Draw Me In (26 page)

“Good luck with that.” Brian nodded toward the front of the room. “I’m not sure how you’ll manage it, but good luck.”

I gave him a tight smile. I wasn’t sure how I was going to handle it, either. After gathering my stuff, I headed to the front of the room to wait for Professor Falk to finish talking with another student. Keeping my distance, I hung out in the front row of desks so as not to overhear what they were saying. My gaze wandered around the room as I frantically tried to distract myself from a total panic attack. This classroom was more of a small lecture hall, with long rows of desks, each one higher than the one in front of it. The lavender carpeting was faded, the whiteboard at the front of the room scratched and worn-looking. There was an exit at the front of the room, one I wished I could run headlong through and not look back. But then the other girl left, and Professor Falk turned a polite smile over to me. As I approached, I returned the expression, even though it wasn’t exactly comfortable.

“How can I help?” Professor Falk said as she gathered her texts. “Hailey, isn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am. I needed to talk to you about the assignment.” I fought the urge to shift my weight nervously.
Stand still, be confident.
“I know this sounds completely irresponsible, and I’m sorry. But my notebook that had the assignment pages in it got stolen, and I . . .”

The professor arched a perfectly plucked eyebrow at me. Why did she have to look so polished and poised? That made it even harder, when I knew how thrown together and nervous I must look. “Your notebook was stolen?”

“Yes, ma’am. That’s about the best explanation for it.” I kept my gaze trained on the professor’s face. I wasn’t backing down; this was the truth. “I know you don’t have a reason to believe me, or to give me any special favors, but if I could get another copy and a little more time to get it done and turn it in . . .”

The professor’s sigh was exasperated. “Normally, the answer would be a flat no, but the way you paid attention in class today clearly showed that you’ve started to care about this grade.” Shuffling through her briefcase, she produced a stapled stack of papers identical to the ones she’d passed out two weeks before. “I have a class at five o’clock on Wednesday in this room. You can turn it in before then. If I don’t get it before that class starts, you’ll get a zero.”

Relief nearly made me sag against Professor Falk’s large desk. “Thank you so much, Professor. You’ll have it by then, I promise.” I took the papers and gave her a smile. “I really don’t want to fail this class.”

“Dr. Fields told me that you were a good student,” the professor said, carefully arranging her papers and notes in her red leather briefcase. “I’m glad to see that maybe he was right.”

Even though my former adviser’s name gave me a sick punch in the gut, I nodded. “Thanks again.”

Hustling up the steps and out of the lecture hall, I started leafing through the assignment pages, nearly stumbling on the last step up and out of the hall. Good Lord, this was the research project from hell. Lots of questions that would take hours of searching to complete. And to make it even better, in bold red letters across the top, it stated: “MUST USE ALL PAPER SOURCES. NO INTERNET SEARCHES.” I counted up the hours that I’d have to work on it and groaned as I shoved out of the building and into the hot afternoon sunlight. “This just might be impossible,” I said aloud.

Glancing at my watch, I made up my mind. I didn’t have to be at work for another couple of hours. I’d check out some of the books on the assignment and bring them with me to the shop. Drawing for my portfolio would have to wait until exams were over. But then? I’d work my ass off for it. I knew what I wanted to do. It would just have to wait a little longer than I’d thought.

With that depressing thought, I hoofed it across the crowded quad and over to the library.

Work that night was long and exhausting. Neill had the day off, and though he’d called to check on me, it wasn’t the same as having him over my right shoulder in case I wanted a quick glimpse at him while he was working. It was busy for a weeknight, and I didn’t get anywhere near as much work done on my religion assignment as I’d counted on. When the phone rang for about the thousandth time in the six hours I’d been there, I had to work to keep my voice pleasant.“Sinful Skin Tattoo and Piercing, this is Hailey.”

There was silence on the other end. Clearing my throat, I tried again. “This is Sinful Skin Tattoo. May I help you?”

An electronic-sounding voice came on the line, and I nearly dropped the phone.

“You made a mistake. Correct it now.”

“What the hell?” I whispered as unease danced up my spine. “Who is this? Roger, this isn’t funny.”

“
Correct it. Now
,” the computer voice intoned before the line went dead.

