“However it goes, it doesn’t matter. You’ll know more about what your hand can do, and your eye, and your materials. And I think, really, trying to understand how they did it makes you feel a little closer to these guys. It’s a time machine.” Marcelline swept her hand over the open books. “Besides, what do you think you’re doing when you’re drawing Peter Pan and Pokémon?”

“Those are just cartoons.”

Marcelline went wide-eyed at Carly. “I am going to pretend you didn’t even say that. Cartoonists aren’t artists?”

Carly blushed. “No. They are. I know that. I mean, it’s just not serious. . . .”

Marcelline smiled to reassure her. “Yeah, it is. And so are you. So don’t forget it. And be careful with your thoughts. They matter.”

Ada held up her open book and showed them Munch’s The Scream. She wrinkled her nose. “I’ve seen this before. I don’t like it.”

“No?” Marcelline said.

“It’s kinda cool, though.” Carly nodded at it.

“It’s creepy,” Ada said.

Marcelline could only agree. “It is. But why do you think it’s famous?”

Ada scoffed. “Because people like creepy stuff. Some people do. Creepy people do.”

They all laughed, but Carly stopped first. Marcelline watched her study the picture. “What are you thinking?”

“About maybe why it’s famous,” Carly said without looking away from it.

Marcelline dropped her gaze to the tabletop to keep the weight of her own stare off Carly. She kept still so as not to cause a ripple of distraction. These things were fragile, and self-consciousness could crush it in a second. She gave it its elbow room, letting the possibilities click together in Carly’s head.

Carly leaned back in her chair. “It’s famous because it’s really good.”

Ada was indignant. “What? No, it’s not. It’s weird. And it’s ugly. Sorry. Just being honest. I don’t know why it’s even a thing. I mean, who even let him? It’s creepy.”

Carly kept staring at the picture on the page. “Yeah, but it’s good because that’s not what creepy looks like.” She wiggled her fingers at the image. “Nothing really looks like that.” She leaned back again and pointed to punctuate her conclusion. “But that’s exactly what creepy feels like.”

Ada was shaking her head.

“No, no,” Carly said. “No. See? If it actually looked real, like something real-life creepy, it would be less creepy, because creepy is a feeling, not a look.” She turned to Marcelline. “Right?”

Marcelline sucked in her cheeks to keep from beaming. “I’m not sure it’s ever been explained better.”

Carly beamed for the both of them.

Ada shrugged and went back to her book. Carly took up her pencil.