Art Class

     The next morning was pretty much a repeat of the one before. i got up, took a shower, got dressed, and headed to Sonic. i went through homeroom - English 4 Honors since i was too lazy to take AP English, second period - Life Management, and third period - Trig. They all dragged by - especially Trig - because i was excited about fourth period. i'd switched out of my Home Ec. class and into Painting and Drawing 1.

 

     When i went to the art studio, Mr. Browning was absent. However, there were two other girls already there, sitting together at the one of the lab tables, which had lockers built into the two longer sides. The girls looked me up and down from the back of the room, taking in my thrift store threads. The redhead nodded appreciatively at my black lace skirt with the tan slip and Marilyn Monroe t-shirt. They motioned for me to come over, which i did.

     "Hey, i'm Lena and this is Alanna," one of the girls informed me. She was an exotic beauty: long silky dark brown hair with natural highlights and naturally tan skin. She spoke with a slight accent. The other girl had grey eyes, her naturally straight scarlet hair in a short cut that stuck up all over her head, and fair skin with a few freckles scattered across her cheeks and nose.

 

     "i'm Willow," i said. "i'm a senior." Lena signed something to Alanna.

     "She's deaf," Lena explained. "And we're seniors too. Are you taking Ceramics or Painting and Drawing???"

     "Painting and Drawing." Lena nodded.

     "Us too." The other students were shuffling in as we talked. Alanna, Lena, and i were facing the door and looked up as the louder students started shuffling in just before, and during, the bell. There was silence for a few seconds, just long enough to be awkward, as everyone looked toward the door, waiting for Mr. Browning. Then a whisper crept in at the table in front of us and suddenly the classroom erupted in noise. Mr. Browning walked in about thirty seconds later, after a couple jock wannabes had started throwing around a football, half standing-half sitting.

 

     Mr. Browning absent-mindedly caught the football as he walked to the back of the classroom. He tucked it under his arm, and the three boys lowered themselves slowly into their stools. Mr. Browning walked to the counter at the back of the room, where the two sinks were located and unlocked a cabinet on the wall. We all stared quietly as he pulled out a coffee maker. When he'd finished measuring out coffee grounds and started the black coffee maker, he turned and, leaning back against the counter, looked at all of us. After a couple seconds, he tossed the football back to one of the boys and walked to his "desk". He hoisted himself up and sat on its surface.

 

     "Welcome to Art--" He was inturrupted by a group of girls who had apparently decided that the TV version of "bitchy cheerleading s**t" was the only kind of cheerleader there was. All five of them were dressed in miniskirts and spaghetti-strap tops that showed off plenty of cleavage. i heard Lena groan and looked over in time to see Alanna roll her eyes heavenward. i grinned in agreement, then looked back. Debbie Adams, who i'd gone to school with since elementary, was clearly the leader. She was a leggy bleached-blonde with too much lip-gloss. i wasn't entirely surprised to see Renee with them. Renee, my ex-best friend who, sometime between eighth grade and the middle of freshman year, had transformed from a quiet, shy poet to a bitchy s**t who's whole life was devoted to perfecting her hair flip.

 

     Speaking of hair flips, Debbie gave a perfect one as she flounced into the studio, flanked by her wannabes. Mr. Browning raised his eyebrows at them and looked as if he was giving it his all not to roll his eyes like Alanna. He cleared his throat and continued as the girls sat down.

     "--This particular class is Drawing and Painting. However, if you discover that Ceramics, or maybe 3-D art, is more up your alley, let me know and i'll put you in that class. But you'll still be in this class period, to save you all the hassle. So this first week is Experiment Week. We'll start with Painting and Drawing." He finished his speech and went to the back counter again to fill his blue mug with coffee, but no one moved. He turned around, sipping his coffee, and stopped when he saw us still sitting there. "Well, have at it!!!"

 

     Lena had been signing everything to Alanna, and we were the first to move. We all pulled out sketchbooks, drawing pencils, and kneaded erasers from our bags and Alanna went hunting for colored pencils.

     "And there's coffee, if anyone wants some. Mugs are on the shelves over the sink," Mr. Browning added. Yeah, i thought, this is definitely going to be an interesting class.

 

     About half-way through the period, after Mr. Browning had told us to pick an object in the room to sketch, a boy walked into the art studio. He looked unsure and kept glancing from his schedule to the classroom. it was the boy from the park. He was tall and had a medium build, with tan skin and black curly hair. Mr. Browning walked over to him and i peeked up at them from behind the fringe of my bangs, pretending to be looking at my sketchbook. Mr. Browning was nodding and smiling, and the boy was looking around, sort of sizing us up. i shook my hair out of my eyes and looked up for real when his eyes came to our table. He nodded at me, and i nodded back. He came and sat by me.

 

     "i'm Artyem," he introduced himself.

     "Willow. This is Alanna and Lena."  Alanna nodded and Lena told him hey. He smiled and said hey back, before unzipping his backpack and pulling out a sketchbook and his spiral notebook he'd been drawing in at the park.

 

.     .     .

 

     After art, Lena and Alanna waved goodbye and headed toward South Campus. Artyem and i had one of those awkward moments where we waved and said goodbye then started walking...in the same direction, toward North Campus.

     "Ummm...what class do you have next???" i asked.

     "American Government."

     "Oh, me too. Mr. Mohler???"