I stared at the handset before hanging up. Good grief. Roger had gone too far this time.Shoving my desk chair back, I stalked around the corner and headed directly for the prankster’s studio. I looked in the window before I got there.

Roger was seated on his rolling stool, bent over a half-finished panther on a large guy’s calf. How could I have forgotten that he was in the middle of a tattoo? He said something to his customer, who laughed. Re-inking his machine, Roger saw me at the window and waved me over to the door. I went, trying to figure out what to say.

“Hey, kiddo, what’s up?”

I leaned against the doorjamb, trying not be distracted by the brightly colored posters all over Roger’s walls. “Nothing. Just checking to see if you needed anything.”

Roger smiled. “Nope, we’re good.” Leaning back over his customer’s leg, he resumed his story. “So we’re halfway through the game, and Luce looks over at me and . . .”

I didn’t know what else to do, so I wandered back toward my desk. What the hell had that phone call been about, if it wasn’t Roger pranking me? Was somebody upset with the shop? Had somebody fucked up a tattoo or something?

“Hailey, you okay?”

I whirled at the unexpected voice right behind me, my heart in my throat. “Oh, Karl, you scared me.”

The blond giant followed me to the desk, propping his massive forearms on the counter when I sank into the desk chair, scratching my fingertips nervously over the plastic arms. “You look a little preoccupied,” he said.

Glancing at the phone in front of me, I made a quick decision. Karl was part owner of the shop; he should know if some freak was pissed.

“I just got a really weird phone call. Some electronic voice said there’d been a mistake and we had to correct it.”

Karl laughed aloud, a booming sound that made me jump again.

“It wasn’t funny. It was really mean-sounding, seriously.” I glared at him just a little.

Karl straightened, still chuckling. “You can’t take every freak seriously, kid. If we did that, the cops would be here every other day. If somebody’s got a problem with the shop, they come to me or Neill. Don’t worry about it.”

I wasn’t convinced. I crossed my arms over my stomach, leaning back in the desk chair. “So what do I do if they call back?”

“You call me.” Karl knocked on the counter. “I’ll talk to Stephen Hawking and set him straight.”

“Okay. Thanks.” I glanced away, and my gaze landed on the pile of books and scattered pages of my assignment. I didn’t have time to worry. I had shit to do. But the thought of touching those books again tonight made my brain turn to mush.

A thought popped into my head, and I spun the desk chair to face the black bookcase behind my desk. The bottom shelf was a little neater than I remembered from stowing them there, but my black sketchbook was still at the bottom of the pile. Crouching low, I shifted the pile and pulled it free. “Hey, Karl, when you get a chance, there’s something I want to talk to you about.”

He crooked a brow. “Oh yeah?”

I explained what I wanted, and Karl agreed to help me out. I wouldn’t even need to wait long. Once the plans were set, Karl turned and went back to his studio, the largest in the shop, and I turned my attention to religion. Completing this assignment was going to be nearly impossible.

“Hey, Hailey, you ready?” Karl called through the lobby. “I’m all set up here.”

“Yep. I’m good to go.” I left my assignment for a little while. This was important, too.

Neill

I cut my bike’s engine and removed my helmet, glad for the cool night air as I ran a hand through my hair. Since I’d been the boss while Karl was gone, I hadn’t taken my usual day off during the week. But now that my mentor was back, he’d insisted that I resume my previous schedule.

The shop was closing, and I smiled to myself as the gravel crunched beneath my feet on the way to the back door. Karl couldn’t kick my ass for being here. Besides, I was here for pleasure, not business.

“Evening, boss man,” Roger said as I pushed open the back door of the shop. “Watch the wet floor.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

Karl looked out from his large studio, the closest one to the back door, since it was located in the back left-hand corner. The dark red walls were covered with color-splashed canvases, Karl’s bold style written all over them in swirls and lines of vibrant paint. He scowled as he thumped his fist against the doorjamb. “What the hell are you doing here? I said not today.”

I nodded toward the front desk. “I’m here to see somebody.”

Karl’s frowned deepened as he followed my gaze. “I need to talk to you about that later.”

