Page 37 of Eye of the Hurricane
Katherine’s front door swings open and just as I’m ready to jump up and protect her, she groans, dropping her forehead to my chest.
“It’s Luna, we have keys to each others places.” Well, at least it’s not the evil burglar-murderer that I had in my head.
“Kat! I was in the neighborhood and had to piss, so I let myself in,” Luna yells across the house. All we can hear is a sprint to the bathroom, we look at each other and laugh.
“I have company!” Kat calls back out to her. Luna walks in a few moments later, entirely unfazed by my presence.
“I know, I saw Pretty Boy’s car in your driveway,” she says with a shrug. She walks over and sits down on the chair across from us. Katherine and I both sit up.
“Pretty Boy?” I question, pointing to myself.
“Oh, come on. You know you’re pretty,” Luna remarks.
“Hear that, Kat? I’m pretty.” I nudge her with my elbow and she gives me a fake scoff, rolling her eyes.
“So, are you going to make me ask?” Luna asks, pointing first to me, then to Kat. I know how to take a hint.
“I’ll go so you two can hang out and talk. I want to meet with Professor Vines today, anyways.” Katherine just gives me an unsure nod. I feel bad leaving without having a full conversation about last night. We can’t talk about it in front of Luna, though, and she’s making herself cozy in that corner.
“I’ll call you later, yeah?” Kat nods again, with more conviction this time. I stand up, slip my shirt over my head and without thinking I lean down, dropping a kiss on her lips. To my surprise she kisses me back, despite her best friend being here.
Luna’s eyes are wide and dancing with surprise, but also delight. Katherine is blushing. The sight of her blushing has become one of my favorite things in the world. I like the effect I have on her, I also like the way she looks with pink cheeks.
“Heard I owe you a thank you,” I say, addressing Luna. I shoot her a wink and then I walk out the door, letting the girl talk commence.
I’ve been around Audra and Ravyn enough to know what that room sounds like right now. I imagine Luna is demanding details and Katherine is reluctantly giving them, followed by squeals and gasps. Thinking of Katherine that way makes me smile.
I shoot an email to Professor Vines asking if she’s in office and to my luck, she is. I start my car and drive to campus to meet with her. Maybe it’s stupid to run the picture I took just this morning straight to my professor, but I’m so sure of this one.
My walk to her office is quiet and calm, and I let myself savor it a little. Mostly because I know it’s likely the last peaceful walk in I’ll have for a while. Next week, the fall semester starts and these halls will be filled again.
The bright yellows and overall sunshine aesthetic of Vines’ office turns my memory into a flashback of last night. Kisses, giggles, and my personal favorite—Kat.
“I won’t take up a lot of your time, I’m sure you’re busy. I have a photo I’d like to add to my portfolio,” I say as I move to sit across from her at her desk.
“First, what happened to hello?” she jokes. “You know you don’t need my permission to add work to your portfolio, right?”
“I know, but I want to make sure my selections are strongand I know you’ll shoot me straight.” Professor Vines has helped every step of the way. Even if sometimes that means telling me my art is void of emotion. Every problem I’ve had with my art, she’s helped me resolve.
“Okay, let’s see it then,” she says, looking at me expectantly. I pull my phone out of my pocket and pull up the photo of Kat from this morning. I look it over for a moment, double checking for anything Vines might have an issue with, but I can’t find anything. I bite back a smile looking at the picture. It’s art in its purest form.
I turn the phone to my professor and I see a look on her face I haven’t seen in a long time. She’s impressed.
“Yes! This is the kind of emotion I’d like to see behind your work. Something that makes the audiencefeelsomething.”
I don’t know what the emotion is. I didn’t even know there was an emotion in it, but I’m happy to see Vines likes it. Now I just have to figure out how I did it, and do it again… about twenty more times.
“Portfolio worthy?” I ask.
“Yes, but I don’t think you want your whole portfolio to be this subtle. You want a good mix of quiet and loud. Does that make sense?” I look back to the picture on my phone. It’s warm and comforting; serene in a way that’s new to me, but feels more right than anything.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“How are you feeling about starting your last year of college?” she asks excitedly.
“I feel like it’s flown by.”
“Time just keeps speeding up the older you get,” she tells me. I never really understood the whole time flying thinguntil college. Until then, it seemed like time was dragging on. Like we’d be stuck in high school forever.
