Page 25 of The Incredible Ordinary

“His brother goes to the same school as Theo.”

“Ah.” Understanding dawns on Sutton’s face. Clearly, word has spread.

“I need Wren. Where is he?” Jordan says.

“He’s taking a shower, but I’m here.”

“We need help with buying art supplies,” Jordan says. “So go ahead. Give us your input.”

“You’re taking up a new hobby?” Sutton asks.

“Who’s taking up a new hobby?” Another guy appears on screen. He’s got a smile on his face, and his deep blue eyes shine with laughter. He’s also shirtless, and it takes me a moment to register that his whole upper body seems to be covered in scars. “Who’s that?” the guy asks, glancing toward Sutton.

“Jordan’s new project,” Sutton says.

“Christ,” Jordan mutters, throwing me a quick, apologetic look. “Those are not my words.”

I’m not even going to pretend I understand anything about that interaction.

“Milàn wants to bribe Rory with art supplies,” Jordan tells Wren. “Point out what he needs to buy that’ll be irresistible for a thirteen-year-old with a sketchbook permanently attached to his hands.”

Wren tilts his head to the side. “What does he do?”

I don’t understand the question, and it must show on my face, because he chuckles softly. Not unkindly, though.

“Does he draw? Paint? Sculpt? Pencils? Ink? Watercolors? Acrylics? Oils? I could keep going, but you’re turning a bit pale, and you have that same overwhelmed look Sutton gets when I start talking about work.”

Sutton tugs at Wren’s earlobe, but he does it with the kind of adoring look that leaves no doubt about their relationship.

“I… He has a sketchbook,” I say. I’m overwhelmed as fuck, so he’s got me there.

Wren sends me a pitying look and then transforms that pitying look into taking pity on me.

“Right. Well that’s something we can use, for sure. How about we start with pencils? Every artist needs a good set of pencils. A set from 2H to 6B is a good starting point. You can easily add more grades later. You can probably find a set, but you can also buy them individually, and if you do pick a very hard one and a light one. Then take one soft and one dark and pick a few between those. You should also consider the type of line you want to achieve. Hard and bold or light and soft? Do you want to be able to smear or blend? Also, keep in mind the ease of erasing or drawing over.”

I start to pat down my pockets for my phone, because I need to take notes.

Meanwhile, Jordan is looking around the store. His gaze catches on something, and he gets the kind of alert posture that shows he’s found what he’s looking for.

“An HB pencil for sketching and a 6B for shading,” Wren says in the meantime.

“Wren, shut up for a sec,” Jordan tells him, then he starts to walk, tugging me along after him until we reach a wall of pencils.

“There. What do I get from this stuff?” Jordan turns the screen so it faces the pencils.

Wren makes some kind of thoughtful noise.

“Wait. I have to go get one of those baskets.” Jordan looks around.

“I’ll get it.” I grab one, and we spend the next thirty minutes following Wren’s instructions as he picks out what he thinks would be a good choice for Rory, which translates into a bunch of pencils, paper, and a number of other things Wren deems essential.

“Thank you,” I tell Wren once we’re done and standing outside the store. “I would’ve been very much lost without you.”

He shrugs and smiles. “No big deal. Have fun with the bribing.”

Jordan hangs up, and we stand in front of the store. Jordan glances at his watch and then at me.

“I have to get going. It’s my turn to make dinner. I’ll see you on Saturday for practice?”