87 - The chapter with the egg tempera

Rose

We wasted no time in entering the classroom, where Liam was sitting quietly on a high stool.

" Didn't your parents teach you that it's ugly to listen behind the door, my little incarnation of Monet,” he glared at me.

" No, they did a terrible job of raising me,” I said back, unflustered.

Sky approached her boyfriend, and without any warning he pulled her in, laying her in his arms before giving her a movie kiss, making us laugh at the girl's surprised expression.

" Liam!”

" I've always wanted to do that " he winked at her as he helped her straighten up.

" You fool," she hid a small smile.

I exchanged a look of complicity with Cam before grabbing the bags and taking them to the counter at the back of the room. I began to take all the things out of the bags, lining everything up on the counter.

" I've already sorted out the MDF board for you to use " Liam pointed to the piece of plywood on an easel " Do you know what you're going to paint yet?”

" I need to do a self-portrait of some part of my body, but I have no idea what to do," I admitted.

I picked up the step-by-step list of everything I would need to make the egg tempera, reading the instructions carefully.

" Ahh, I remember this activity. I chose a poetic path and drew my heart in graphite," Liam smiled as he watched me.

" Your heart? Really? Is that what you chose? " I turned to face him.

" Okay, I admit it, I had forgotten about this activity and I had a heart drawing ready so I just combined the useful with the pleasant.”

" Now that makes more sense " Sky laughed at her boyfriend.

" Now my heart is all yours, Baker," he winked at the girl, making her smile.

" Okay, let's stop the honeymooning, I still don't know what to draw and I need Chris here, he's got half the ingredients " I complained.

" I've already arrived with your ingredients " Christian entered the room accompanied by Theodore.

" Good, I'll start preparing the solution for the tempera,' I smiled.

I couldn't deny that I was excited to test that new technique, I had been disappointed to discover that it was developed in the lost class.

" First you have to separate the yolk from the white of the egg," Sky approached, starting to read the instructions on the paper.

I grabbed the tray of eggs from the worktop and walked over to the sink, ready to start.

" Right, the white I can throw in the sink? " I confirmed " And does anyone have a suggestion of what I could do as a self portrait?”

" You could do the back of your head with your brush tattoo," Theo suggested.

I tapped the eggshell lightly on the edge of the worktop, taking care to crack it open. Care was not enough as my fingers sank into it, shattering the little white barrier in my hands. Which wouldn't exactly be a problem, if the yolk didn't start dripping along with the white into the sink.

I took a deep breath, picking up the eggshells and setting them aside to discard later, ignoring the amused looks from my friends.

" Not a word about it,” I warned Christian, who stood beside me to see what had gone wrong, “and I like the suggestion, Theo.”

" Rose, I can start drawing the silhouette for you,' Liam suggested, “the MDF is already prepared with the acrylic plaster.”

" Isn't that cheating? " Cam frowned.

" I won't tell if you won't,” he winked at her.

" And if you do, I'll deny it and break your nose afterwards,” I winked, laughing as I saw the girl's eyes widen, “It's a joke, Camille.”

Liam occupied himself with the MDF board while I took the second egg, repeating the process, having more luck this time, separating the shell into two perfect halves, to my joy.

" Davis, take a picture of her tattoo for me " Liam asked.

Christian took advantage of the fact that my hair was already tied up in a high ponytail, just moving it out of the way before taking the picture, then stepping away.

" That's it, now you start passing the yolk from one half to the other, letting the white fall into the sink," Camille taught me.

I began to do as the girl instructed, smiling as I watched the egg white drip into the drain. My smile then died, and I opened my eyes wide, staring into the sink drain in disbelief at what I had done.

" Oh my God! " Cam put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from laughing.

" What? " Skyller, who was leaning back on the sink with the paper in her hand, watching her boyfriend draw, frowned at our reaction.

" Nothing! " I hastened to say.

