We Should've Left It Alone

2

Elise

I hurriedly ran down the halls, trying to make it into the art building before the bell rang. Just as I got to the door of the building, the sharp ringing of the bell reached my ears. With a sigh, I trudged down the halls, dreading the embarrassment that awaited me within the classroom. As I opened the door, eyes were immediately drawn to me, everyone was already set up at their stations. With a sigh, I speed walk to my station, taking out my acrylic pad, paintbrushes, and paints, and setting it on a small easel.

"Good morning, class! Today one of your classmates will be modeling for us since we don't have any volunteers yet. Caleb, go ahead and change into the sheet in the closet." Mrs. Caroline said. With a nod, Caleb went into the closet to change.

He stepped out looking a little nervous. It was clear why. "Is this okay?" He asked Mrs. Caroline, gesturing to the black binder you can see through the sheet.

"Oh, that's perfectly fine! If anything, it helps make the assignment a little more difficult ha-ha." Caleb smiled in a response. "Feel free to pose however you want!" Caleb took the invitation to sit down on the stool, carefully draping the sheet over his muscular body. 

After a moment of getting situated on the stool, Caleb was still, letting everyone get to work. I started to get a base sketch, which turned out to be more difficult than I had previously thought. It became a cycle of erasing and redrawing, so much so, that I had erased a whole in my paper. Cursing under my breath, I got a new piece, attempting the base yet again.

It took at least another 15 minutes until I was able to draw a decent base sketch. 'Now onto the details...' I thought. Looking around me, everyone else also seemed to be struggling with the same problem: drawing muscles.

Just as I was finalizing my sketch and about to ink the outlines, Mrs. Caroline peared over my shoulder, looking at my work.

"Hm, quicker than the others, are we?" She said quietly with a small chuckle. That simple sentence gave me a small little confidence boost. I smiled a little, and went on with the inking, her words sticking with me.

Looking back up at Caleb, he still seemed nervous, so I shot him a small thumbs up, as I was in front of him. He gave a small smile back, seeming to ease a little. I sighed, getting back to my work. I had to paint this. And that would be a difficult task, especially with the folds of the sheet.

I pulled out the paints I needed to make a skin tone; yellow, blue and magenta. Carefully mixing them together, I began to add more color to match Caleb's skin tone. He was slightly tan, but still pretty pale with some more red blotches across his body. As I painted his face, I paid detail to his long lashes and his rosy cheeks, making sure to add depth.

'Jeeze, why do you have to be so difficult to paint?' Eventually, I moved onto the rest of the body and the sheet, mixing most every paint I had to get the right colors.

The class seemed to fly by, and before I knew it, I was almost finished. It had taken quite some patience to finish up, but I had done it. Just then, I realized that Mrs. Caroline was looking at my work. She seemed to be critiquing it, looking as if she was in deep thought. After a moment, she left and I released a breath that I didn't realize I was holding.

"Alright everyone, start finishing up, we have a few more minutes left. If you are done, you may go ahead and pack up and quietly talk to your classmates. Caleb, I will let you know when you can get up and change." Mrs. Caroline announced. Caleb gave a small hum in reply. I grabbed my brushes and got up, walking over to the sink and cleaning them.

Walking back over to my station, I put the brushes back into their case and cleaned up the paint bottles, putting them in my art bag. I wondered what I would do with the painting, if I would take it with me, or leave it for the other classes to see.

"Alright, one minute until the bell, Caleb, you may go ahead and change if everyone is finished." Mrs. Caroline told the class. Everyone had given a thumbs up, and Caleb quickly got up to change.

Waiting outside the classroom for Caleb, I pulled out my phone and snapped a picture of the painting so if I did give it to him, I would still have a picture of it. I heard the last pair of steps behind me, and was greeted by Caleb, now dressed in his usual clothes.

"How'd it go?" He asked as I turned to look at him.

"Pretty well, actually. The initial sketch was a nightmare, but relatively smooth sailing after that," I responded. "How was the spotlight?"

"A little nerve racking if I'm being honest."

"Yeah, I could tell. Would you do it again?"

Caleb momentarily thought about an answer. "I guess if she really needed me to."

We walked the rest of the way to ELA in silence, both of us dreading the next class.