[ completed; unedited ] When Rylie Henderson starts her dreaded senior year of high school, all she wants to do is hide herself from the rest of the world and read, her favorite hobby. She finds it as her distraction from what happened to her in the...
AFTER SCHOOL, I found myself in the art room, a canvas laid on an easel. It's the same canvas I'll be using for my TCVA entry, so I can't mess up. This is valuable to me, so I have to take my time and try not to get sidetracked. To my benefit, there was no one in the room. Ms. Edwards abandoned the room to pick up a package from the main office and all the other students went home. At least, that was what I assumed until I heard two feet march down the hall, giggles amongst themselves.
Axel and his girlfriend, Adrienne, showed up at the door frame. I wasn't surprised at all, considering that Ms. Edwards did say that we could stay after school whenever we wanted to work on our contest entries. However, I didn't want any distractions. Today is my first day of working on my actual painting, so it will be a day that will probably set the tone for the rest.
"Hi, Adrienne. Hey, Axel," I waved, setting down a sketch pencil to a nearby table.
Adrienne waved back with a genuine smile, while Axel cleared his throat. "Hi, Elias."
"So did you come here to work on your painting or something?" I questioned out of curiosity, my fingers clutched.
"No, I actually came here to check out some of the paints Ms. Edwards has so I can envision what I want for my painting," he explained nonchalantly. "I'll start my painting soon, though."
"Uh, okay. All of the paints are stored back in the storage closet, though. I don't know if the door is locked or not," I gestured to the closed door with a shrug.
He slowly approached the door, his girlfriend trailing behind him. "It's open." They both disappeared into the closet and I turned back to my canvas, my finger planted on the tip of my chin. I was hesitant on what to do first, so I transferred the canvas from the easel to the nearest table to sit down and think. It would've been reasonable if I started with the body, and then worked on the features. There really wasn't anything else logical enough to start working on, considering that I'll need the person to show where the background will be. Suddenly, muffled conversation pricked my ears. It wasn't from the storage closet. It actually was from the hall.
Instead of minding my business, I listened. The voices sounded familiar, but I couldn't pick up on the conversation they were having. All I knew was that it was Rylie and Ms. Edwards speaking. Once they entered the door of the room, I realized I was correct. The two lugged one box each in their hands. Presumably, they were some type of delivery.
"Rylie, thank you so much for helping me with these," Ms. Edwards acknowledged as she stacked the boxes on top of each other on the floor.
"I-It's no problem. I had to come back here because I think I forgot something here, anyway," Rylie reasoned.
"I'm going to place them inside of the storage closet," Ms. Edwards picked up all three boxes at once, leaning to the left to see where she was going. "The doors should be unlocked."
"It is. Axel and Adrienne went in to see the paints you had," I stated, rushing up to the door to open it. She went inside and I followed. Axel wasn't lying when he said he was looking at paints. He was looking through each and every color he could possibly find on the shelves. Adrienne helped, but pretty much only with pink.
"Is there a specific color you're looking for?" Ms. Edwards questioned, her eyes lightening up.
"No, I'm just trying to get an idea of what colors I'll be using for my contest painting. That's all," Axel cracked a smile.
The teacher nodded as she dusted her hand. She dragged a wooden door stopper to hold the door open with her feet under the door before she abandoned the room to go to her desk. Maybe I should've been looking at paints as well, but there was no use of it now. I left the closet to go back to my canvas.
Before I got the chance to pick up my pencil, Rylie approached me and took a seat at the table I was at, a book that she didn't have when she entered the room by hand.
"Hi," I looked up from the canvas to face them.
"Hey," her tone matched mine.
Instead of attempting to continue to figure out what I was going to do on my canvas, I muttered. "So, has Nora figured out which design you're going to make her scrunchie out of yet?"
"She has," she muttered nonchalantly. "She plans on using the silver satin material. She thinks it'll be a great accessory for a Halloween costume or something. Speaking of that, will you dress up as something for Halloween?"
"I don't know yet, but maybe," I shrugged.
Rylie nodded in response. Referencing my current situation, I wouldn't have the easiest time figuring out what I would do. I knew what to do, but I was perplexed on what to do first. My canvas was still blank, and the tip of my pencil was still as sharp as a needle. I couldn't keep staring at the canvas for the rest of the time I have here at school. I'll have to get to work soon, so I picked my pencil up and started with what was most reasonable, the head and body and picked it up from there.
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It was yet another typical day at Taco Fiesta. There were hardly any customers and the sales were quite low. I spent most of my shift time sitting down, waiting for customers to serve. From the break room area, I overheard my boss and the establishment's owner, Mr. Mercado, and his wife speaking about the future of the restaurant. It wasn't pretty, that's for sure.
They discussed that there was a possibility that their business may or may not close within the next year— maybe earlier. This made my heart drop. I've practically grown up in this place. Every time I walk through the doors of this establishment, I feel nostalgic. I came here as a child on a normal basis. I could never imagine this place closing down.
So, of course, I commented on the situation. I couldn't resist it. I just couldn't.
"You can't close down this place, you just can't," I protested. "It's too good to be closed."
"I know, but it may be the best decision. Our sales have been declining more and more," Mr. Mercado sighed while rubbing his forehead with a damp cloth.
"What if we find some way to promote the business? I'm sure there's some kind of way. I can help, too," I suggested.
"I appreciate you willing to help, but please don't strain yourself," he said, his head shot down the the ground. "Everything will be fine, I promise."
Come to think of it, it may have been the best decision to close the restaurant, but were there ways to promote their business so the sales can go back up? Possibly, there were. If we had an ad for the restaurant, it wouldn't be basic. Maybe we could promote it on Instagram or something. I wasn't much of an expert on Instagram or it's algorithm. I didn't have answers, but I certainly was interested in finding some.
The future of Taco Fiesta was declining, and I can't let it stay like that. In order to bring everything back up, I'll need help. Fortunately, I already knew who to contact.
//
Hi! Thanks for reading!
I've been so busy lately, but I hope you all have been doing well.
