Chapter 35: Artsy

(School)

Ivan sat on his chair in the classroom waiting for it to start. If anything, he didn't want to go, let alone if it's Mr. Baxwell's class. His guilt hasn't left his conscience a tiny bit after defacing his car. He was only there because Endo gave him a warning to not cut class or else his mom would know about it. He gave respect to Endo. Despite being a somewhat friend of his, he still becomes fair at judgement. He doesn't blame him for doing so, but damn does he want to get out.

It didn't take long until the class started filling in with students. Jake and Kelsey were the first of his friends to reach the class, followed by Teri - which to him looks stunning as always - and finally Carrie. Jake and Kelsey sat by Ivan while Carrie was sitting next to the window two seats beside him reading a book.

However, he was more interested on what Teri was doing. He saw her put some sort of moisturizer on her hands and drawing a mask on her mouth. He doesn't really know if she got sick or she's just taking precaution.

Jake and Kelsey tried to snap Ivan out of his trance. "Hey, Ivan. You there?" Jake said.

Kelsey looked at Jake with a concern look and Jake slapped him awake, which also caused him to writhe in pain.

"Ow, what the hell was that?!" Ivan yelled.

"You were spacing out again." Kelsey said.

"We wanted to ask where you were yesterday. You missed the others coming back." Jake followed.

"Wait, they're back already? Why didn't I know that?"

"They told it to everyone in the group chat." Jake answered.

Ivan pulled out his phone from his pocket and checked the chat messages. Apparently there were 30 messages from the said group chat which almost half of them were the group asking 'where's Ivan' and whether he was coming to meet or not.

"I didn't get the memo in time." he said.

"Uh-huh, sure. And where were you yesterday?"

"I uhh..."

He didn't exactly have an excuse on what to say. Since he had nothing to do, he was spray painting on a canvas he bought from the art store the other day when he hung out with Teri. And even if he said that, they would think that he was spray painting on something other than the canvas. Old habits die hard.

"Spray painting on a canvas I bought." he finally said. Jake and Kelsey looked at each other and Ivan knew what it meant. "It's true. I did buy a canvas to spray paint on." Ivan said defensively.

"Sorry, dude. You're just kinda known for graffiti around here." Jake said.

Teri must've overheard the conversation, because she stood up and walked towards them. "I can concur with him. We went to an art store a few days ago because I asked him to keep me company while I buy more crayons and pencils. That's when I told him to buy a big canvas to replace his bad habit of graffiti. That way, he gets to spray paint, and he won't be damaging public property."

Ivan was very shocked with her calm tone and sunshine smiling face. But on the other hand, he gave her a knowing smile as a sign of gratitude.

"By the way, Ivan, did you take a photo of that artwork you texted me about?" Teri asked.

Ivan felt dumbstruck because he completely forgot he took a picture of his latest artwork and never sent it to Teri when she asked for it when they texted. He opened his gallery on his phone and opened a photo of a spray paint artwork that says "NATURE" with the fill of the letters literally showing the abstract concept of the beauty of nature, such as trees and skies. He showed it to the other three and they were impressed.

"That's actually pretty nice." Jake said.

"Wow, you're really good at this." Kelsey complimented.

"You're getting better, Ivan." Teri said after.

All the compliments mad Ivan smile shyly - especially Teri's - and got him to hide his face. "Yeah, thanks. It was Teri's idea actually. I just thought of trying it out."

"Well it worked well, didn't it?" Teri said.

"Yeah, it did." Ivan looked at the photo for a few more moments before turning his phone off and putting it back into his pocket in time for Dante and Darwin getting into the classroom. Ivan got confused since there normally was more to the Watterson's group.

"Hey, Ivan. Where were you yesterday? You missed the-" Darwin said.

"Yeah, I know I missed it. I was busy with my own thing yesterday anyways." Ivan replied before giving him a chance to finish his question. "Where're the others?"

"Gumball and Lexy decided to take the day off today. They were still asleep when we left." Dante answered.

