The Warhol Complex

The second lesson came. Just like the first time, Lunette was busy making sure every curl was in place. She never had company, guests, or people who she felt she had to impress so this was a fun new experience for her. It really felt like living. Sure, it was only art lessons, but it was more excitement than she was used to. She sat in front of her mirror as her boyfriend poured over his text books. Sometimes their nights were nothing more than silence when he had to study. Hunter sat close and smiled as he fixed her shirt making sure her bra strap was covered. He gently fixed a curl against her face.

“You make me want to have a daughter. At 23 though….That seems like such a foolish goal.” Hunter smiled and looked at Lunette’s reflection through the mirror. She loved having a friend like Hunter. Through high school, he always showed her the most attention. He was one of the few that actually stayed by her side and much to Will’s chagrin, he wasn’t going anywhere. Will looked up from his book long enough to stare as Hunter and his girlfriend played beauty shop.

“Well that requires a vagina….last time I checked you weren’t too into that sort of thing.” Will whispered and then turned the page of his book throwing back the same sass that Hunter usually threw at him. Hunter looked over his shoulder and then smiled,

“Maybe you can find a spell in that book of magic there to fix me up. Make me all straight.” Hunter wasn’t scared to throw it right back. Despite it all they were all good friends and weren’t scared of a little bickering. It was healthy for boys like Will and Hunter. If they didn’t go back and forth with the insults, Will would start to think that Hunter was actually into him, and he just couldn’t handle that thought. Hunter went back to perfectly placing each curl of Lunette’s hair. In a matter of moments though the door rang. Will put his book down and looked at Lunette smiling.

“He’s here…” She whispered and smiled looking back at her boyfriend who was already heading towards the door. Lunette stood up and fixed her outfit and looked towards Hunter for approval. Hunter smiled and then nodded before they carried downstairs. Hunter came down first and paused looking at Gerard. Lunette ran into the back of him and grabbed his shoulders for balance.

“You are right. A little Rockstar feel…..actually a lot. Grunge type edge. Did he come in on a motorcycle?” He looked over Gerard and then looked up to see the artist just staring at Hunter with a disbelieving look. Gerard turned his head towards Will. Will just ignored the whole thing and walked to the kitchen leaving Gerard at the entry way. Hunter laughed and walked towards him and put his hand out.

“I apologize. How rude of me. You don’t even know my name!” Hunter laughed as the other shook his hand in return.

“That’s not the only thing rude you have done today” Will shouted back. Hunter rolled his eyes and put a hand on his hip still letting his eyes explore Gerard’s look trying to put together a judgement about him.

“I’m just here to observe. I’m the best friend, Hunter, and I need to approve everything. It took me months to agree with that life choice of Lunette’s.” Hunter smiled pointing at the kitchen referring to Will, “And I went to high school with them both. Don’t expect to win my heart in one day, bro. I’m not an easy one to please.” Hunter said with as much sass as he thought appropriate for a first meeting. Gerard just smiled and looked past Hunter at Lunette and then smiled.

“I will try to remember that” Gerard said simply and smiled as he caught Lunette’s eyes. She smiled and walked towards him and he leaned down for a hug. They embraced and Gerard took a step back. “In the mean time, let’s get started.” Gerard sat down at the table and began to lay things down for the lesson. Lunette excitedly waited for him to finish laying things out and then looked up at him.

“What are we doing today?” She watched carefully hoping that the tools he laid out would giver her a hint. She clung to her own box of pencils and paints close to her in her lap.

“Working on details. So things aren’t looking so much like boxes and circles” Gerard smiled. Hunter sat across the table and texted most of the time, unlike his previous statement when he said he would pick up a few techniques while Gerard was there. Lunette paid close attention as usual. She watched every stroke his hand made. She even watched the placement of his free hand. This was her passion and the reality of the opportunity to grow and learn more was electrifying. Will worked on providing snacks for them, but mostly studying. By the time the lesson was over, Hunter was less Sassy, Lunette was full of excitement and Will was three chapters down in his assignment for the next day. After the door shut, signaling Gerard’s departure, she ran to Will.

“Look baby….it’s a dog! You can even tell it’s going to be a dog!” Lunette said looking over at Will and smiled as she watched his eyes glance over the paper. Hunter was back at the table holding his paper tight, gently twisting the paper in the air and squinting.

“Mine could be a cheetah. I’m actually sure it is.” Hunter sighed and looked over at Lunette and Will. “If anyone asks, it’s a cheetah.” he nodded and then slipped the paper back down on the table and admired his best friend’s creation. Lunette looked at him and then shrugged happily and put her hands in her lap.

“So what did you think of him?” She asked sweetly staring over at Hunter. Will also looked up curious of his response. Hunter shrugged.

