The Muse

Part 2

March 15th, 2023 was the day Macy met Yuri. It was like something had clicked and every other thing had fallen into place. One of those moments when you meet someone and know they were meant to be in your life. Yuri made the stage look like an extension of himself. He owned the stage from the moment the announcer called his name. The brown shirt he wore clung to his structured body and highlighted his dark skin even more. The edges were lined with lace and each line of stitching looked shimmering in the light. Black fractured glass-like pieces were used to make a detailing work. She had never seen anything like it before, the designer of the outfit deserves his flowers. Yuri had to be at least 6'2 but it wasn't unusual because all models needed to be over six feet. When he turned back off the runway, the trance she had been under breaks. She was looking for Amari and May to give her emotional support before her exhibition.

The California Arts Program was having an event for upcoming artists and designers. Amari and May were always her go to people when it came to these events. Riley was too impatient, and Rowan was barely her friend. She scanned the crowd desperately for her friends when someone tugged on her hand and spun her around so hard that she probably had whiplash. She was enveloped into a hug before she could even react.

"We are so proud of you Macy wacy" Amari whispers into her ears as he tightens the hug. Amari came up with the stupid nickname when they were in middle school, and they had unfortunately been locked in the school gym by accident. Macy cried for about an hour because she was going to miss the premiere of the new fast and furious and Amari called her a big baby then laughed about it through out that year. He never stopped using it against her.

"Thank you but what took you guys so long?" she glances back at May who seemed eager for Amari to move.

"I was helping Rowan with college applications. I'm sorry" May made the biggest puppy eyes and forced her into a tight hug. She smelled like strawberries. It was hard to stay mad at her for too long when she was the sweetest person ever.

"I'm happy you guys are here, I'm so nervous" this was one of the most important art shows she had attended. This would make or break her career. All the top artists were going to be here looking for their next prodigy. She had to win them over, she had no choice at failure.

"don't be Macy, your work is amazing" May placed her hand in hers and dragged her to the art section along with Amari. For a quick moment, Macy turned her head to look at the runway and her eyes met with light brown eyes that were almost gold. Yuri looked so pissed that she half expected him to start shooting lasers from his eyes.

Macy was standing with her painting next to her, taking deep breaths. Her work was the last to be judged and time seemed to slow down as the judges made their way towards her. All her fear somehow became a sudden boldness that made her believe she was good enough. It was probably the adrenaline coursing through her veins. She would eventually go home and over analyse everything she did today but all that had to wait.

The judges are In front of her staring into her work. There were three of them, a short woman with glasses, a tall slender man and a short chubby man. They all wear the same look of indifference.

"Marcella Fawn?" the short woman who seemed to be at least in her 40's said.

"Yes, that's me" mustering all the fake confidence she had to fake a smile.

"Introduce yourself and your artwork" this was her shot.

"My name is Marcella, but I go by Macy. This is my art, and it represents balance of the mind, body and soul. It's called 身心靈" the Chinese word rolling off her tongue clearly enough from the hours of practice. The Tao philosophy, which is frequently interpreted as "the infinite origin" or the "unnameable," informs Chinese medicine's emphasis on maintaining wholeness and harmony of mind, body, and spirit. The Tao's guiding principles state that everything in the universe is interconnected. Everything has an opposite. Macy had been so obsessed with the Tao philosophy that she created a painting that represented it using blue, white and grey.

"This is lovely such a contract of colours" the tall judge chimed in. Her heartbeat slowed a little. It wasn't as bad as she expected.

"We would have preferred if you made something more relatable'' she knew those words were going to be replaying over in her head for weeks. She smiled at them as they walked away. All the adrenaline in her body seemed to drain out of her. The hopelessness and shame were the most prominent emotions she felt. Macy was already out the back door before anyone could stop her. She didn't care if people weren't allowed to be there, she needed to be alone. The tile steps were hard to sit on, but they would do. As she pressed her hand firmly against her eyes trying to suppress a cry, someone cleared their throat.

"I was actually going to have a breakdown too, but you seem like you have it worse" she jumped before she could help it. Yuki stood at the corner leaning next to the wall. He stared at her like he was observing a wild animal that he wasn't sure would attack him.

"I wasn't having a breakdown'' the words come out shaky because she had been at the point of tears. It wasn't the first impression she wanted to make at all.

"My name is Yuki'' he had walked up to where she sat on the steps. His hand was long, not just his hands, but his legs too.

"My name is Marcy" she took his hand even though she didn't want to.

"I will leave you to it then?'' Yuki smiled at her, and she thought it was something that belonged in one of her paintings. She wanted to tell him it wasn't a big deal, and he could stay but she said nothing instead.