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I pause on the sidewalk, shifting to the side to let others pass by. “Heidi, what’s going on?” I ask.
She exhales hard. “Jenna went behind my back and submitted some of my sketches. I didn’t know about it until I saw them and by then, who knows how many others did, too.”
I furrow my brow. “Sketches of what?”
“Of... you,” she says. “Sketches of you.”
“You mean, like... the portraits from class?”
“Those. And... some not from class.”
“My hands?” I ask.
“Yeah.”
“My chest?”
“Yeah.”
I pause, hesitating on the one drawing left I can think of that would make Heidi this upset.
“My penis?” I ask.
“Yes,” she squeaks.
Uh-oh.
“But, like I said,” she blurts, “I immediately took it down and told the judges the piece was submitted without my consent, so... it’s gone. Forever. And I’m so, so sorry, Drew.”
So, some people saw some... unique drawings of me. What are the odds they can tell it was me, though? Other than, you know... Heidi’s amazing talent as a portrait artist or her signature on every one of them or even the identifiable tattoo on my ribs or...
I shut the thoughts down. No use in falling down that rabbit hole.
“Don’t be sorry,” I say as I decide how I feel about this. “It’s not your fault.”
“I’ve never been so angry at Jenna before in my life,” she says. “I actually shouted at her in front of everyone.”
I pique a brow. “Really?”
“I feel awful.”
“Now, that I’d like to see...”
She sighs. “How are you joking right now?”
“Because...” I bite my lip, finding a little playfulness, “whenever something embarrassing happens, I like to get to that place where I can laugh about it as quickly as possible.”
I hear her smile through the phone. “Really?” she asks.
“Sure, it’s a little... okay, it’s a lot unsettling to know that a random amount of people saw those drawings, but if it happened, it happened, you know? Can’t undo it.”
“Yeah,” she says.
“And you said you pulled it as fast as possible.”
“I fast as I could!”
“And it’s unlikely that someone we know saw them, so...” I shrug a shoulder. “I guess we just have to wait and see if it all blows over. And I think it will.”
