Breaking His Rules

🏈8🏈

Kayla's POV

"I've got to head off to practice", Aaron says, the first words he has said since the ice-cream incident.

I nod, and he runs off leaving me standing at the steps of the school. I know that I should probably go to a class, or call Steph. Instead I head to the art lab.

As soon as I smell the paint and see the brushes, my heart calms down, and my head gets back in the game. So what if I licked the same spot of ice-cream as Aaron Delany? I didn't have feelings for him, and I had an ultimate goal. Besides, I was entitled to have fun with my fake boyfriend. That was the point wasn't it?

I put on my headphones, grabbed a brush and sat in front of a blank canvas. And I started to paint, humming to myself, lost in the art.

Until I see a flash come from behind me.

I whip around, taking off my headphones to see a girl behind me. The first thing I notice is her afro hair, and really dark skin – probably African American. She's dressed in the normal school uniform but is wearing a huge hoodie over it, so I can't reallu determine what her body looks like. Around her neck is a Nikon camera, and her face has an expression I can't quite decipher. Almost like fear and reservedness.

"Girl why did you take my pic?", I say, getting up and moving towards her.

"Please don't break my camera. Miss Peach told me you'd be here and I- I like art so I just had to take a picture. Here, want to see?" Her voice is barely louder than a whisper. And what's all this talk about breaking her camera? I may be pissed but I probably wouldn't do that. However, I am interested in seeing the pictures, so I nod.

She removes the camera from around her neck and shows me the pictures. To be honest, they are very impressive.

"This is some nice work", I say, and she grins.

"You're not too bad yourself", she gestures to the canvas in front of me. "Painting an ice-cream in the background of a tattoo shop?"

I flush. "Only thing in my mind"

She walks around the painting, examining it. "You might want to show the light from a bit of a right angle, and enunciate the details a bit more. It's already good, but put more emphasis on the background or blur it, makes the ice-cream pop a bit more." Her advice is valid, but she still seems to be whispering, still seems a bit shy around me.

"I like constructive criticism from a fellow artist. I'm Kayla by the way."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Quinn."

"Pretty name . So you want to get out of here?"

She hesitates a bit and I think she is going to say no, but she nods.

We walk out of the class, and I wonder where Steph is. She should be having literature now, that is, if she didn't get detention which is always a possibility.

Quinn and I set off down the hallway

"Oh I'm so sorry, excuse me", she says, offering her hand to the girl on the floor who turns out to be Amanda, the head cheerleader that Jason was making out with last week.

Amanda slaps away Quinn's hand and struggles to her feet on her own.

"Don't touch me orphan, gross. How dare you bump into me."

First of all, that girl has no right to insult anyone with all the cake make up on her face. Also, I like Quinn - she seems like a really chill person, and I don't let anyone insult my friends.

"Hey", I say, stepping between them and cracking my knuckles. "You should watch your mouth slut."

"Well, well, if it isn't Jason's ex.", she giggles like a banshee. "Heard you're dating some looser now."