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I’m going to assume that’s adolescent speech for: thanks but I’m uncomfortable with receiving compliments.
Planting myself on the floor, I pull out another blueprint—the bacon alarm clock. It never got manufactured thanks to Nova, rightly, pointing out the fire hazard that it presented.
I hand it over to Rowan. “This one is tricky.”
“Why is there bacon on it?”
“It’s a bacon alarm clock.”
He scrunches his nose. “A what?”
“Imagine you’re a heavy sleeper and it’s hard to get up in the morning. You’ve bought multiple alarm clocks, but they all scream into your ears while you’re dead to the world. What’s more effective than smelling frying meat in the morning when it’s time to wake up?”
Rowan laughs.
I freeze in shock.
That’s the first time he’s ever laughed with me.
Okay, maybe he’s laughingatme, but it still counts.
“Let me see.” He takes the pencil, eyes my invention and then starts sketching on the back. As he works, his tongue darts out slightly and he seems to get lost in what he’s doing.
I’m amazed at his confidence. When I’m sketching a prototype, I need to be totally alone for a few hours. I turn off my phone, seal all the windows and lock myself in a vacuum of my own thoughts. If someone interrupts me, even if it’s Nova, I get thrown off.
But Rowan doesn’t seem to mind that I’m peering over his shoulder. He completes the design and hands it to me.
This time, the timer is the one with the visual upgrade. The ‘doodles’ that Rowan printed on the machine all have a similar cartoonish style. I’ve never seen animations like that before.
“Did you come up with these characters?” I ask, comparing the two sketches.
He nods and then shows me his sneakers. I glance at the toe and notice the resemblance to the characters on the blueprint.
“Mom used to read me storybooks about fairytale animals. They all had this weird look to them. I kept sketching and sketching what I thought they’d look like in a cartoon and I started liking how they turned out.”
It’s the most he’s ever said to me.
I want to ply him with more questions.
Don’t overdo it, Adam. Play it cool.
I clear my throat and keep my expression neutral. “Is it just drawings or do you paint too?”
“I’m not as good at painting as I am at sketching,” Rowan admits.
“Do you want to learn how to paint?”
He eyes me suspiciously. “Youknow how to paint?”
“Of course not.” I snort. “As you can see by those blueprints, I’m barely good enough to get my point across.”
He smirks.
“My friend Sazuki has his daughter enrolled in an art program for the summer. The school offers sketching, sculpting, and painting classes.” I chuck my chin at the blueprints. “I heard one of the teachers is a famous social media artist.”
“Yeah, right. I bet they’re not that famous.”
“Let me check.” I fish my phone out of my pocket and scroll to the flyer Dejonae sent me. “I’m not sure if you’d be interested, but this is the guy.”
