I knew what I'd see upon arriving, and wasn't disappointed.
A small crowd had formed around the outdoor training court, where layers of mats lay on the ground and my two favorite people stood center stage. Lucy had her much bigger and taller twin brother, Luke, in a chokehold, from which he struggled to remove himself. Students passed small wads of cash back and forth, clearly betting on the winner. When Luke flipped Lucy on her back and pinned her petite frame to the mat, those who had bet on Luke started cheering.
They didn't know Lucy.
And I wished I'd brought some cash.
She scissored her legs around her brother's neck and flipped herself up so that she straddled his throat. Incredible! With another hip move, she knocked him down and pinned him for the count.
Students cheered and exchanged money as she stood and offered her hand to him. He grudgingly accepted, and they pushed through the crowds, finally spotting me.
Luke draped his long arm over my shoulder. His blue eyes twinkled even as he moaned and groaned in mock abuse. "Did you see what this pint-sized maniac did to me? Appalling."
I laughed and tugged at Lucy's dark ponytail. "You sure showed him. Of course, you've been showing him up since kindergarten."
Luke stuck his tongue out at me, and Lucy flashed her 100-watt smile. "Did you finish? Do I finally get to see this super-secret painting that has kept you in hermit mode for months?"
My grin spread into a full-on face-cramping smile. "It's done! And it's... I can't even explain. It's the best thing I've ever painted!"
They both grabbed my arms and pulled me back to the studio. "We want to see it now!" they said in unison.
"But I'm so hungry. I haven't eaten all day." They ignored my pleas as we retraced my steps.
As much as my rumbling stomach needed food, I was way more excited to share my work with my friends. I hadn't shown it to anyone while I worked, and being out of the loop never sat well with my feisty friends. Plus, they deserved to be a part of this after encouraging me for years to pursue my art more seriously. Lucy had actually used her very first bonus from an assignment to commission a portrait from me. How could I deny my first paying customer—especially since most of the students at the school now had my art hanging in their rooms, and I had a nice stash of cash in mine, thanks to her and Luke?
***
The door to the studio hung open just a crack, and angry screams assaulted us as we approached. Luke and Lucy looked to me as if I knew what was going on.
I shrugged my shoulders in the universal I've-got-no-freaking-idea way and crept to the door. I could have just slipped into their minds, but listening to people talk both out loud and mentally was hard to track and gave me a pretty big headache. At that moment, what they were saying, or rather screaming, to each other was more interesting.
We didn't want to budge the door and draw attention to ourselves, so Luke pushed his head through. He bobbed in and out so quickly I almost missed it. Being able to walk through anything was mighty handy at times.
I nudged him. "Well?"
"Higgins and Mr. K. They both look pretty pissed."
They sounded it too. I'd never heard Headmaster Higgins yell at any of the teachers, or students for that matter. He wasn't a pushover by any stretch, but he'd always been levelheaded—until today.
Higgins shouted at Mr. K. "How could you enter her without permission from me? Do you realize what you've done? This could ruin the school and everything we're doing here."
Was Higgins talking about me?
Mr. K replied with the same volume and anger. I could imagine the vein over his left eye bulging. "You have no idea how talented that girl is! She should be at the best art school in the world, not hidden here like a freak of nature. It's my job to make sure she has a future when she leaves this god-awful place, and I'm not letting you, or the people you work for, stand in my way. Or hers."
They must have been talking about me, but it made no sense. Why didn't Higgins want me entering the contest, and why did Mr. K hate this place so much?
"Don't you mean, the people we work for? They employ us both, and you'd do well to remember that, Mr. Krevner. Their reach extends beyond the gates of this school."
I couldn't believe it. Was the headmaster actually threatening my art teacher? What was going on?
"You will pull her from that competition and clean up the mess you've made, or your days here are numbered. Am I making myself clear?"
Something crashed into a wall, and my friends and I jumped back in surprise.