Saying Goodbye

4: New Beginnings; New Colors

I lay on my bed, staring up, thoughts running through my head. My face was still cold and soaked from tears.

I glance over at my painting, ruined, sitting on it's stand on my dresser. I couldn't just sit here, I had to do something. Whatever that something was, I had to do it, and I had to do it now, I thought. I went over to the disoriented panda, and I tossed it in the trash bin. If I was going to win this, I had to something extraordinary. It had to be something no one had thought of before, something that was new; original.  I thought. Something that catches the eye... I don't know.... something. It took me a couple of hours to come up with an idea, then like a bullet, it hit me. 

*          *          *

I grabbed the dollar bill that was stuffed down in my shorts pocket, and handed it to the cashier. It had been given to me one new year's eve. It was the only dollar bill I had had. She smiled at me, and scanned the box of chalk I had set down on the counter. As it loaded, she glanced back at me and grinned. I think that was the 10th time she had done that. I didn't smile. I didn't want to. I stood there, watching her, waiting for a response. 

"One moment please." she said, passing the time. She finally started to tap a couple of buttons, and one of them made a loud bell sound, as a sliding compartment appeared, and she slid my dollar bill in.

"Would you like a bag?" she asked me. "No, that's alright," I said "I don't need-" It was too late. She had pulled one out, and skillfully only stared at me the entire time she packaged the box of chalk. I wondered how many times she had done that before, just staring at her customers. She dropped the receipt and the change in the bag, and handed it to me. "There you go. I gave you the bag anyways, just to be sure you don't lose the change." she said. I felt like being half courteous and half rude to the lady, so just to rub it in her face, I grabbed the change out of my plastic bag and plopped it into the tip jar. I stared coldly at her face, as I watched her reaction. 

"You can keep the change." I said, the clank of the change in the jar sounded loudly, as I placed my had back at my side, watching eyes as they tensed, annoyed.

The lady stared at me in awe, almost as if she wanted to kick me or beat me. I walked toward the automatic sliding doors and threw away my receipt as I waked out.

*          *          *

I sat down on the sidewalk outside the school, and I thought. I thought hard. I wanted to come up with something interesting. Something that people might find out of the ordinary. I was going to do sidewalk art. I began drawing, and was almost done, when.

"Ellie!" I heard a voice come from behind me. I was startled, but I knew who it was. Kennedy.

"Oh, hey Kennedy, you scared me!" I called out to her. She stood, leaning on the fence.

Kennedy was a sweet girl, but she would never be as close to me as Ashley. I still missed Ashley, but I hoped to see her soon. At least it was still Wednesday, and not the day when I had to travel long distances, away from my hometown, here, in Florida. The day where I leave. The day where my life ends. I thought. The day where I have to submit my artwork. I thought some more.  I remembered seeing the time for submitting the artwork. 6:00 in the morning, 'till 8:30 in the morning. Then, after 9:00, you had to stay there for a couple hours longer. That was the time for deciding what place you would be in.