By: Faita

"And don't forget the color wheel when you mix colors. The opposite dulls the paint. As a greater painter once said, 'The opposite color dulls the color of the paint'," an elder man said walking in front of a class filled with kids standing in front of easels. The kids laughed. "Marlena Pressman, do you have the painting you promised to make?" he asked a girl behind an easel. She moved a lock of her blonde hair behind her ear and cleared her throat. "Well, you, you see. The thing is Mr.Rayner, I," she began but he raised his hand. "Save your excuses Marlena, you can hand it in tomorrow," he told her. "How about the day after?" she asked. Some of the kids laughed, including the boy next to her. She lightly slapped him in the stomach. "Tomorrow Marlena, or no credit," he told her. She mumbled something under her breath and wrote something on a piece of paper that was in her smock pocket. The elder man smiled at her then turned to the class. "The bell is going to ring soon so clean up your stations," he told them and they began to clean up. The bell rang and the kids walked slowly out of the class, tossing their smocks into a bin close to the door. Marlena stayed behind and walked over to Rayner as he was walking towards his desk in the front of the room. "Mr.Rayner, could ya please give me till the day after tomorrow? You can't rush artwork you know," she told him. He turned around to look at her. "You can in college Ms.Pressman," he told her. "You were an artist Mr.Rayner, you know I need time to fully express my emotion into the canvas," she said to him. "I worked for a newspaper, I knew how to obey the dead line," he said. She frowned at him. "You drew soap for a living, this is a bit more complicated," she told him. "But I drew it well and on time Ms.Pressman. You have talent Marlena; I'd hate to see you fail due to handing in late projects. Now get to your next class" he told her. "This is my last class of the day, Egan and I were going to get a bite to eat, wanna come?" she asked him. He laughed. "You and Mr.Barnes have fun, I do have another class coming in, and could you please place all of the smocks thrown by people with no aim into the bin on your way out?" he told her. She turned around and began to walk up the steps towards the bin. She picked up a few smocks they lay on the floor and placed them into the bin and walked out of the large room.

"So what are you doing a painting of?" Egan asked her. Marlena and Egan were sitting at a table in front of a small café. Marlena took a sip from her glass, and took a picture out of her bag that lay at her feet. She handed it to Egan. The black haired boy took it and looked at it. It was a picture of an elderly man with a dark green mask on and a black suit with green shoulders, black neck, green boots, and green cuffs on his wrists and a green belt and short gray hair and a design on his chest. He was flying through the air with a green mist surrounding him. There was a dark red sky behind him and the black buildings; the moon lay in the top right corner. "Who's this a picture of?" Egan asked her. She smiled at him. "My mom took that picture when she was a our age, about thirty years ago. It's the Green Lantern guy," she told him. He looked up at her surprised. "Green Lantern? He hasn't been seen in twenty five years!" he told her. She smiled. "Yeah I know, cool huh?" she said taking the picture back and looking at it. "Shway. How did Rayner take it, you painting an ancient super hero?" Egan asked her. "He doesn't know, and it won't matter if I turn it in tomorrow," she told him. He grinned. "So you have to paint the entire thing tonight?" he asked her. She shook her head. "It's already done, I just forgot to hand it in today," she told him. "Then what was with all the stuff about handing it in later?" he asked her curious. "If I ask for more time he'll think I haven't even started yet, so if I hand it in tomorrow he'll," she said. "He'll think you are better then you actually are right?" he asked her, she nodded at him with a smile on her face. "You're crafty Marlena," he said as they stood up. "And you're paying," she said as she placed the bag over her shoulder and grinned at him. He placed a card into a slot on the table and the two walked away.