“I wouldn’t bang him.” He looked at her and watching her roll her eyes and lightly gag she shook her head and then looked down at her picture. She grabbed another piece of paper and started on her next picture trying to imagine Gerard’s voice filling her head with tips and suggestions. She drew a nose here, colored in a lock of hair there, shaded a pupil, traced an ear, outlined an eyebrow and then her intense thoughts were interrupted. “Girl….say what?!” Hunter held his phone under his thumbs, paused in mid-text and then stared at the picture. “That’s…..” Lunette looked up and put a finger to her lips and slipped it under her dog picture. Hunter looked at her and then back down at the picture of the dog and then went back to texting. “That’s ….really good. You better get to bed before you fall asleep walking up the stairs.” He warned her and then stood up cleaning up his things and getting his satchel packed. Soon he was out the door. The secret picture playing across his mind as he exited, but keeping the secret safe. Lunette and Will went to bed and were only interrupted once when they heard Mr. Copernicus get home. Will held Lunette tightly and Lunette stayed close to her boyfriend enjoying the warmth. Her mind was working about 100 mph more than her body. She finally closed her eyes and tried to rest but she imagined herself drawing portraits of animals, people, landscapes. Her mind raced like lead that was more than excited to meet the surface of a fresh, virgin piece of paper. Shades, dimensions, lines, curves, details….ideas…..concepts……

—————
“Now, just turn the pencil enough on it’s side. Always start way lighter than you need.” a pencil moved back and forth on the paper. “There, see now you have given the tree a 3-dimensional look without making it 3-dimensional.” Gerard wrapped his hand around hers helping her finish the shading on the page. Lunette could not begin to contain her happiness as Gerard started to show her techniques to use while shading. Lunette smiled as the artist’s lightly calloused fingers wrapped around her hand. She smiled up at him but then looked back down at the paper quickly to make sure she was doing it correctly.

“Let me try…” Lunette demanded eagerly. Will lowered his book. He was pleased to see Lunette pull her hand back and start to work more independently. This was the 5th lesson and everyone felt comfortable with each other. Mr. Copernicus was happy that his investment was worthwhile. Lunette lived for art these days. She could not be happier. However, Will was having a much harder time with the situation. He wasn’t so quick to trust like the rest of the Copernicus family. Gerard hadn’t given him a reason to not trust him, however, just as equally bad in Will’s eyes, Gerard hadn’t given him a good reason TO trust him either. As Will poured through his calendar he furrowed a brow.

“Code Orange…..” texted Will to Hunter. He sat back and watched the two as they continued with their lesson. He scrambled through his schedule again in his head. Surely there was a mistake that had been made. How did Will let this happen?

Back at Hunter’s apartment he felt the buzz of a phone. He groaned and pulled it out from under the couch. He had been partying as usual and was a mess, but he learned to pull himself together time and time again. He read the message and then sat up eagerly and forced himself awake. He bit his lip as he tried to remember what orange meant.

“Either your car died…..or you ran out of hairspray…..right?” Hunter texted back. Will scoffed at his phone which got the attention of Gerard and Lunette. He apologized and returned the text.

“Orange means Lunette will be alone. No on to take care of her one night. It’s Mr. Copernicus’ late nights and I have night shift in the lab. Next Thursday.” Will replied as his knee bounced from nerves. Surely everything would be alright. He nodded and smiled, “Of course it would be…” he said out loud. He heard his girlfriend giggle.

“You ok over there, handsome?” She smiled as she looked over at him, “You seem to be having quite the conversation with yourself” This made even Gerard flash a smile in the direction of Will before he continued shading his own picture. Will forced a smile as Lunette re-gipped her pencil.

“Just Hunter…” Will nodded before being re-directed to his phone. His heart pounded as he awaited his response. The long awaited buzz sent Will in panic. He leaned back in his chair and looked at his phone eagerly opening the text. Thank God. Hunter would be able to come over. Will smiled and thanked him before closing his phone. The college student pushed hair out of his face and watched as his girlfriend’s face lit up as she watched her picture come to life. She was beautiful. The way she smiled at him, made him feel like he was the only one in the room. She was happy, and to see her so thrilled….well nothing brought more joy in his life than that. As the lesson ended, Will helped Lunette upstairs. He kissed her softly and went back down to pay Gerard. He reached the bottom of the stair case and saw Gerard packing up.

“She’s getting better and better everyday….You should be real proud of her” Gerard said smoothing back some of his messy black hair. Will nodded as he got out his check book and started to make the check out. He paused and got a piece of paper from the desk in the corner and scribbled down his phone number and then looked at Gerard once the check was finished being written out. Will stood up straight as he put the two pieces of paper together in his hand. He glanced at them before passing the check and the phone number over to him.

“She is….and we have you to thank for that, but listen…Hunter will be here next week to help her and serve dinner, but if anything happens, please call me.” Will sighed as Gerard looked over his number. “She is literally the reason for everything in my life. I just want to make sure she is looked after and always ok” Will whispered. “Hunter is the kindest friend she has ever had, but he doesn’t understand the chemistry of her disease. If anything happens, call me right away, even if Hunter thinks he has taken care of it. Call me even if you even think for a second that Lunette is weak, or not doing well. She is a trooper and she tends to hide her weaknesses.” Gerard smiled as the other rambled over and over again.

