Glow by Megan E. Bryant

Author:Megan E. Bryant
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2017-10-19T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

For almost a week, I spent every spare moment in the dark, filling a blank canvas with swirls of stars in all shapes and sizes; constellations only I could see; a glowing universe of my own making. It would take courage to cover them with an opaque night, painting heavy clouds to obscure all that light, but I wanted to believe in the promise of stars. Even when you couldn’t see them, you knew that they were there.

More than that, this canvas was my last hope to find out how LG had made her paintings. I’d tried every other combination I could think of. If she hadn’t used oil paint over a hidden glowing image, then I was out of ideas. That’s why I called in sick on Friday; I couldn’t wait any longer to find out if it would work. Not one more day, not one more hour.

I needed the lights on for what came next. Palette in hand, I swirled around blues and blacks, purples and grays. Sucking the hope out of color was a delicate kind of chemistry, but eventually I hit on just the right formulas, mixing shades that were heavy and humid, thick and bleak. Then I took a deep breath and started hiding my stars. I had most of the canvas covered with a layer of night when there was a knock, and my door swung open.

“I see the lights are on,” Lauren said as she strode into my room uninvited. “That’s an improvement.”

“Um, hi to you too,” I replied, trying not to frown. How did Lauren know that? I was about to ask when—

“Come on,” she said, yanking open my closet door and walking right in as if she owned it. “It’s totally gorgeous today, and I’m taking you out. But you need to change first. Let’s go. Get up.”

“No thanks,” I said, smushing more purple into the puddle of blue on my palette. “Maybe tomorrow.”

“Up,” Lauren said again, shoving a tank dress at me. “You seriously need to get out. Let’s go shopping.”

“I went out last night.”

“What, to work? Not good enough. Come on, Jules. It’s so depressing in here, all stuffy and messy and—”

“Could you not boss me?” I snapped. “For like five minutes of my life, could you please let me be?”

Lauren stared at me, icy and unblinking.

“I’m here for you,” she said. “I’m doing this for you.”

Suddenly I saw everything the way she did: my paint-splattered shirt, my oily hair, my messy room reeking of paint and turpentine. I closed my eyes and pinched the bridge of my nose. Pinched hard.

“I’m sorry,” I said, my eyes still shut. “You’re right. I just wanted to—”

Lauren’s hand was gentle on my arm. “You need to get out,” she said. “Come on. It’ll be fun. I’ll clean your brush.”

“Thanks,” I said as Lauren took it away. I snuck one more glance at my painting. It would be okay until I got back; oil takes weeks to fully dry. That’s what I love most about oil paint.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.