All That Meets The Eye

Chapter 2

I walk into my first class, listening to the teacher drone on about the rules and policies of her classroom. No one ever listens. I don’t know why they still go through these lectures. Oh well. The bell rings, and I meet Daniel. He is silent the whole way to his next class, muttering a weak ‘Bye’ when we get to the door. I shrug, walking away.

When I go to take Daniel to his next class, he isn’t there. I look around the hallway curiously, and then walk to his next class. He isn’t there either. I walk by the office, and he is still a no show. The bell rings, and I walk outside of the building. I walk around the perimeter, not seeing him. I walk back inside and find my class. I knock on the door, handing the teacher my pass for walking the new kids around, even though I don’t need to.

The dismissal bell finally rings, after what feels like hours. Everyone gets up quickly, walking out of the school. I take my time, and then I head down to the art room. Mr. Ellis smiles at me, placing his coat on his desk and flopping in his chair.

“How was your day, Aurora?” he asks, running a hand through his straw colored hair.

“Good. Yours?” I ask politely, pulling out a canvas and paints.

“Well, it went fairly well for a first day,” he chuckles. “Why didn’t you take art this year?”

“I have it next semester,” I say, cleaning off his brushes. He always lets me paint after school. “What’s today’s word?”

“This one will be a little tricky. Air,” he says, throwing the slip of paper into the recycling. He picks words out of a hat to ‘give me inspiration’. I nod slowly, picking up a brush.

I put down the brush. My entire body feels tingly. I have the ability to take any image I have in my head and put it on paper, almost an exact replica. Mr. Ellis looks up to see that I am done, and walks over. He looks at it while I clean the brushes, placing them neatly back.

“How do you manage to create something so amazing in under an hour?” he mutters. I laugh lightly.

“I have no idea. Thank you for letting me stop by,” I nod, pulling my backpack over my shoulder.

“Are you coming back tomorrow?”

“I’m planning on it,” I smile, and he nods. I walk down the empty halls, noticing that the lights are all off. Last year they stayed on until around 8 pm. Oh well, must be a new change to conserve energy.

“Aurora,” I hear a voice whisper softly. I keep walking, ignoring it. I walk out of the school, sighing as I hear the crunch of boots behind me.

“Yes?” I ask in a clear, happy voice. The boots stop.

“How did you hear me?”

“You are wearing combat boots and we are in a wooded area. It’s not that hard,” I smirk, turning around. Daniel is pointing an arrow at me. “Woah, Daniel. What are you doing?”

“You are coming back with me,” he growls.

“Are you going to kidnap me?” I sneer.

“If you don’t come willingly.”

“So, having a lethal weapon pointed at my head is supposed to make me want to come?”

“Well, yeah,” he says sarcastically, rolling his eyes. He moves, being in front of me within a second. “It’s rather intimating, don’t you think?”

“I would guess so,” I sigh. He moves closer to me, and I take a step back.

“So, are you going to make this easy, or hard? Either way, I will win,” he smirks. I roll my eyes.