Watercolor (3 page)

He caught my chin, forcing me to meet his blue eyes. “Those guys wouldn’t be dumb enough to try something at our school. If anything did happen, it would be out somewhere.”

“That’s not very encouraging.”

He leaned in and kissed me again, softer. “Chances are better nothing’s going to happen.”

I took a deep breath and nodded. Then he took off as I headed into English class. If Julian was right, there wasn’t much point worrying. I looked around the room—all the same faces with one notable exception. English was the class Jack and I had shared last semester, and the one topic that had brought us together. Sitting at my desk, my eyes flickered to the door, and clear as a bell in my memory, I could see him standing there, blue eyes shining, messy blonde hair, perfectly handsome face. He called me a sexy librarian. My throat tightened, but I clenched my jaw. I was
not
doing this. Jack was gone, and even if he wasn’t, I didn’t care. I was with Julian now.

Glancing to his old seat, I caught the eye of a large-nosed female classmate now sitting there. She smiled awkwardly, and I smiled back before blinking down. The absurdity of it all made me laugh. The tension in my shoulders loosened, and I straightened up, looking around the class. Summer Daigle watched me from the back corner, so I waved. She smiled. Mrs. Bowman walked in and began speaking, and I dragged out my composition book.

After first period, I waited for Summer as my fellow classmates all pushed into the hall.

“Oh, hey, Anna,” she said. Summer always sounded like she was in a daze.

“Hi!” I said, turning to walk with her. “How’s your year going? We didn’t see each other much first semester.”

“Yeah. You’re like a different person now.” She studied the floor ahead of us. “Are you still dating Jack Kyser?”

I kept my voice light. “No, he graduated and moved to New Orleans. He’s at Tulane now.”

“You used to look at him like he was a god.”

How embarrassing!
“Umm… I did? I guess I really liked him.”

“That must’ve been why he was so into you,” she stopped at her locker and started dialing. “It was like you worshipped him or something.”

My jaw dropped. “I’d like to think he dated me for more than that,” I recovered. “And I don’t know that I
worshipped
him.”

“If you say so.” She stared into the open space.

I’d had enough of this misstep. “Well, later, Summer. I’ll tell Gabi we have class together,” I turned to leave, but she caught me.

“You still talk to Gabi?” Her forehead was lined. “I figured you were too cool for her now.”

Everything in my head was screaming to disengage. “Why would you think that?”

“Because you’re hanging out with Rachel and Brad. I don’t think you talked to me once last fall.”

I was starting to see why. “I guess I was a little distracted. But I’m talking to you now! See you in class tomorrow?”

She shrugged. “Whatever.”

I nodded and took off, realizing I was completely wrong about Summer. She wasn’t quirky, she was just plain weird. And rude. Nobody said stuff like that to another person. She was practically insulting me. What was wrong with her? Me worshipping Jack. Me too cool for Gabi…

“You’re ticked.” It was Julian. “And where’s the fire? Slow down.”

“I just attempted to have a conversation with Summer Daigle.”

He laughed out loud. “Talk about speaking your mind. That girl is crazy.”

“I know! What’s wrong with her?” I was at my locker, dialing angrily. “Is she on drugs or something?”

“Don’t think so.” Julian slung his arm across my shoulders. “What did she say? Something about your hair?”

My eyes flew wide. “What’s wrong with my hair?” Quickly I snatched the band off my wrist to tie back my light brown curls. “Is it big?”

“Your hair looks great. Stop it.” Julian took the band away. “I was just trying to guess how she could’ve pissed you off.”

I exhaled and dropped my hands. “She said something about me being too cool to talk to Gabi…”

“You still talk to Gabi?” His forehead creased.

“Julian!” I shoved his shoulder, and he laughed again.

“No, I’m really surprised.” He caught my hand, still grinning. “Not because you’re cool or anything.”

“Thanks.”

“Seriously. I think it’s nice you guys keep up. I liked Gabi.”

