"How are you feeling this morning, Neal?"
"Just peachy, Janice. And you?"
The kid was sitting inside the window sill. Had his feet popped up and his forehead was pressed to the glass. It was a fixed glass panel but still…they were twenty storeys up after all. "Neal, get down please."
"Fine." He climbed off and stood against the wall, arms folded, head down. Clearly showing his disdain at having to come twice in one week.
"What have you been up to?"
"In the last forty-eight hours?"
"Yes."
"Nothing. I've been too excited about coming back here to get my head around anything else."
"What about last night?"
"What about last night?"
"Did you have a good time?"
"Yes, thank you." The boy's tone changed and a little bit of the charming child she expected was more his natural state than the petulant teenager she saw in her office, surfaced.
"Did you bring it to show me?"
"Yes ma'am." Neal gave a genuine smile and reached into his satchel that was still slung around his shoulder. Janice tried to remember a time that Neal had been without the satchel but she was pretty sure he always came with it and it never left his side. Most clients would put their bag or purse on the floor beside the couch or rest it on the seat beside them but this one kept the bag over his shoulder at all times, like a young child would a security blanket. Neal pulled out a small marble plaque. He walked over proudly and handed it Janice, then took a seat on the arm of her chair while the doctor examined the award.
Janice read the inscription…
-W-C-
"The Mary Thistlewaite Young Artist Award for outstanding achievement in the visual arts goes to…Neal Caffrey for his sculptured piece, Forever Young." The deputy mayor held up the plaque as the crowd gave a polite round of applause. Neal wrapped his arms around both parents before trotting up to the podium to collect his award. He shook hands with the female deputy who whispered in Neal's ear. The boy nodded before taking a hold of the mic.
"Firstly, I just want to say thank you to the Mayor's Office for providing us all with such a splendid evening. Especially the ogilvie garlic nibbles and the cracked pepper thins that went deliciously well with the Italian white wine." This elicited a mixture of laughs and applause from the guests. "Thank you to my mom and dad who support me in everything I do." Peter leaned down and asked El if she thought there was hidden message in that comment. "Je vous aime tant." He blew them a kiss. "And finally, a very special thank you to someone who has made coming to school something to look forward to, something to be proud of and has giving me something I will be able to take with me for the rest of my life. Without a doubt, Ms B has been the best teacher I've ever had. Thank you, Ms Belding." The guest cheered loudly in full support of his comment. They all loved Kelly.
Neal handed back the mic and returned to where his parents were standing. They gave their son a loving hug and then snatched the award out of his hands for a look. "Baby Seal, we're so proud of you."
"Thank you Mam'ma."
"Neal, you're amazing."
"Thanks, Dad. Thanks for pushing me into taking up a position at the school."
"Oh, I wouldn't say I pushed you, Neal."
"No, not much. Just lots of gentle persuasion."
"Lots." Both laughed at the memory. "So what's in the envelope?" Peter indicated the envelope that had been passed to him when he collected the plaque.
"Part of my prize."
"It's a check for $200." El was in the know. "Let's go have another look at your sculpture." The proud mother dragged her son across to where a crowd had gathered around Neal's work of art. Most likely to see for themselves if it qualified to be the winner. Many of the guests had some connection to one of the nominees so at most they were probably looking at it to see if they considered it to be the second best art piece in the room.
El listened in on the comments which were all very positive and gracious. And why wouldn't they be? The sculpture was a masterpiece.
Peter pulled El away from the attraction and turned her to introduce the principal who had come over to congratulate the parents. "El this is Ms Kelly Belding, Kelly this is my wife, Elizabeth."
"Pleased to finally meet you, Elizabeth."
"Pleased to meet you too, Ms Belding."
"Kelly, please."
"Kelly. I feel a little embarrassed that I haven't been up to see you earlier. I suppose I could use the excuse that I didn't want to upset the apple cart. Neal seems so happy and settled I wouldn't want my presence in any way to change that by calling in to say hello or bringing him up his lunch or..."
"Mom, you do realise I'm standing right here!" Neal's face had begun to turn a light shade of red.
Kelly turned to her star pupil and took both his hands in hers. "Darl, that was a very sweet speech you gave when you collected your award. I am so happy you're enjoying coming to school. Nothing makes a teacher happier." She leant down and kissed him on his cheek. "Oh by the way, we have a buyer for 'Forever Young' but you may not want to part with it now it's the winning entry."
"No, I'm good. Take the offer please."
"Sure, darl. You and your folks enjoy the rest of the evening."
-W-C-
Janice looked up at Neal who was all but lying across the top of her chair. "She's the real McCoy?"
"Yes, she is. It's a great school."
"How have you been getting on at school with your broken wrist?"
"There's a lot of theory, I have assignments to complete, plus I can still paint and draw, but no sculpture. As soon as they take the cast off I'm going to begin work on another project that Kelly and I have begun drafting ideas for."
"That's really good to hear. I see Ms Belding signed your cast." The way the boy was hanging off her chair, Janice could read the messages easily.
"Yes and she drew this picture." He pointed to an amazing little drawing that depicted a cartoon version of Neal with one arm snapped in half.
"Neal?"
"Yes, Janice."
"How did you break your wrist?"
The teenager climbed off the back of the chair and went back to leaning against the far wall where he'd taken up position earlier. After a few minutes of just staring into blank space he replied, "Kate and I went to the movies. We were going to see an earlier session but she had some work to finish up first. As we were coming out of the theatre, my eyes didn't adjust to the light fast enough and I guess it was a bit silly but I started walking backward so I could face Kate as I asked her about her favourite scene. Next thing I knew, I tripped backwards down a small set of stairs. I put out my wrist to stop myself and then, snap!... When you think about it, it could have just as easily been my head."
"You were very lucky, Neal."
"If you say so Janice."