Bad For You

fifteen

I arrive at school early for practice, but instead of heading to the dance studio I switch directions and walk towards the art building. I've gone to school here for three years and not once had I ever visited.

The inside of the building itself is like a street gallery. The linoleum floor is covered in an assortment of vivid designs and patterns. Every inch of wall space is covered with student work, from paintings, to drawings, photographs, printouts, digital art, and graffiti. There are glass display cases filled with sculptures, ceramics, and paper mâches. Everything is bright and vibrant. I slow down more than once to admire some of the work.

Since it's so early the building is near empty, with only a sparse number of students inside. I'm not even sure Theo is here, and since I don't really know my way around I ask the next person I happen to come across.

"Hey," I say and they slow. "Do you know if Theo is here?"

"Knight?" They ask. I furrow my brows. I don't actually know his last name, and I almost laugh.

"Uh yeah, I think so. Dark hair, green eyes, sleeves?" I gesture to my arm to indicate where Theo's tattoos would be.

The girl nods. "That's the one. He should be in room three oh five," she tilts her head at me. "Do you need directions?"

I smile sheepishly. "That would be nice, thank you."

After she tells me how to get there I thank her and head off in the direction she pointed. The door is ajar when I arrive and I poke my head in. It's a classroom, though not the typical one with your standard issue desks and chairs. Firstly it's much bigger than it looks, with large windows filtering in outside light. Spotlight bar lights hang from the ceiling and an entire wall across the room houses a built in shelf with rows and rows of canvases. Then placed in a circle around the room are several painting workbenches with stools. There's a desk shoved in the corner which I assume is the teachers desk based on the apple perched on top of it.

Theo is at one of the workbenches, earbuds in his ears and paintbrush in hand. He frowns at the painting he's working on, moves his brush as if to make a stroke, then draws it back. I lean against the wall and fold my arms across my chest, watching him with a smile playing on my face. He's so cute when he's focused on his work.

After a few minutes Theo huffs and sets his brush down with a clatter, removing his earbuds. I raise a brow.

"Can't find any inspiration?"

Theo looks up with a startle. "Shit Rose," he holds a hand to his chest. "Don't sneak up on a person like that."

"Why? You do it to me all the time," I walk over to where he's seated.

"That's different," Theo pulls me onto his lap.

"How?" I counter.

Theo narrows his eyes at my playfully. "It just is."

I laugh and Theo leans in to kiss me. My heart flutters and butterflies swarm in my belly. Yesterday I laid awake nearly all night, unable to believe he was really mine. Part of me was convinced it was all a dream and when I woke up we still wouldn't even be on speaking terms.

I pull back and smile before turning to see what Theo was working on. At first glance it looks like a lovely garden with big, beautiful, and bold flowers. There's a weeping willow tree in the distance and I swear I can hear the birds and little happy critter noises coming off the canvas, that's how real it looks. I look closer, and that's when things get a little distorted. Some of the flowers are wilted and dying. The tree looks like it's collapsing in on itself. A river flows throughout the painting, with little dead fish inside, floating on the surface. There's a fox eating a poor bunny, blood and all, and what I thought were pretty butterflies don't look like butterflies at all. They look dark and frightening.