Rosy Cheeks

learnings; 1.05

As the art class students were finishing up with their expressionist self portraits, the teacher decided to announce the next in class assignment. It was one that wasn't typically well liked by the aspiring artists.

They were to find a person they didn't know, interview them for five to ten minutes with questions that they prepared themselves, and then used those to help them make a painting of the interviewee. The questions were to help decide what color scheme to use, what the background should be, among other things as well.

The girl felt rather flustered and her heart began to race from nervousness. Just the thought of talking to someone she didn't know made her nauseous, let alone having to actually do it.

As she looked around the room, she tried to find someone who wasn't already partnered up with another person. At first glance, she thought she had no one to paint, as everyone had already paired up in her moment of panic.

Then, as she looked around a second time, she find a pair of eyes staring at her.

A familiar pair, of a deep chocolate color and below them, bright pink cheeks and a tiny smile forming on his lips. He tilted his head and raised his shoulders slightly, as if he was asking her if she wanted to be his partner.

With a gulp, she nodded slowly, and collected her things to walk over to the empty desk in front of him. She dropped them lightly on the wooden surface and pulled herself up onto the stool, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear nervously. She was too nervous to look up at him.

"Should I go first?" Rosy Cheeks asked gently, his low voice cutting across the chatter in the room.

Her eyes snapped up to meet his and she chewed at her bottom lip nervously. "It doesn't really matter to me." She replied, trying to keep her voice steady. She hated making decisions.

"Alright," He said, the smile widening upon his face. "I guess I'll ask you first then."  He was quiet for awhile as he scanned the paper he had in front of him, then he looked back at her. "Where's your favorite place to go when you need to escape?"

The girl furrowed her eyebrows in thought and in surprise by his question. She felt a little uneasy under his curious gaze, but she brushed it off easily, which she hadn't expected. After a few moments of silence, she finally answered, "Do you know the gardens a few cities over?" The boy tilted his head for a second, then nodded. "That's where I like to go." She said quietly. "Especially Cherry Blossom Trail." The boy nodded and scribbled something down on his paper.

"That was a good question." She added, biting at her lower lip again. "If you don't mind me using it, where's yours?"

The boy froze slightly and sat quietly for awhile. Then, he glanced up at her with his pencil still pressed into the paper, and cleared his throat. "I usually drive to the cliff.. You know? The one that overlooks the water?" He replied rather hesitantly. She nodded and wrote it down on her own paper.

And for the next fifteen minutes, they asked each other question after question. It was safe to say they both learned things about each other that they didn't know. For the most part, there was laughter and smiles between the two. Then the two sat together and began to sketch out a study for their paintings. Both of them looked up occasionally, making sure that the potrait resembled it's subject.

In the first time in awhile, the girl felt comfortable around someone she didn't know.

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Bella's note: This is the longest chapter yet! :o I hope you enjoyed it and  some feedback would be appreciated.. Have a lovely day/night :-)

-xx

(P.s. you'll figure out more of their interview later when their paintings are finished :-) in case you were wondering.)