Nathan Meets World | Lucas Friar

Nathan Meets Maya's Mother

Nathan is not a fan of art class.

One might go so far as to say that he hates art class. In fact, art class is one of the few things that Nathan and Riley have in common.

They both suck at it.

The only difference is that while Nathan acknowledges that he can't paint or draw to save his life, Riley refuses to accept it. Instead of sticking to the prompt and drawing what's on display like she is supposed, Riley draws purple cats.

And Lucas.

But Nathan chooses to focus on her purple cats. Hideous purple cats.

"It looks like you're getting better, Nat."

"Don't patronize me, Texas."

"No seriously. I can almost tell that that's supposed to be a person."

Nathan shakes his head with a laugh, "It's horrible and you know it."

"Yeah. But at least you're trying."

Nathan stares at his canvas of colors and grimaces, "At this rate I'll be a great drawer by the time I'm fifty."

"Do you want to be an artist?"

"In a way. Yes. I want to be a photographer like my Uncle Shawn. Photography is art."

"It certainly is Mr. Matthews."

Ms.Kossal is a nice woman. Very patient. Which is a good trait to have when it comes to the Matthews siblings.

"Do you have a portfolio? Because if you do, and you show it to me, then we can show some your pictures off at the art exhibit."

Nathan lets out a disappointed sigh, "I don't have a portfolio. Or a camera. The only pictures I've ever taken were done on my Uncle's work camera."

"Well. You should look into getting one. Something tells me you're really talented."

-

"They've been lying to you, Auggie. Your artwork would not hang on a single refrigerator outside this apartment."

Auggie makes a betrayed face at their mother, "You said I was a little genius."

"Oh, you are a little a genius."

"You said I was a little genius," Riley proclaims.

"Well, I had no one to compare you to, honey."

"What about me? You know your first born?"

"No one compares to you, Nathan."

That's more like it.

"Can we get back to the real issue at hand here? Maya is going to be a famous artist and everybody speaks French but me."

"Ouais. C'est vrai."( Yeah. That's true.)

"Ma sœur Riley. Tu es une fille très simple et des gens comme toi." (My sister Riley. You're a very simple girl and people like you.)

Hey, who knew Auggie could speak French. Maybe Mr.Googly is good for something after all.

"Riley, this whole 'what-am I-good-at' thing? I've been there my whole life. It's a waste of time. You know what's not a waste of time? Mashed potatoes. You know why? They never let you down. They're the best in the world at what they do. So don't be mashed potatoes, because they're better at that than you could ever be."

"I agree with Dad. Mashed potatoes are great. Although scalloped potatoes are pretty good too."

Nathan raises an eyebrow when his dad shudders at the mention of scalloped potatoes, but decides not to mention it. His family is so weird.