Hi readers! Thanks for the reviews and for appreciating all my lame jokes/puns. Even if you don't, I hope you'll continue to enjoy the story.
This chapter was written in response to Flamestriker's challenge.
Chapter 13: Art
The door closed behind Traxex with a click. The art classroom was small and cluttered, its walls and shelves filled with paintings, printed silks, carved wooden masks, wire and glass sculptures and all shapes of pottery. Her classmates – about seven of them – were busying themselves with different things. Davion and Lina were sculpting a clay dragon, Rylai was painting a snowy mountain scene and Carl drawing a self-portrait.
Lyralei had told her she could choose either Art or Music as an elective and Traxex had decided on Art. Not that she was artistically inclined, but rather, she knew she couldn't carry a tune to save her life. Lyralei herself had enrolled in music class after successfully auditioning for Miss Slithice's choir, and her next closest friend, Mortred had dropped out from school due to her pregnancy.
The only empty seat was next to Shendel, who was painting on something that looked like a ceramic mask. Dragonus and Magina were in front of her, doing the same thing.
She glanced at the front of the room. Behind the teacher's desk sat a man wearing a dark leather jacket and one of those painted masks over his face. That must be the art teacher. He looks kinda cool and ...creepy. The creepiness was due to the fact that his T-shaped mask had nothing but a toothy grin on it. No eyes, no nose, just a mouth. The rest was a smooth purple expanse.
"Psst," Shendel was calling her.
Traxex turned to look at the goth girl. There was an eager gleam in her eye.
"Wanna see something?" Shendel asked, holding her cell phone.
Another of her revenge ideas? She raised her brows. I'd better not get involved in this. "Um how about no," she replied flatly and walked straight towards the teacher.
"Fine, whatever," Shendel hissed behind her.
"Morning sir," Traxex spoke, examining the teacher's bizarre purple mask, noticing the darker purple stripes on it. "I'm new… what am I supposed to do?" she asked.
"Take this and paint a face on it," came a low and muffled reply, as the teacher gestured towards a piece of ceramic mask on his table. It was totally white, with no holes, only indentations for facial features. She picked it up carefully and glanced up at the teacher again. He continued to sit still, in a brooding sort of manner. There were no further instructions from him. Ahem...he doesn't look very friendly. I think I'll just go back and look at what my classmates are doing.
She walked back to her table and found some art supplies under it. After a moment's hesitation, she dipped the brush into some black paint and started painting one eye, and then the other, scoffing at how silly they looked. She definitely didn't have a flair for art, either.
Noisy laughter erupted from all around her, breaking her concentration. Lifting her head, she saw that her classmates were crowded around Shendel, gawking at the phone she was holding and snickering non-stop.
Magina and Dragonus were the only ones who were not amused. "What the fuck is this?" the Mohawk-haired guy shouted. "I'm not gay!"
"Well neither am I," Dragonus cried, red-faced and shocked. "Somebody set me up!"
"Who did this?" Magina demanded.
"It was Carl," Shendel said immediately, pointing an accusatory finger at the long-haired blond. "I just took the photo, that's all."
"What? It wasn't me," Carl retorted.
Traxex watched on quietly, confused.
"You think this is funny?" Magina marched over to Carl and grabbed him by the lapel of his designer shirt. "I've had enough of your shit."
"Let go of me!" Carl protested. "I said I didn't do this! You're my enemy in class but this one wasn't done by me!"
Magina clearly didn't believe him. He pushed the blond so hard that he crashed against Traxex's table, sending her ceramic mask smashing onto the floor.
"No… " She groaned, bending down and picking up the broken pieces the fight continued, mostly Magina venting his longstanding hatred of Carl, while everyone else stood and watched. They were making a mess out of the art studio, but the teacher didn't budge from his seat. He didn't seem to be doing anything in particular, and she wondered if he was actually asleep behind his mask.
She went up to him and asked, "Please, can I have a new mask to work with? Mine's broken."
He simply shook his head and said, "There's only one."
"Ugh…can I do something else then?"
"No. You'll have to paint a face on the mask and give it to me."
The door closed behind Traxex with a click. The art classroom was small and cluttered, its walls and shelves filled with paintings, printed silks, carved wooden masks, wire and glass sculptures and all shapes of pottery. Her classmates – about seven of them – were busying themselves with - Wait… I've been here before, she realized as she watched Davion and Lina sculpting a clay dragon, Rylai painting a snowy mountain scene, and Carl drawing a self-portrait.