" You dropped the yolk down the drain, didn't you? " Christian materialized behind me, making my face blush.

" I'll get it next time, I'm getting the hang of it,” I muttered, picking up the third of the six eggs I had bought.

But before I could crack it, Christian took the egg from my hand, watching me with an amused expression before slamming the eggshell against the edge of the countertop.

" Palm up,” he instructed.

I did as he asked and soon after Christian opened the egg with ease, pouring the contents into my hand.

" Pass the yolk from one hand to the other carefully " he continued teaching me " let the white run into the sink, but don't let the yolk fall, if you ruin this one, I'll kill you.”

It only took a few seconds for the smile to appear on my face when I saw myself holding the whole yolk in my hand already free of the white.

" I did it! " I celebrated.

" It would have been faster if you used the bottle technique," Liam commented nonchalantly, without taking his eyes off the sketch he was tracing on the MDF board.

Everyone turned to the boy, looking shocked by that comment.

" Bottle technique? " Sky encouraged him to speak.

" Ahh yes, I learned it when I had to make egg tempera. You break the egg in a pot, or plate, take an empty plastic bottle and squeeze it over the yolk, when you release the bottle, it sucks the yolk inside.”

Silence reigned in the room for a few seconds as I processed what he had just said.

" And you're just telling me this now? " I stared at him.

" Ahh sorry, I got distracted by the drawing." He shrugged, not looking away from the MDF.

" You got distracted by the... LIAM I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!”

But the boy remained focused on the drawing, letting his hand move instinctively over the board, shaping a female silhouette.

" Rose, we'd better keep going, he won't pay you any attention while he's drawing,” Theodore warned me.

" Yeah, he's kind of going to another dimension,” Sky sighed, “let's keep going.”

" What's the next step? " I muttered begrudgingly.

" Remove the film from the yolk,' Sky read the instructions.

" There's a sieve they use for that in the cupboard next to the sink," I heard Liam's voice warn.

I worked carefully to separate the film from the yolk, putting all the contents in a jar, turning to Sky as soon as I finished that step.

" Now you need to put the distilled water in” Sky warned.

Christian took a small bottle with the clear liquid, handing it to me.

" How much do I put in? " I asked Skyller.

" 'You need to double the measure of the yolk,' she warned.

I stared at her in silence for a few seconds while some complex calculations popped up in my mind.

" You don't know how to calculate that, do you? " Christian scoffed.

" Christian, I swear…”

Before I could finish my threat, Liam appeared between us, bending down and picking up one of the eggshell pieces over the sink.

" Here, my teacher told me to just use the shell as a measure," he explained, "I've finished the drawing, you'll definitely get a top grade.”

I poured the water, closed the pot and started stirring it while following Liam to the easel where the MDF board was.

" Liam, are you fucking kidding me? What the fuck is this? " I raised my voice as I saw his 'sketch'.

Stamped on the MDF board was a realistic image of me. I was on my back, my face slightly turned, showing my profile and one hand on my neck, fingertips flanking the tattoo on the back of my neck. He had even done part of the tattoo on my shoulder.

" Just a perfect work of art " he smiled proudly " You'll get the top grade!”

" I can't hand it in, have you gone mad?”

Liam stared at me in surprise at my reaction.

" How can you not? It's perfect!”

" Exactly! Do you really think that I, a first year student, could draw a picture like that?”

Everyone exchanged an amused look at our discussion, it seems that the only ones who weren't finding it funny were me and Liam.

" But my little Vermeer apprentice, I've seen some very impressive and realistic drawings of yours," he returned.

" Yes, nature drawings, Liam! I'm terrible with human figures, if you ask me to redo it I won't be able to get anywhere near that " I pointed at the picture.

" She's right, she'll never get close to making a portrait like that," Theo pointed out, while Christian analyzed the drawing with a suspicious expression.

" Never? " I raised my voice a few octaves, turning to Theo.

" Hey, I'm on your side of this argument!”

