AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Adorjan Rhodes won a Fulbright grant when she was twenty-seven. Her paintings are in the permanent collections of museums on four continents. Her TED talk was the most downloaded essay on personal creativity and expression in TED talk history.
She’s not just talented, she’s brilliant. She’s the main reason I came to this college, transferring out of my dinky backwater community college with my two-year degree proudly crumpled in my hot little fist.
Coming here was supposed to be a challenge. It was supposed to be the crowning achievement of my education. Mostly because of her.
But she doesn’t actually seem to be trying to make me better.
So, do I trust her?
She reaches across her desk, patting the strained skin of my fists with her fingers.
“You do,” she answers for me. “You trust me, because I trust you. Belinda, it’s going to be fine. You going to take this class and… everything is going to change.”
“Okay,” I choke, totally defeated for the moment. “I’ll try.”
“Be bold,” she advises me with a confident, crimson smirk. “You never know what you can really accomplish unless you’re courageous enough to take chances.”
“Mm-hmm,” I nod emphatically.
“Tear yourself down! Build yourself up again from the ashes!”
“Okay, sounds good,” I answer as I stand up and start walking back toward the door.
“Really gouge out your soul!”
“Okey-dokey then!” I call out just before I close the door behind me, leaving her alone with her deep, transcendently artistic thoughts.
“Thanks for that,” Simon drawls sarcastically, chewing on a plastic coffee stirrer as he twists back and forth in his office chair.
“Is she… always like that?” I dare to ask.
Simon purses his lips and rolls his eyes.
“No, dear,” he drawls. “That’s just for the special ones.”
Was that sarcasm? I can’t tell.
When I get back to the dorm, Jenna is leaning against the corkboard with an open stapler, banging the end against a sheaf of photocopied papers. She hands me a claw-shaped staple remover.
“Glee club, eh?” I comment wryly. “Are you auditioning?”
“Mmmmmm, probably not,” she grunts as she bangs the corners with the stapler.
“Why not? You do everything else.”
“Oh, ha ha ha,” she drawls. “Just pull out those extra staples, Lindy.”
I like the staple remover, but it is leaving gouges in the soft surface. Finally I give up and just use my fingernails.
“Don’t you need a club for your transcript? How else will you get into the best master’s program in the country?”
She pauses and stands back, pursing her lips thoughtfully.
“Actually…”
“Jeez, Jenna, no!” I laugh. “I was just kidding. How will you find the time?”
“Shit, I don’t know,” she groans, finally giving up and ripping the paper off, then starting over. “But you’re right, a club would probably make me look better for a fellowship or something.”