The feeling was very mutual
, I thought. “I need to call her, actually,” I said.

“Hey, so Ms. Clayton busted me coasting through Algebra II,” he said, still holding my hand. “Gave me the final for the mid-term and I aced it. Now I’m in advanced math.”

“With me?” I couldn’t stop the big smile on my face, but just as fast, I frowned. “You can’t flunk it.”

“I’ll try,” he reached up and tugged a curl. “But you know how distracting you can be.”

We arrived at class just as Mrs. Harris stepped out the door. “Party’s over. Break it up and find your seats.”

For the first half of the class, I kept fighting the urge to glance at him. It was our first class together as a couple, and now when I looked at him, he looked… yummy. The next time I glanced back, he caught my eye and made a face. I nearly laughed, and Mrs. Harris asked me to repeat what she’d said. I had no idea. When I glanced again, Julian’s eyes were very disapproving. I giggled and started taking notes. Everything felt brighter now, and I was convinced final semester was going to rock.

Chapter 3

Mom was digging in a kitchen cabinet with half her body inside the lower shelf when I got home. I dropped my books on the table and went over to her.

“What are you doing” I asked.

She screamed and banged her head. “Anna! You do
not
sneak up on people like that.”

My eyebrows flew up. “I threw my books on the table as loud as I possibly could! What are you hiding?”

“I’m not hiding anything.” She crawled out, groaning and rubbing her back. “I’m trying to find my lasagna pan.”

I grabbed a box of crackers out of the cabinet. “Dad threw it out. Said it was making him fat or something.”

“Your dad is vain,” she complained, dusting her hands. “And I want lasagna.”

“You kids’ll have to work this one out yourselves,” I teased. Mom rolled her eyes and went back to digging.

“So Julian’s having this big reception in Darplane next Tuesday,” I started, “and he asked if I’d go with him.”

“The one at the Athletic Center? That’s going to be such a big deal for him.
And
it’s outside South County, which is huge. Wish I could go.”

My brows pulled together. “Why can’t you go?”

At that she stood up, sighing. “I’m changing out the featured artist’s work at the association. I said I’d do it, and now I’m stuck. Everyone’s going to Darplane.”

“Well, Julian will be very disappointed.” I hopped up on the counter. “I think he likes you better than me.”

She laughed and shook her head. “Julian’s a flirt. You keep your eyes on him.”

“With pleasure!” I smiled, crunching a cracker. “So can I go?”

“Of course!” she grabbed a cracker and leaned against the bar. “You’ll have to dress up. And you’ll probably be out late.” I nodded, and she continued. “But it’s cultural education. And he should be able to get you home by eleven.”

“Okay!” I jumped down excited. “I’ll let him know.”

“Hang on, young lady. One thing,” she gave me a stern look. “They have champagne at those events, and you do
not
have permission to drink it.”

“Oh,” I exhaled, my shoulders dropping. “Mom. I’m sure they’ll have people watching us, and we’re obviously underage.”

“Still,” she continued. “Adults at these things might be irresponsible. They think because it’s Julian’s big night, it’s okay for him to have champagne, and it’s not. You guys have a long drive back.”

I chewed my lip, thinking about Julian and Brad’s flask swapping. “I never drink, Mom.” Silently adding
now.
The night of the car crash, when Julian almost died had totally cured me.

“Good.” She patted my shoulder. “And if Julian does, you drive.”

That I could answer with confidence. “Deal.”

“A-ha!” She pulled out a long, rectangular pan and set it on the counter.

I grinned. “I’m going upstairs. Call me when the evil lasagna’s ready.”

“Oh, it won’t be til tomorrow.” She went to the sink and turned on the faucet. “I’ve got to soak the noodles and get everything ready. I just wanted to be sure I had the pan. We’re ordering pizza tonight.”

