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Harmony Blues

By Victoria Kimble

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No one was more surprised than Brittany Welsh. She had never dreamed that her painting Hawaiian Flower would be one of the three chosen to be showcased at the Colorado state capitol building over the Christmas holiday. She was only in the seventh grade. She really didn’t know anything about art! Her best friend, Cammie Dunn, had been the one who wanted to join art club; Brittany just went along with it. But here she was at the Aspen Junior High Art Club Show in the Pinewood Public Library, and people were coming up to her and looking at her painting and congratulating her.
“Congratulations, Brittany! I’m so proud of you!” Mrs. Bruton, the art teacher, walked over to Brittany and gave her a big hug.
“Oh my gosh, thanks! I never thought this could ever happen to me!” Brittany said, her chocolate brown eyes wide and her round cheeks flushed with pleasure. She pushed her square glasses up on her nose.
“You’re my most improved student! I can tell that you really listened and applied what you learned. You deserve this!” Mrs. Bruton said, smiling and looking Brittany in the eyes. Brittany bit her lip to try and stop her smile from growing, because she knew she must look like a dork. “Where are your parents? I’d love to meet them.”
“Um, my mom is over there on the phone. She’s a vet and got a call about someone’s dog eating some potpourri. My dad is a surgeon and had a surgery that ran late, so he’s not here.” Brittany gathered up her long blonde hair and tossed it over her shoulder. She tried to look matter of fact. The truth was her dad missed most of her school events, and her mom was usually on the phone at some point during whatever Brittany had going on.
“Oh. Well, try to catch me before you leave so I can say hi to your mom, okay?” Brittany nodded as Mrs. Bruton gave her shoulder one last squeeze and moved onto the next student. She wasn’t quite sure what she should do next, so she stood awkwardly by her painting, watching the crowd of students and parents as they milled about, looking at all the artwork. She saw Cammie standing over by the wall on her phone.
“Cammie!” Brittany waved wildly, trying to catch her friend’s attention. Cammie finished her text and slid her phone into her back pocket, then sauntered over to Brittany.
“Can you believe it?”
Cammie folded her arms and set her mouth as she looked at Brittany’s painting. “No. I can’t, actually. I wonder what those judges’ qualifications were.” Brittany’s stomach dropped. Cammie was mad. And when Cammie got mad, it usually took a while to calm her down. Brittany swallowed hard as her happy feelings dissolved.
“Mrs. Bruton said that they were from the University of Colorado. Maybe they were just art students or something,” Brittany said, fiddling with the hem of her pale pink tunic.
Cammie snorted. “Probably! I bet they were the kids who were failing their art class, and they had to judge for extra credit, just to get a passing grade.”
“Totally. I bet if it were up to everyone here, they would have picked yours. Look at how everyone stops by your painting! And you look amazing. You totally look the part of an artist.”
A small smile appeared on Cammie’s face as she looked down at her outfit. She was in all black, from her riding boots to her leggings to her oversized button-down shirt. The only splash of color came from a neon green sparkly headband that sat in her spiked black-dyed hair.
“Thanks, Brit. I knew I could count on you to have good taste.”
Brittany grinned back at her friend.
“How about our girl, Brit, huh?” Maddie Ryland appeared next to Brittany and Cammie. Cammie’s smile melted into a glare, her heavily made up eyes flashing in Maddie’s direction.
“Clearly the judges must have been fourth graders to pick your painting, Ryland!” Through the Willows? A toddler could have painted that!”
“Then I guess I’m glad they’re featuring toddler art at the capitol this year!” Maddie retorted.
Brittany squirmed as her two friends faced off. Her loyalty to her best friend made her feel like she shouldn’t celebrate with Maddie. The thing was, Maddie was pretty cool. She had been really encouraging to Brittany during art club. Brittany was proud to have her painting chosen along with Maddie’s, because Maddie’s painting was really good. Brittany was still in shock that hers was considered to be on the same level.
“I love your sweater, Maddie!” Brittany said, trying to change the subject. Changing the subject was usually the best way to get Cammie to calm down and think about something else.
“Thanks! My mom found it at a Black Friday sale for, like, five bucks.” Maddie’s red fitted sparkly sweater shimmered in the lights of the library. She was wearing her black, choir skirt and her dark blonde hair was piled on her head in her standard messy bun, but the sweater made her look festive. Cammie rolled her eyes and started picking at her black nail polish. Brittany shifted her feet, unsure of what to do next. Thankfully, her mom solved the problem.
“Come on, Brittany. It’s time to go,” Mom said, slipping her phone into her purse as she walked toward the girls.
“Hey, Dr. Welsh,” Maddie said.
“Oh hi, Maddie. Is your mom here? Tell her that the Anderson dog will need to be seen first thing in the morning, so if she could pull that chart as soon as she gets in, that’d be great.” Maddie’s mom had started working for Brittany’s mom at the beginning of the school year.
“Sure! See you at the bus stop tomorrow, Brit.” Maddie flashed a smile and walked back toward her family.
“Brit, now. Dad is waiting for us,” Mom said.
“Can Cammie come over for ice cream or something?” Brittany asked.
“No, not tonight. We have something special planned.”
Brittany wrinkled her nose. “Nuts.”
“My parents want to take me to celebrate anyway,” Cammie said, sticking her chin in the air. “We have a tradition of getting crème Brule after all my events.”
“Okay. Well, see you tomorrow. Nice job on your painting!” Brittany said. Cammie smirked and walked away. Brittany grabbed her coat and followed her mom out the door. She was bummed that Cammie couldn’t come with them, but then she remembered that her mom said they had “something special” planned. A seed of excitement took root in Brittany’s heart. She smiled. This was totally a special night.

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