When Gold Falls

02

I HAD MISSED second period and now I'm late for third.

I didn't really mind though because it was just art class. I had already completed all my credits for art during my sophomore year. I wasn't going to take it again but my parents insisted that it would look good on my college application for when I apply to Yale School of Art.

I couldn't exactly tell them that their one and only child didn't want to be an artist. They would be so disappointed in me.

They'll probably be even more disappointed when they learn about all the classes I've skipped today. This is why I hurry towards the art building before I can change my mind and skip another.

When I open the door to the class, dozens of sets of eyes awkwardly stare at me as I enter. Ms. Harris shoots me a flat look from her desk chair and I offer a half-assed apology with my eyes.

The seat that I usually sit in is taken and the only one left is in the back of the class next to Levi Mckinney, a boy who isn't exactly a people person.

He hates them.

That's as much as I've gathered at least. He never associates with anyone nor does he offer up small talk. Every time I've seen him it's as though he has a permanent scowl stuck on his face.

Though, I can't deny he's extremely attractive with his jet black hair, electric blue eyes, and cheekbones that perfectly outline his jaw.

I swallow my personal feelings and make my way towards the back. Maybe he's actually a sweetheart and I've poorly misjudged his character.

He looks at me with bored eyes and my mouth dries. Okay, maybe that was a bit of a stretch.

"Do you mind if I sit here?" I manage to squeak out.

He shrugs and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when he moves over to make room for me.

I try not to wince at the pain that seems to have doubled when I sit on the round stool, setting my backpack gently on the ground. The room is fairly quiet besides the faint chatter that fills it like an echo.

Every single one of the students in this room was busy working on some sort of painting, whether it was of a girl eating an apple or a boy in a meadow of wilting flowers, it was still something.

Meanwhile, I hadn't even started mine.

My gaze drifts to my left where Levi sat with a hood over his head, an earbud hanging out, face scrunched together in concentration as he glides the paintbrush he's holding against the canvas in front of him.

Something about the painting catches my attention and a sense of serenity bubbles in my chest. He doesn't seem to notice my ogling as he continues to paint scribbles over a boy's eyes in black and white with dark gray clouds circling over his head.

I couldn't look away.

Everything that I've felt, that I could never put into words, was sitting right in front of me on a small painting by the hands of a boy I would've never expected from.

Is that how he feels too?

"Beatrix, a word please."