EDITED

I walked next to Patton as we entered with Thomas into the building that the art contest was taking place. I messed with the fidget cube that Thomas had given me during the car ride when he caught me biting my nails. Gosh I was nervous. This would be the first time that someone other than my art teacher saw my art work. What if they all hated it?

"Hey," I looked over to see it was Patton who had spoken "I'm sure it's great!"

"Thanks Pat," I said with a small smile.

All of the artwork was numbered and sorted by the number which they received, each entry had a small card next to it stating the student's name, grade level, school district, and the name of the piece of work.

"Which number was yours again?" Thomas asked.

I looked down at the paper in my hand, before we left Thomas had printed out one of the emails the school sent me. The email had all of the information that we needed.

"Uh number 28" I said.

"Great!" Patton said "let go find it!"

-------

The three of us walked through the room, looking at the different paintings and artwork while trying to find mine. One thing I noticed is that it looked like the judges already came through and put out awards. Finally we got to mine.

"Wow" Thomas whispered.

My entry was a very simple drawing done with colored pencil and markers. One of the thingsI like about Florida was fireflies. I used to catch them with my mom and brother when I was little. So my drawing was of a dark blue night sky with the moon, and you could see tall grass. In the grass sat an open jar and fireflies were flying out of it.

"So...." I said rubbing the back of my neck "what do you think?"

"Wow," Thomas said again and turned to me "Virgil, you're really talented."

"It's not really that great..."

"Really?" Patton said, looking confused "then why does it have a big ribbon next to it?"

"Wait! What?" I looked over to see what Patton had said was true, next to my drawing was a fat purple ribbon with the words 'Honorable Mention' written on it in loppy white lettering.

I felt my legs go weak but Thomas grabbed my arm and kept me from fainting like an old lady from a 1940s movie. "I... I don't understand." I said "what does this mean?"

"It means," Patton said "that your drawing is so cool that they stuck a big fat ribbon to it!"

"It's official!" Thomas said "my kid is amazing! Nice job Virgil."

I stood up a bit straighter "but I didn't even win." I argued "Honorable Mention doesn't mean much."

"Acally, that's where you're wrong." A voice said. Turning around I saw that the voice belonged to an older, dark blond haired girl who was leaning up against a table.

"What do you mean?" Patton asked.

"Well, first off" she said "just getting into this contest is a challenge of itself. Second, they don't give out Honorable Mentions to just anyone. They're not Participation Awards." She snorted lightly " getting a Honorable Mention is when the judges thought about giving you first, second, or third but decided to go with someone else but still wanted to award you in some way."

"I see..." I said.

"Yeah," the girl said "and besides you're like, what, a freshman?" I nodded "well, you're going to get better and I'm pretty sure that you'll get in next year too."

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"Well. I got an Honorable Mention my Freshman year too" The girl pushed herself off the table and jabbed her thumb at the 'First Place: Senior' ribbon that was next too what I assumed was her art piece.

"Wow!" Thomas said "congrats."

The girl smiled, looking giddy "thanks." She turned to me "so just enjoy your win and keep practicing!" She said "now, I got to go find my mom and tell her I won!" She then ran off.

------

For the rest of the day I let myself relax, which was something I didn't do all that often for fear of letting my guard down. But I found that I didn't mind. I think I'm starting to trust Patton and Thomas. The three of us spent time looking at the other art. And when people found out which one was mine they all said I did a great job.

Finally at the end of the day I collected my drawing and ribbon. I looked down at it, I wanted to do a good job and I felt really proud for how it turned out.

"Hey.." I looked up at Thomas "um.. Would it be okay if I get this framed?" I asked "I want to hang it up in my room."

My heart had been pounding, this was the first time I asked to change anything about my room. Thomas had just smiled and said yes. And, to be honest, I was surprised he said yes. All throughout the day he kept telling me how proud he was of me, and I felt really happy whenever he did.

"Hey," Patton said "ready to go home?"

"Yeah." I smiled "let's go home."

-------

A/N: Hey everyone, I hope you like this chapter. Yes, this one is a bit shorter than most and I am sorry for that! The chapter title comes from the song Incomplete by Thomas Sanders.

I know some of you are wondering why I didn't have Virgil place in the contest. That is because while Virgil is a good artist he still has a lot to learn and by the time he enters the contest again in his Senior Year he will be a lot better. I hope that you all have a good week!

Take it easy Guys, Gals, and Non-Binary Pals. PEACE OUT!

-Isabel