“That’s great.” I struggled to hide the excitement in my voice.
“But just a heads up,” she continued. “Jaz fully intends to gatecrash. She claims I need a chaperone with all you boys around.”
“Sure, Jaz is more than welcome.”
She nodded at my tablet. “How’s your project coming along?”
“Good.” Although I was happy to change the subject, I pulled my tablet away so she couldn’t see the screen. “But it’s not finished yet.”
“Are you…” Mackenzie tilted her head, her eyes dancing with amusement. “Are you, Parker Darling, hockey superstar, too shy to show me your work?”
My attempt to hide it from her hadn’t been subtle, and, if anything, it had only made her more intrigued. There was no way I was letting her near it until it was finished though—perhaps not even then.
“Totally shy,” I replied. “Then again, I probably should have thought twice before deciding to paint myself naked.”
“You’re joking?”
“Nope.” I jumped from my seat. “But I’m glad you’ve finally realized you’re in the presence of greatness. Hockey superstar; I liked the sound of that.”
“Where are you going?” she asked.
“To see what Mr. Green thinks.”
“You’re happy to showhimyour naked self-portrait?”
“It’s art, Mackenzie. He can see beyond my chiseled abs.”
Her gaze instinctively dipped to my stomach, but she quicky returned her attention to her desk. I was smiling to myself as I made my way to the back of the room and knocked on the door to Mr. Green’s paint-closet office.
I poked my head into the room. “Mr. Green, do you have a sec?”
“Sure.” He gestured for me to enter, so I eased myself into the tiny space and sat in the chair across from him. I felt far more nervous than I’d expected.
“What can I help you with, Parker?”
“Uh, I wanted to run my project past you. I’ve made a few changes since last time.”
“Excellent.” He held out his hands, and I passed him my tablet.
I wasn’t nervous because there was a naked drawn selfie on the page. No, that might have almost been easier. I was nervous because, for the first time, my art actually felt inspired by something—by someone. And I worried I hadn’t done them justice. That I was too much of an idiot to ever capture something that mattered and illustrate it in a way that could mean something.
Mr. Green was silent as he looked over my work, and my fingers dug into the edge of my seat as I waited.
“So, what do you think?” I’d never been very patient.
Mr. Green was frowning at my tablet but then he lifted his eyes to mine. “You’ve chosen a new main character for your comic. No more hockey-playing superhero?”
His brow was creased, and he looked as though he had many more questions to ask. As I suspected, he thought it was stupid. But training with Mackenzie had sparked an idea, and I hadn’t been able to let it go.
“Yeah.” I swallowed, trying to sound confident. It was probably the dumbest thing he’d ever seen. “I’ve taken it in a different direction. I’ve only done the first couple of pages, but I’ve already mapped out the rest of the story.”
Mr. Green shook his head at me but was still smiling. “It’s definitely original, and it shows some promise. The panels flow nicely, the line work is clean, and I love how expressive the characters are. I think with a few tweaks it could be really strong. Can you tell me a bit more about your inspiration? What message are you trying to convey?”
For once, I knew exactly what I wanted to say with my art, but explaining my newly discovered deep thoughts to my teacher wasn’t so easy. “I guess I just felt like maybe you don’t have to be a superhero to inspire and help people. Anyone can do that. And sometimes it’s the people who are always underestimated that surprise you the most.” I shook my head. “Sorry, I’m not sure if that makes any sense.”
“No, it does,” Mr. Green nodded, his eyes still drifting over my illustrations. “I like it. You’re demonstrating how people can be more than meets the eye.”
“Yeah, something like that,” I murmured. I was used to receiving a lot of praise when it came to hockey, but somehow getting a compliment from Mr. Green about my art hit differently.
