My Life With The Nerd

Chapter 8- Competition

Chapter 8- Competition

"No," he exclaims and I put my hand back down.

"I don't like this Travis," I retort. "How much longer?"

"Come on, give me one more minute. We're almost there," he says, leading me somewhere.

He intertwined our hands together and it has been a long time since we have been walking. I fight the urge to take the blindfold off but Travis told me not to because he's surprising me with my painting.

He has been quite excited to show me the painting he drew of me. I have heard that he paints and draws really well so I am quite excited to see it but I'm also scared.

What if it's a prank?

This is Travis and he never does anything sweet to anyone. I'm sure he painted a mustache with my painting.

"Okay," he breathes out slowly and lets go of my hand. A moment later, I find him opening the blindfold slowly.

For a second, I keep blinking because of the bright sun which is pointing to my eyes. Then, I look in front of me and find myself stuck to the wall.

A reflection.

My reflection.

I sigh and look back at Travis who's staring me with a small smile. A genuine and victorious smile.

I am completely and utterly speechless.

I stare back at my painting and blink.

"So?" He starts but I don't respond because I am still speechless. Nobody has ever drew my portrait and that too, this perfectly.

The freckles and dimples visible clearly, my soft tanned skin, my hair falling down to my waist, the arch of my thick eyebrows, and especially my glasses.

"Do you like it?" He slowly asks.

I scoff. "Like it? Oh my god, Travis, I love it."

A smile appears on his lips and I also smile, looking back and forth from the painting and him. "You worked so hard for a simple art project."

His smile slowly starts to vanish, making me wonder about the reason why. "What?"

He smirks and stares at me. "Well, that wasn't entirely true..."

What?

I shift and turn to face him completely. "What do you mean?"

He scratches the back of his head. Suddenly, many other people come with their drawings and stand  next to him. "Wassup Travis? Congratulations by the way."

They do a little handshake and bump their chests slightly. As I stand there, waiting for him to elaborate on the project.

Congratulations?

I raise my brow when he turns to me again, waiting for an answer. "So?"

"Oh yeah, um... so there was this art competition being held around this time. It's this one by the way," he starts and I follow along to what he's saying. "And uh- I love to draw and paint so I took a part in it."

"And?" I ask after he doesn't elaborate more.

"And it's a statewide competition," he says and I don't quite follow.

"Statewide?"

"Yeah. One person from every state will win and then there will be a showdown for the the 50 people then there will be semifinals then finals and then a winner," he explains.