" Liam, where did you get that picture from? " Christian finally spoke up.

" That picture you took was terrible so I looked for a better one on your phone,” he explained.

Picture? What is he talking about? Since when does Chris have any pictures of me on his cell phone?

" When I lent you my phone, you weren't supposed to see the pictures in the gallery, Van Derr Waal! " he complained.

I turned to Christian, expecting an explanation for all this.

" So what?”

" I just thought it would make a good photo, what's the big deal? " He muttered, looking annoyed to have that secret discovered in the middle of everyone.

" Do you have pictures of her without her knowing? " Cam frowned.

That was a good question!

Christian walked over to Liam, taking his cell phone back, giving the boy a look of unfriendliness.

" I don't have pictures of her. I only have one." He returned in a tone that showed all his discomfort with the situation.

" I want to see it! " I stared at the boy.

He rolled his eyes, unlocking his cell phone and handing it to me. I opened the gallery, looking at the few photos he kept there. There were a few pictures of the lab, of the group, of our Thanksgiving trip, including one of us in bed together, him sitting with his back against the headboard and me lying on his lap while we watched a movie on TV.

I remembered each of those images, but the one that caught my eye was the penultimate saved image. And I remembered that moment in the morning, he had just put the ointment on my tattoo for me before I got dressed.

" The picture was beautiful, why didn't you show it to me? " I stared at him.

" Look, I just thought it was a good picture, I didn't think it was that big of a deal " he looked away, embarrassed to have been discovered.

Still holding the pot with the egg, I approached him, wrapping one of my arms around his neck and stretching for a kiss that he didn't hesitate to reciprocate, bringing his hand to my lower back, holding our bodies together.

" Send me the picture so I can use it on my profile," I asked, separating myself from him.

" Can you two stop the honeymooning? We have a serious problem to solve," Liam complained.

I pulled away from Christian, turning to him once again.

" What problem?”

" You're asking me to ignore all my talent and genius to do a mediocre job," he returned.

" I'm asking you to do something I would do! Are you calling me mediocre!?”

The boy opened his mouth a few times, giving up before going to the cupboard where the MDF canvases were kept, grabbing a new one.

" I'll draw another picture,” he muttered.

I rolled my eyes, going back to the bench and opening the pot, seeing the yolk already homogenized with the water.

" What's the next step? " I asked Sky.

" You need to put the fungicide in,” she warned.

Christian approached, picking up a pot from the countertop before handing it to me.

" Here, I brought the Acetic Acid.”

I frowned, turning to him afterwards.

" 'I didn't ask for any acid, Chris. 'I told you it had to be vinegar or formaldehyde! " I retorted.

" 'That's vinegar,” Cam warned.

I rolled my eyes and picked up the jar. Why didn't he say so?

" It's ten drops of vinegar,” Sky instructed.

" I also brought a disposable Pasteur pipette,” Christian warned.

" Davis, have you ever seen me in a lab coat in your life? "  I turned to him, receiving a surprised look. “So can you just use language I can understand?”

" Get the damn dropper, Rose," he muttered.

I put in the necessary drops, closing the jar again to shake it, mixing the contents.

" I've finished your drawing,” Liam warned.

" Great, can you prepare the pigment for me? " I asked as I turned around, surprised to see the boy fiddling with the paint cabinet.

" I'm sorry, but I'm going to finish that painting now," he denied. "Since I have total freedom on this, I'm going to use... Oil paint.”

" Liam, that cabinet was locked! " I widened my eyes when I saw my friend taking some tubes of paint out of there.

" I've already memorized the lock password a long time ago." He shrugged, putting all the chosen tubes on a bench next to an easel where he put the drawing he made of me, returning to the closet in search of brushes and a paint palette.

I took a deep breath, deciding to finish the paints at once, knowing that it would be impossible to get the boy away from the easel until he finished painting.

I just hope I don't mess up again.