“I think I’m handling this fine, thanks.” I waved to Karl and walked carefully across the slick black lobby floor. I was sure that my mentor had my best interests at heart, but honestly, I didn’t need help. Despite my early doubts, things were going just great with Hailey.

I rounded the corner and smiled. There she was, stuffing books into her messenger bag, hair messy and sticking out from its haphazard knot at the back of her head. Her black baby-doll tee was thin, and I could just make out the lines of her bra through the back of it. Thoughts of what I’d like to do to her when I removed that tee clouded my brain, and when she turned and caught sight of me, her eyes went wide with surprise.

“Neill!”

I leaned against the counter, drinking her in with my gaze. “Hey.”

She shook her head, continuing with her packing. “What are you doing here? It’s your night off.”

“And I had a great one. Ran some errands earlier, rode the bike down the interstate this afternoon, took in the sunset where there weren’t buildings in the way.” I moved around the counter and tucked a stray curl behind her ear. “It was beautiful. You’d have loved it.”

Hailey sighed as she picked up her bulging bag. “I’m sure I would have.” She slung the strap over her shoulder, grunting at the weight.

“Here, why don’t you let me carry that?” I reached out for the bag, but she didn’t hand it over.

“It’s not that far to the bus station. I’m okay.”

I lowered my brows in confusion. “You going back to the dorm tonight?” I couldn’t pretend not to be disappointed. I’d been looking forward to this all day.

She bent to the computer to shut it down, effectively cutting off my view of her face. “Yeah, I have to. I’m way behind on an assignment for religion class, not to mention the project I have due for graphic design. I’m sorry, but I’ve really got to get back.”

A chill settled in my lungs, but I nodded anyway. “Oh. Okay, but I’d be happy to help you study if you wanted . . .”

The computer screen now black, she turned to me. Her reply made it clear that she either hadn’t heard or didn’t care to respond to my offer. “I’m so glad you understand. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?” Pressing a hurried kiss to my cheek, she hustled past me and around the counter, straight to the front door. “Mind locking this behind me?”

“’Course not.” I was glad my voice didn’t reveal what I was feeling. I wasn’t sure what the emotion was called. Disappointment, definitely, but there was something else. Something about the fact that she’d been so distracted, she hadn’t seemed to care that she wasn’t going home with me.

She disappeared down the street, and I looked after her after she was gone. Finally I retraced her path, twisting the thumbscrew lock home with a heavy
clack
.

“Hey, Hailey, that kid who wanted the custom piece, did he leave a second number? This one’s—” Karl stopped as he saw me at the door instead of Hailey. “Where’d the kid go?”

“She’s gone for tonight.” I kept my face flat, emotionless. “Had some stuff to do.”

Karl rubbed his goatee, blowing out a heavy breath. “Man, this is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about. Come with me. I’ve got something else to finish up, but I want to talk to you while I’m doing it.”

“I’m fine. I don’t need to hear—”

“Get your ass in here.” The tone that Karl had used on me when I was a dumb kid, sadly, worked. I followed Karl through the lobby, thumping my fist on the back of one black leather couch on the way by. My chest felt tight, and my brain buzzed like I’d just stepped off a fucking huge roller coaster. What was going on with me? It was one night. It wasn’t a big deal.

Karl sat in front of his huge brown drafting table, the only one in the shop other than the community one in the office. He had a large piece spread out there, the beginning lines looking like a badass Chinese dragon would be swooping down someone’s back in the future. Karl picked up his pen and continued drawing. “Pull up a stool.”

Propping my helmet on the small black side table usually reserved for clients’ purses or backpacks, I rolled the extra stool over beside Karl like I used to when I was an apprentice. The position gave me a great view of his drawing technique, and I watched my mentor work in silence for a few seconds. The familiar scratch of pen on paper eased me, let my head clear a bit of the fuzz that had been clouding it since Hailey walked out. The darkness of the walls combined with the bright paintings made a cocoon of color, and it was hard not to imagine that my swirling emotions weren’t calmed by them.

As Karl continued drawing, I stared at the paper beneath his hands. I didn’t care that she’d turned me down for the night. I didn’t. She had a life to lead, same as I did. She had classes to get to, homework to do, a family to deal with, even though it was fractured. So what the hell was my problem?