3 Chapter 3

What have I done! thought Nick, staring at his phone screen in disbelief.

Last night after I came back, I was pretty high. I remember taking this picture though but uploading this to the contest website - that part is still foggy. What else have I done last night? Did I message weird stuff to people as well?

He opened his inbox that was flooded with messages from numerous unknown numbers. He went through the messages to check if he had sent any embarrassing text to anyone. It turned out that almost all of the messages were related to his peculiar image.

A lot of the texts contained negative comments, some contained positive ones, and others were somewhere between positive to sarcastic.

'Nice sketch, dude! Looking good.'

'Great art, man!'

'Where're your clothes, dumbass!'

'What a waste of ink!'

'Dragon painted on a sheep. Lol!'

The senders were perhaps from his own college, or just random strangers, either way, it was too embarrassing for him. He had social media accounts just for the sake of it, which contained no other picture except for his profile pictures. He wasn't the kind of person who enjoyed being active on social platforms. He had very few friends in real life and was against the idea of having virtual friends. Posting pictures to boast about one's looks or expensive dinner seemed ridiculous to him. And there he was, looking at an intimate picture of himself, being publicly discussed by millions of strangers.

He did not want to get out of his apartment, let alone going to college.

On the other hand, his attendance was already in grave danger and he could not afford any more absence.

Much to his reluctance, Nick ultimately went to college. Usually, he remained unnoticed by others, like an invisible person. No one was interested in him, no one wanted to talk to him. But that day, things were different. Almost everyone was noticing him. People threw him all kinds of looks, scornful, jealous, appreciative, as he walked towards his class. Even his classmates were glancing at him throughout the lectures. Once the classes were over, Tony came to his place as usual.

"Hey, Mr. popular. Are you enjoying the attention? I hope you know how to handle fame. Wait, am I even allowed to talk to you without an appointment?"

Nick sighed hearing his friend blabbering nonsense as always. "I don't know what to say, Tony. I mean, what was I even thinking while taking such a stupid step. Of course, I didn't do it with the right mind. I was pretty high last night. But it's too late to cover up the damage now."

"Dude, are you kidding me? You have no idea what you have done!" Tony said and brought out his phone. "It's not as bad as you think. It's quite the opposite actually. Look, here, your photo is getting so many upvotes. Isn't that amazing? For once in your life, you are trending."

Nick shook his head and looked away from the phone. "I don't know, Tony. Yeah it's good for this contest and yeah, I might have a pretty good chance to crack the preliminary stage if things go like this, but somehow, it doesn't feel right. I mean that was supposed to be a private photo, just for me. But now it is available to millions of people, and I can feel their gazes on me, all the time. This might sound crazy but I feel embarrassed, and a little humiliated, to be honest."

Tony roared in laughter which made Nick more uncomfortable than he already was.

"Dude, you have no idea what level of humiliation people go through just to become popular. It's not easy being famous, I agree. But if you wish to win this contest, you better get used to it. The sooner the better for you. People can talk shit about you as much as they can, but as long as they keep talking about you, you will remain popular. Bad publicity is also publicity. There are so many former stars in the showbiz, who enjoyed their share of fame during their prime days but are now old news and forgotten. From time to time, they make controversial comments or do controversial things, and even spread rumors about themselves just to grab people's attention and gain cheap popularity. Compared to all that, you are in an amazing position."

Tony had a point, Nick realized, but he still couldn't get over the embarrassment of being publicly talked about. He never realized a simple picture could ever have such a profound impact on him.

"Don't worry, this will become your usual, as you gain more popularity. That's all you need to win this stupid contest, Nick. This is a popularity contest and you have the perfect headstart. Don't you want to win the one million dollars so that your mom can get better?"

"Of course, I do."

"Then man up and get prepared to upload more nudes!"

"Shut up, Tony!"

"Just kidding. But on a serious note, you might have to make a few sacrifices as things progress. And once you become popular enough to stick around till the end and win the prize money ultimately, those sacrifices will be worth it. Trust me, buddy."

Nick could not imagine what kind of sacrifices he would have to make in the future and when the time comes, will he be able to make those sacrifices or not. He thought very little before registering for the contest, but as Tony suggested, if he could endure it till the end, all the embarrassment and humiliation, it would be the easiest way to win one million dollars. Or would it be?

As they were engrossed in their private discussion, they had not noticed a girl coming and standing before them.

"Hi.... hello," she said, slightly louder than a whisper.

Nick was surprised to see her there. "Hi! Who are you again?"

"My name is Rita, Rita Kendrick."

"Oh, Rita, right.... sorry, I forgot your name."

"It's okay, you are not the first one to do that. People tend to forget my name."

She said it so genuinely that her words did hurt him.

Nick now recalled his only other encounter with Rita in the past. That time she came to him to return him the notebook he had misplaced with her. During the first few months, when Nick's mom was in better shape, he was a more serious student and regularly took notes in class. Nick was glad to get back the notebook and was grateful to this girl for rightfully returning him his belonging. But that was the only encounter they had till this moment, and over time, Nick forgot her name.

"You are the girl whose notebook got exchanged with mine. Thank you again."

She got a bit shy and said, "It was such a long time back. No need to mention it again."

"So, you want to say something?"

"Yes, about the sketch you have on your body... I think it's really cool."

"You do?"

