Free Deadly Little Voices by Laurie Faria Stolarz

his pose, with his arms folded in front of him. He turns his head ever so slightly.

    And I notice.

    The way his chin juts out and the line of his jaw.

    My pencil drops from my hand, and I feel my heart pound.

    “Camelia?” Kimmie asks. She touches my shoulder, perhaps wondering if I’m having another one of my psychometric episodes. “Do you need to go get some water?”

    I nod and start to get up, bumping into my easel. It scratches against the floor. My sketch pad topples over with a smack .

    “It’s no big deal,” Kimmie says, scrambling to pick it up.

    But it is a big deal. Because people in class turn to look.

    People, including naked Adam.

    “Camelia?” he asks, seemingly as horrified as I am. He grabs the first thing within reach—a piece of wax fruit from a bowl near him—in a futile attempt to cover himself.

    “Is there a problem?” Dwayne asks; he seems annoyed by the disturbance.

    “I’m sorry,” I say, collecting my things.

    Meanwhile, Kimmie gawks at Adam as he holds the apple over his serpent. “Holy Garden of Eden,” she whispers, making the sign of the cross. “That Eve’s a lucky girl.”

    I FLEE FROM THE STUDIO, eager to get away.

    Kimmie reluctantly follows. “It’s just the novelty of the nudity,” she assures me. “By the second pose, you’ll be so used to seeing his naked ass you won’t even give it a second thought.”

    “How can you honestly say that?” I whirl around to face her. We’re standing in the middle of the hallway, a good six doors down from the studio. “He practically had that ass in my face.”

    “And the problem with that is …”

    “It’s just too weird,” I say, shaking my head, feeling my heart beat at triple its normal speed.

    Kimmie looks crushed, the way she did the time I accidentally spilled glaze all over the front of her favorite poodle skirt.

    “I won’t be mad if you want to go back in,” I tell her. “I’ll even wait for you.” I point to a group of sofas in an alcove at the end of the hallway.

    “Are you sure?” she asks.

    I nod, almost surprised that she wants to take me up on the offer to sketch Adam naked.
    Almost.

    Kimmie turns to go back to the studio just as Adam comes rushing out.

    Wearing his robe again, he looks relieved to have caught us. “Hey,” he says, moving in our direction. His face looks sweaty. His neck is splotchy. Still, all I can picture is that wax apple between his legs.

    “Do you have a second?” he asks me.

    “Don’t you need to be in the studio?”

    “I need to be right here,” he says, pointing toward the sofas. “Can we talk for a minute?”

    “Wait, does this mean that they need another model?” Kimmie taps her chin in thought.

    “Don’t even think about it,” I tell her.

    “Actually, they’re sketching one of the students,” Adam says. “With clothes on.”

    Even so, Kimmie seems interested. She excuses herself and heads back to the studio.
    Meanwhile, Adam and I move to the alcove to talk.

    He takes a seat on the sofa, and his robe falls open. “Sorry,” he says, turning all shades of red. He holds his legs closed, keeping the robe firmly in place. “So…” he says, clearly awkward.

    But I’m awkward, too. I fidget in my seat, not quite sure where to look.

    “Come here often?” he jokes.

    “Spencer suggested that I take this course.”

    “Are you sure that’s the real reason you’re here?” he asks, still trying to be funny. He pulls up on the robe, revealing a bit of his knee.

    “You’re such a dork,” I say, unable to hide my smile.

    Adam bumps his shoulder against mine. “Yeah, but you know you love me.”

    I swallow hard, not quite sure how to respond.

    “And, hey,” he continues, before I have the chance, “any time you want to see me naked, just say the word. No need to make up excuses and go to all this trouble.”

    “I’ll keep that in mind,” I say, playing along. “So, when did you start modeling?”

    “A