"Add something about me," Feliciano mumbled as he stared at the sketch. "What is there even to add?"
"Feli you okay?" Feliciano looked up to see Mei, Tezera, and Victoria looking at him with concern on their faces. He looked over at the clock and gasped.
"Have I really been staring at this sketch for two hours?" Feliciano said staring at the clock.
"Maybe," Mei said awkwardly.
"I told you not to take Stern's class," Tezera said before mumbling. "The woman has no sense of boundaries."
"I wish I could but Ripley is on sabbatical this year and I did not want to take Applying Symbols in painting senior year." He sighed and fell back on the couch.
"What even happened in her class today?" Mei asked as she sat next to him. Victoria and Tezera sat down too.
"I presented my sketched today." Feliciano held up the sketch for a second before placing it back down. "After I presented Stern told me it was too general and I should add something to make it more about me. But I can't think of anything to add."
"I thought your idea was all about loss and change," Mei said looking at the sketch again. Feliciano slowly nodded. "Well I don't see the problem."
"Apparently loss and change are too universal of topics," Feliciano said annoyed and huffed a little. "What am I supposed to do? I've experienced a lot this year it makes sense. How am I supposed to make this personal without. Without revealing I'm trans. I know it's a big part of me and my life but to explain that in front of everyone. I can't do that. I'm not ready for it. Once word gets out, there's no going back. Some might be fine with everyone knowing but not me. Not yet."
"Don't worry Feli," Mei said softly as she leaned on him. "You don't have to. I'm sure there's something else you can add."
"Well, the only other thing that I can think of that happen to me this past year was getting a boyfriend." Feliciano smiled for a second and fiddled with his hands. "But I don't think that makes any sense."
"You could do something to symbolize him," Tezera said with a shrug.
"Maybe but I have to think of something," Feliciano said before his phone dinged. Quietly he picked it before slapping himself in the face. "Speaking of my boyfriend, I completely forgot we were going to video chat."
"I thought he'd be on by now," Ludwig said as he sat by his computer. "Hope something didn't happen."
He sat there for a moment. After a bit, he picked up one of his law textbooks and started reading it over. Trying his best not to focus on the clock. Feliciano had to have been late for a reason. Probably it was just something like dinner went longer than normal. Maybe he had a meeting her forgot about. When he was about halfway through his third page he heard the ring of his video chat. Quickly he closed his book, adjusted his clothes a little, before pressing answer. A few seconds later Feliciano appeared on screen holding a piece of pizza in his hands.
"Hi hot stuff," Feliciano said will a slight laugh. "Sorry, I'm late lost track of time."
"Hi, Feliciano," Ludwig said with a smile. He looked at the slice of pizza in his boyfriend's hands. "Did dinner take longer than normal?"
"No," Feliciano sighed before taking another bite. "I got distracted by a school assignment."
"Do you want to talk about it?" Ludwig asked softly.
"Remember that symbols class I told you about?" Feliciano said quietly. Ludwig nodded. "Well, we had to present our sketches to the class today. I wanted to do a piece on loss and change but my professor said that wasn't personal enough. But I don't know what I can add to it."
"Sorry but I don't think I can help with that," Ludwig said awkwardly but he still smiled.
"It's okay babe," Feliciano said quietly. He took another bite of his pizza. "I'm sure I'll think of something."
"But I would still like to help," Ludwig told him sweetly. He paused for a moment. "Or at least see the sketch. If that's alright."
"Oh, sure!" The cheeriness in Feliciano's voice returned. He stood up and started to walk off. "Just give me a moment."
Feliciano walked over the screen. Ludwig soon heard some rustling of papers. A few seconds later, Feliciano came back holding a decently sized sketched book. He sat back down and started flipping through pages. Ludwig got a few glimpses of sketches. Both finished and unfinished. After a bit, Feliciano showed a sketch of a figure with some birds.
"Looks nice," Ludwig said with a nod. "I don't know what your professor was thinking it looks good."
"I honestly can't think of anything. That isn't too personal. I thought of maybe adding some hair flowing behind like I just cut off. But that would probably reveal me being trans and I don't really want that. You know there's a difference between a few close friends knowing than a whole class knowing. Literally every idea I have reveals me being trans in some way. Can, can we change the subject? I don't really want to talk about it any more."
"It's okay Feli, anything you would like to talk about?"
