WARNING: The following chapter contains spoilers for 'The Wolf Among Us'.
RECAP OF C2: Rachel woke Chloe up from a nightmare and handed her tissues for her bloody nose. Chloe dismissed the incident and proceeded to get ready for school, having a "minor" PTSD episode in the bathroom before her shower.
Rachel pulled into a parking space at the academy, shutting off the car. I reached down and grabbed my backpack from between my feet, using my other hand to open the car door. Rachel got out faster than I did since I had to reach into the back seat and grab the duffel bag containing the rest of my art supplies and waited until the door shut securely behind me to lock the doors. I slung my bag over my shoulder and stared up at the school looming ahead.
For once, I didn't want to be here. I still felt sick to my stomach from the morning. My grip tightened around the strap of my bag, and I felt Rachel rest her hand on my opposing shoulder.
"Are you staying?" she asked, and glanced at me.
Feeling the weight of my art supplies in my duffel bag, I sighed and nodded. "Yeah. Maybe two hours worth."
She squeezed my shoulder tenderly and I glanced at her, feeling my heart lighten at the smile she was giving me. "Text me when you're ready, okay? Take as long as you need."
That was her way of saying goodbye to me. We were going in the same direction, but she could tell I needed my space. She was giving it to me without question.
"Will do. Thanks, Rach."
Her hand dropped from my shoulder and I started for the school, avoiding eye contact with the other students making their way to the front doors. I heard Rachel's footsteps blend with the dozens of others behind me and ignored the swelling anxiousness working its way through my body. Today was going to be a simple day. All I had to do was get through today. I couldn't afford to take any more mental health days than absolutely necessary. My grades were starting to look as bad as the inside of my head.
If I could get through today, I'd be fine. It was Friday. I had the whole weekend ahead of me to take it easy.
My feet carried me up the steps and through the double doors, successfully keeping me from colliding with anyone in my state of distractedness. When I heard the doors close, I picked my head up and took a breath. Masses of students filtered their way through others, turning down hallways and entering offices and bathrooms. I saw Rachel pass me from the corner of my eye and returned her reassuring smile before she disappeared down the left hall.
My first class was civics. That wouldn't be too bad, though math was one of my better subjects next to english. I really only lagged in any kind of science class but I had Rachel to help me out with those.
I started walking again, heading straight down the middle hallway towards my math class. I managed to tune out the sounds of shoes thudding against tile a bit, centering my thoughts around what I was going to create later.
"Add to your collection..."
No. I wasn't planning on listening to him. While it was true that I'd been lacking in the 'Reflection' portfolio I saved for myself, that didn't mean I was missing it. It was an accomplishment in my book to not have a drawing to add.
I entered the classroom and sat in my usual spot in the back, pulling out my laptop from my backpack and setting it up on my desk. I pulled out the power cord since I'd forgotten to charge it the night before and plugged it up. I waited a few seconds before pressing the power button, absently tapping on the desk as it turned on. I reached into my pocket and took out my headphones to detangle them.
In my peripheral vision, I could see students passing the doorway or slipping inside to take their seat. The usual morning commotion hadn't died down yet; I could still hear people laughing and calling to their friends ahead of them as if they were still outside. It was too early for that bullshit. When my computer finished powering on, I logged in and immediately opened my photoshop program. I had a shit-ton of projects I'd started and was so unmotivated to continue/finish them. That didn't keep me from bringing my supplies just about everywhere I went, though.
My eyes skimmed through my folders, reading the titles I'd given my various edits, and I heaved a sigh. I closed the application and opened up YouTube, deciding that I'd lose myself in the internet. Recently, I'd gotten into this game known as The Wolf Among Us and was kinda sorta obsessed with it. So I decided to type in the search bar something related to the game; anything that would distract me from my quickly darkening thoughts. Bad mornings led to even worse afternoons, and difficult nights.
"You miss it..."
