Page 120 of Tears of Gold

It’s all I can be.

“So what do you want me to do exactly?”

“Just be you. Show them your work, tell them what inspires it, and then wait to see how they react.”

I think Jeremy might have lost his mind. The last thing I want is to wait for a bunch of cruel schoolkids to tell me what they think of my work.

“Come on, Faith. You dealt with teenagers all the time at Bowsley for the summer. Pete said you were brilliant.”

“Did he indeed? That’s because I spent most of my time hiding from him because he was an obnoxious prick.”

I gasp. That was a step too far even for me.

Jeremy chuckles under his breath. “That he was at times. But he was also a shrewd judge of character. He had you down from the first day.”

“Messed up head job?”

Jeremy leans in and whispers in my ear, “Warrior.” It sends a shiver down my arm.

“He drank far too much whisky, you know that.”

“And wine.” We stop outside a door and Jeremy puts his hand on the brass handle. I freeze. “Faith, just be yourself. You are so damn cool these kids aren’t going to know what happened to them.”

I shake my head but let him open the door.

Now this could be very interesting indeed.

“Why are your eyes covered, Miss, in this one?” One of the girls with a blonde high ponytail and who smells very strong of some floral body spray leans closer to have a look at my clay model. I’m taking it as a sign that I like my new work as I’m petrified someone is going to drop them.

Still, I’m trying to look cool and not wince every time someone picks them up.

“I’m Faith, not Miss.” I lick my lips. Jeremy is at the back of the class marking papers and I know he has given me space on purpose. “I guess I have things that I’ve been hiding from for a long time. This figurine is a way of saying that I realise that now.”

“It reminds me of the African heads my parents brought back from Kenya.” Another girl says. Her hair is tight curls cropped close to her head and her lips are full. She’s beautiful; her skin a similar tone to Jeremy’s.

“I never thought of that before. They are pretty new.”

“And in this one, you are shouting.” A quiet girl with dark eyes looks up at me.

“It’s because I want everyone to hear now.”

“Hear what?”

“The truth.”

“About what?"

“About the fact someone did something to me that was bad and for a long time I thought it was my fault. Now I’m learning slowly that it wasn’t.” I shrug. “It’s not easy.”

“Is it true you are going to marry royalty?” The blonde asks. She has way too much lip gloss on.

“No!”

Jeremy lifts his gaze and smirks. It takes all my self-control not to stick my tongue out at him.

“I’m not getting married right now.”

The blonde takes extra interest in my ring. “How many carats is it?”