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I put my apron on, knowing my mom will freak if I get paint on my very expensive clothing. I don’t know how to handle her when she yells and cries. Apparently, telling her I’ll just throw them out is the wrong answer. I grab my paintbrushes off the drying rack and start setting all the paint out that I need before promptly getting to work.
When I paint, I completely miss the world around me. Someone could scream right in my ear, and I probably wouldn’t hear them. That’s how I get lost in my work, not realizing until I hear my stomach growl that Dean has found a chair and seems to have been watching me this entire time.
“Oh, you're still here,” I state. I see his eyes smile again before I set my paintbrush down and remove my apron.
“Yeah, you know, it’s pretty amazing to see what you can do with that paint. I was transfixed from the start,” he tells me, looking over my shoulder at my work.
“Thanks. I’ve heard people tell me I’m great, and I know I’ve got some talent, but I don’t do it for that. It calms my brain. It settles something inside me and seems to be the only time I have any semblance of peace,” I tell him, looking over at what I just created.
“I didn’t know someone could do something like that. I mean, you see it in movies and magazines, but watching you work was absolutely amazing,” he says, and I hear the awe in his voice. I stay quiet, just staring at the piece until he breaks my connection.
“Want to get out of here?” he asks, surprising me.
“Where would we go? School’s still in session. Speaking of, shouldn’t you be in class?” I ask him.
“Eh, let’s just say, the principal and I worked out our own little deal. I don’t have to go to class anymore either, and I’ll still graduate with full credits. He might even throw in a couple of A’s on my transcripts for good measure,” he says with a shrug, but then winks at me before picking up my book bag and walking toward the door.
“How did you get that deal?” I ask curiously, following along.
“I promised not to put anyone else in the hospital until I graduate,” he says softly and shrugs again, this time looking down. I know there’s more to the story, but I'm not sure I want to know regardless of how curious I am.
“Wait, didn’t you break that deal this morning by hitting Eric?” I ask him.
“We’ll see. No one can say for sure if he ended up in the hospital. Plus, the principal wasn’t there this morning in the cafeteria,” he says with a grin and shrugs again like it’s no big deal. I can’t believe he would risk not being able to graduate over me.