He was trying to, for lack of a better term, get in my head. I didn't miss anything he once made me think, say, or do as much as he tried to make me believe it. That was the most 'in control' I'd been in a while. I wasn't giving that up.
I didn't notice the teacher when she entered the classroom, and I didn't really care. I placed my headphones into their respective ears and clicked the first video at the top of the list.
By the end of the day, I knew I looked like shit. I felt it straight to my bones. My backpack weighed down my shoulders, which was the only thing I didn't mind since it was my art supplies. I ignored the last of the stragglers in the hallways and made a beeline straight for the art studio. It was by the exit that led to the next building over with the pool and locker rooms. The art teacher was conveniently the mother of a friend of mine, and she would often trust me with the spare key to go in and "paint my heart out" as she put it so long as I made sure to return the key to her safely. The school was aware of this and didn't complain about it because, so far, I was proving responsible enough.
Upon reaching the art room, I pulled the key out of my pocket and unlocked the door. I slipped inside and breathed in the relaxing smell of acrylic paints, pencil shavings, and various other art related scents. The room was quite nice, with tall windows that were letting in the perfect amount of sunlight and a decent structure for the twenty or so kids that were in here at a time to have their own space. There were white paints with paint splattered across them along the floor and half finished pieces lining the walls on the table in the back. Students would create things in their own time and gift them to Ms. Harrison for her to decorate the room with. I only had two of my pieces hanging on the wall; a painting of a black bunny in the middle of a snow covered forest and a rusted bicycle in the rain.
I made my way over to the drawers to grab a blank canvas. I was allowed to leave my own canvases in the room because it was a hassle to carry them back and forth from home. I crouched down, chuckling at my name labeled at the top with a skull and crossbones, and opened it up to take one out. I stood and gently kicked it shut as I returned to my chosen spot by the window. I shrugged my backpack off and set it right next to the duffel. I unzipped the pockets of the other bag and took out my own sheet to prevent the floor from getting stained. Well, more stained than it already was. I got that settled first before taking out my self-created stencils and collection of spray paint cans. I set them up in order by shades of the rainbow. Last, but not least, I took out my pair of gloves, the mask to cover my nose and mouth, and goggles to protect my eyes. I didn't care too much about getting paint on my clothes or sneakers, I had the paint remover back at my house to take care of that.
I grabbed my stack of stencils and flipped through them. There was a specific design I was going for; one that I'd created solely for my plans on a The Wolf Among Us piece. I had at least eleven separate stencils for it but didn't have the time to organize them. It took a few minutes of incessant searching before I found them all. I placed the others back in my bag and set up the others in the order I planned on using them in to prevent confusion.
It was usually only when I was in the zone that Thirio was especially quiet. I didn't need to focus on anything except how the colors hit the paper. Sometimes my body worked on autopilot because it already knew what I was gonna do, and it left my thoughts peacefully blank. It was just me and my paint.
I'd been going at it for at least an hour, adjusting my stencils and taking a break to nosh on the bag of Doritos I got from the vending machine. I took a long swig of my Sprite and sighed contently before bending down to grab my black spray paint again. I picked up the third stencil from my line up (it was already coated in purple and white) and narrowed my eyes until I had it lined up perfectly where I wanted it.
I got back to work almost immediately, grimacing at the pain in my legs from kneeling too much. But I wasn't going to stop. Not when I was so-
"Hello?"
I froze.
Who the fuck?
I raised my eyes until they were level with the doorway. There was some girl standing there. She had short, brown hair, brown doe eyes, lean figure, and was clearly a little apprehensive.
"Uh, hey?" I said. I raised my hand in greeting.
The girl's eyes fell on me and she relaxed instantly, a small smile gracing her lips. "Oh, so there was someone in here."
"You thought there wasn't?" I stood up and stretched my legs. I smirked a bit, despite that this girl couldn't see it due to the mask.
"All I saw was the door open a crack." the girl stepped inside more. Her shy smile turned playful. "Decided to make sure there was no crazed ax murderer hiding out in here."
