color; georgenotfound ✓

one; an embarrassing first impression

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"is this straight?" jocelyn asked with her arms high above her head, balancing the painting.

"hm, what- oh. yes, it looks great." her professor said, half-heartedly paying attention.

her eyes rolled for her own pleasure, knowing that she was facing a wall and no one would see their positioning. she backed up and let out a sigh of relief. an entire semester of work on a simple 3 foot square canvas. a 3 foot square canvas that would be given a grade that determined a passing or failing grade.

when jocelyn was little she knew she wanted to be an artist. her mother used to get so tickled that her daughter seemed to tune her out when she was coloring or drawing. all throughout her secondary school career she took advantage of every art class and after school program that she could that would propel her toward her dream- to be a real, professional artist.

the idea of going to university, more specifically, university of the arts london, thrilled her all the way until her first year on the campus, but then a harsh reality hit.

she had never really been judged for her works. sure she had to make things for classes in school but her teachers were always so in awe that she was so passionate that they never gave a bad letter grade. uni was a bit different- well, a lot different. it all started with her entry level ceramics class. the first assignment was a simple mug that the entire class walked through step by step. she did well, this was something she had done years prior in school. the mug turned out good as well, it still sits in her cupboard to this day. the professor did not agree however.

she did not know that she would have to hurdle hearing that someone did not like her work. the first time it was something she swallowed and decided to "keep going" and "prove them wrong", but the sixth and seventh times became a bit discouraging. and that was just in the first semester.

but she did eventually find ways to keep going and prove them wrong. and here she is now: her final semester before graduating. and quite frankly, she's lost.

"miss wiley?" the scratchy voice of her professor chimed.

"yes ma'am?"

"you forgot to pick up your tickets for the gallery exhibit tonight. here you go." she handed her a white envelope. this envelope only held 3 small tickets, but felt like it carried a ton of bricks.

"thank you professor, i will see you tonight."

the white envelope was quickly shoved into her coat pocket, sitting on top of her house keys and under her hand seeking warmth. taking one last look at her assignment hanging on the wall, she left with a sigh. she checked her watch and tried to figure out the math in her head of how many hours she had to go home and freshen up before needing to be back for the exhibit.

on her walk home, she figured she could spare 15 minutes for getting a quick coffee. it almost seemed to be a necessity, seeing as she stayed up the entirety of the night before looking at her painting from all angles and wondering if it would be enough in the eyes of the critics.

after ordering her coffee she found a small table to sit at and attempt to relax herself before the events of the evening fully set in. she pulled the white envelope out of her pocket, and stared at it for just a moment. she proceeded to pull out the three tickets and study them.

"what a waste of a tree", she mumbled under her breath. the tickets held no use to jocelyn.

when deciding to study art, her parents were-well, less than thrilled. and after arriving at the school, she very quickly moved from the campus dormitories to an apartment nearby, so she didn't have an array of friends at her disposal due to her disassociation from the campus life.

this is just sad, she thought to herself. she couldn't think of a single person to invite, no one to celebrate with.

"excuse me? i'm sorry to bother, but are you okay?"

jocelyn looked up and her gaze was met with soft brown eyes. the man in front of her was clothed in a grey hoodie and used a sleeved hand to push his brown locks out of his face.

she noticed the concern that weighed heavy on him, which then directed her to take notice of the few stray tears on her cheeks.

"oh, no, i mean yes. i'm okay. i'm sorry, i-"

"for jocelyn!" the barista interrupted.

"i'm sorry, that's mine i should, uh, go." she quickly stood and pushed past the stranger to grab her drink and leave.

embarrassment made her cheeks turn a deep red, and she walked home cursing herself, not even realizing that she had left the white envelope on the table.