The Fox and the Ladybug

Part Twenty: Art Class Hearts

Lila's POV

2:58 P.M

I gotta say, Chloe wasn't as scary as everyone described her to be. She was, let's just say, human. You could see the human side of her if you really tried. It's just that it's hard to try, with Chloe. She's...menacing, in that Mean Girls kind of way. But her good side was visible; the way she didn't shoo Sabrina away, or the way she had a layer of neglect in her sky blue eyes.

She could change. It doesn't seem like she wants to right now, but she could. And that's enough for me.

I sat next to Marinette in my art class, which was rather convenient because I wanted to show her off a bit. That might sound childish, but she was my first relationship.  A couple months ago, I don't think I could picture myself with anyone, let alone her. She was so caring to me, giving me baked goods when she knew I didn't have much money to spend of food. I wasn't starving, of course, but it's not like I could splurge on much. I don't know I landed her, like, at all.

"Alright, class, we're going to be painting with acrylics today," the substitute said half-heartedly. Even Alix was behind me, I could already see her making paper airplanes to hit the teacher's head with. It's common knowledge that substitutes are always targeted in some way.

I took some pinks, whites, blacks, and reds from the front. I wanted to make something for Marinette. Sabrina took the yellow, white, and pink and glanced hopefully at Chloe who was talking to Rose about her expensive trip here; I wondered if she thinking of making a heart for her crush. I bet Chloe, but who knows, am I right? Marinette took some golds, greens, and browns.

I started to sketch out the design of my painting. I wanted the heart to be bloody red and black accents and a rosy light pink background. Marinette, however, skipped the sketching and went right to painting what looked like a jaguar.

I looked over at Sabrina's painting and realized I guessed correctly about the first part. She was carefully painting the black outline of a heart. Chloe didn't seem to want to do anything but file her hands and talk to Sabrina while ignoring the heart.

***

"Alright, put your paintings down on the table," the grumpy sub muttered, not looking away from his car magazine.

I put mine down, which actually turned out pretty well! Marinette put down a painting of a jaguar in an emerald green forest. Sabrina put down a yellow heart with a honeycomb design and a pink background.

"Come back after the bell rings to get your painting back," the teacher said.

Chloe looked at one of the hearts on the table and sneered. "That's really the best you can do?"

I blushed furiously without looking at the painting she was laughing at. Sabrina's eyes widened with disbelief.

"I think it's a great painting, Chloe!" Marinette defended, instantly making me feel a little better. She cackled evily.

"It looks horrible; who would think of such a weird idea!" she laughed. She picked up the painting and threw it on the ground. She stepped on it with her sparkling diamond heels.

I looked up at my painting with disappointment. Except, my painting was safely resting on the teacher's desk. Chloe was smashing Sabrina's painting.

Sabrina ran out of the classroom in tears. Chloe's looked at the painting, and then at the door, and then back again. After a second or two, it clicked.

She quickly glanced at the people watching her with mixed expressions, then looked back at the empty doorway. "Sabrina, wait!" she called, and sprinted out despite having tall heels.