[FEATURED on @teenfiction and @YA] After a life-changing move, Winter Moore realizes she needs to learn to climb if she wants to kick old habits and have a chance at her dreams. Murdoch Hayes, a lone-wolf and rock climber extraordinaire, might just...
"You've grown so much already, Winter. I mean the composition of this piece is great. So much busyness but none of it competes, it's all so... unified. Really great," she said as she assessed her latest painting. "I feel you should be bolder with your color though. You have a good grasp on the theory, so I think you're at the stage where you can really explore that and not worry about making mistakes."
"Okay, thank you. I'll keep that in mind for my next piece. Could I bring it to you for critique again?" Winter asked, jotting notes down on her phone in the process.
Mrs. Paladino smiled, her beige-toned lips pulling kindly on her aging face. "Of course, anytime Winter. And we'll have to get some good photos done of these for your portfolio. Have you started applications?"
Winter nodded. "I've begun them, yes. I'm applying to NYU, UCLA, and Carnegie for scenic design."
"That's great! Your work on the musical last year was very impressive. I know you'll do great."
Winter grinned and blushed as the lunch bell rang. She looked up to the clock out of reflex. "Thank you again, Mrs. Paladino," she said as she looked back at the art teacher. "I'm gonna head to lunch."
"Okay, enjoy! Oh, and will you be joining us at art club tonight?" asked Mrs. Paladino sweetly, her frizzy curls bobbing when she quirked her head to the side.
"I'll be there," Winter assured happily.
At the table, Louis was already hyping himself up for his upcoming soccer championship. Having been elected as team captain, his status amongst the team and the rest of the school had peaked. It seemed whenever he was around, people were constantly doting and offering their good-luck wishes to him.
While it gave him a surge of much-needed confidence, the pressure that came with the flow of it all was quickly mounting. It didn't help that he had scouts attending most of his recent games in the season, all of whom were vying for his attention and commitment.
While Joe and Luke were doing their best to keep Louis' mind off his stressors, Gina sighed.
"What's up, Gene?" Daisy asked. Her features softened when she saw Gina wistfully staring at a flirty couple across the cafeteria.
Winter noticed as well, and the two friends shared a look as they looked at Gina's dejected expression. She'd confessed and, as predicted, been turned down by Tyler. Despite her usual routine of casual dating and fooling around, she felt too forlorn to even consider it.
This much had become apparent to even Louis, who in the absence of Luke and Joe's conversation, had begun eavesdropping on the girls. He listened with interest while Gina recounted her recent heartbreak, and riding the ripples of his newfound confidence, burst out without so much as a hint of social grace:
"If we win at the championship, let me take you out on a date," he interjected quickly. Then, realizing how foolish and abrupt he was, he pinched his lips close and held his breath.
Daisy, in the wake of his outburst, fumbled with her spoon and flung some of her tapioca pudding onto the table. "Shit," she cursed under her breath as she frantically wiped it up with a napkin, her cheeks burning less out of her own embarrassment and more out of bearing witness to the awkward silence that befell the table.
"What?" Gina gaped, her brown eyes blown wide.
Winter felt frozen, save for her eyes which flew back and forth between Gina and Louis. She'd known for a while that Louis was quite obviously attracted to Gina, but she hadn't foreseen him asking her out anytime soon, and certainly not in the company of others.
Whatever compelled him to make his sudden confession stirred him still, and despite his complete inability to read the room, Louis continued confidently.
"Actually, even if we lose, will you let me take you out?" he asked, becoming sheepish by the end of the sentence.
His cheeks were turning redder by the second, quickly coming to rival the redness in his auburn locks. He looked positively boyish while he braced himself for the aftermath of his impulsivity.
Gina blinked, once, twice, and many times more. Louis was doing his best not to flinch with each passing of her eyelids. Then, just as the weight of everything threatened to crush him, it vanished when Gina finally replied.
"Okay."
***
Seeing as how I am not uploading by-weekly, I decided to post this a bit earlier. Thank you so much to all who have been reading, voting, and commenting <3 Your support has kept me pushing through and wanting to finish this project. We're coming into the final couple chapters now and I am so relieved to be able to finish this project and move on to editing it into what I want it to be <3
Stay tuned for the next update! I have a feeling it'll be a good one ;)
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