She walked towards the empty seat next to Shendel, who was painting on a ceramic mask. Dragonus and Magina were doing the same, and the teacher in front was wearing a dark leather jacket and a purple mask over his face. Everything looked so familiar.
"Psst," Shendel was calling her. There was an eager gleam in the goth girl's eye. The déjà vu feeling was growing stronger. She's going to ask me if I want to see something.
"Wanna see something?" Shendel asked, holding her phone.
Hmmm…I knew it. "How about no," she rejected her again and walked straight to the teacher.
"Fine, whatever," Shendel hissed behind her.
"Morning sir," Traxex greeted, staring at the teacher's T-shaped purple mask with only a mouth drawn on it. "I'm new to this class… am I supposed to um, paint one of these?"
"That's right," came the low and muffled reply, with a hint of a smile.
She picked up the clean white mask from his desk, returned to her table and retrieved the art supplies under it. And then she started painting the eyes, again feeling amused at how terrible they looked. Clearly she hadn't improved much despite the practice.
Loud laughter erupted from her classmates; she glanced up to see the students crowded around Shendel with her phone. Oh shit, I think I know what's gonna happen….
"What the fuck is this?" Magina shouted. "I'm not gay!"
"Well neither am I," Dragonus cried. "Somebody set me up!"
"Who did this?" Magina demanded.
"It was Carl," Shendel said immediately, pointing a finger at the long-haired blond. "I merely took the photo, that's all."
"What? It wasn't me," Carl retorted.
He's gonna push Carl, she recalled. I must get out of here before he destroys my things. Hands curling protectively around her ceramic mask, she rushed over to the other side of the tiny room and sat in a corner, behind Magina, just as he stomped over to Carl and grabbed him by the lapel of his shirt.
"You think this is funny? I've had enough of your shit."
"Let go of me!" Carl protested. "I said I didn't do this! You're my enemy in class but this one wasn't done by me!"
As expected, Magina pushed Carl and sent him crashing against her table on the other side. Yay, I escaped that one, she chuckled. But her relief was short-lived. Carl was all riled up now. He grabbed a vase from the nearest shelf and flung it towards Magina, who ducked immediately.
Traxex froze in shock as the vase flew towards her face.
The door closed behind Traxex with a click and she immediately recognized her surroundings, cluttered with displays of artwork. Like before, Davion and Lina were sculpting the clay dragon, Rylai was painting snowy mountains, and Carl drawing the self-portrait.
This again? She frowned, feeling disturbed. Turning around she tried to open the door but it was locked. Guess I'm stuck here, she sighed as she walked straight towards the teacher, sitting there with his faceless purple mask. Maybe he knows what's going on?
"Psst."
Traxex turned around. "You have something to show me, right?" she whispered to Shendel, a little smugly.
"Yeah! How did you know?" Shendel looked surprised.
"Well um, because I'm your friend?"
"Aw… look," Shendel giggled as she furtively showed her the phone. Traxex took a curious peek at the photo in it and winced. In the picture, there were two guys lying butt-naked and unconscious on the floor, their bodies wrapped around each other. One had short, wavy yellow hair and the other a Mohawk hairdo. Ah… this is why the guys were so angry. And then she recalled the events at Mirana's party: Shendel swapping her drink with Dragonus's and asking her to pass a cup to Magina. I think she must have drugged them, stripped them naked and arranged them like this.
She bit her lips, thinking about her next course of action. I can't let them see this photo, she decided. I have to prevent the fight from breaking out or I'll never be able to complete my artwork in peace.
"It's hilarious. I'm gonna show it to the others," she lied, taking the phone from Shendel, who seemed more than happy to let her do so. Walking towards Magina, she secretly pressed 'delete' on the phone, erasing all the offending photos. She made sure that all that was left were normal photos of Mirana's party with everyone fully clothed, before placing it on his table.
"What's this?" Magina asked.
"Photos from the party," she shrugged.
"Oh," Magina said in a bored voice after casting a cursory glance at the phone.
Relieved that everything had gone peacefully this time, she went up to the teacher and collected the plain ceramic mask from his table. She then made herself comfortable at her seat, taking her time to paint the mask.
"What did you do to the photos? They're all gone!" Shendel was standing in front of her, looking very pissed off, with her phone back in her hand.