I laughed, shaking my head. "Bold move. What if I was some crazed ax murderer?"
"Then you're a crazed ax murderer with talent."
Her gaze had moved from me to the painting at my feet, her eyes widening and jaw dropping slightly in awe. A blush started to creep up my neck. I was so thankful for the mask covering most of my face. It's not that I didn't enjoy people admiring my work, I loved it. But I still turned into a pile of awkward mush whenever someone told me I had "talent" or "a gift."
"Ah, thanks." I said.
The girl came closer, I'm guessing to get a better look at my art because she didn't look up from it as she did so. She stopped when she was standing at the opposite end, her eyes scanning the design, and her face lit up with recognition.
"Wait, I know this game!" She grinned at me, and it made my heart flutter. "The Wolf Among Us, right?"
I blinked. "Y-yeah. You've played it?"
"No," She laughed. "But I wish I did. I watched a few youtubers play it, though." She moved around to the side to get a better look, resting her hands on her knees. "Is this from In Sheep's Clothing?"
"How'd you know?" I asked, intrigued.
She pointed at my depiction of Bigby. "The bandages you put on him. They look like the ones that are put on him in the fourth episode."
"You really know your stuff, huh?" I teased lightheartedly. Despite her head being down, I could tell she was starting to turn pink.
"I love the beginning scene with Snow White." The girl stood up straight again. "I've watched it so many times, I think I've memorized the dialogue."
"Oh, yeah?" I quirked an eyebrow. "Let's test that."
She looked up at me, brow raising in surprise and her freckles popping out against her blush. "What?"
"I'd like to consider myself an expert on the game, so I'd like to test your knowledge." I reached up and pulled the mask down so she could properly see my cocky grin. I crossed my arms. "Pick a scene."
The girl continued to stare at me, at a loss for words, but I could see the gears working in her head. Her mouth clamped shut like she didn't realize it was hanging open.
"So..." she began. Her tone told me everything about the scene she was going for. "How do you, um, feel?"
I chuckled and attempted to make my voice as gruff as possible. "Don't worry about me, alright? I'll be fine."
"I'm glad you're not dead." She didn't hesitate with that line. I knew she had that one down. She paused, thinking of the next part that I already had going in my head. "You, uh, you stopped breathing, you know... When you passed out or... Or died, I guess..." I saw her hand twitch in my peripherals, almost like she was going to reach out and touch my arm like Snow did to Bigby. "It... Um... Kind of scared the Hell out of me."
She was good. Really good. Maybe she couldn't beat out Rachel for the lead in a show, but she was definitely impressing me with her acting. I didn't know this girl, but I was captivated.
"I've never seen you like that..." She continued. "And when Swineheart arrived-"
"Snow..." I cut her off at the perfect moment. "I'd never leave you."
We stood there, staring intently at each other in the weighing silence. She seemed intimated by how I was holding myself, I saw the way she kept glancing down at my posture. I relaxed and dropped my arms, maintaining a reassuring smile.
"Not bad, 'Snow White.'" I said with another laugh.
She giggled. The sound was music to my ears. "Thank you, 'Bigby Wolf.'"
I watched her for another moment, debating on what to say next, when she looked over my shoulder and jumped. "Shit, I'm late! U-uh, nice talking with you!"
She turned and bolted out the art studio with hardly a wave over her shoulder. I didn't look away from the spot she'd just been standing in, a simple thought crossing my mind.
What the fuck just happened?
Okay, so, I know this chapter is a little strange and unstructured. Their interaction is weird and awkward and I wish I could tell you what it is inspired by (because, I'll tell you guys this, something similar did happen to me), but it's a personal memory I'd like to keep to myself.
Anyway, thank you guys so much for reading and, if you liked it, be sure to follow/favorite/review! I hope to see all you dudes and dudettes in the next chapter!
CaptainVampireKing awaaay!