There's No Going Back--SAMPLE (Book 2 of The Triad Series)

2. First Impressions

Alex walked onto the University's grounds and headed towards the Arts and Sciences building. It was his second class of the day and the one he looked forward to the most. Painting I.

Living where he did in the Sierra Nevadas of Northern California, most of the painting Alex had done was scenery. He had done a few stills on occasion when the weather was inclement, but the majority of the time, he painted the mountains, the forests and Lake Tahoe itself. He had decided to take the class to broaden his horizons, as it were.

Alex had brought his art supplies to the classroom with him, not knowing how much he was expected to bring. He had them in a large canvas bag that was slung over his shoulder as he walked into the building housing his first ever painting class.

When he walked into the classroom, he saw that most of the seats had been taken already. The room was large enough so that about 25 students could set up behind easels with enough room for the teacher to walk between them to confer her infinite artistic wisdom onto her pupils.

He took one of the few available seats left in the room and set his stuff down next to him. It seemed that he hadn't needed everything that he held in the bag, but he had been eager to make sure he had had what he needed if the class was less than gracious with its supplies. It seemed his fears were unwarranted. Each set up easel came with a number of different colors of oil paint, brushes and a fresh cup of water to douse the soiled brushes in. The pallets were old but clean and though some of the colors had stained the wood of the pallets, Alex knew that it wasn't enough to discolor any of his paints when he mixed them.

"Hello again," a familiar voice called from beside him. "I'm sorry I didn't give you my name yesterday. I'm Piper."

Alex looked over and stared. He couldn't believe his luck. Out of all the classes he could have taken, the girl who had fallen at his feet a few days prior was in his art class. He stared unblinking at her until she spoke again. It was unlike him to be this addle brained but he found his vocal chords simple wouldn't comply with his wishes to utter a sound.

"You're Alex, right?" she asked and the concerned look on her face helped to unlock Alex's throat.

"Yes, Alex. Alex Reznick," he stated, his voice a little froggy sounding. "You're Piper Minkov, right?"

She raised a single brow at him, seemingly in a quandary over how he knew her full name.

"Yes, how did you know?" she asked.

Alex simply went down to his bag and took out the small notebook he had found under the tree that said 'Aloha' on it.

"How-" she began.

"Don't worry, I didn't read anything in it," he told her. "I just opened to see if it had a name or contact information in it, in case I didn't see you again. Your secrets are safe."

"Well... thanks, I guess," she said with a half smile. She didn't know if she believed him when he said he hadn't read anything in it. Not that she cared. It was mostly a book with thoughts and poems she written down and she carried the notebook around only because sometimes she couldn't remember her ideas at a later time.

"So... you're an art major?" Alex asked, finally reigning in his nerves enough to ask a semi- coherent question.

"Double major, art and English," she told him. She really had wanted to just take art courses, but her grandparents had wanted her to have something to fall back on and they knew of her love of English literature and writing.

"Are you an art major?" she asked him. He didn't seem like the kind that would spend hours behind an easel and paint still lifes of roses and fruit. He had a more athletic build while most of the other art majors that she had met with were softer and more pliable in physique. His form was much more solid, like he had played ten years of football or worked out in the gym regularly.

"No, this is an elective for me," he said with a small smile. "Business major. I wish I could say I was any good at art, but I only could afford to do it in my spare time. I spent a lot of time working at my parent's resort in South Lake Tahoe and I want to be able to take over the business some day."

"Oh," was all the response he got from the girl as she blinked at him.

"Do you live in Hawaii?" he asked, not wanting the silence to continue. He felt a need to find out more about the girl.

"Yes," she said. "I live with my grandparents on the big island. I figure you knew because of the 'Aloha' on my notebook, huh?"

"Yep," he said, lightly. "With your grandparents, huh? No other family? Pardon my asking, it's just I've never met anyone who lived with their grandparents, though my grandfather does live right next door to my parents in the mountains."

"My parents passed away in a car accident when I was little," she told him without blinking. "It's okay, I don't really remember them since I was so young when they passed. My grandparents are like my parents to me."

"Did they always live in Hawaii?" Alex asked, curious.

"No, they retired there after my grandfather was hurt in an incident at work," she told him. "There was some problem with the equipment and he was injured. The insurance paid out just enough for him to settle into a modest lifestyle and he decided to head to Hawaii because he claims Florida was for 'old farts'. He's a bit of a character."

Alex smiled. "Sounds like it."

At this point, their conversation was cut off as the professor decided to start class. Alex looked at the time and saw that it was five minutes past the hour so apparently this teacher would not be too strict on attendance and tardiness. The thought made him smile. He was certain that the English teacher that taught the creative writing course Jay was to attend the next day would probably not be so lax.

