Chapter 9

Adonis' POV

"Adonis, there's space beside Andrea. Why don't you go and sit near her?" Theo whispers to me, leaning sideways, his long wavy brown wig tickling my arm.

"I don't want to," I shake my head.

"Why?" He frowns.

"Cause, she is a great artist and I can't draw that well. I might feel uncomfortable sitting and drawing beside her."

"I see.." he chuckles. "So you really cheated in the competition!"

"What about you? What are you going to do now? Can you at least draw a hill?" I ask him.

"I can!" He claims rather confidently.

"Okay let's see. If your portrait is better that mine, I'll do anything you say."

"Okay.." he nods with a mischievous smile on his lips before he averts his eyes to his drawing sheet.

Can he actually draw? But he can't be better than me, right?

I stare at the lake infront of me and the distant hills behind it. We were on the banks of Lake Pryor which runs through the national park and we were all given the task of capturing the wonderful scenery in a water colour portrait.

Five minutes later, while I'm still trying to trace the outline of the hill and the lake with pencil, I notice Theo proceeding to open the new water colour set we were all given. I look at his drawing pad and he has traced an outline already and it looks good. So, he can draw!

Shit! I made a bet! I need to make mine better than his! I look back at the hills and concentrate on my lines. When I finish my outline, Theo is painting his hills and his art is getting better and better by the second. But I don't lose hope yet and start mixing colours.

But, very soon I realise I heavily underestimated him. Within ten minutes, his painting starts turning into a professional piece and I can no longer concentrate on my portrait as he sits beside me, painting like a real professional artist. I couldn't even understand how he was mixing colours so well and quickly. His palette was full of different colours while I had only yet used green and yellow.

"How are you so good at art?" I finally ask him.

"I told you I can draw," he shrugs and takes a peak at my drawing pad. For a moment, he tries to suppress a grin but he can't help it and a giggle erupts from his throat. Then he steals a glance at me and quickly looks away, dedicating his attention back to his work.

"You didn't tell me you are an artist!" I protest. He just smiles whilst running the paintbrush over his lake.

"You cheated! So the bet is cancelled."

"How? I didn't cheat!" He titls his face to me with a frown.

"I never thought you could paint like this. If you could paint like this, you could have directly got selection in this camp. You are better than our art teacher!" I genuinely express my surprise. "So, you didn't actually participate in the competition?"

He just shakes his head in reply.

"Why?"

"No reason. I didn't feel like participating."

"You seem like a professional artist. Where did you learn painting?" I ask, totally curious.

"My mother. She was an artist. She taught me. And I probably got it already from her genes."

"I see! But why are you simply wasting such great talent?"

"Who said I'm wasting it?" He asks.

"I mean you won't even participate in a school competition."

He just smiles and dips the brush in the water. His mischievous grin tells me there are more secrets about him. But it seems like he doesn't want to disclose anything.

"Adonis, you gotta work on your portrait instead of staring at mine. And our bet still stands."

"Ahh...okay," I leave a sigh and look back at my pad. I don't even feel like painting anymore. Mine is absolute shit compared to his.

"Hey.." I call him after sometime and he tilts his face. "Now that you've almost finished with your portrait, can you help me a bit with mine?"

"Who said I've finished? I've still got a lot of works to do."

"You haven't finished?! Is there more to be done?" I say in awe. He just shakes his head and starts to mix purple with blue on his palette.

At last when he finishes his portrait and shows it to Mr Alberty and Miss Huxley, everybody including the two of them, all the students and me are awestruck. His portrait just looks like a photograph, just like the lake and hills in front of me. So original and real!

His painting was selected as the best and Mr Alberty took it away to present it on the camp report to the authorities later. To be honest I used to think Andrea was a great artist. But her portrait today didn't even look half as good as Theo's. And I used to think I too was good at Art. But today, I realised it was all just a delusion. The genes it is! Unfortunately my parents don't draw and I'm now sure I got no such genes from anywhere.