"So, do you have the painting Ms.Pressman," he asked her. She grinned at him as she pulled a painting out from her portfolio case. She carried it over to him and turned it around so he could see it. His eyes widened in surprise as they studied the painting. "Taken up an interest in super heroes?" he asked her. "If I had I'd done Batman, but I like this guy better," she told him grinning. He smiled too. "So do I," he told her as he took the painting and set it on top of his desk. "And when did you finish that Ms.Pressman?" he asked her. "Started and finished last night Mr.Rayner," she told him. "I meant when did you really finish it," he told her, she frowned at him. "Couple of days ago," she told him as she walked angrily away, some of the kids in the class laughed. "You lie pretty well," he told her as she stepped back behind her easel in the first row next to Egan. "Then why couldn't I fool you?" she asked him. "I've been teaching art for 35 years. I taught your parents, your sister, and your brother, and I'll probably teach your little brother and niece too. You all do the exact same thing when you lie," he told her. "And what's that?" she asked him. "If I told you, I wouldn't be able to tell when you lie to me, so don't lie to me again," he told her. "Fine," she said. "You just lied again Ms.Pressman," he told her, now all the kids in the class laughed. Some of the kids around her slapped her in her arm and back with the back of their hands. "Just teach the class Mr.Rayner," she told him and every one laughed again, including Mr.Rayner.

The class filed out of the room quickly, some missing the bin again, some talking to each other. Marlena and Egan took up the rear talking to each other. "Pressman!" Rayner yelled after her. She patted Egan on the back with her hand and walked over to the desk. "What Mr.Rayner?" she asked him. He walked out from behind his desk and over to her. He placed his hand into his pocket and pulled out a small white box. "There's something I want to give you. I've wanted to give it to someone in your family for awhile, but I believe you deserve it the most," he told her as he handed her the box. She looked at him curiously and cautiously took the box from his hand. She opened it and looked inside. There was a green ring inside with a small lantern type design on it. She picked it up and held it in her hand, then she looked up at Rayner. "What's this?" she asked him confused. "It's a ring, a very important ring, and I want you to have it," he told her. "Why me?" she then asked. "The people in your family that I've taught have all shown great intelligence, strength in multiple areas not just art, endurance, a quick wit, a good ability to lie to anyone except me, and have all be very trust worthy except when it comes to dead lines. But you seem to be the best for the job and the responsibility," he told her. "What job?" she asked him fully interested in what he was saying. "But the ring on when you get home and you'll see, but don't but it on in public, believe me, doing that only leads to trouble," he told her. She placed the ring back into the box, and put the lid back on and slipped it into her bag. She walked away from him cautiously and confused.

"So what did Mr.Rayner want to talk to you about after class?" Egan asked her as they casually walked through her dorm room. She snapped her fingers and pulled the white box out of her bag, Egan watched her in curiosity. She opened the box and pulled out the ring, then let the box fall to the ground. "He gave me this ring, he said something about wanting to give it to some one in my family for awhile and that I was the best choice," she told him handing it to him. He studied it while he held it close to his face, his eyes widened in shock. "Where's that picture your mom took, of Green Lantern?" he asked her. She dug through her bag and handed him the picture. He looked from the picture to the ring multiple times before he looked up at Marlena, his mouth hanging open. "Oh my god," he said. "What?" she asked him quickly. He showed her the ring and pointed to a place on the picture with his finger. Marlena's mouth dropped too and her eyes widened in shock. "Oh my god," she said as she looked up at Egan as he nodded his head with a smile on his face. "Kyle Rayner was the Green Lantern," Marlena then said. "And he gave the ring to you, he wants you to be the Green Lantern of the new era," Egan said grinning. "Shway, just like Batman!" she said excited and almost jumping up and down. "Should I know this?" Egan asked her. "That doesn't matter, I'm going to be Green Lantern," she said smiling from ear to ear. She placed the ring on her right hand. A suit covered her body exactly like the one on the man in the picture only a little smaller. She gazed down at it in amazement as Egan did too. She ran over in front of a mirror and looked at herself almost laughing in happiness. She turned around to face Egan who had dropped the picture to the floor. "I'm going to love this!" Green Lantern said.