Page 56 of Talk Swoony to Me

Heidi flinches and looks over her shoulder at me. “Hey,” she says.

“You just do that?”

She nods, looking embarrassed, though I’m not sure why. “Yeah...”

I sit down beside her on the log, my gaze still locked on that drawing. “Can I see?” I ask.

After a moment of hesitation, she hands me the sketchbook. I tilt it slightly, letting the firelight fill the page so I can see it better.

“That’s incredible,” I say.

“It’s nothing...”

“No, really. You definitely...” I glance at Seth. He’s out like a light and... drooling slightly. “Captured his essence.”

Heidi chuckles.

I turn a page back in the book without thinking.

Another portrait... of me?

“And what’s this?” I ask.

“Just... the pose you did in class,” she answers quickly.

I nod, recognizing it. Sitting down, leaning forward. One hand on the forehead.

I turn another page.

Heidi stiffens. “Uh...”

Another portrait. Also of me, but...

Lying down on my back. Arms resting behind my head. Eyes closed. Smirking lips.

“That’s not a pose I did in class,” I say.

She doesn’t speak.

I pinch the page and peek at her to see if she’ll stop me, but she doesn’t. I find another sketch of me with my arms above my head. A flexed torso. Alpha Delta Xi tattoo on my taut ribs.

I smile. “Homely guy.”

Heidi breathes a laugh. “Yeah.”

“They all stop at the wrists,” I say, taking notice.

“Yeah...” She shrugs. “I can’t draw hands.”

“No?”

She shakes her head. “They’re my nemesis, to be honest...”

“You just need practice. Here.” I give the sketchbook back to her and present my hand, holding it steady between us. “Go ahead.”

“You want me to draw your hand?” she asks.

“Yeah. Go for it. I can sit still for a long time. Seriously. Sometimes, I get paid for it.”