During lunch, everyone starts flocking around Theo, asking him how he is so good at drawing and he starts getting really nervous. I could see him internally panicking. So, I answer to many of their questions for him and tells them about his mother.

After lunch, we were heading to the eastern side of the park. We had to walk about fifteen minutes to the road where our bus had arrived. From there, there was half an hour's drive to the eastern side.

The whole time during the walk, I keep Theo's hand firmly in mine. Eric wasn't now leaving us alone and tagged along with us the whole way. I don't really know how I managed to prevent him from sitting beside Theo on the bus. He even asked me if I don't want to sit near Andrea. He was hella irritating!

"Adonis, thank you so much," Theodore says once the bus starts to move.

"For what?" I smile.

"For helping me at lunch and also staying beside me the whole time and now sitting with me. You could have spent the time with Andrea. I'm really sorry for all the trouble."

"It's okay," I shrug. "I can see her any time. Her school is just oppsite ours."

"You're planning to keep going after her even after this camp?" He asks.

"If I like something, I usually pursue it until I get it."

"You like her that much?"

I look at his blue lenses and for the first time I don't feel sure about my answer. Maybe I should let her go. After all, she doesn't seem to like me.

"I think Adonis, you should love someone who loves you instead of going after someone who doesn't like you."

His simple words take me aback. It's not cause I haven't heard it from anyone else before but I didn't expect this kid to say such profound thoughts. But of course, I already realised he isn't exactly like what I thought of him in the beginning. This little thing is someone with immense talent.

"Okay, show me someone who loves me," I say crossing my hands across my chest.

"Uh..I don't know. But there'll be many if you look."

"Really?" I grin. "Why do you think so?"

"Because you're nice. A lot of people might like you."

I couldn't help but smile at him. "Little one, I'm not that nice."

Suddenly he raises his hand and hits my arm. "Don't call me that."

"Hey! How dare you hit me?" I glare at him. But I didn't expect him to get nervous instantly. He bites his bottom lip and squirms on the seat. It was cute to watch, so I keep the glare for a few more seconds.

"I'm sorry. But I'm only a year younger than you," he mumbles looking down at his lap.

"Who said that? I'm two years older than you. I'm 18 and you're only 16."

"But I'll turn 17 this year," he protests, looking up.

"But you're 16 now."

"Yeah, but technically...wait! When's your birthday?"

"I'm not saying," I shrug.

He chews his bottom lip again and looks out of the window. Then he suddenly turns around. "The bet! I didn't ask you to do anything yet."

"Oh, yeah, what do you want me to do?" I ask.

"You should tell me your birthday."

I couldn't help but chuckle and shake my head at that. And then he grins, dimples on full display.

"Silly, you could have asked me to do a lot of other things. For example, you could have asked me to give you a hundred bucks. Why did you ask me my birthday instead?"

"Oh, you'd give me a hundred dollar if I ask?"

"I'd have. But you didn't ask and your chance is over. My birthday is on September 22."

"So, you haven't turned 18 yet! You are only one year and three months older than me. My birthday is in December."

"Oh..." I nod. "I guess you're good at maths."

"No! I suck at maths!" He says confidently, making me smile again.

"Okay little one, if you.."

"Ahh..again!" He rolls his eyes.

"Wait! Listen to me first," I laugh. "I will give you one more chance to ask me to do something if you let me call you little one."

"Oh..." he contemplates about the offer. Then he mumble an 'okay' after a few seconds and turns to face me.

"So, ask me," I say.

"Okay.." he nods. "I want you to do this one thing. It is...you should forget me, once this camp is over."

I look at him confused, not understanding what he meant.

"I mean, you should never tell anyone about me, even your best friend. You should just forget you met me. No Theodore Reigns attended this camp."

For some reason, I suddenly feel something in my chest. I should forget him after this camp? And we are never going to meet again after this camp is over?

"Adonis, you'll forget this, won't you?" He asks.