The Earth Painter (24 page)

“No. I’ve got a lunch meeting with… with…?” I didn’t want to hurt his feeling by calling out another guy’s name. “…the guy who works up in the catwalk. You know up where they hang the scenery?”

He frowned a bit. “Oh. OK. I was hoping to talk with you over lunch about Ms. Jones’s strange last minute decision.”

“Maybe later.”

I entered the auditorium and ran down the aisle, up the steps, then put the paper bag in my mouth to climb the ladder. I walked into Theo’s place to see Bio and Theo still going at it. Neither of them saw me at first.

“For the life of me, I don’t get why you felt the need to interfere? You’ve never crossed lines like you have lately. Is it too much idleness? It makes the humans nuts. We all know Fritz is nuts now. Is that what’s happening to you? You know better.” Bio paced with his arms flailing.

Theo sat in a chair not bothering to look at Bio. “I’m not sure. It just didn’t look right or feel right. Like the pandas. I had to do something.”

Bio was in Theo’s face again. “I don’t like your ideas for the pandas, but the pandas were yours first so you might get a say but…” Bio noticed me standing in the doorway and stopped.

Theo looked up and jumped up to greet me. “Holly! Hey. Glad you came. Good work today.”

Bio pointed at Theo. “I’m looking forward to Fritz getting his, but you…watch yourself. The Sculptor will defend what is his even more than you do.”

I looked over at him,
then
up at Theo. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

Theo pulled me in with him.
“Non-sense.
Bio and I are done here.”

Bio’s hands fell defeated to his side, and he walked out the back door.

I looked after him. “What was all that?”

Theo waved it off.
“Just a difference of opinion.
So what did you want to talk about?”

“Well…” I sat down at the table and spread out my lunch. “I was thinking that a good way to throw Fritz off would be to attend a school board meeting and have the board dismiss me. You know, like I didn’t know. Make a big show like I’ve actually been defeated and like I believe it
and have given up. That way maybe he will be less likely to snoop around and find out about the plans with the city council for after they knock the school down.”

Theo sat down across from me. “Sounds like a great idea. When’s the next meeting?”

“Saturday,” I answered around bites of apple.

“I’ll go with you.
Just in case you don’t notice Fritz.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes before he spoke again. “If there is ever anything I can do for you, let me know. Paint a sunset. Paint a room.” He looked off with a strange look on his face. “As long as it’s painting, I can do it. If you need something else, I’m pretty useless.”

I dipped a piece of celery into the nut butter and took a bite. “Maybe you could help me with something.”

Theo perked up to listen.

“
Nahh
.
Never mind.”
I took another bite.

“Well, at least ask.”

I bit my lip. I suddenly felt like I might choke. Like something large was caught in my throat. “Well, what if you gave me my first kiss? I mean you’ve seen plenty of them in the halls here. You’ve copied eating and other human things.”

Theo just stared at me at first. “Kiss you?”

I heard a loud tapping. It took me a minute to realize it was my foot tapping nervously against the floor. “I’ve never kissed anyone before. I’m afraid I’ll get it wrong on opening night. This way, my real first kiss can be in private and not in front of a crowd.” And so my first kiss can be with you.

Theo looked past me for a few seconds. His forehead wrinkled.
“Hmmm.
I don’t see why not. Do you want to do it now?”

I felt my eyes pop open super wide. I wasn’t ready. “No. Not right now.” I wanted it to be different.
In a better setting.
Maybe at sunset, with candlelight and soft music, or some other cheesy place first kisses were supposed to happen.

Theo only shrugged. “Ok. Whenever. Just let me know.”

And that was it. I finished my lunch and went to class planning my first kiss thinking it still wasn’t quite what I’d dreamed of since childhood. The guy was supposed to want to kiss me not just be willing to.

Chapter 24

When I got to work that afternoon, my thoughts were not there with me. I closed my eyes to lick an envelope and thought of Theo’s stormy eyes inches from mine looking at me the way he did. I felt extraordinary when he looked at me—special, important. Everything I’d never felt until he looked at me. I paused after licking the envelope and imagined what his lips would taste like and sighed. “Holly, are you alright?” Martha’s voice got my attention.

“Yes,” I answered too quickly. “Why do you ask?” I licked another envelope and placed a stamp on it.

“Well you look a bit flushed, and you’ve sealed and stamped a stack of empty envelopes.”

I looked down to see I had not only sealed and stamped the mail, but most of the box of empty envelopes. “Oh
my gosh
. I’m so sorry.” I tried to peel off the stamps, but couldn’t. The envelopes were sealed too so they couldn’t be saved for the next mailing.

“Just cut off the stamps and we’ll glue them to the next envelopes.”

I grabbed the scissors and started cutting them stamps out. “I’m so sorry. I’ll pick up another box of envelopes when I run to the post office—on me.”

Martha laughed and sat down at her desk. “Don’t worry about it. How did you like the almond butter and fruits and veggies I packed today?”

I looked up at her, eyes wide open.
“Ma’am?”

She laughed again. “Girl, I know everything. Wayne’s mom and I go way back. She told me about Wayne’s arrangement with Anthony for lunch a long time ago.”

I stared at her. “Does Anthony know?”

“No. I thought it was a smart tactic on his part. I told him if he wanted to eat school lunch he had to pay for it himself. He earns his lunch money and avoids an argument with me. But Wayne had nothing to feed his mice today. He’s kind of upset about how it will affect his research.” She laughed and shook her head as she sat down.

Nothing got past this woman. “What else do you know?”

Mrs. Strickland got up and walked to her fax machine. “I know whatever has your head someplace else has something to do with a boy.”

I put down the scissors and glared at her. She did know everything “Who told you that?”

“I’m a woman, and I used to be young. No one has to tell me some things.”

