Reckless

Reckless - Chapter Five

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R E C K L E S S . . .

CHAPTER FIVE-

I looked down at the piece of paper in front of me, which was as empty as it had been over two hours ago when I first received it, and groaned. Even staying for extra time in the classroom hadn't helped me with it, no inspiration would grasp me no matter how hard I tried. The stark white of the paper stood out like a sore thumb among the other already colourful sheets that belonged to the other students in my art class. 

We were supposed to have started our final piece of art for the projects we were doing, but no inspiration had seized me. Every time I tried to draw, it came out wrong. I was too distracted about the other things that were happening: The mystery of Blake, the annoying presence of Chris and the impending viewing of 'Annie' that I was dreading tonight. 

Who would've thought that I would dread seeing a simple film that much? True, it was 'Annie', which meant that it would be full of singing orphans from New York City. The idea of it was never really appealing to me, and watching it alongside Chris and his friends wasn't particularly number one on my list of priorities as well.

My pencil glided uncooperatively across the paper as I tried to draw something vaguely understandable. I hated the theme I had been given by the teacher; 'temptation' was something I couldn't work with no matter how hard I tried.

I changed tact and doodled aimlessly, hoping that the solution would simply flow out of my pencil. A pair of brown eyes stared out of the paper at me, glistening with laughter. I scribbled over them forcefully and turned over the sheet of paper so I could start anew.

"Sorry to interrupt you, Anne," said a tentative voice from the other side of the classroom, "but how long are you staying here?"

I glanced up at the clock, seeing that I had been in the room for an extra hour and a half, and then sighed. "Don't worry, Ben, you didn't interrupt me. I can't even seem to draw anything right now, it's really annoying..."

Ben walked over to the table I was sitting at and looked at my nonexistent work, "Don't worry; it happens to everybody," he smiled apologetically "You'll probably get an idea later on, maybe you should sleep on it?"

We were the only two people in the small art room, I was here because I needed to do some work and he was here just because the teacher had asked him to. Ben was an incredibly studious guy; he had got into the school on a full scholarship and was regarded as a sort of genius among all the other students. He certainly looked like one; his startlingly red hair was tousled and sticking up all over the place as if he had no time to take care of it, his thin face was splattered with thousands of freckles and a pair of thick rimmed glasses sat atop his nose. In his hand was a thick book, no doubt full of complicated words and ideas that I couldn't even begin to comprehend. He fit the stereotype of a lovable brain box perfectly.

“Yeah, I guess” I grumbled unenthusiastically, starting to gather up my various pencils and rubbers, and shoving them into my bag unceremoniously. I placed my empty sheet of paper on top of the pile, saw it as a useless move as nothing was actually on the sheet worth keeping, then picked it up again and put it in the scrap paper bin. The eye I had drawn stared out at me from amongst the pieces of paper and I shuddered, turning the sheet over so it was replaced by my inane doodles.

I stood by the door, about to leave, and then turned back round to see Ben sitting on a empty desk and thoughtfully reading his book. "I'm going now... aren't you coming?" I asked him curiously. There was no use in him being there without me, he had been asked to help the students who were staying behind. Now that the last person, me, was leaving, he was probably supposed to be going.