Grey Line Between Friend and Foe
Mrs. Honnichi stopped mid-sentence as the classroom door creaked open.
"You must be Miss Charlotte Grey; you're half an hour late, care to explain yourself?"
The sound of chairs scrapping the ground filled the stuffy air in the classroom as students craned their necks trying to catch a glimpse of the new student. Their curious stares were met by a piercing blank one as they took in her appearance.
Limp black hair was kept off her face by a camouflage bandana. A few strands that had managed to escape the bandana fell down to frame her face. Her eyes were a piercing gray and a small, white diamond stud winked at the students from her nose. Her mouth was upturned in a lazy smirk. The bandana disappeared from view behind her ears that were decorated with studs; three in the lobe and two silver rings in the cartilage of her right ear and three studs in the lobe of her left.
Slung around her neck was a pair of dog tags that met the top of a black tank top that read, 'Math is my favorite subject...my foot plus your ass equals good times...care to try it?' in hot pink letters. The tank top touched the top of a pair of baggy camouflage pants that were held up by a studded leather belt. Her pants overlapped her combat boots, to drag on the floor.
A watch hung on the wrist that belonged to the hand that clutched the strap of a brown satchel that was slung across her torso. The other wrist was bare of any jewelry and in her hand was a crumpled sheet of paper.
Charlotte looked down at the sheet of paper she held before turning her gaze to the teacher, "This room 304?"
"Yes," Mrs. Honnichi said with a hint of exasperation, "what took you so long in getting here?"
"Got lost?" Charlotte shrugged, her tone implying her reply was more of a question then an answer.
Mrs. Honnichi's brows furrowed but she didn't press the matter, "Care to take a seat?" Charlotte shrugged nonchalantly and sauntered over to an empty desk by the window. She removed her satchel and let it fall to the floor as she collapsed into the plastic chair.
"May I continue now, Miss Grey?" Mrs. Honnichi questioned angrily.
"Whatever," Charlotte muttered. As the teacher droned on, Charlotte paid little attention as she surveyed her surroundings, her photographic memory taking it all in.
The rows of eight desks, the cabinets that lined the back wall, the blackboards that lined the front, the windows on the left, and the teacher's desk situated in front of the blackboards and the door on the right. It was a very standard classroom, and the whole situation bored Charlotte to no end. When can we start? Charlotte found herself wondering as she tuned the teacher back in. "I want you to paint the nature scene you have selected after you sketch it out," Mrs. Honnichi was saying, "the color of paint I want you to use is a color, or group of colors, that to you express your prominent emotion or your life. You may now begin."
Charlotte quickly got to work, whipping a pencil and drawing paper out of her satchel that lay slumped at her feet. Lightly Charlotte sketched the outline of what was to become a master piece. That done, she fetched some paint from one of the art supply cupboards. Charlotte took her time choosing the paint and chose the colors carefully.
Seating herself back at her desk, Charlotte opened the gray, black and white paint containers before drawing her own set of brushes out of her satchel. Charlotte spent all period tinting and darkening, and painting her master piece that was due at the end of class. With five minutes to spare, Charlotte was done.
The painting that lay before her showed the tremendous talent Charlotte had for art. The sun was setting over a trio of rolling hills, which slowly sunk into the ocean and a multi-shaded sky served as the picture's back drop. The whole scene was done in various shades of gray, ranging from nearly black to an off white. At a casual glance the painting would have actually appeared to the observer as not a painting but an enlarged black and white photo.
Mrs. Honnichi, who had just moments before announced time was up, was moving around the room from desk to desk, observing her pupils' work. When she got to Charlotte's desk she was stunned at the beauty and show of talent that lay before her. Mrs. Honnichi moved her eyes from the painting to Charlotte, who currently was leaning back in her chair with a pair of buds stuffed in her ears, blaring music. Surely she couldn't have...could she?
"Miss Grey? May I have a word with you after class?" Mrs. Honnichi waited a moment but received no response. Angrily she tapped Charlotte on her shoulder, drawing her attention.
"Yea?"
"May I have a word with you after class Charlotte?"
"Whatever," Charlotte replied before putting the bud back in her ear. Moments later the bell rang, drawing Charlotte out of her trance. Charlotte rounded up her items and satchel, stuffing her mp3 player back into the bag as she approached the teacher's desk.
"You want?"
"Miss Grey," Mrs. Honnichi began, "did you, or did you not paint this?" She asked, holding up the painting.
Charlotte looked confused, her brows slightly furrowed, "Ya, I painted that."
"Are you lying to me, Miss Grey?"
"No," Charlotte frowned.
"Have you ever taken art lessons?" questioned an impressed Mrs. Honnichi.
"Naw, my parents don't believe in art lessons," Charlotte glanced at the door, "how much longer is this gonna take?"
"Just a moment Miss Grey, then you can go. I wanted to ask you if you would be interested in joining the art club. You see, you have a tremendous talent, and I believe the art club could help you to expand that talent even further. The art club is an after school club that is sort of like free art lessons and I thi-"
"No," Charlotte said bluntly.
"Won't you just think about it, Charlotte?"
"Not interested, we done?"
Mrs. Honnichi lowered the painting onto her desk and sighed in defeat, "yes Charlotte, you can go now."
"Later," Charlotte said, heading for the door and sticking a bud back into her left ear. Striding down the hall, she made her way to her new locker.
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Ingrid Third looked up from her desk as her partner, Cornelius Fillmore, entered the office.
A smirk settled on her features, "made it just in time for the Introductory Ceremony, I see."
Fillmore frowned, "that's today?"
Ingrid's smirk spread into a grin, "yes, it is. Though surprisingly, it's being held during lunch...unlike when I came to school and they held it in the morning. Poor kid, whoever he is, I'd hate to be the one up on the stage."
Fillmore nodded as he took a seat and rummaged around for his unfinished paperwork.
"I still don't see why we have to do this every time a new student comes to school...personally; I think it doesn't give the student a good impression of our school. Folsom does have a point though...it does get the gummering over and out of the way for the Newbie."
Further debate was cut off by the intercom crackling to life, "All students report to the Auditorium immediately, the assembly is about to start."
Standing up, Ingrid grabbed her backpack from its resting place on her desk.
"Come on, Fillmore, we should get going, don't want to be late. Later we are, the longer this terrorization will draw out for the poor soul who decided to join X Middle School."
A dry laugh escaped Fillmore's lips as he got up and followed his partner out of the X Middle School Safety Patrol Office.
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Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN FILLMORE! OR IT'S CHARACTERS...THIS IS THE ONLY TIME I WILL SAY THIS!
A/N:
Well, there are a few basic things to cover. Those being that this is not a Romance (though I do love F/I stories) and that Ingrid, Fillmore and any other characters from Fillmore! by Disney, will seem very out of character. Sorry about that. Also, any suggestions on things to happen in the plot, tell me! I'm not quite sure where I'm going with this yet, so any input is great! Postings will also vary, and probably be infrequent...o yea, and the chapters will get longer as soon as I have more things to write about...
Till next chap!
-Akiko
