This Hard Life

Chapter 12: It's All the Art Teacher's Fault

Chapter 12

The beginning of that week flew by quickly. Soon, the junior and senior classes were hearing news of our prom. The teachers were complaining about students becoming lazy because the school year was coming to a close.

I went to school, as usual. I was very happy when I saw Scott. Claire and I avoided eye contact whatsoever. This was very difficult since we shared a few classes together. Gracie was the same, just when Scott and I wanted to go out on our own, I would drop her off at his house to play with Aly.

On Thursday afternoon, after school was let out for the day, Scott called me and told me that he had an interview at that coffee shop where we met the weekend before. I congratulated him, and told him that he would definitely get the job.

“Nah, I’d need one thing to make sure that I have a chance to actually get it,” he said.

“Oh yeah, what’s that?”

“A good luck kiss from you. Can I see you before I go in at 4:30?”

I smiled. In my mind I was thinking of Grace who was still at daycare. I was thinking about when Grace and I were going to visit Mom this afternoon together. “Um, how about I meet you there in about an hour? That’ll be 3:45, and you’ll have plenty of enough time to chill about it.”

“That sounds good. I can’t wait to see you,” he said before the phone clicked, signaling the end of the call.

I was about to leave the school hallway when I remembered that I had to pick up an art project from my teacher. I ran down the hall to get to the classroom, hoping that he hadn’t left yet. After all, it was 2:50, and the school day was officially over. I peered inside and saw Mr. Gibson talking to another student. I was relieved when I saw him. By the sounds of it, the student didn’t show up to class very often.

Once I got to my portfolio, I opened it. Inside was my drawing that I needed to finish. I was going to work on it tonight. A thought sprung into my brain. This flower petal just doesn’t look like it does in my original copy. So, I decided to wait until Mr. Gibson was done lecturing the student to ask him for help.

I was waiting, and waiting. But alas, Mr. Gibson was still talking. When he was done with the student, he was about to answer my question, but the classroom telephone rang. It was almost 3:15 and he was still talking to the person on the other line. I tried not to act too impatient, but I needed to get going!

“Oh, alright,” Mr. Gibson said. “Yes, I will have that sent down in a moment. I have a student here that can bring it down to the office.” Pause. “Charlotte? Could you please bring these papers down to the office for duplicating? Mrs. Snyder needs them for tomorrow’s class,” he said to me. I dropped my picture, and took the papers down.

About five minutes later, I returned to the art room to find Mr. Gibson talking to my Chemistry teacher. Their conversation ended abruptly when I returned, thankfully. So I was now able to ask my teacher for assistance.

“You just have to curve it here, you see?”

“No, I don’t. I thought I was doing it properly earlier but it’s just not right.”

“You are, but you’re not using the grid properly. See here, the flower petals change shape constantly. So you have to do the same.”

Mr. Gibson was giving me advice about my picture. I tried to make sense of it, but to no avail. I was sitting in his classroom until I realized that it was getting late. I looked at the clock. It said 3:50. Oh, no. I’m late!

I quickly said my goodbyes and stormed out of Mr. Gibson’s classroom with my picture in hand. I ran to my car and quickly put it in drive. Before I knew it, I was headed to the coffee shop.

By the time that I parked my Cruiser, it was almost four o’clock. I still had to walk one more block, but the available parking spaces were limited. My hair looked like a mess, so I put it up quickly before I got out of the car. I then got out and started toward the shop once more.

I got close to the coffee shop and I saw this beautiful blond sitting at a little table just outside. There was a man sitting in the chair opposite her. As I peered closer, I thought I saw Scott, but I wasn’t sure. I took a few more steps, and I was positive that it was him. The blond put her hand on his, and he didn’t pull away.

Could this be Rachel?

I ran away before I could find out. I felt the hot tears sting my eyes. The only thing I heard as I ran was Scott calling, “Charlotte!”

Hey guys! Sorry this chapter is so short, it's just the beginning of something dramatic that's gonna go down! I'll update it soon, possibly in Scott's POV. What do you think about that??