I sat back in my chair and let out a sigh. “I’m crazy about this guy, but he…he…” I swallowed and looked down. “He likes me as a friend—not the way I like him.”

“Do I know this boy?”

The conversation I had with Anthony about his mom shot through my head. “No ma’am. He’s the guy who paints the fish camp. I met him in drama class. He’s a great guy. But he says he can’t feel that way about anyone.”

She nodded an “Oh. He’s got baggage closing him off to love. Believe me, I get that.”

I guess that was as close as I could explain. “Yeah, something
like
that. But he makes me feel smart and pretty.”

I thought about who I had become since meeting Theo. Drama.
My new job.
Standing up to my mom.
“He brings out the best in me and wants the best for me. He’s…being with him is so different from anything I’ve ever known in my life. And with all his inability to love, he makes
me feel more loved than my parents ever have. I’ve tried not to feel this way about him, but I can’t help it. Just the way he looks at me makes me love him. I can’t control it.” Tears were dripping down my cheek by then.

Martha stood, took a tissue from the box on her desk and brought it to me. “You’ve got it bad, don’t you?”

I nodded as I wiped my tears.

“You know—my husband was in love with me for two years before I ever gave him a romantic thought. I had baggage too. Thought I was too smart for love. To me, it was for the weak. I was sure I didn’t need anybody. But I was wrong. Everybody needs somebody. We’re just wired that way. You just hold on. If it’s meant to be—it will be.”

She took the envelopes from me. “Why don’t you go by the Bantam Chef, get you a nice big hot fudge sundae?”

I looked at her, feeling my forehead scrunch. Was she encouraging me to eat junk food?

“Yes, I’m encouraging you to eat junk food. You had a very healthy lunch so it will be ok. Sometimes chocolate is needed.” She said the last part with a big smile.

She spun my desk chair around and handed me my purse. “Go. And I’ll see you Saturday at the meeting. Are you sure you still want the well brought up? I was going to let them know it was dead before the meeting started.”

I smiled as I stood. “No, I want to give my speech.
Even if it accomplishes nothing.
Just to show
that I can.”

“Alright then.
Now go.”

I did as she said. I even got extra fudge. I sat in the back near the restrooms and enjoyed the hot, gooey fudge and the cold, creamy ice cream.

When I closed my eyes, my thoughts of kissing Theo returned. The fudge and ice cream and the alone time got my brain going. I had the perfect plan.
Candles.
Alone with Theo. Charleston.

But there were other thoughts.
Unpleasant ones.
Ones I refused to think about because they took
me off my high. What would happen after the kiss? When I’d put my heart out there, grabbed hold of Theo and kissed him and then… He’d still be the earth painter with his limited emotions. My lips on his would feel like lips touching lips. Not soul touching soul.

I pushed the thought back. What ever happened after would happen. I would think about the kiss.
Dream about the kiss.
Plan it to the very last detail to make it perfect. Even if the perfection vanished into nothing the moment it was over. I wanted this. And I didn’t really care about the aftermath, at the moment.

***

At the afternoon rehearsal, I asked Theo to drop by my house around six thirty. My dad was taking my mom to Bella Rose for dinner over in Cooley Springs. We would have the house to ourselves. And then I asked him, “Are you sure you don’t mind doing this?”

Theo shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. It’s just a kiss. I’ve seen them done here a million times. I think I’ve got the mechanics of it down.”

Bio was nearby. His eyes grew wide as he glared at the two of us. I didn’t stick around to hear his disapproval.

I rushed home and jumped in the shower. The water hit me, and I shook as if cold, even though the water was steaming. My stomach lurched, and I thought I might be sick. I hadn’t planned on this attack of nerves.

I got
out,
stepping carefully to make sure I didn’t slip and fall from my trembling. I scrunched my hair with the frizz serum and applied my make up lightly. Just a little mascara and lip gloss to finish it.

I went to my room and pulled a fitted aqua sweater the same color as my eyes. It was wide necked and scooped from my shoulders to my upper chest. It didn’t dip far enough to show anything really. It was long, so I wore it with a pair of skinny jeans and a wide belt.

My mom knocked on the door before opening it. “We’re off. Do you want us to bring you back a plate?” Then she looked at me. “Are you going somewhere?”

I shook my head. “No, but a friend from drama is coming by to rehearse a scene.” It was sort of true.

Mom eyed me up and down disapprovingly. “I know the wide neck is fashionable, but I don’t think it’s for you.”

I looked in the mirror. It was a good color on me.
“Really?
I like it.”

“Remember why I never entered you in pageants? I’d have gone broke on body makeup. Turtlenecks are your best bet and cake makeup does a better job than that mineral makeup you’ve switched to.” Mom’s lips pursed and her nose wrinkled as she glared at me with disapproval.

I eyed myself in the mirror again. The sweater suddenly looked different. No, it wasn’t the sweater, I looked different. Maybe I would change. I made my way to my closet to find
something else, but then I remembered who I was dressing up for. The thought of Theo and the way he looked at me—so differently than my mom’s scrutiny. He always looked at me with wonder in his eyes. I turned back around and looked at myself again. “I’m freckled Mom. And I’m okay with that. And I like this sweater”

Mom shook her head. “At least tie a scarf around your neck to cover them up a little. Being all liberated is one way for the aesthetically challenged to deal with what life’s handed them, but in truth, you’d be better off learning to do the best with what God gave you.”

Why did my mom have to be such a snotty …? I took a deep breath and bit my lips shut. I could say something hurtful back, knock her down a peg but I didn’t want to get my highs the way she did. My biggest hang up had always been not measuring up to my mom’s standards of perfection. But to my relief, I no longer wanted to be like my mom. In fact, I wanted to be nothing like her. All my life I’d felt inferior to her and her beauty and social skills, but not anymore.