"Cato was sleeping in too." Carrie said, turning to the group. She then pinched the bridge of her nose (?) and furrowed her eyebrows. "And I caught Amber sleeping with him last night."

"Wow, seriously? Were they.." Jake asked.

"When I got back, I heard noises coming from Cato's room with the door locked and since I couldn't find Amber anywhere in the house. Andrew was watching TV and said that Cato told him not to come into his room. I assumed that she was in there too. So you can figure that out for yourselves."

As simple as Carrie put it, it didn't stop from the group to make awkward/disgusted faces and blushing, looking at each other thinking if the rest understood what she meant. Carrie snickered at them. "Don't worry. They were playing some game on Cato's console." Then, Carrie looked away wonderingly. "At least, that's what Amber told me before I left for school."

"Then it's probably something to worry about." Ivan said.

"Good thing Anna didn't have to hear that." Darwin said. And by saying that, he immediately noticed something. "Speaking of which, where is she?"

"Post traumatic experiences." Kelsey implied. "I already asked Riki this morning. She's gonna be awhile to recover."

"So we can assume that CJ also slept in?" Dante asked.

"Lexy said she had to deal with something about his brother. I don't really know what's going on about that." Kelsey said. "She didn't tell you guys?"

Before he could answer, a voice came out from the front. "Alright, seats everyone!" said the cheetah teacher. They were so hooked up on the conversation that they didn't hear their teacher came in.

"Ah, shit." Ivan cursed.

"Hey, don't be down. How bout we go hang out later today? You okay with that?" Teri asked.

Ivan went over in himself, because he quickly and louder than he thought said "Yes!". At least it got Teri to giggle a little.

(Teri's house)

After school, Ivan and Teri went to the art store to get new canvases and went to Teri's place. It was a house just like the rest in all of Elmore; a neat little suburban-style bungalow. The interior looked neat, with freshly polished furniture and extraordinarily cleaned and waxed floors. It's either all in his head or Teri's entire family is probed to cleanliness.

Teri beckoned him over to the back where she found her mom. "Hi, Mom. This is Ivan. He's an art buddy from school."

Ivan looked over to her. "Art buddy?" Teri elbowed Ivan in the stomach. It didn't hurt but he got the idea that it was supposed to mean that he needs to shut up.

"It's nice to meet you, dear. You want to use the art studio I assume?" Teri's mom said.

"Yes, if that's fine."

"Sure, honey. Don't make too much noise."

Teri walked back to the living room towards the stairs and Ivan followed suit. "You have an art studio?"

"My mom calls it an art studio, but it's really just a room for me and my mom to do some paintings." Teri answered.

"I'm pretty sure that's called an art studio." Ivan said back.

They made it up the stairs and Teri erased her mouth and drew a mask instead. Ivan was a little confused as to why she had to do it until she opened the door.

For the first time ever, Ivan sees Teri in a messy room and she's somewhat okay with it. Walls and floors covered with a white cloth covered in paint, paint buckets scattered across the floor. He was stunned up to the point that Teri starts to stare at Ivan for just standing at the doorway.

Teri drew a mouth above her mask. "What's up?"

"You're okay with all this mess?" Ivan asked.

Teri looks around the room and the mess he referred to. "The urge to clean it comes from time to time, so does spraying antibacterial spray around the room. But I don't know, there's something particular about this room that I just wanna leave it as it is." She turns to Ivan with a smile. "You're not the only person who likes art, you know?"

Ivan smiled back and put down the equipment on the already messy floor. "Right, let's get to it." He took out the canvas and laid on the floor. Teri erased her mouth, took the scattered paint buckets and set it to the side of the room. "Ready?"

With the nod of Teri's head, they started making art. Together.

(A few hours later)

After hours of spray painting, Ivan and Teri finally finished their masterpiece and left it under the fan for it to dry. Little did they know, it was already sundown and Teri's mom was making dinner. She invited Ivan to stay a little bit longer to have dinner, so he got on his phone to tell his mom. She was okay as long as he gets home straight after.

