The Art Class (BL)

1. Shadows in the Easel Room

Alex:

Running late for college classes has become the norm for me coming up on my fourth week of college, and I'm already fucking behind. It's all becoming too much, and I'm not even doing something complicated like engineering. I love art, but I didn't think it would be history shit; I just wanted to paint. We are currently doing a portfolio of famous artists and their impact on art today. And I couldn't give a single fuck. Sometimes, I don't even know what I'm doing in college for something I mostly hate. I suppose it's better than working full-time.

I had an early morning class today and knew I wouldn't be on time with my sleep schedule. After a stupidly long walk, I made it to college. The walk here was long enough, but the trek to the classroom was somehow worse with all the staircases I had to climb. I honestly need a car; walking to class daily is becoming tiresome.

Making my way to the classroom was stressful I tried to be as quite as possible when entering. Sneaking into the classroom went smoothly until Mr Graham noticed my late arrival.

"Look who decided to show up", he said with a monotone expression. After another lecture for the third time this week about being late, and yes, it was only Wednesday, I felt humiliated. I'm aware it's my own fault, but I hate attention, and having a room full of eyes on me made my skin crawl. It's not easy when I also have no friends and sit alone, but maybe that's because I'm always late.

I walked towards my usual desk and took a seat at the far end of the classroom, where no one could bother me; it was the perfect spot. When I looked around, everyone had an easel out with a large canvas, painting away. "Thank God, we have actually gotten to the good part," I thought.

Once everyone returned to work after my unintentional distraction, Mr Graham approached me because I had missed the instructions. He handed me a key once he got to my desk, giving me an annoyed look. Saying, "Since you are late again, emphasising the a, you can get your own easel; the room is 167 South Wing".

I had no idea where that even was. I had a hard enough time finding my classes in the North wing; I was just lucky most were near each other. I gave him a confused look and said, "Sorry, Sir, where is that?" Sighing unnecessarily loud, he said, "It's the building over from us with the big red double doors. You can't miss it."

Walking out of the classroom, I still had no idea where the South Wing classroom was, but at least I knew I needed to find some red doors because that was so helpful. Yeah, totally ugh. Apart from a few areas, I knew the whole North wing, so I was confident around here, but going to other buildings was scary. The campus was divided into four large buildings that looked like a compass. It is cool but not very practical since it's hard to find classrooms. You would think they would have an easel room in the North Wing, but I suppose the budget was less since it's for first years.

Looking back to check my current classroom number read 007 North Wing. That's just great how far do I have to fucking walk?!

I think I walked the entire South Wing before I finally saw the big red doors. I'm an idiot. It would have only been a 5-minute walk. It's been a good 45 minutes now, so there's no point in returning since I've missed an hour because I was late, and it's an hour-and-a-half class.

Either way, I'm relieved I finally found the classroom. I walked up to the eerie-looking door; as I approached, I heard weird, muffled sounds inside, almost like shuffling feet or crawling. "What the fuck is going on in there," I thought. I was a little confused as I had the key, but there could be multiple keys.

Putting the key in the door, deciding to knock first before turning the nob, I waited for a sound. After a few heartbeats of silence, I turned the nob, and with a loud, chilling creak, it opened. The sound was sinister, and it made my stomach turn. This room felt creepier than it needed to be. "Calm down, Alex, it's just an easel room", I thought again.