Simon Says

At a prestigious arts academy, two gifted prodigies guard their true selves behind locked doors and polished smiles.

Aspiring young artist, Charles Weston has enrolled in a private arts high school soley to meet the "famous" Graeme Brandt, a student whose recently published novel touched a chord deep within Charles. But Graeme is not at all what Charles expected, and soon the two teen prodigies are drawn into a clash of wills that threatens to destroy them both.

To guard his work, Charles padlocks his canvases and sketches biting caricatures for the student paper. Behind studio doors, their cautious rivalry sharpens into a battle of nerves that risks unmasking them.

Graeme hides his panic behind easy charm, frozen by expectations and dreading he has nothing left to say. Neither boy can yield when every private sketch pushes their fragile defenses to the breaking point.
Dark Academia: At Houston’s elite Whitman High School for the Arts, prodigies compete within secluded studio spaces and soundproofed halls, surrounded by intense faculty expectations and whispering campus rivalries.Coming of Age: Charles grapples with the pain of childhood ridicule, questioning whether protecting his visionary canvases means staying hidden forever or risking the vulnerability of being truly known.LGBTQ Themes: His roommate Adrian, a talented classical composer who refuses to hide his sexuality, offers an honest model of creative courage in a world that pressures artists to conform.Also by This Author: Counterfeit Son.