#baronyofthesilverwolf

Gwen is hanging with Chuck, of course, but also talking to a girl who s in the lacrose team "Definitely, we have them beat in speed, so we're going to force them into a defense. Now if we let them fall into a rut of turtling then switch it up, I think we've got a good chance to really surprise them"

Kelly nods, but looks uncertain. "Kristen said we should try to power through on an offense..."

"Oh agreed but I think it's more a matter of when we power through... but I will talk with Kristen to make sure you guys aren't getting mixed messages from us. "

She might notice she's being looked at, might not.

"Whatcha need Gwen for?"

Art shrugs, "It can wait until after school. But remember, we're not allowed to travel on trods for an entire year."

He brightens, "But we can travel NORMALLY on our own. To the Met!"

"On the train!"

"Yeah! We'll get to watch all of New York go by!"

Kelly nods to Gwen, heartened. Kristen actually HAS loosened up a bit, but she still has her opinions. Not necessarily bad, but different from Gwen's coaching style. Begrudgingly, they may have learned a bit from each other.

"And see the station, with the windows."

Gwen finishes up with Kelly. And yes, as much as she'd hate to confess, Kristen is more than just a mean girl. Some of her aggressive tactics pay off

She glances over, gives Chuck a kiss on the cheek, and moves to see how Art and Katrina are doing "Hey guys. How goes?"

"Gwen." He greets her perhaps a touch more formally than school requires, but at least he doesn't bow or anything silly. "We were just contemplating a trip to...." Pause, think. "Jefferson City?"

"Oh..." Realization "When?"

"Monday, I suppose, would be the logical choice? That is, if you are free. As escort."

"I'll make time" She says after thinking over her lacrosse schedule and more.

Luckily as Captain - even co-Captain, she had some input on training schedule and was able to keep Monday's free!

He grins. "Thank you! I have some studying to do."

"You're welcome" She nods "Pardon me. I should probably get back to my boyfriend" Gwen turns and heads back to Chuck. Sometimes she wishes she were lighter, and could slip into his lap like other girls do with their boyfriends, but he smiles and he makes her feel good

Perhaps not, but when he slings an arm around her waist, it's at just the right height without needing to stretch or slouch!

Her eyes shine with delight

And yes, a bit of snuggling as much as the school no pDA rules allow

A thought comes to her... and she smiles. Maybe, just maybe, it would work

A bit of a ripple in conversation at the freshman table.

Brett is joshing with Flynn, punching him in the shoulder in a 'bro-y' sort of way.

Flynn grins back, weakly, but shrugs. "I mean, yeah, the prize would be cool and all."

"I ain't gonna win though, so why bother?" Flynn shrugs. "It's the entire county, so there's gotta be tons of entries."

She looks about for other students, art students, and listens to see who hates their art teacher. Or have been discouraged

There are a couple sophmores around the bulletin board where a poster is up advertising the spring 'CNY Scholastic Art Awards 2022". Sponsored by local banks, the radio station, a community college, their logos plastered on it, meant to recognize the achievements of High School students throughout 13 Central New York counties.

She bites her lip, and pulls out a sheet of paper, and starts to write down the insults a certain art teacher has used on his students. The worst ones. The rudest ones.

Awards include recognition, gift cards, monetary, even scholarship opportunities at the National level.

"Lazy and sloppy..." Flynn says, with a defeated grimace.

A 'plastic' looking blond bites her lip. "Pointless, and I should go back to painting my nails instead."

"Waste of the judges time." A sophomore shakes his head as he walks away from the bulletin board.

"Grafitti-style design isn't art, it's a misdemeanor. And he said MINE should be a felony." A short Senior scowls, walking past.

One slender senior with long, thin hair hesitates near the board. "I don't know, he said my still lifes were good. I got an A for matching the precise composition..." Still, she seems unenthused.

"But it's not what you wanted to do?" She asks the Senior with long thin hair?

She looks over - surprised, and gives Gwen a bit of a nod. "I actually was going to go for Marching Band, but Mr. Blaine says that it would be a waste to chap my fingers in the cold playing a clarinet when I could be painting instead. It would be nice to win an award, though."

Reaching out to tap the poster. "My cousin, Hannah, won a silver last year for her ceramics composition, but that was with the previous teacher. She made this cool aardvaark..."

"Did the previous teacher leave the area or what?" Curious "oh, and props to Hannah"

"Yeah, Mrs. Welch retired. She was, like, OLD and stuff."

"mmm" A nod "Hey, not my biz, but our music teacher is pretty cool. And if you want to try out for the marching band, you should. It's up to you where your passion is, not someone else"

"Yeah, but... I can paint well, too. Wouldn't it be a waste to give that up, when I'm already good at it? I might suck at music."

"You might, and it would take practice regardless. Just..sometimes quitting without trying can make you feel empty"

"It's..solid" She nods

"And you can TELL what it's supposed to be. Not like some of the other work turned in."

A shiver of cool air from her. Just the faintest touch.

"Does it make you happy to gaze upon?" She looks the girl in the eye

She frowns, tucking the painting back under her arm. "Of course it does. What would you know? You're just a jock." Defensive now.

"No one is 'just' anything. A girl who plays lacrosse can also help train dogs. A guy who plays football can be a pretty good dancer, and a girl who paints well can learn to play the Clairenet and love music. No one is 'just anything' , and that includes us"

She doesn't say it snidely, rather comfortingly, trying to broaden gently

"If you can't be great, it's not worth wasting time on. Like, I can get an art scholarship. I can make this a career. I tried Clarinet for a year, I was just FINE. I'll never be a concertist or anything. Who has time to waste on junk like that? It's not like it's cheap, either."

"Huh" She says "You can have both I think. It's not a be 'rich and miserable ' or be poor and enjoy what you do' thing only. But... I'm not here to argue with you. Thanks for talking to me." She offers out a hand.