AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You really are going to win. That was a cheap move.”
She’s laughing now. “Sorry to disappoint. Who did you spend time with?”
“My mom,” I say simply.
“And?”
“It was good.”
I don’t get to explain more because there’s a knock on my door and Evie pops her head in.
“You’re needed in room two, Doctor,” she says.
“Ooooh, you’re in trouble,” Lucy says into my ear. “You got caught on your phone.”
“Be right there,” I tell Evie.
I end the call with Lucy, grab my stethoscope, and hang it around my neck before exiting my office, feeling lighter.
Lucy
Wednesday, January 17, 12:34 p.m.
From PlainJane2 to GothamGuardian5:
Current favorite Taylor Swift song is Karma. But what does she mean by karma being a cat? It’s catchy but also confusing.
From GothamGuardian5 to PlainJane2:
Welcome to the T. Swift school of learning. Please, take a seat. Many speculate that it’s about Kanye West, but really it’s about being happy and just letting karma do its thing.
From PlainJane2 to GothamGuardian5:
I still don’t get it.
MORGAN GAVE BOTH GRAHAM AND me points for Monday, which I thought was incredibly unfair, but how could I argue, really. We both spent time with important people; I guess I can see why it was hard for her to pick.
Still, I think I’m ahead, since I won the TikTok dance challenge. I’m only up by a point, though. But I’m about to get another one.
It was great to spend time with Ryan—just he and I, for once. He’s so busy commuting up to Reno a few times a week for his marketing job at a tech company called NexGen. I don’t know the specifics of his role, even though he’s tried to explain it to me multiple times. Last time he tried, I told him he should make a recording of his responsibilities so I can use it to help me fall asleep at night. He didn’t think it was as funny as I did.
“I’m gonna kick your butt, Price,” Graham says. I peek around my canvas to see him sitting on a stool, a look of concentration on his face, a paintbrush in his hand.
Currently, we’re in a classroom at the rec center, taking a painting class. This was Morgan’s challenge today. She wanted to do this one last week, but Graham had to work when the class was offered, so we changed it to tonight.
The teacher, Betty, an older woman with a gray bob and a round face, seemed annoyed when, instead of sitting next to each other, we turned our easels so that we’re facing each other and can’t see what the other person is painting. In the end she let us do it because we paid for this class, and no one else in the class seemed to mind. We’re the youngest people here by probably about forty years.
“Sure,” I respond to Graham, my tone sarcastic. “I don’t know, though; I think mine might be better than Van Gogh’s.”
He makes a snorting noise at that, and I go back to working on the moon I’ve already spent too much time on.
We’re re-creating The Starry Night, by the famous painter. This is a beginner’s class, and our teacher, Betty, gave us initial instruction, taught us how to properly use our brushes and how to do some different kinds of brushstrokes, and then let us go on our own to make some magic.
Betty comes by every once in a while and offers tips. I noticed the furrow in her brow when she looked at Graham’s, so he’s either nailing it and she’s impressed, or he’s butchering it and she’s not sure how to tell him. It could go either way.
Mine’s not better than Van Gogh’s, but I do think I’m nailing it, regardless. I like painting. I can see myself doing this more in the future. It’s cathartic and peaceful, taking brushstrokes and turning them into something.
I lean to the side, looking over at Graham. He’s still got his intense face on, his brows pulled down as he works on his painting. He looks kind of adorable as his teeth nibble his bottom lip as he concentrates. In a T-shirt and jeans, he’d be a great model for my Doctors: They’re Just Like Us! calendar that I’ll never make.
