes. But I think it’s okay for the world to see that you’ve got a lot going on. Artistically speaking.”

He added that last part in a rush. His complexion went rosy again. It struck her that maybe he liked her. Likelike-liked her. Why else would he be blushing? That was new. But she was probably reading more into things than she needed to. Maybe he just was incredibly shy and didn’t like talking to people. But if he was shy, how could he get up on a stage and play a guitar and sing?

She did an inner eye roll. She was overthinking things. Maybe he just had a fever or a flu or had eaten some chili peppers before class or whatever.

Kal was looking at her expectantly. That’s right. She hadn’t answered him yet. She did another inward eye roll. “Yeah. Sure. I can help with that.”

“Great! I think we should get started right after school. Sorry if you have plans or if that’s too soon or something. If it is, we can totally rework it, but I think the sooner the better, right?”

Ireland thought about the fact that some girls played weird games where they made themselves unavailable so that it looked like they were aloof. Maybe she should have said, “Yeah, sorry. I do have plans. How about three days from now.” But she didn’t really see the point in that sort of thing. If you were available, you should say you’re available. And if you’re not, then say you’re not. It was something she hated about her dad. The man never said what he meant. He only ever said the things that got him what he wanted. He was a master manipulator. Ireland was never going to be that person. “I’m totally available after school. Let’s get this started.”

Kal seemed pleased and, for whatever reason, that pleased her as well.

After school, Ireland was making her way to the front hall when she overheard female voices from around the corner. “So? Details! Spill the tea, girl. How was he at the clambake?”

Ireland recognized the voice. It was Emily, the hag in Mara’s “shrew, hag, and harpy” group.

The voice that answered was also one she recognized, Mara Washington’s. “He was ... fine.”

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