"I didn't do anything," she lied again.
"Doesn't matter, I have back-ups of them!"
Oh no… Traxex groaned inwardly. The photos were still going to be shown. Well, maybe I can still prevent the fight between Magina and Carl? Returning her attention to her artwork, she managed to paint the entire thing blue - she'd decided that was the color for the face - with black eyes. At the same time she listened to the familiar quarrel unfolding around her, waiting till the precise moment when Magina demanded,
"Who did this?"
Seizing the moment, she shot out. "Shendel did it."
Shendel glared at her aghast. "How could you? You bitch!" She spat and with one quick movement, she swept the ceramic mask off the table. It fell to the ground, breaking into pieces.
"Nooo not again!" Traxex moaned. The art teacher was, despite the commotion, still sitting there, unmoving and unreadable.
"Please, help me, I can't finish painting the mask with these guys around," she ran up to him and cried.
The bell rang, signalling the end of the lesson.
The door closed behind Traxex with a click. "Nooo… why am I here again..." she muttered in dismay. She made another futile attempt to open the door - there was no way out. She looked around the art room and pondered for awhile. It seemed that no matter what she did, she couldn't finish her painting before somebody came and ruined it, and neither could she prevent the fight from breaking out in class. And that art teacher - she was sure it was him - somehow kept turning back the time to the start of the lesson.
Okay I know what to do now. I'm going to complete the assignment before the fight even starts.
That seemed like a great idea. How long would it take to paint a face on a mask? With that, she ran straight past Shendel, collected the ceramic piece from the teacher's table and dashed back to her seat.
"Hey, I was calling you," Shendel whispered to her. "Wanna see something?"
Ignoring Shendel, she picked up the brush and hastily dabbed some colors on the mask. Finished in record time.
She sprinted like an Olympian towards the teacher and presented her work to him, just as noisy laughter erupted from behind her. The teacher leaned forward slightly, appearing to be inspecting her art, just at the moment when Magina shouted that he wasn't gay.
"F for effort," the teacher said, shaking his head. "Try again."
The door closed behind Traxex with a click. Rolling her eyes, she marched angrily to the empty seat in front of her and picked up the paintbrush she knew was tucked under the table. Aiming the brush at the teacher, she threw it at him, hitting him right in the centre of his purple mask. Bullseye.
The door closed behind Traxex with a click.
With a resigned sigh, she closed her eyes and stepped forward. Having been through this so many times, she knew precisely where everything was. She grabbed the painting materials tucked under the table, and with an armful of art supplies, she headed towards the teacher and dumped everything on his desk. And then she opened her eyes, picked up the paintbrush and started. This time I'm right beside the teacher - those guys won't dare to throw things at me now, she hoped.
She managed to fill in the entire face, the eyes, eyebrows and nose, ignoring the commotion behind her. It wasn't what she'd call a masterpiece, but it looked decent enough. She was about to paint the lips red when she felt someone push her from behind. Instinctively she spun around.
To her horror, there was a vase flying towards her.
"Never mind them," the teacher said. As soon as he uttered the words, the vase froze in mid-flight. And so did all the other students - they were all frozen in their movements. Magina, beside her, had swerved his body, seemingly to avoid the vase thrown by Carl, whose arm was still outstretched. All her classmates had been transformed into statues, as if someone had pressed the 'pause' button on them. The paint on Rylai's brush was still dripping, locked in a permanently liquid state. She wanted to touch it to feel if it was wet. The clock on the wall had also stopped ticking.
"What are you waiting for?" The teacher tapped his desk impatiently.
She turned around and stared at him, realizing that he could move too, just like her. The two of them were the only ones who could.
"Finish your painting. I haven't got all day," he reminded her.
She snapped out of her reverie when she realized that he was going to rewind the lesson again if she failed. In three seconds, she quickly finished painting the lips and the face was completed. "Does this look okay?" she asked him. "Please, tell me it's okay!"
"Hmm, nice face," the teacher remarked. "Too bad I can't see it."
(End of Chapter 13)
Art teacher = you should know
Notes: Hope this was fun to read, it certainly was fun to write. Yes I know, you'd wonder why Traxex somehow retained the memories...it's just a crazy story - I got the idea from a movie called Edge of Tomorrow.
Just to give everyone an idea of what's going to happen next: there will be pairings, some action and maybe, many chapters later (if I can make it that far)… a change in perspective.