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“No, wait, you guys?” she objects. “What are we doing? What are you doing? This isn’t—”
I shrug at Zeke. Even if this isn’t how this class is going to go, it’s pretty goddamn funny right now.
“I hope you’ve got enough charcoal,” I shrug as I join my team, stripping down to my boxers in just a couple of seconds.
“Wait, no, shouldn’t we do this one at a time? I mean, I know I am drawing you. But, you guys? All at once? Are you sure?”
“We are a team,” I explain as I climb the podium, fitting myself between Zeke and Diego, trying to keep my dick out of Trevor’s hair.
She looks a little bit shell-shocked, but after a few seconds, something else takes over. She begins to really look at us, really stare. Her gaze goes far away and she stumbles backward, her fingers searching blindly for the small tackle box she brought with her.
With her head angled toward one shoulder, she flips through the pad of paper till she finds a new sheet and sits on the tall stool. Muttering to herself, she begins with broad strokes. I can hear the soft scratching sound of the charcoal on the paper, and the combined sound of our breathing.
As a team, we have a certain kind of rhythm. We have a deep bond too. We are like brothers. Standing around naked in an art classroom is not something I would have ever predicted, but it is not any weirder than snapping each other with towels in the showers after football practice.
Actually, it’s pretty similar. We fit together well. We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses.
But right now, I can’t stop watching Lindy. Her fierce concentration. The slicing motion of her long, tanned arm. The way she seems to be alert and asleep at the same time.
That’s it. That’s the woman I saw last night on the dance floor. Someone totally overtaken by forces she has mastered, but probably doesn’t even realize are there. She’s channeling some kind of deity or something. Something bigger than herself.
Biting her lower lip, she stabs at the paper repeatedly, then steps back to squint at it. Little smudges of charcoal appear on her cheeks, giving her an even more serious expression.
I don’t know how long it takes, because minutes begin to slip by. I can’t stop watching her. Eventually she stands back and hums to herself, a wide smile spreading across her cheeks.
“Is that it? Did you do it?” Trevor asks.
“You know what? I think so,” she practically trills.
“Can we look at it?” Zeke asks, walking naked across the room. There is a big red mark on his hip where he was resting against the pedestal and Diego elbows me and points at it, smirking.
“Oh, wow,” Trevor breathes. “Guys, come look at this.”
Gradually we all cross the floor toward her, gathering around her. I’m aware that it’s another strange scene, four naked men surrounding a single, much smaller female who barely notices we are there. But when I see the drawing, it practically blows me away.
“See, it’s the way the figures relate,” she explains in a hushed tone, fanning her fingers out and waving them in front of the paper. “Like, I don’t know why I never thought of this before. It’s not about the individual. It’s about the group dynamic. It’s about the intersections, you know what I mean?”
“Definitely,” Zeke answers.
But I don’t know what to say. It’s gorgeous. It’s… weird.
I can’t say that out loud because it’s not like I’m trying to offend her, but it is incredibly strange. I don’t just see myself, I see myself. I see all of us. Even though the shapes twist and overlap and fold together in ways that don’t necessarily even look human. Yet, there’s truth in there. It’s real.
“I never did anything like this before,” she breathes.
“It’s fantastic,” Diego grins.
“I think it’s going to be a very productive semester,” I simply add.
Chapter 10
LINDY
Iam going to be so pissed if Dean Rhodes turns out to be right.
I mean, I will be ecstatic, probably? Maybe eventually? But in the short-term I am going to be pissed.
I don’t like being manipulated. I mean, who does? But I really don’t like when people shine me on in order to get me to do something. When I was a four-year-old kid, I busted my parents out about that Santa Claus nonsense.