     "Yep." We took the stairs two at a time, Artyem slightly behind me, dodging other students. We reached N215 just as the bell rang. i took a quick glance around the noisy room, before taking my usual seat at the back far corner of the room. Artyem slid into the seat next to me. Two more students rushed into the room after us, then a short plump woman with a brunette bob and a black attache waddled in. The volume went down a few notches.

 

     She cleared her throat.

     "Hello, my name is Miss Bowman. i'm substituting for Mr. Mohler." She looked around the room, which had gotten almost completely quiet when she'd spoken.

     "i have two things to say. One, as long as the volume remains at a reasonable level, you may talk. Two, if i can't hear it or see it, then how do i know a cell phone or iPod is there??? Got it???" She paused, and some of us nodded a little. "Good, now Mr. Mohler left a reading assignment and this vocabulary chart that you are to fill out for homework and turn in tomorrow."

 

     Miss Bowman began passing out a chart of vocabulary words. The words were given in the far left column, and we were supposed to write the definition, draw an illustration, and write an example sentence. Miss Bowman wrote the reading assignment on the board and a sound of pages flipping ensued. i was on the third word down the chart when a folded piece of notebook paper fell onto my book. i looked up. Artyem was facing the board. i opened the note.

 

     This is really boring...and really easy.

i smiled and wrote back in my blue pen:

     Duh. it's public school. it has to be easy or hardly anyone here would graduate. How come you missed the first day of school???

it was none of my business, but i was curious. Artyem had turned slightly sideways in his seat, still looking down at his book, and had his left arm casually resting on my desk. i slipped the note into his left hand. Before i had finished another example sentence, the note fell onto my book again.

 

     We just moved here a couple weeks ago and mom needed me to help her finish unpacking.

     Oh, ok. Where did you move here from???

     Just Lynchburg a couple towns over.

     Lucky.

Lynchburg was only a couple of towns over, but it was completely different from Clearebrooke. There were coffee shops all over the place, with live music every night; and too many bookstores to count with comfy chairs and beanbags and quiet secluded corners; craft stores on every block; and huge studio apartments. it was a place for artists and musicians. Dawn had taken me there all day for my eleventh and fifteenth birthdays and i had fallen in love with the place.

 

     Artyem and i passed notes the whole class, so i still had about five words to do when i got home. i didn't mind too much, though. He seemed really cool. What i really minded were the thirty trig problems my teacher wanted us to do. After American Government, Artyem and i parted so i could drive home and he could drive to the library. On my way home, i decided to stop by Publix. i had filled out an application, but no luck so far. it had been sixty days, so i filled out a new one, then got some Red Delicious apples. Before i went home, i stopped by The Canvas to pay Tony for the sketchbook.

 

     Dawn was sleeping when i got home since she'd worked two shifts at the bar last night and it was her day off at the diner. The mailman hadn't come by yet, so i crept in quietly and went to my room to do my homework. i opened my door and pulled my Trig and American Government textbooks and sketchbook out of my bag before hanging it up. i pulled down my desk and set the books down and flipped pages in my sketchbook until i got to the sketch i'd started this morning. i'd chosen the Japanese lanterns for my object to draw, and worked on the shadows a little more before moving on to Trig and American Government.

 

     i finally finished my homework around six o'clock and went to fix breakfast-for-dinner. i made a plate for Dawn, poured her a mug of coffee and a glass of orange juice, and carried it on a tray back to her room. i woke her up and left the tray on her nightstand. She ate, showered, then left at seven to go to the bar. i turned on my music, turned out all the lights and closed my door. i lit some candles and placed them around my room where they wouldn't set anything on fire. i got down my Sideshow "Queen Roma" wine bottle, which i kept my sandalwood incense in, and unscrewed the lid. i took out two sticks of incense and lit them, blowing out the flame and leaving them smoldering. i put them in two seperate incense burners and went to my bathroom to take a shower.

 

     i got out of the shower feeling calm and refreshed. i retrieved my Fatboy from the living room, dragged it back to my room, and sat in full lotus position on it. i meditated for a long time before finally going to bed, falling asleep to the sound of Jeff Buckley singing Hallelujah.

Reviews

very nice introduction of characters.
funny, this is just my type of story- there's the detail and the pretty damned cool character names. reminds me of how I myself write when I write books.
and you've inspired me to start working on my books again.

[Matthew Ian Herrawood W]

Miss Bowman? I had a teacher from new zealand with that name.

Lynchburg was only a couple of towns over, but it was completely different from Clearebrooke

since Artyem has said that "Lynchburg was only a couple of towns over" that sentance would read better as

Although Lynchburg was only a couple of towns over, it was completely different from Clearebrooke

apart from that great!!!

[HappyTaylor]

" "i have two things to say. One, as long as the volume remains at a reasonable level, you may talk. Two, if i can't hear it or see it, then how do i know a cell phone or iPod is there??? Got it???" She paused, and some of us nodded a little. "Good, now Mr. Mohler left a reading assignment and this vocabulary chart that you are to fill out for homework and turn in tomorrow.""

Oh my gosh!! That was Mr. Everson's sub!!!

[John Stussy]

Again, another great chapter. You have a lot of skill fleshing out your characters, which I would expect because of your talent with writing roleplay characters and such. I'm interested to see what will come of all of this, and still curious about whether that drawing with the gun holds any significance or was just a trait to show some of Artyem's interests.