Alex listened to the professor as she went on about the class and the what would required of them. Along with the landscapes Alex was used to, they would be doing still lifes, portraits and figure painting and Alex's stomach dropped a little. He was okay with still lifes and landscapes, but the last time he tried to paint a portrait or figure, it ended up looking like something Salvador Dali might have painted on purpose. Luckily the figures and portraits would not come until the end of the year, so he had ample time to try to hone his skills enough so he wasn't the laughing stock of the class.

When the class was about half over, the teacher asked them to start an original work so she could get an idea of each separate artist's style and what they needed to work on. Alex immediately looked at the blank canvas in front of him and tried to picture what the mountains across from his home looked like. He sat there for a few minutes with his eyes closed until he could remember the exact outline and started to work.

Picking up some green and brown paint, he went to work on applying the colors to his pallet and mixed them together a bit.

Looking over, he saw that Piper was already started on what looked like a green field with flecks of gold, maybe butterflies?

"Where's that?" he asked her, nodding to the canvas.

"It's a place I used to go before my grandparents and I moved to Hawaii. We used to live in the midwest and in the summer time there was this lovely little meadow that would bloom all in purple. It was a magnet for butterflies and I always sat there and watched it for hours- that is when I could."

"Oh," Alex said. "I'm painting home- the mountains really. When I close my eyes, I can still see them."

"Already a little bit homesick?" Piper asked with a smirk.

"Nah- well, maybe a little. For my parents and the scenery mostly," he admitted. "Not so much for my siblings."

"How many siblings do you have?" she asked. She was an only child and would have loved to have had a large family, though she was content with the small, loving one she was gifted.

"Four," he told her. "I miss my brothers a bit- sarcastic asses that they are, but my sister is a pain in the ass. I think she feels a bit ganged up on since she's the only girl out of five kids."

"I'm an only child," Piper admitted. "I would have loved to have brothers and sisters."

"You wouldn't if you had had mine," Alex said.

"Maybe, maybe not," she said knowing full well she never would have taken for granted having a large loving family.

They painted in silence for a while and Alex found himself constantly looking over at Piper. He wasn't checking out her work, though he thought it was beautiful. He was checking out the expressions on her face while she worked.

A small pucker would form in her brows as she mixed and applied paints and she constantly looked at her work with a look of heightened concentration. It was quite cute on her and made her look even younger than her years.

"Is this your first year?" he asked, though he figured it was since they were in a first year class.

"Yes," she replied. "I applied to several colleges in the area and was lucky enough to get a scholarship from USF."

"Why not go to an arts school?" Alex asked.

"My grandparents- while very supportive- wanted me to have something to fall back on," she told him. "I happen to agree so we compromised and I came here. While it has a good art school, the English department is quite good as well."

"What kind of books do you prefer?" he asked, eager to know more about her.

"Oh- all kinds," she said with a lovely blush to her face. "I like reading British Lit as well as more recent authors. I really don't have a favorite. I just read what I feel like when I'm in the mood for it."

"What will you do with your degree?"

"Probably teach," she said. "I like sharing my knowledge of literature and inspiring people to learn more and read and write."

"You would probably be a very popular teacher then," Alex told her with a smirk.

"Oh?" she asked, curiously looking over at him. "How so?"

"Well, you're obviously very talented, caring and passionate about your majors," he told her. "Plus, it's always a bonus when a teacher looks as beautiful as you."

Piper blushed but didn't say anything. She had been told she was hot, or fine from some boys before, but none of these ex- suitors had ever called her beautiful.

After a few minutes, the blush on her face had settled to the normal pink of her cheeks and she looked over at Alex's canvas.

"Which mountain is that?" she asked him. She was surprised that he was as far along in his painting as he was. He had started near the top and a lone, white capped mountain that came to a point at the top seemed to be the focal point of the work.

"Pyramid peak," he told her as he started on the greenery near the middle of the canvas. "I've painted it from several different angles around the lake, but this one is my favorite."

The class was finally released shortly after that and all the students hurried to place their canvases away in a safe place until their next class. Alex followed Piper to the back of the classroom where he could store his painting until his second art class that week.

He initialed the back of the canvas with A.R. and put a piece of beige material over it to keep it safe and walked back towards his desk.

Piper was heading towards the door where most of the students had already left from when Alex called out to her.

"Hey," he said and watched as her dress swirled a bit when she turned around. "Can I get your number- you know, just in case I find any more of your notebooks floating around campus?"

Piper smiled at that.

"Sure."

Hey all and thanks for reading. This books is now only available on Patr eon and Kind le Vella. 

https://w ww.patre on.com/RKKnightlybooks or on Kin dle Vella which will be up before end of July