“Mom!” I rolled my eyes and ran upstairs as my phone rang. It was my boss from the paper, Nancy Riggs. “Nancy, Hi!”

“Hey, Anna!” I could hear her smiling. “You coming back this semester?”

“Of course!” I flopped on my bed. “I was going to drop by this week and see if you still wanted me or if you were planning to find someone else.”

“No way! You were the best student intern we’ve had in a while. I’d never have gotten those archives on the computer if you hadn’t done all that extra work.”

Nancy had no clue I’d discovered the secret of Julian’s parents, and working in the archives was a big part of confirming what I’d suspected. “It just made sense,” I said. “We were doing that insert, and it made finding things so much easier.”

“And,” she continued. “You were able to get Alex LaSalle to agree to that interview. Normally, it takes years to develop the skills to bag a reluctant subject. You even had Bill Kyser ready to work with you.”

Chewing my lip, I didn’t answer. Nancy also didn’t know they’d agreed to the interviews in an effort to silence what I knew about Julian. Even though I hadn’t threatened them. I’d only told them I wished
they
would tell Julian the truth, which had led his mom into full panic-mode. I shook my head.

“You know Curtis has connections at the
Times-Picayune
. The New Orleans paper?” I could hear her pencil tapping on her desk. “He could probably help you get a student job while you’re at Loyola next year. He might even be able to get you some scholarship money. You’re majoring in journalism, right?”

“Oh my god, yes!” I cried. “But I haven’t been accepted yet.”

I’d applied to all the New Orleans schools last fall when I’d discovered Jack was going to Tulane. A few weeks later, we had broken up, but my applications were already in the mail.

“Oh, you will be,” Nancy said with confidence. “I’ll make a note to talk to him about it. So when can you start?”

“When do you need me?”

“School just started back?” Her voice grew thoughtful. “How ’bout you get in your groove and check in once you’re ready. Say a few weeks?”

“Sure! Hey, I’m going with Julian LaSalle to that reception at the Athletic Center. Maybe I could start then?”

“I need someone to take pictures there,” she said. “I’ll pay you if we’re able to print them. And you’ll get a photo credit, so do a good job.”

My chest was bursting with excitement. “Done! And I’ll stick my head in this week.”

“No pressure,” Nancy said with a laugh. “And same deal, right? Five hours a week?”

“Or more, I guess.”

We hung up, and I almost squealed. If I got a decent picture in the paper, that was another clip for my portfolio.
Thank you, Julian!
I flopped on my bed and pulled out my books.

School was buzzing with Julian’s big event by Thursday, and even the morning announcements gave him a little shout out. “So your mom’s cool with you being out late tonight, right?” he asked as we made our way to calculus.

I nodded. “Of course! She said something about how we shouldn’t have any trouble being home by eleven.”

His lips pressed into a frown. “There goes the fake breakdown.”

“Julian!” I laughed. He grinned, catching my hand and pulling it to his lips. My insides warmed and my bottom lip caught in my teeth. I loved when he kissed me.

“I’ll pick you up,” he said. “And I’m the star so dress hot.”

I pulled up close to him, his lips still hovering over my fingers. “I think I know how to dress for an art reception.”

He grinned. “I’m sure you do.”

Ms. Harris appeared, and we dropped hands, stepping into class. Our math teacher didn’t tolerate celebrities, but it didn’t matter. The reception was going to be amazing.

Chapter 4

Julian’s knock was right on time. Dad was out of town, and Mom had stayed at the association to work on the art display. I pulled up my long black skirt and carefully jogged down the stairs in my heels, but when I opened the door, I froze. Julian was dressed in jeans and a white tee, a black leather jacket and chucks.

“What are you wearing?” I said.

He shrugged. “I’m the artist. I went for quirky.”

“You look like a rocker.”

He nodded, looking down. “That’s cool. A lot of artists start bands.”

My lips pressed together as I evaluated my conservative outfit. I looked like I was headed to the opera. “I’ve got to change.”