Breaking the Rules (Pushing the Limits 1.50)

There are giggles around the room, and one quick scan confirms that I’ve got fans. With a heavy sigh, I put my brush on the easel and stretch my back. “Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize, but since I disturbed you, do you mind if we talk?”

“Sure.”

With a wave and a few words from Hunter, everyone moves on. “I’m going to have to shut this audience thing down soon, otherwise no one but you will get any work done.”

“I am sorry about snapping at you. I won’t lie—I can be hard to be pulled out, but I’m usually not so emotional, but...” I stare at the painting. “This one’s different.”

“What makes this one different?”

Because it’s my brother. “Just is.”

“You chose to leave out the star. Why?”

This thin veil that used to be a brick-and-mortar wall between me and any emotion connected with losing my brother wavers with the slightest breeze. If I wanted, the answers lie there behind the mist. All I have to do is reach for them and according to Mrs. Collins, those answers will help me keep Noah.

But there’s pain behind that curtain. Pain I’m not sure I want to tackle. Pain that, hours ago in the hotel room, came close to surfacing.

Like the canvas turned into poison, I slide back from it. The veil in my head fluctuates as I focus on the colors. “Just decided to go that way.”

“You’re not a pushover for anyone, are you? Not even the man who can open doors for your future.”

I’ve been wiping my hands on a towel and pause. “What did you say?”

“You. Not a pushover. How I like getting answers when I ask questions, and you don’t give them. Me offering you a future and you not caring.”

A smile spreads across my face. “I’m not a pushover.”

“Is it because your name is Echo that you’re repeating things?”

I laugh, not so much because he’s funny, but because the unthinkable happened. For years my parents, my therapists, my teachers, my friends...anyone...used my need to please to get whatever they desired. I lay down and died for anyone at any time and somewhere along the way, I found a backbone.

I did change this summer. I am different.

“I’m serious, Echo. When I ask questions, I want answers. It’s how this whole teacher/student relationship works.”

I get it, but... “Not with this one. This one is personal, and you know it.”

“They’re all personal,” he says.

“Some more than others. If you push me, I’ll answer, but I can’t promise the answers I give you on this one will be true.”

“Touché. We’re clear, then. Anything after this is on my terms.”

“I understand.”

“So the purpose of having this conversation...”

I’m nodding for him to continue though it’s hard to concentrate because I’m still reeling from the I’ve-changed moment.

“I like the idea of you taking business courses so I’m trying to work it out with your college to see if you can take them online while you study your art here. In fact, I like the idea so much I might implement the new plan for others next fall.”

That’s an awesome surprise. “Great!”

Hunter eyes me warily. “So that means you’re accepting?”

I bite the inside of my mouth. Noah and I are walking a tightrope, and I have no idea what’s going to happen to us. Maybe we’d work if I stayed in Kentucky. Maybe we’d fall apart if I stay here. But Noah’s right. The advice I gave Noah about himself is right. I need to decide for me. Noah and I will last if we truly love each other, but we’ll collapse if I do everything to please him. “Yes. I’m accepting.”