I was startled out of my musings when Mr. Garcia called my name. I looked up at him and he smiled sadly at me. "We need to talk after class." He said. I nodded and tried to pay more attention to him. He explained that there would be two major shows for the class this year. One in the winter before Christmas and one in the spring. Whoever had the highest mark after the Christmas would have 3 spots for performance in the spring show. I frowned as he eyes me as he said this. We spent most of the class working on our scales and learning pitch. When the bell rang I hung back after everyone had filed from the room. "You wanted to see me?" I said sotly as crossed his arms.
"Hayley I cant help but notice that you are a bit distracted and its only the first day. I expect more out of you." He said. "I know. Its just been rough lately." I said. "No one is denying that you and your dad are going through a rough time but I know you Hayley. You are more than capable. I want you to have those spots in the spring show. You are amazingly talented and I wouldn't be surprised if you made it to fame and fortune but you have to put in the effort. Nobody is just going to hand it to you." He said. "I understand. It wont happen again." I said. He nodded and Jasper walked in.
Jasper looked angry about something as he looked between us. I noticed that Mr. Garcia had been standing too close and stepped back. "I wont let you down sir. I will put in all my effort to getting the higest mark." I said. He smiled and told me to take a seat. I sat near the back and watched as Jasper hesitated before taking the seat next to me. "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean it the way it sounded." I said. "No blood no foul." He said, repeating my earlier words. I smiled and nodded as more people came into the class.
Mr. Garcia wasn't big on first day speeches so he had us all go around and introduce ourselves and explain why we chose art as an elective. A lot of people chose it because they thought it was going to be easy. "I'm Hayley Scott and I chose art because I love to express myself through it. My art tells a story about how I feel or how I see the world. Something I cant do easily with words." I said and took my seat. "My name is Jasper hale and I chose art because I love to capture life's most beautiful moments as I see them. Memory fades but art does not." He drawled.
A Couple people went after him and then we were free to talk amongst ourselves. Jasper had already picked up his sketchbook and was drawing when I looked at him. I chose to just follow his lead and took out my won sketchbook but he spoke before I could make a mark on the page with my pencil. "So what happened to your face?" he asked. "What?" I asked. "Your cheek is very obviously bruised. It wasn't like that this morning. Did someone hit you?" he drawled and up until that moment I had forgotten about Mike. "Oh, my ex Mike shoved me into the lockers. I guess I hit myself harder than I thought." I said. "He what? Why?" he hissed. I looked up startled at his very apparent anger.
"He shoved me into the lockers and I hit my face on one of the locks." I said. "Ah' heard ya tha first time. Ah' asked why. Why did he shove ya?" he asked. I could hear his drawl more now that he was angry. "He was angry that I broke up with him." I said. "So he shoved ya? Tha coward. How dare he put his paws onna woman. Ah' outta teach him a lesson." He drawled. I laughed and he looked over at me confused. "Well while I appreciate you trying to defend me, I already handled it. Im sure he wont bother me again." I said. "Handled it?" he questioned and I laughed again. "I punched him in the face. Hard. He wont mess with me again if he knows whats good for him." I looked shocked at my admittance and laughed out loud. The whole class went quiet and started staring at us.
It took me a moment to realize why they were staring. Jasper Hale rarely talked. No one outside his family had ever heard him speack. I was the first and not only was he talking but he was laughing. I smiled as I felt the heart warming feeling that comes with guinuene laughter and laughed with him.
That was the moment where I realized Jasper had this way of making the world disappear. He could make me feel okay even if for a moment. With him, the world wasn't so heavy and I could breath again. It was in this moment that I realized I never wanted that feeling to end and I prayed that I could keep Jasper as a friend for a very long time.