BOOK ONE || the city lights series
Adina Ricci is the daughter of two of the most famous people on the planet. She grew up in the spotlight and she never once felt ungrateful for what she had been given. But, right before her fourteenth birthday, he...
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"OKAY, ADS. Be honest. How does it look?" Teagan asks me, gesturing to her painting.
On her canvas, two shapes are sitting in the distance, the crashing waves in front of them as they look at each other. The woman has caramel brown hair, like Teagan's, and the man has dirty blond hair, almost like Chase's.
The sky is dark, the moon shining in between the two figures. It's beautiful.
"It's amazing, Tea. You're so talented," I tell her, admiring her brush strokes. Unlike me, Teagan likes using acrylic paint whereas I'd rather use watercolors.
"Thanks. I feel like it's missing something, though. Maybe a pop of color?"
"I mean, it's your piece Tea. But I think it looks amazing like that. Is the couple supposed to be you and Chase?" She shyly nods, to which I coo at her, teasingly. Teagan playfully hits me, making me laugh.
"Let me take a look girls." Mrs. Reynolds says as she squeezes in between us to see our work.
"Well done Teagan, that looks spectacular. Keep that up and I might just have to enter you into the Summer Auction," our teacher praises.
She then turns to look at mine, and I become a lot more nervous as she analyzes every little detail.
I decided to paint my favorite flower, a tulip. I got a picture off of Pinterest of a bouquet of them in a glass vase the other day, when Mrs. Reynolds assigned us this project.
The white petals shine against the navy background, the yellow detailing shimmering inside. The watercolor has done what I wanted it to do, made the image so it doesn't look too realistic like it's a part of my dreams.
"Wow, Adina, " she breathes out, " I knew the first day you came in here you had a gift." I look over at Teagan over the top of our teacher's head, our eyes bulging out of our heads in excitement.
"Beautiful," she sighs. "Keep up the good work and you too might just get a spot at the auction."
After saying this Mrs. Reynolds wanders off to someone else, and only once she's out of sight Teagan and I quietly squeal in excitement.
Since arriving at the Academy, I've learned that the biggest reward one can earn as an Art student is to be a part of the Summer Auction, which takes place at the end of the year.
The majority of the student body attends, but it's nothing like a Prom or high school dance.
In fact, it's more like the fancy dinners Dad has dragged me to I've rather years. Most of Caldwell's finest, or more accurately their parents, get invited to attend and bid on three lucky pupils' artwork.
