Chapter Twelve
Evie
As I dip my paintbrush into green paint, I try not to think about what happened between Noah and me in the art room this morning. Because honestly? I’ve been thinking about it all day. I don’t even have time to be embarrassed about it because my thoughts are consumed with how oddly sweet he was.
I’m glad I’m able to paint again, but ugh this one is horrible.
I rip the canvas off the easel and chuck it aside.
Having that talk with Noah made me feel better about going away for college and being so far away from my family, and I decided I want to do something special for all of them.
So for the next few weeks, I’ll be working on gifts for each of them, personal paintings that hold a special meaning to them.
My hope is that my anxiety about leaving will vanish.
Right now, I’m working on Mom’s. It’s taken from a photo where I was around five and the twins were around four.
Mom is sitting on my bed with the three of us surrounding her, our eyes lit up with joy as she reads to us before bed.
Those were special moments between the four of us, something we’ll always remember.
But the painting is so special and I can’t seem to get it right. It needs to be perfect.
“Ugh,” I grumble as I tear it off and throw it away. How do I capture such a perfect and special moment in a painting?
“Hey, Evie?” Lily calls from upstairs.
“Yeah?” I call back.
“Liam and I are heading outside from some one-on-one basketball. Just letting you know because Mom and Dad are out shopping and you’re here alone.”
“You can always join us!” Liam says.
“Working on a painting!”
“Is she ever not working on a painting?” He chuckles to our sister as their footsteps die down.
I absentmindedly touch the tip of my paintbrush to my chin as Liam’s words spin around in my head.
He’s right. I keep worrying about the fact that I won’t be seeing Sibling One and Sibling Two much when I’m in college, and what am I doing?
Spending all my time down here in my studio alone.
I’m sure I can take an hour or two break and hang out with my bro and sis without my portfolio suffering too much.
“Hey, guys!” I call as I set my paintbrush down. But they don’t hear me because they’ve probably already left to the backyard.
I run up the stairs and head toward the backyard, noticing that they are just about to start their game. “Wait for me, guys!”
They whip around in my direction. Liam’s brow lifts. “Did the beast come out of her lair?” he teases. “She must be hungry.”
“Please don’t eat us,” Lily adds as she covers her head with her arms. “There’s enough food in the fridge.”
“But she wants human flesh,” Liam enlightens her as he, too, covers his head with his arms. “Take the girl first. She tastes better.”
“What a great brother I have,” Lily mutters. “Throwing me to the wolves like that.”
“You mean to the Evie beast,” Liam corrects.
Lily lowers one arm to whack him in the chest.
“Haha, very funny, guys,” I say. “I do come out of my studio for more than just food, you know.”
“Right,” Lily says. “You still need to go to school.”
“And bathroom breaks,” Liam reminds her.
They both laugh.
“Okay, kidding aside,” Lily says. “Do you want to play with us, Evie?”
“Yeah, I do,” I say with a smile. “Feels like forever since we’ve played together.”
“Yay!” Lily says. “It’s always more fun when you join us, big sis.”
“Agreed,” Liam says as he throws an arm around me. “I’m so happy you actually came out of your studio. You’ve practically lived there the last few months.”
Guilt eats away at me. Even though he’s teasing me, it dawns on me how much more time I could have spent with them the last few months.
Liam’s eyes widen as they circle over my face. “What’s wrong? You suddenly look sad.”
“What? Oh, sorry. No, I’m not sad. Just a little disappointed in myself because I haven’t been spending that much time with you guys.”
“That’s okay,” Lily assures me. “We understand how important it is for you to perfect your portfolio. Even though it’s beyond perfect already.”
“Thanks, Lily. But the last few days, I’ve been feeling anxious about going away for college and being away from you two. And then I realized like, duh, what do I expect? I’m the one who’s isolating myself in my studio. So I want to hang out with you guys more often.”
“Cool,” Liam says with a smile.
“You don’t have to worry,” Lily tells me. “We’ll video chat all the time when you’re in college. And you’ll come home for holidays, won’t you?”
“Yeah. But let’s not talk about college now. Let’s have fun.”
“Okay, but you know you have green paint on your chin, right?” Liam says.
I swipe it away with my hand. “Thanks. So how are we doing this? Not you guys versus me. You’ll demolish me with your twin telepathy.”
“What twin telepathy?” Lily asks with an overly innocent look on her face.
I playfully narrow my eyes at her. “You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
When it’s the two of them against me, they’re so in tune with whatever the other is thinking that it’s uncanny.
“Girls vs. guy?” Liam asks. “Think you two can take me on?”
Lily places her hands on her hips. “Of course we can! You think you’re so great, Liam Hastings?”
He grins widely. “I did help lead the Edenbury Lions to the state championships.”
I wave my hand. “Eh, they would have gotten there without you,” I joke.
He takes the basketball and gently thumps it on my head. I try to snatch it from him, but he holds it high over my head, out of reach. Seriously, the dude’s a freakin’ tree.
“Okay, Evie and me versus Liam,” Lily announces. “May the best women win.” She winks at me.
And so begins one of the most intense basketball games I’ve ever played with my brother and sister.
Lily and Liam get so competitive with each other whenever they play a game, even though they swear they don’t.
Lily and I nearly own Liam’s butt, but he tries really hard to put up a good fight.
In the end, though, his efforts are futile because Lily and I annihilate him.
“Sweet!” I say as she and I high-five.
“Epic,” Lily says as she throws her arms around me.
“Ugh, you’re all sweaty.”
“You’re all sweaty.”
“Not as sweaty as me,” Liam says. With a smile, he wraps his arms around both of us. “That was a lot of fun. Good game.”
I squeeze both of them into my arms. “Thanks for hanging out with me, guys. I really needed this.”
“We did, too,” they say.