A Text From Dani

You see a text from Dani in your notifications – “Hey, I was about to go watch some paint dry with Mars and Valentine. Want to come with?”

“What the fuck?” you text back.

“Yea it’s a little weird… But it’s a thing that Rothman’s putting on. I don’t know why, but it sounds kinda fun.” Dani texts back immediately.

“Sure??” you text back.

Rothman is a small little nine-room museum on campus that hosts an eclectic collection of modern and post-modern art. You’ve never actually been before, so it takes you a while to find the funky looking building, wandering around in the cool night air.

There’s a crowd sitting on a set of bleachers set up facing the building’s north wall. Valentine and Mars are already there, and they wave the two of you over, patting the empty seats.

“You’re just in time,” Mars says, “this is gonna be real good!”

“Oh man, look, he’s going to go up the ladder,” Valentine says, pointing at a squat looking dude carrying a bucket of paint. The crowd, previously chattering excitedly, falls silent as floodlights snap on, illuminating the white wall with a strange brilliance. The man deliberately steps on the first rung, and you feel chills, as if this were a holy ceremony.

You watch as he slowly ascends, and find yourself strangely excited. Somebody gasps as he reaches the top of the ladder, and the artist hurls the paint in his bucket at the white wall. It’s an ugly color - something like burgundy, if you had to put a name on it, and it splatters against the white.

The artist slowly descends the latter, and you are suddenly conscious of Mars sitting to your left, and Dani to your right. You surreptitiously slip your hand into Mars’, and she doesn’t look away from the wall as her fingers entwine around yours. Her hand is cold, a little sweaty, and her silhouette looks strangely alluring to you. She sits tall and proud, gazing into that mysterious unknown.

You turn your attention back to the paint. It’s begun to run down the wall in chunks, leaving blotchy red marks across the previously pristine wall.

“Fuck yeah, this is the shit,” a guy calls out from the front row. He’s got a joint in his hand, and you figure that half of the crowd must be stoned as they murmur appreciatively. With the silent spell broken, people begin to turn to each other, talking while keeping an eye on the drying paint.

“So, how was your dinner,” Valentine asks you.

“It was eventful,” you say. “Ran into a friend, and then… somebody else.”

“Wow, look at Mr. two-timer here,” Mars says, giving your hand a squeeze.

“I’m a man of honor,” you say, defending yourself, but the girls chuckle, as if knowing something that you don’t.

The paint seems to have largely run its course, and there’s nothing to do now but watch it harden. The artist, for his part, seems to have disappeared, leaving only the ladder to frame the scene.

“I don’t know what I expected from this, but that was a damn good showing,” Mars says.

“Hey, it’s not over yet. There’s still time for it to go to shit,” Valentine says.

“Don’t be ridiculous,” Dani says. “How could anything unexpected possibly happen at this point?”

“It could start raining,” you say.

“Fine, sure,” Dani says. “But I don’t think that counts.”

“I’m getting bored. D’y’all want to head out?” Valentine asks, stifling a yawn. You suddenly get the urge to yawn yourself, and use your free hand to cover it up.

“It’s contagious,” Mars says, yawning herself. She takes the opportunity to sidle up closer to you. Your hands are sandwiched between your thighs - by some mutual agreement, the two of you have agreed to keep this little bond a secret from the other girls.

“No, we can’t leave yet,” Dani says.

“What, you think we’re just getting to the good part?” Valentine asks.

“I just don’t want to do work yet,” Dani admits.

“That’s a mood,” you say, enjoying the feel of the breeze on this autumn night. It’s nice out, and you couldn’t care less about the mountains of homework waiting for you back at home.

“Well, I’m going to up at any rate,” Valetine says. “And leave you all to keep watching this bloody paint.”

“Yeah, I think I might head out too,” Mars says, untwining her fingers from your hand. You let go reluctantly, your fingertips brushing against one another, and she gives you a small smile before the two of them stand up. Dani, seeing that her friends are leaving, stands up too. At this point, you may as well leave, so follow the rest of them off the bleachers.

On your way down, you hear a guy mumbling to his friend — {if ChiO1 == False} “Am I really going to skip Fiji’s ChiO mixer for this?” {else} “Am I really watching this instead of Netflix?” {endif}

The hour’s starting to get late, and you figure you can just about do another thing before the night’s over.

Valentine +5
Dani +5
Mars +15