“Will, brother, it’s ok.” Gerard smiled tucking the check and the number away into his bag. He lifted the strap and placed it over his shoulder. “You will be the first person I call. I swear on it.” Gerard smiled a little and patted his shoulder. “She’s my friend too now. I want her to be healthy and safe too. I will take care of her.” Gerard smiled seeing a look of relief go across Will’s face. He smiled and then nodded. Gerard left for the night as Will raced up to the bedroom to tuck Lunette in for the night.

—————

The week was here. Hunter had spent most of the day watching cartoons and vegging out with Lunette on the couch. They hadn’t started dinner or really done much of anything besides cuddle and gossip about people that they didn’t like that much in high school. Lunette stretched as she looked at the clock. Panic took over her body as she realized what time it was. She sat up and bit her lip,

“Hunter! He will be here in half an hour!” She got up and started to run up the stairs. It took Hunter a second to register what was happening, but as soon as he did he chased over and grabbed her arm.

“Are you serious, girl?!” Lunette looked back worried as he stopped her. He shook his head disapprovingly. “You are wasting spoons. You know better, calm down.” Hunter whispered. Lunette sighed and looked down as she realized how right he was. She nodded and went upstairs at a more calm pace. She got ready as quickly as possible. She only aimed to be presentable. Lupus was the enemy. It was the smartest enemy she had ever encountered. It was all moves and countermoves. Anything Lunette did that her Lupus did not agree with would come back to make her pay later. She sat brushing her hair in the mirror slowly. She wasn’t dressed up like in times past. Her lupus wasn’t going to allow it tonight. She braided her hair slowly and methodically. She tied the braid off in silence. After she was done she quietly and calmly went back downstairs. She blushed as she saw Gerard already starting to lay out everything that they would need for the lesson.

“I’m sorry. I was just finishing getting…..”

“No need to apologize! I got all the time in the world. Hunter was just catching me up on everyone.” Gerard smiled as he laid out a canvas. Lunette smiled and sat down at the place next to him. Hunter was engrossed in his phone. He smiled and slipped into the living room.

“Where are you off to?” Lunette asked curiously. Hunter smiled and crossed his index and middle finger. This was popularly known as a good luck symbol. It meant the same thing, but even a step farther. It was Declan. Lunette smiled as she watched Hunter plop on the couch. She then turned her attention back to Gerard. He was excited and it was obvious by his eagerness to set things up correctly. Lunette took a seat next to him and looked up at his kind dark eyes and then down at his hands..

“Today we paint….”

The lesson went on for 15 minutes getting the basics down. Lunette pushed herself as much as she could. She was an eager student and Gerard admired her drive.

“Am I doing it right?”

“Yes, now see how it adds texture? Make sure that if you want a fuller color you do it while the paint is still wet.”

Lunette smiled and nodded trying some of the tricks, experimenting with the paint and the affects it had. Gerard simply watched and placed a hand on top of hers at one point directing her hand to create the correct strokes. Lunette blushed with the smile of a middle schooler. Gerard scooted in and let his free hand rest on her back as he concentrated on the strokes.

“See how it comes to life? It creates the perfect natural shadowing if done correctly” Gerard smiled still helping her add lightness to a tree. His hand involuntarily slipping down her waist. It wasn’t till his hand hit the top of her jeans that he realized what he had done. He pulled his hand back slowly and looked at Lunette, scared of the reaction he would get. Lunette was ;too nice to say anything and no one else saw it. Hunter was too busy texting Declan. They both just giggled and moved forward with the lesson. The night moved on and soon Hunter and Lunette said goodnight to Gerard. Hunter tucked her in and sat by her bed until she was asleep. He promised to hang out till her dad came home and he did just that. He took a spot on the couch, just as before, and entertained himself using his phone until Mr. Copernicus walked through the door. Hunter gave a good report and after a bief conversation with his best friend’s dad he was finally on his way home.

More lessons came and go. Hunter was usually there to help get her ready or make dinner. Will was able to come home here and there, but he never was able to dedicate his full attention to the lessons like he used to. He hated it, but there was no where else he’d rather be than Lunette’s side. Lunette would call for attention several times, but only a brief glance would Will sacrifice. Gerard watched him a few times and smiled sliding a hand on her knee out of his view as to not anger her. Lunette would look up at Gerard’s kind eyes and they always responded to her with a silent, yet full hearted approval. Respectfully, he would recoil his hand and watch as her heart and hand took off again across the canvas.

They were months into the lessons now. Gerard became increasingly comfortable in the house. He’d show up early or stay late to have dinner or play a game with them. He’d listen to Will’s theories, Hunter’s daily gossip, or some old joke or reference that Mr. Copernicus wanted to share. He felt apart of the family. He looked forward to seeing Lunette, and if truth be told, she looked forward to seeing him. She had finally start to create actual paintings. Gerard had given her all of the basics and skills she needed, now it was time to put all of them together. Just like her paintings, Lunette was blossoming too. She was starting to live life without worrying about spoons or medicine or anything else. She was starting to live life the way it should be: an adventure. Whether this was a good or bad thing….well I will let you decide that yourself.