Free Brilliant Hues by Naomi Kinsman Page A

as we walked side by side. “What changed?”
    “Her dad forced her to pretend to be my friend, but while she was pretending, we actually got to know one another, and we realized we’d made unfair assumptions about each other. And then, when the truth came out about her dad, we had to learn how to trust one another.”
    “Not everyone can end up friends in the end, though,” Grant said.
    “No.” I kicked a pinecone out of the path. “I can’t imagine Juliet and Margo becoming friends.”
    “Still, mutual respect might be possible.”
    I nodded, tucking this away to think about later. Maybe it was possible to find a solution that didn’t involve ganging up on Margo. I could try to figure one out at least. And maybe eventually, Dad could help Tyler and Karl find some mutual respect, too.
    I looked across the road at the giant house coming up on our right, white pillars and all. I’d almost forgotten to look for doors. Not that door, though. Too stuffy.
    A small winding road led off to our left, lined with smaller houses that looked like cabins and giant redwood trees.
    “Can we go that way?” I asked.
    Grant glanced up the road, probably assessing risk. Then, he gave a small nod and turned. Somewhere, one of these houses had to have a door worth painting. I’d even settle fora creaky old gate as long as it was interesting. And had good texture. With paint, texture mattered.
    We rounded a corner and there, tucked into the trees, was a house entirely covered in ivy. The door had been painted red once, but now was weatherworn and peeling. I stopped and stared.
    Grant stopped a hundred yards beyond me, realizing I wasn’t with him. “What?”
    “Can I borrow your phone?”
    He hurried back. “Do you see something?”
    “No, I just need a picture of that door. Tell me a family of dwarves doesn’t live there.”
    Grant looked at me like I’d grown an extra ear. “A family of what?”
    “Never mind. So can I borrow your phone?”
    He handed it over and I snapped a picture of the door.
    Grant checked his watch. “We should start back, so your mom doesn’t worry.”
    Okay by me. Now that I’d found the door, I couldn’t wait to dip my brush into paint.
    “You take Higgins again,” Grant said. “It’s good practice.”

Chapter 11
Bouncing Off the Walls
    I had never seen so many kids before in my life. Okay maybe that was an exaggeration. Still, there were literally kids everywhere, bouncing off the walls, drawing self portraits on the tables, and playing some form of crawl-tag under the tables.
    “Oh good, you’re here,” Jess said. “The natives are getting restless.”
    I scanned the room. I was supposed to teach these kids how to draw? How was that even possible?
    “Beetle,” Jess called over the din.
    Suddenly, amazingly, they all stopped, turned to her, and shouted, “Face!”
    They all made crazy faces with fingers wiggling like antennae for about ten seconds and then dropped obediently into chairs, as though they were the best behaved group of kids you’ve ever seen.
    Jess grinned. “Impressive. Ten more beetle-faces like that and you’ll win your Popsicle party.”
    “Who’re they?” asked a boy whose cheeks were still streaked with chalk from making self-portraits.
    “These are our art teachers,” Jess said. “Miss Sadie and Miss Pippa.”
    “But I’m more of a helper than a teacher,” Pips chimed in.
    Right. Like I was the teacher of the two of us.
    “Today you’re going to make a drawing that tells us a little about you,” Pips used the smart board pens to draw a simple example. She started with a curved v to represent a bird. “If I could be any kind of animal, I’d be a bird. I like to see everything and know everything that is going on, so I know I’d love to fly. If my bird could live anywhere, she would live at the beach.” Pips added a scalloped wave to the bottom of the picture, and then handed me the pen. “My friends would all be good at different things.