The Tension of Opposites Read Online Free PDF

antonyms you can think of. Hopefully this exercise will jump-start your creative process.”
    I put my pen to the paper in front of me.
    Right and wrong
    Easy and difficult
    Big and small
    Concrete and imagined
    Max leaned in to me again. “How’d your pictures turn out?”
    His scent infiltrated my nose. Scrambled my brain all over again. “What?”
    â€œThe Three Sisters?” He tilted his head, his eyes soft and sincere.
    â€œOh.” I took in a deep breath. Through my mouth. “Pretty good.”
    â€œI’d love to see them.”
    â€œYeah, right,” Darcy said. Then she snapped her hand to her mouth, hiding a smile.
    I turned to her and widened my eyes.
    â€œOh. Did I say that out loud?” Darcy slid forward and looked past me, speaking directly to Max. “Tessa is a bit shy,” she said, like I wasn’t even there.
    Max’s brown eyes locked on mine. I looked away.
    â€œShy?” he asked Darcy.
    â€œShe only shows her pictures to two people. Mr. Hollon”—Darcy pointed at our teacher, now seated behind the mess piled on his desk, and then turned her finger toward herself—“and me.”
    â€œReally?” Max crossed his arms over his chest and looked at me. “Didn’t you have to turn in some kind of portfolio to get accepted into this class? I thought the whole Art Department evaluated the applicants, deciding who’s in and who’s out.”
    â€œYeah,” I sighed. “Not my idea.”
    â€œLast year,” Darcy said, “I was Mr. Hollon’s teacher aide the same period Tessa had photography. When I saw how good her pictures were, I talked him into letting her apply early. Tessa, however, wasn’t so easy to sway. She chickened out at the last minute.” Darcy shrugged. “So I broke into her locker and turned the portfolio in for her.”
    Max sat back in his seat. “Classic.”
    â€œShe’s lucky it worked.” I tapped my pen on my paper. Wrote two more words. Friend and enemy.
    â€œAll I did was get you in.” Darcy pointed her finger at me. “You could’ve taken it off your schedule.”
    â€œI know,” I said, looking from Darcy to Max. “I had this crazy whatever moment when I was in the counselor’s office going over my classes. I just let it go.”
    â€œIt was a good decision,” Darcy said. “You’ll see.”
    â€œHey, Darcy,” someone called from the back row. “Come back here for a minute. I gotta ask you something.” Darcy popped out of her seat, rushing back to talk for the last five minutes of class.
    â€œJust so you know,” Max said, rapping his knuckles on my desk, “I like a challenge.”
    â€œDon’t bother,” I said. “Darcy’s right. I don’t show my stuff to anyone. Ever.”
    Max shook his head. “That right there. That was a challenge if I ever heard one.”
    â€œNo,” I said, wondering if Max could feel the vibrations of my pounding heart. “It totally wasn’t.”
    â€œI’ll have my pictures later this week,” Max said. “I’ll show you mine”—he smiled again, lowered his voice to a near whisper— “when you’re ready to show me yours.”
    Part of me started to hate him. Wanted to scream for him to leave me alone. It was the side of me that did everything possible to keep people—all people—away. But another part of me, the side that was dying for a friend (or maybe a little more), the side that I wanted to tear out and mash into the carpet, felt a little excited.
    â€œI don’t think so,” I said, bending over the lines of my notebook, pressing my mind toward the next pairing of opposites. Trying, trying, trying not to smile.

Wednesday,
    September 16
    4
Special Delivery
    Noelle and I are at our neighborhood park, sitting at the grassy edge of the pond. Thirty feet away, a