"Yes, very much. I am an amateur artist myself and am really interested in different kinds of art forms. I think that piece of work is very neat. Would you mind showing me more of your works, sometimes if possible, only if you don't mind, of course!"

Nick rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Actually, it wasn't done by me. One of my friends did."

"Would it be possible for you to introduce me to that person? I would like to meet him."

"It's a girl actually. Her name is Cynthia. But I really doubt she will want to meet strangers so easily. it's a bit complicated."

"Ooh, it's okay then." Rita looked genuinely disheartened.

Till then Tony was playing the role of a mere bystander and enjoying their conversation. But at this point, he jumped into the conversation and said, "Sure, he will take you to this girl. Won't you, Nick? I bet she will not mind teaching another girl this art-stuff. She will be quite delighted in fact."

Nick protested and said, "Listen Tony, you don't understand. It's not that easy."

But Tony was adamant that he let Rita meet this friend of his. He even winked at Nick and said, "Come on, I am sure she will not refuse if Nick personally requests her. Right, Nick?"

Nick was at a tight spot with no escape visible to him. Tony was not aware of Cynthia and her background, which made it more difficult for Nick to handle the situation.

I don't know what your ulterior motive is, Nick thought, but trust me Tony, this is going to be very tricky for me. If only I could tell you the full story in private.

Nick hesitated for a while before accepting her request.

"Fine. I will see what I can do. But I can't promise you anything."

"Thanks, Nick. Let me know if something positive happens. Here's my phone number."

"Ok. I will try my best, but no promises."

"That's fine, better than making a promise and then not being able to fulfill it. I will wait for your response."

As Rita left, Nick turned to Tony and said, "What the hell was that?"

"What, I was just trying to help this enthusiastic girl. And also this might be the start of something interesting between the two of you, who knows."

"Tony, you don't understand a thing."

"Oh really? I can understand very well that if you are willing to be topless in front of a girl for making doodles on your bare body, then you can definitely introduce her to another girl interested in the same stuff. Mark my words, Nicholas Fowler, but one day you will be thankful to me for this."

Nick should have realized by then that it was easier to push a wall than arguing with Tony.

"Whatever you say, dude."

That day Nick again went back to Ghost town to meet up with Cynthia.

"I wasn't expecting to see you so soon. You must be stressed out a lot," said Cynthia.

"I am not here for the weed, Cynthia."

"Then what? Wait, don't tell me you called me here to kiss me! Oh my god, Nick, I told you that's off-limit...."

"No, I am not going to kiss you, okay? Just hear me out." Nick cleared his throat and continued, "Remember the sketch of the dragon you made last night.... on my body."

Cynthia rolled her eyes and said, "Let me guess, you loved that drawing and want to compliment me on that."

"I did like your sketch, but that's not the point."

"Then what? Oh, you are afraid that it won't come off. Dude, just wait for a week and it will be gone."

"Glad to know that. Also, I clicked a picture of it. Wanna see?"

"You bet I do!"

Nick showed her the picture he took of himself last night.

"It actually looks nice on you. I should make a couple more doodles on your body then."

Nick took a long pause before saying, "Did I mention you about the popularity contest that I am taking part in?"

"You did. That's why I made that doodle, as a good luck charm, remember? Dragons are supposed to be lucky or something, I dunno."

"Well, for the preliminary selection process, they required me to upload a picture of mine on their website which will then be voted by others to decide who would clear for the next stage."

"I have no clue about this contest, man. Anyway, what's the deal? Wait, you uploaded this one, didn't you?"

"In my defense, I wasn't really conscious when I did it, okay. I mean, I don't even remember doing it myself!"

"There's a reason I call you 'jackass'! What happened then?"

"It seems people are liking my photo. People in my college are taking notice of me. My inbox got flooded with messages. This is crazy!"

"So you are here to compliment me about the sketch," Cynthia smiled. "Good for you, Nick. Getting popular, huh."

"Yeah, it seems so." Nick blushed a little, which Cynthia failed to notice because of the darkness. "Also, there's this girl called Rita Kendrick. She said she liked the art."

"And do you happen to like this girl?" Cynthia said pushing him with her elbow.

"No, that's not the case." Nick laughed. "She wants to meet the artist."

"I bet she does!"

"I am not kidding, Cynthia. She seems very enthusiastic about art and would love to meet you. She even pestered me about it for a while."

Cynthia went silent. She thought for a while and said, "Do you know this girl well?"

"Not really. We just talked once before today. But she seems like a nice girl."

"Yeah, everyone seems nice from the outside."

"Come on, it's not going to be as horrible as you think it would be. Please."

Cynthia shook her head. "Do you even understand my job? I belong here, in the darkness. I am afraid, going out in the sun will be bad for me."

"Cynthia please."

"Why do you care? You barely even know her."

"But I know you. I know you are passionate about drawing stuff, making graffiti. You said you belong to this darkness. I don't think so. It's exactly why you should meet her. She's as enthusiastic about art as you are. You two will have a great time, I promise. You need to have a life besides selling weed and meth. It's time you see the daylight. You deserve this, Cynthia."

Cynthia fell silent. Nick sensed that she was a little mad.

"Bye Jackass. We are done for the day," she murmured and walked away.

"Think about it, Cynthia. And let me know when you want to meet her. Bye," Nick shouted at her fading footsteps.

Cynthia left Nick behind, but she went home with an idea, tactically planted by him in her head.