"Um." Feliciano placed his sketchbook down and looked up for a moment. "Anything interesting happening in the world of law school?"
"Not really," Ludwig said.
"Any scandals?" Feliciano leaned forward with a little smirk.
"I prefer not to look into that." Ludwig paused for a moment. "Unless we're talking about one in class. I'd rather keep up happiness in my major and constantly being brought down from it."
"You mean lawyers aren't in the know about other scandals." Feliciano tried to be serious but it was clear he was holding back laughter.
"Unless we're talking about malpractice then no."
"Aww boo."
"Well, my father is currently in an interesting case if you would like to hear about it?"
"Oh yes!" Feliciano started bouncing in his seat.
"Unfortunately I can't tell you all the all of the details." Feliciano stopped bouncing and frowned. Ludwig gave him an assuring smile. "But my father is an employment lawyer and right now he's doing a case where he's defending a company. The reason for the lawsuit is an injury claim with a falling shelf. My father is claiming that no one could have predicted the shelf falling while the defendant claimed they used rusty screws."
"Wouldn't they be different colors?" Feliciano asked confused.
"That's part of my father's defense."
"So this whole case is over a screw?"
"Yes," Ludwig said awkwardly before pausing. "I just thought it would be funny."
"It's a little funny." Feliciano shimmed in his seat a little. "How's your brother doing?"
"My brother?" Ludwig pondered, tilting his head a little.
"Is there a problem?" Feliciano said somberly for some reason.
"Well no," Ludwig looked away for a second. Glancing back at Feliciano he saw he started to look upset. "I mean you don't really ask about them."
"I just want to make sure they are okay," Feliciano said softly.
"Yeah, they're fine. Nothing really going on with them." Ludwig never looked away from Feliciano. "Is something wrong?"
"I've just been thinking about mine recently."
"Have you talk to them recently?"
"A few days ago," Feliciano stopped before slumping in his seat. Ludwig gave him a small but comforting smile. "When I was first kicked out we talked almost every day. Sure we didn't really talk during the vacation, but as soon as I got back we started up again. Then over time, our text messages stopped. Sure some days I would forget but I dunno I thought we'd still be close."
"I felt the same with my parents when I first moved into college. My parents and I would text multiple times a day. But over time it slowed down. We still talk but not as much as we used too. It was hard at first but over time I got over it. It might sound weird but it made me enjoy when we did talk even more."
"That does seem nice," Feliciano said with a slight sigh. He remained silent for a moment before sitting up straight for a moment. "That's it."
Feliciano looked from his sketchbook to the office dor next to him. Quietly tapping his foot on the ground or his fingers on the cover of the sketchbook. The others students next to him were also focusing away from the door. No one dared pull out their phone. One person was drawing on what seemed like a post-it note. Feliciano slightly envied them for thinking of it. Soon a few voices were heard coming from the closed door before the creaking of the knob followed. Immediately everyone turned towards the door. An upset-looking student quickly walked out. Followed by the unamused face by Professor Stern.
"Feliciano are you next?" Stern asked. Feliciano looked around quickly. All the other students shook their heads or looked away.
"Yes," Feliciano said quietly. Without a word Stern walked into her office. Feliciano grabbed his sketchbook tightly as he stood up and walked in. Stern was already at her desk and looking at her notebook. Not even looking up at him as Feliciano sat down in the seat in front her desk.
"Alright let's make this quick," Stern said before looking at Felciano again. "On Monday you present a rather basic artwork of a person with minor symbolism. Now have you thought of anything to make it more personal."
"I have," Feliciano said carefully trying not to sound too confident. Slowly he opened his sketchbook to a new sketch. Like the old one before the person was standing in front of the sunrise with birds flying away from him. But now the person had their back to the birds. And they had their arm stretched out with two birds on it. Above them, a few more of the bird seemed to be flying down.
"Hmmm," Stern was silent for a moment. Her eyes not leaving the sketch at all. "Looks very similar to your old one but I do notice some changes."
"Well I had to cut out a lot of people from my life this year," Feliciano said choosing each word carefully. "But I realized I still had people from those old relationships. And new people to come that I haven't even met."
"Still seems a bit universal," Stern pondered before nodding. "However, this is a good start and seems more personal. Maybe add another detail or two are you good be great. At the very least it is a passing grade. I look forward to seeing what you have for next Monday."
Feliciano smiled before standing up. "Thank you, Professor."