Changing Image
Summary: Cate has always thought herself as looking one way. What happens when she finds out that other's see her differently?
Chapter 2: The Painting
Cate walked back to the orchestra room. Sitting in the office, she did some homework and stared at the wall, humming along with the freshmen's songs. This was her favorite period. Though it looked bad on her transcripts, it gave her extra study time and it let her get to know the school better. As a sophomore, she had still stumbled around like a freshman. Now as a junior, mentoring had shown her all the copiers, all the teacher workrooms, and all the supply closets in the school. The administrative staff had come to love her because she often spent two to three lunch periods copying music in the Pupil Personnel Office and filled the time by chatting with the teachers back there. When the bell for fourth period rang, she gathered her stuff, shouted goodbye to the freshmen and Mrs. Morris, and ran to U.S. History.
History was her favorite subject. In fact, she wanted to teach it when she grew up. The class passed quickly with a flurry of notes and such. Soon she was on the bus home. The night passed with little to no excitement, so, dear reader, we shall move to the next day.
She awoke, got dressed, ate and was just in time to catch the bus. In homeroom, she listened to the latest rumors circulating the school. In Chemistry, she filled out her lab report and helped her chemistry partner fill out hers. In orchestra, she tackled a new piece and when it came time to lunch she walked to the media center first. There on the information desk was a square package wrapped in brown mailing paper. A note on the front was folded over to show the name "Cate" written in calligraphy. She picked up the note and began to read.
Cate,
Please enjoy this painting. I think it will unlock a part of you that even you did not know was locked up.
Lewis
She looked at the note a few more times, and a meaning did not present itself, so she stuffed it in her pocket and picked her painting up, ignoring the looks the library aides were giving her. Eating a quick lunch, she hopped over to the orchestra room to grab her things and say "g'bye" to Mrs. Morris. Her mom was picking her up early today so that she could baby sit her baby brother while her mother went to see about a mysterious growth on her stomach. She signed out in the PPO and walked outside to her mom's waiting car. The ride home was silent, barring a few short squeaks from her baby brother. When they reached home, Cate started to get her baby brother out but her mom stopped her.
"The doctor thinks Jerry might be affected by this rash thing too. He needs to come with me. Use your free time for studying, not playing though!" Her mom yelled through the car window as she backed out of the driveway. Cate walked in the house, set the alarm to stay, and dumped her book bag in the foyer. She ran upstairs to her room with the painting in her hand. She couldn't wait to unwrap it and see how good/ugly she looked. She sat down on her bed, with the painting in front of her. Slowly and with ceremony, she unwrapped the brown paper. Closing her eyes and holding her breath, she lifted the paper from the frame and prepared to look. She opened her eyes…and let out her breath in a whoosh. The girl staring back at her was her…but not. The girl in the painting, while having her face, had a beauty and grace that surpassed Cate's comprehension. Her blonde hair hung in waves down her back and over her shoulder. The green eyes were the same, but the girl's eyes in the picture sparkled with wit and humour. The girl in the painting looked so…perfect…that Cate's eyes stung with tears. All her life she had strived to be that perfect perky person that everyone looked at in awe. This painting was showing her everything she was not. She was neither beautiful nor witty as the person in the painting was. Nor did she possess an iota of grace.
She sat up on her knees and tore her eyes from the perfection's face and allowed herself to look at the scenery surrounding the perfect girl. It was a breath-taking water fall surrounded by trees that were as old as the Earth itself. Her eyes inadvertently came back to the girl's face as she cringed as her eyes filled with tears again. Why had this man, this artist forced her to see what she was not? It made no sense to her. A tear fell and hit the painting girl's face. The paint surrounding the girl began to ripple as if it were a pool of still-lying water and not a painting. Amazed, Cate reached out a hand to touch it and was yanked off the bed and for all intents and purposes, into the painting. Within a blink of an eye, she was gone and not a trace of her ever having entered the room was left behind. Neither painting nor frame nor brown wrapping paper remained. Cate herself had disappeared from the world as we know it.