flair - hansol vernon chwe

1

chapter 1

Ella woke up like she did every morning, her body still encompassed in her pastel blue bedsheets. The bouncy curls from yesterday were now as flat as the pavement she walked on frequently to her job. Well, it wasn't really a job, or at least it didn't start that way.

She had volunteered often at the local art center, offering free lessons to the public since she felt that the underprivileged of the society should have the opportunity to experience art. She took the obligatory approach and realized how art affected her life, so it must affect someone else's. Her passion didn't come from just her drive for art alone, but it was her mother's wish as well for her to pursue art.

Ella's mother had passed away when she was at the brink of turning twelve years old. It was sudden, a heart attack in fact.

It was today like every other day where Ella reminisced and thought of how proud her mother would be of her, for pursuing art just like her mother always dreamed she would.

Ella's mother's name was Katherine. Now, Katherine wasn't just an ordinary woman – she was a world famous artist, and Ella strived to be like her, even as a young child. At the age of two, Ella created her first masterpiece, or at least that was what her mother had called it.

Katherine was the most influential person in Ella's life, and when she passed, it was if her mended heart had collapsed into a thousand pieces, each trying to move as far as possible from each other and not make contact. Ella did withstand the agony, but she survived and in the end learned more about herself in a few months than she had in her entire life.

She learned that pain is just a word, and it cannot be felt unless you let yourself crumble down. She learned art wasn't just art. It was figurative of her life and how the events had affected her, dismally and blissfully. She realized that nothing that she could possibly do to mend her broken heart could bring her back, so she relinquished all of the lousy thoughts that she once had and began to live a more positive, a more fulfilling life, the one that Katherine would have wanted for her.

As for Ella's father, he was still alive, living in Manhattan, just like Ella. Although, she never saw him, seeing as Manhattan was widely populated with a large variety of people: the businessmen and women, the travelers and tourists, and the misfits, where Ella fit in.

Ella was never good at making friends, which resulted in her introverted personality. She felt as if she was better alone, sharing her thoughts with her journal instead of with another human being. There was comfort in writing for her.

After about an hour of reminiscing on her memories, Ella lazily removed herself from the coziness of her bed and got up to make her way to the art center. After showering, she put on a light wash pair of overalls and a striped t-shirt, accompanied by her white vans splattered in paint that she loved so dearly.

She always enjoyed her walks to the art center, whether it was the brisk conversations with the mailman as she ran out the door or with the older gentleman who lived across the street who always gave Ella a friendly hello as he drank a cup of tea.

But there was something different about this walk to the art center. Almost everything was the same: the leaves on the summer trees swaying from left to right, the crack in the concrete that she always hopped over, and the chalk drawings on the sidewalk. But this time she saw someone, or so she thought.

Ella squinted like she had done when she was in high school when she couldn't see the board. The luminous sun filled her eyes, but she faintly saw a boy. Maybe she was just dreaming; maybe she wasn't.

She soon forgot about the boy, lucidly thinking that this was just her imagination, as she continued on her walk.

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my internet is being stupid hELP MEMEM

-emily