My Friends

Seventeen-year-old Louisa sneaks into an art auction with a backpack full of spray paint. She enters through the bathroom window, a trick her friend Fish taught her, and vandalizes the walls. Louisa met Fish in foster care, and Fish would be here with her now if she hadn’t died from substance use. Louisa contends that Fish actually “died of being sad all the time” (7). Since Fish is gone, Louisa is now on her own. She thinks of the postcard in her backpack.

The exhibition is an event for wealthy individuals, and Louisa despises the way they’ve commodified art by buying pieces solely to display their wealth. She overhears women discussing the vandalism on the bathroom walls, wondering if it’s “part of the exhibition.” Louisa only cares about one painting on display, titled The One of the Sea, the first work by C. Jat, a reclusive artist. The way the snobby patrons talk about the value of art makes Louisa sick, as she knows the power of art in a person’s life is invaluable. Louisa also knows the painting is about more than the sea.