Free Art for Art's Sake: Meredith's Story by Barbara L. Clanton

where it’s all splintery? It wasn’t cut all the way through. It almost looks like someone meant for the banister to break the way it did.”
    Meredith looked at Dani with concern. “There may be more to this house than we bargained for. Let’s get out of here.”
    Halfway down the overgrown walkway, a loud bang shattered the quiet air. Meredith jumped and knocked into Dani who in turn grabbed onto Meredith’s coat sleeve to keep her balance.
    Meredith whispered urgently, “Did you hear that?”
    “Yeah.” Dani still held onto Meredith’s sleeve. “It came from inside the house. Let’s get out of here.”
    Meredith grabbed Mikey’s hand and the three of them ran down the concrete steps and through the open gate. They didn’t stop running until they reached the pickup truck. Meredith’s eyes grew wide she realized that the blue sports car was still in the parking lot, but not a single one of the three guys was in sight.
     
     

Chapter Five
     
     
    The Protector
     
     
    THE FIRST HALF of Meredith’s senior year was finally over. What a relief. But when one thing ended, another began— in this case the second semester. She sat at the big worktable in the art room and waited for her new course, Senior Art Elective, to start. The art class was filled with mostly seniors who needed to fulfill the fine arts half-credit required for graduation. Meredith was hopeful that, even though this was a beginner’s course, she’d learn something new. Art was ever evolving and Meredith knew she’d be learning all her life.
    Four tables placed together formed the large student work area. Naturally, she had plenty of space around her because the other seniors in the new class, about twenty or so, crammed themselves into the chairs well away from where Meredith sat by the windows. She sighed when she realized what was happening again. In fact, she had an empty seat on either side of her. Clearly, the other students did not want to be associated with her. Less than one hundred days of high school left. She could make it. Endings created beginnings, after all and after high school she would create a new beginning at Syracuse University. If she got in, that is.
    Mrs. Levine bustled around the room getting ready for the new semester. She reached around Meredith to place a basket of fruit in the middle of the work area. The bananas had definitely seen better days because several had brown spots. Some kind of genetic engineering had gone into creating the orange because it was an almost unworldly color. And the huge Delicious apples looked so shiny Meredith figured they could make candles from the wax.
    “What do you think, Meredith? Think this bunch is ready for a still life?”
    Meredith laughed. “I’m not so sure about that, but I guess they have to start somewhere, right?”
    Mrs. Levine patted Meredith on the shoulder, and Meredith saw the other students look her way. She sensed their confusion with Mrs. Levine’s obvious familiarity with her. Most students didn’t know that Meredith was in the AP Art class, but that was because most students didn’t know Meredith at all. How Dani had known she took AP Art was a real mystery. She smiled in spite of herself. In this class, at least, she was in her element. Maybe she wouldn’t have to hide so much. She couldn’t make up her mind that morning whether or not to wear her hair back all day like Dani wanted her to, but ultimately decided against it. She would pull it back for art, like she always did, but then she’d yank out the rubber band before heading to Mr. Dalton’s seventh period history class.
    Meredith began to wonder where Dani was. She was supposed to be in this art class. Maybe she decided to drop. Maybe she didn’t want to spend so much time with Meredith after all. By the time Meredith had almost convinced herself that Dani was trying to get out of her life, a blur of Whickett green and yellow barreled through the door.
    “Am I late?” Dani asked to no