Page 69 of My End

If I worked nonstop.

When I’d done that series for the notebook company, ten animals in three weeks, I’d barely eaten and slept only when my body gave up.

I stared at the painting still leaning against the wall. I’d worked on that one for a week, and it still didn’t feeldone.

Stretch sat up a little straighter. “No. Absolutely not. She’s not going to do it.”

Saylor blinked. “What?”

“She doesn’t even have her supplies. She had to leave everything back at Boone’s,” he explained.

I grinned. “I didn’t leaveeverything.”

He frowned. “What did you even pack?”

I leaned forward, smug. “I managed to cram my backpack full of brushes, paints, and whatever else I could fit.”

His eyebrows lifted. “You didn’t pack any clothes?”

I shrugged. “My paints are more important than my clothes.”

That got a laugh out of the room.

Adaleepointed at me. “I would’ve done the same thing if Fade told me I could only bring one bag. Shove it full of cookbooks and pans.”

Saylor stepped closer, hope flickering in her eyes. “So… do you think you could do it? I mean, I’ll run it by Don, of course. And please, don’t feel pressured. I just think it would be cool as hell. And you’ve already got Stretch’s done.”

I turned to Stretch.

He looked back at me with his expression unreadable. “This is one hundred percent up to you, sweetheart.”

“You’re really gonna get a taste of what it’s like when I’m in the zone if I agree to this,” I warned him. “It’s messy. It’s paint on the floor and in my hair and barely any sleep. I get… weird.”

He held up his hands. “If you can do it without killing yourself, I’ll support it. But if you don’t want to, just say the word.”

Saylor nodded. “Seriously. Say no and I’ll shut up. Promise.”

I scanned the room.

Faces I was just starting to remember. Stretch’s family. His club. His life.

Could I do it?

Yes.

Was it going to be chaos?

Absolutely.

But maybe, for once, that was a kind of chaos I wanted to be part of.

I shrugged, already planning which face I’d paint first.

“Sure,” I said with a grin. “What the hell.”

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Stretch