Learn to Fly

Chapter 9: Dances & More Drama

Monday, April 1st.

Today's the last day of Spring break. As with all the other holiday breaks, this one went by really fast. Easter was pretty uneventful this year. We didn't go to any relatives' houses, and there were no little plastic eggs filled with candy hidden around our yard. Instead, we celebrated at home by eating ham and homemade macaroni and cheese, and Mom made hard-boiled eggs. Dad's been working on cleaning up the front yard, mowing the grass and digging up the old bushes in the garden. I went with him yesterday to the hardware store and we bought a bunch of flowers to plant. Marigolds, petunias, daffodils, zinnias. We worked for a few hours, digging holes in the soft soil and placing the flowers in them. By the time we were done, the once dead-looking garden had transformed into a colorful display full of life. Afterwards, we sat out on the porch, eating egg salad sandwiches and drinking iced tea. It was a good day, and Dad seemed pretty happy that I hung out with him.

I decide to go hang out at the park for a while. I spent most of the break in my room, it wouldn't hurt to get out of the house for a few hours. The park is pretty empty today. Surprising, especially on such a warm and sunny day. I count four kids running around on the playground, and two on the swings nearby. Their parents sit on the benches and picnic tables, talking.

"Pretty quiet today, huh? It's usually a lot more packed than this."

I turn to the voice. It's Julia. She's sitting under the shade of a nearby tree, her sketchbook propped up on her knees.

"Yeah. It's kinda nice, though." I reply. "How's your project going?"

Julia motions for me to come sit down next to her. I do so, and she hands me the sketchbook. She's drawing a woman with a hopeful smile on her face standing on a hill, looking up at the pitch-black sky littered with little stars of various colors. White, pastel yellow, lavender, powder blue, mint green, and so on.

"I don't have a lot of experience when it comes to drawing small stuff like this, but it should make Gallagher happy. I've been thinking about making another version with a galaxy instead of all the stars, but I dunno if that would count." Julia explains.

"I'm pretty sure it does." I tell her unsurely. "It's really pretty, I think it looks great the way it is now." I hand back the sketchbook. Julia smirks and sticks her pencil into her pocket.

"Good, that's what I'm hoping for. That butterfly with the broken wings you drew was really neat. Creepy, but in a good way, y'know? I know it was a while ago, but my mind always wanders back to it."

What am I supposed to say now? I pull a pack of strawberry-flavored gum from my pocket. "Want a piece?" I offer. She takes one, I take three, and we sit in a comfortable silence for a moment.

"You making any progress on your end?"

I sigh and shrug. "No, not really. I wanna move on from the dead butterflies and morbid stuff, but I'm not really sure how to. Maybe it was a mistake to sign up for art."

"Ah, c'mon, don't say that. I've seen your drawings, you kick ass at this, Sophie. Even if you don't think you do." Julia reassures me with a soft smile. She flips to an empty page in the sketchbook. "That's why I prefer drawing and painting more than sculpting, y'know. It's harder to show emotions in your work when you're working with clay. Of course, I'm sure there's people out there who would argue that. Here, make a butterfly."

We sit there in silence trading the pencil back and forth. I draw the body, Julia adds the legs. I draw the wings, but they come out uneven. I go to erase them, but Julia stops me. "They don't have to be even, they still look fine. If you add some little details to the wings, I think it'll look great." She tells me.