To his surprise, Teri's mom cooked actual food, roasted chicken. Although the question of how Teri and her mom should eat it, the only response from Teri's mom was "I made it for special occasions." Ivan gave Teri a questioning glare as all she did was smile at him. Surprise continues as he tasted the chicken, it was fantastic and his face lit up at the first bite.

The three of them chatted a little. Mostly about Teri's mom wanting to know Ivan more. After dinner, Ivan and Teri went back to the art studio room to pack up. Ivan put all the spray paint back into the bag he came with and rolled up the canvas to hold. Teri, in the meantime, cleaned up the room a little bit before walking Ivan out the door.

"Thanks for today. It's nice to have someone to do some art stuff with." Ivan said.

"You're welcome. I had as much fun as well. I.." Teri looked away blushing. "I hope we get to do this again."

"I'm sure we will." Ivan said with a reassuring smile. Teri looked back at Ivan and before she can react, Ivan kissed her on the lips. They both stayed for awhile until Ivan snapped out of it and pulled away. "Uhh..." Ivan said blushing too. "I meant to kiss your cheek. You turned your head at the last second."

"Oh.." was all Teri could say.

"Wanna try that again?"

Before Teri could say, again, Ivan leaned in for a kiss. This time was quicker, but still left Teri shocked. Ivan laughed slightly before opening a portal home. "See you tomorrow." Teri couldn't even reply and Ivan smiled before going through.

It was after the portal closed that Teri finally snapped out of it but still stood in place. After realizing what just happened, she put her hands on her cheeks. "Oh my GOSH!"

(The next day)

(School)

Ivan, being the first person to arrive early again, was putting up the canvas at the back of the classroom. After that, he stepped back and smiled as he basked in the beauty of his and Teri's masterpiece. It was the words "ELMORE HIGH SCHOOL" and just like the "NATURE" one he did at his house alone, the fill of the words in this one portrayed the school from the front view.

"Wow, now that's impressive." said a merely high pitch male voice he recognized from the doorway.

Ivan turned around and saw the whole group coming through the doorway. "Hey, guys. By the way, sorry I didn't get to.." he said.

"It's fine. Looks like you were busy yourself." Gumball said.

Ivan turned around and looked back at his glorious artwork. "Yeah, I did." He turned back to the group. "I didn't do this alone by the way. Teri helped me out with this one."

"Oh, no wonder it looks so nice." Cato said, before getting elbowed by Amber in the stomach.

"It's nice, Ivan." Lexy said.

He looked around the group and noticed Christine and Anna still not there. "CJ and Anna still not coming to school yet?"

"Like I said yesterday, they're gonna be awhile before they get back." Kelsey said.

The bell rang and they all sat at their places. Class starts filling in with students and Ivan noticed Teri come in and sit at her place. Teri turned back to look at Ivan and caught him staring at her. However, she still smiled at him.

Ivan returned the smile and Teri turned back to the front. "Hey, something happened between you and Teri?" Cato asked from his other hand side.

"Yeah, I guess something did happen." Ivan said still staring at her before snapping his head towards Cato's direction. "What about you? Carrie caught you and Amber sleeping together. What was that all about?"

"You think it's the first time we slept together?" Cato said jokingly. "Besides, we didn't do much that night anyway."

"Cato, shush." Amber whispered from her seat.

"Yeah, sure." Ivan said. "You two must've had a LOT of fun 'playing together' with your 'console', eh?"

Amber turned back to the front blushing while Cato was tomato red and flustered. "Dude!"

"Hahahaha!" Ivan laughed before the class started.

And that wraps up this chapter. I thought of doing some side character chapters for the next few chapters. As for this one, I thought of putting up some of Ivan's perspective with Teri. Also, I'm beginning to enjoy putting some no-context scenarios such as Cato and Amber doing "something" that night (I'm still doing it). This is a T rated fanfiction, so just think along those lines. Anyway, that's all for now. See you guys in the next chapter.

Peace out!