Apricity || M. Keehl

06

The sun shone through the windows as Quinn looked around the art classroom, trying to spot Linda. It was one of her least favorite classes, she never understood the appeal of 'modern art.' The class would at least be bearable with her best friend around.

"Quinn! Over here, over here!" Linda waved enthusiastically.

The two sat together and talked as they waited for the teacher to announce their assignment for the day.

"Today, we will be painting with one color!" Mrs. Lightstone smiled as she clapped her hands together. "Of course, you can use black and white. It's a great chance to try expressing ourselves by only using values," she placed a variety of paint tubes on her desk.

Quinn didn't have a chance to grab a color, her classmates jumping out of their seats. She could see Maeve and Ezra pushing them all out of the way. Even then, Linda was the fastest, grabbing an extra one for her viridescent-eyed friend.

"Green?" Quinn looked at her in confusion.

"It was quite fitting for you!" Linda grinned as she lifted her brush, spreading her yellow paint across the canvas.

It was almost magical, how many colors she created with just bright yellow. She created a colorful sunset, leaving Quinn in shock. What could she do with her green?

She dipped her thick brush in the acrylic, making patterns in different shades. In the middle, she drew a frog. Maybe art class wasn't as bad as she thought. She didn't need to think about following too specific instructions.

Quinn looked around, glancing at the images her classmates made in awe. One in particular caught her eye.

Near painted crashing ocean waves, blue acrylic warping around the canvas. Much like Linda, he used the many shades to add depth to his painting.

Quinn couldn't help but feel inferior to them as she added more strokes, stopping when she thought there was enough.

Quinn could feel eyes on her as she spaced out.

"What? Frogs are cool. Also, I couldn't think of anything else," she turned to the side to look at her classmate, speaking in her airy voice, as usual.

"Weird...that's the first time my guess was incorrect." Quinn's eyes met with that of Near. Dull and gray, yet lifelike.

"What did you think I was going to paint? A turtle with trees? That has to be the most basic guess ever," she deadpanned.

"It came out gloomier than I thought it would," he said, pointing at the frog.

"Ah, I guess it kinda shows how I was feeling, huh?" She sighed.

Linda looked over at the two with great interest. "Wait, I don't think I've seen Near in this class. This is the first time you actually came," her eyes widened.

"I never had a reason to," he responded shortly, "but it was a better experience than I thought it would be," he said as Mrs. Lightstone told them to pack up.

Linda smiled at him, "I'm glad art class made a good impression on you!"

And even though Quinn never said it out loud, she started to like art a bit more after that day.