Dead Apples

10- Big Murals

So I apparently agreed to paint a mural for Amber. I was so upset about my conversation with Robby that I didn't really realize what I was agreeing to but I definitely agreed to paint a mural at a preschool. It's Saturday now and, like I promised Amber, I'm meeting with her to discuss options on what should be painted.

I usually just stick to sketching with a pencil or maybe charcoal if I'm feeling fancy but I've painted before too so I'm sure that I can do it. The thing is, do I want to do it? Of course not. Amber is a nice girl but I'm kind of obsessed with her boyfriend so that makes it weird.

Not to mention the fact that I know that he has cheated on her at least once with a very beautiful older woman from Westgate. The whole thing is just so messed up but I've already agreed to do it and I don't have a valid excuse to get out of it.

Wearing a pair of old jeans, a long-sleeved t-shirt, and some sandals, I head over to the preschool. My dad has to work today so he has the car but the walk is only about half an hour. I just have to leave the house early so that I can get there on time. I have my bag with me so that I can sketch something if I need to but I'm planning on just getting a feel for the building today.

I guess that I'm not entirely sure about what Amber expects to get done today so I'll just see how this goes.

Once I arrive at the preschool, Amber is waiting for me outside.

"Thank you for doing this," She tells me immediately as she takes me into the building. "I've been tutoring here for years and this wall has just been so drab. I've finally convinced them to let me change it up but wouldn't let me pay anybody. If you need volunteer hours for your resume, I can get somebody to sign off on it."

"It's fine, I don't need anything," I assure her. She leads me through the empty halls and into the wide-open cafeteria. The tables are all folded against the walls so the space is open and the wall that she is talking about is huge, white, and immediately opens up my creative side. I can see a million ideas float through my head the second that I lay eyes on the vast wall in front of me.

"So you said that you had some ideas?" I ask her as we both stand in front of the wall, just staring at it as if something will just appear by itself.

"Yeah, just some themes that we could go with," She shrugs at me. "Like, maybe an underwater scene would be cool. Or a garden with little butterflies and ladybugs. I mean, it's a preschool so just something cutesy and infantile. But pretty to look at."

"How much paint do you have?"

"Oh, tons of it," Amber promises me. "They just redid the art rooms so we've got all of their old paint. But it's still good to use. At least, I think so. I'm no paint expert but you can take a look at it if you want."

"That's okay, I'll take your word for it," I sit down on the tiled floor that's probably very sticky and gross but I wore my cheap jeans today just in case they got messy. I pull out my sketchbook and put it on my lap with a pencil. "Do I have a time frame? This canvas is massive, so it'll take a while."

"Nope, not at all. The kids eat in here from noon to one and then the janitors have it all cleaned up by three so any day after three or on the weekends, you can come in here and paint. I can't get you a key so I'll have to let you in but that won't be a problem. You said that you don't work on weekends, so if you want to come in on Sundays. Just whatever works for you, I know that you probably don't want to spend every weekend here. Especially during the summer."

"I don't have much else to do," I admit to her. "I'm thinking that just working on weekends, this'll take all summer. I haven't painted in a while."

"Well, I'm really excited about this," She says. "So as long as it takes, I'm just glad that it's finally happening. Since it's going to take so long, maybe you should think of a better idea than mine. You know, something that you're really passionate about so that you'll actually enjoy working on it."