Chapter 2

Flashback

You were in your favorite place in the whole world, your dad's art studio. He was working on another landscape piece when he stopped.

"Dad? Are you alright?" you asked, walking towards him.

"Yeah. I'm just stuck." he responded when you looked at the half of his piece that was still white.

You took one of the paintbrushes and started to outline pine trees in the background. "There. Now finish the rest, so that we can go home." you said to him, handing over your paintbrush.

He smiled and asked, "Why don't you finish it. I'll just clean up." He gave you the paintbrush back and you slowly finished the background.

Letting time go by, you hadn't realized that an hour passed and your dad just sat there staring at you in awe. Once you finally stood up at stretched, you heard your dad ask, "How does it look?"

"Viola!" you moved and moved your hands like the Jeopardy woman. He chuckled and look at the piece very vividly. You started to grow nervous when you didn't hear anything yet from your father.

After a couple of minutes, he ran up and picked you up in the air. You squealed when your feet left the ground. Surprised by his actions, you teased, So, it's that bad?" He set you down and walked back to the painting.

"This is by far the best piece in this studio." he said and you blushed. (pictured above)

"Okay. Let's go home. I'm starving." you said as you grabbed your backpack. Your dad glanced at the ancient digital clock on the wall that read 10:30 p.m.

"I'll meet you at home. I'm going to clean off the brushes." he says and you give him a concerned look.

"Okay, but I better see your plate empty when I wake up tomorrow." was all you said when you opened the front door.

"I will! Just heat up some leftovers from last night! Thanks Janie!" your dad yelled before you closed the door.

You smiled for a second hearing your nickname, but it instantly turned into pain. Your mother used to call you that all of the time and ever since she passed away a year ago, you never thought that you would be called that again. "No problem! Don't forget to come to the school for the Senior Art Show tomorrow!" you yelled back, waiting for your dad to respond back.

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." Now get out of here!" he responded and you left the studio.

The next day

You wake up to the agonizing sound of your alarm reading 6:30. You groan and try to hit the snooze, but when you tried to slam the button, it fell to the ground and you had no choice, but to get up.

You trudged your way to the bathroom and got ready for the day. Once that was done, you had to decide on what to wear. After what seemed like hours, you decided on a simple floral patterned dress with black flats. Not too much, but still nice enough for the art show. You looked at your alarm that was still on the ground and read 7:10.

"Crap!" you yelled. You had to be at the school by 7:30 to get ready for the show and it was at least a twenty minute drive to school.

You ran to the kitchen and automatically smelt burned bacon that your dad had undoubtedly forgotten. "Dad! You burned breakfast again!" you yelled, not sure where your dad was.

"I'm sorry. I got busy. Can you just eat breakfast at school?" he yelled down the hallway that led to his room.

You looked at the half empty dish that was left on the counter from last night. You sighed and cleaned the plate off. "I guess. See you at the art show!" you yelled before you left to go to school.

It was the last week of your senior year and you didn't want to mess up your perfect attendance this year. You might of gone over the speed limit on your way to school, but as you walked through the main doors, your art teacher welcomed you and just told you to get your station ready in the small gym.

Once you were done, the warning bell rang, giving you three minutes to get to your class. "See you at 2:30!" your art teacher yelled at you before you left the room.

"Yep!" was all you said back and left to go to your locker.

2:30 rolled by fast and you were dismissed to the art show. Arriving in the room made your nerves skyrocket. There had been more people than you thought.

You walked over to your station surprised to see another addition to your set. It was the piece that your father had worked on last night and it had a sticky note on it. Your face saddened when it said "I'm so sorry Janie, but I can't make it. I will make it up to you"

You felt the tears rising up and escape your eyes, but now was not the time. You needed to stay and look presentable for the college scouts. You ripped the note, threw it away and waited for scouts to come observe your pieces.

The first two came from a community college that you had no intentions of going to, but you appreciated their comments. One after another, but none of them stuck out to you, then came along a woman. She was different from the many scouts that interviewed you. She wore regular clothes and didn't come from a college. She walked up to you and you smiled, trying to hide the fear you've had all day.

"Hello. I'm Margaret, but you can call me Maggie. I'm from an agency that specifically supports art prodigies. You caught my eye when I first walked in, but I wanted to save the best for last."

You smiled and shook her hand. "Thank you very much. My name is Jane."

You let her look at your artwork and you see her take notes. After she finished looking at the last piece she smiles and walks towards you. "I would like to become your agent. I promise that you will have a successful career with me. Just call this number if you are interested" She hands you a business card that looks legit and you thank her for her time.

Later that evening

You get home after the art show and look up this agency on the internet. They partner with The Art Institute of Chicago and it made you think of one of your favorite pieces, Nighthawks. Once you were satisfied that it was a real thing, you texted your dad, telling him that you got this great opportunity. He texted you back minutes later saying, "That's awesome! I can't wait to be home and then we can celebrate!" You smiled and wondered when he will get home.

You looked at the time on your phone and it said that it was 6:30, so you got ready for a relaxing shower. After today, that's all you needed.

Making sure the water was hot enough for you to handle, you took your precious time, relaxing and when you noticed that your fingers were getting pruney, you got out of the shower.

You walked to your room and chose sweatpants and a hoodie. Then, you made your way to the kitchen and decided to make one of your dad's favorite meals, mac and cheese, before he came home. As you were finishing up, you heard the garage door shut.

"Welcome home!" you yelled as your dad walked into the kitchen. "Yes! My favorite!" your dad said when he noticed the mac and cheese in the pot.

"Well hello to you too." you said in a teasing way. "Hi Jane. How was your day?" he asked giving you a bowl of dinner.

"It was okay. The art show was amazing and I think I know what I want to do with my future!" you answered happily.

Your dad came over and gave you a huge hug before digging into his meal. "I'm so proud of you Janie." "Mom would be too." he smiled and you returned the smile. "Thanks. I love you." you gave him one last hug and then headed off to your room.

"Love you more!" he yelled back before you closed the door to your room.