He was cold when he walked in the room. I definitely sensed a sad aura with him. His aura seemed to match his hair. Blue. Brown eyes met mine and I quickly looked away. Anxiety. I could feel it seeping out of him in steady ripples. He looked away a second later and tentatively took a step farther into the room. It reminded me of a deer stepping into a meadow after a hard winter. An air of innocence.
My thoughts were interrupted by our art instructor introducing blue boy as Joshua. Joshua. Like a strong foundation that might crumble under an earthquake.
His gaze was set on a floor board like it was the most interesting thing in the world. It really wasn't. I know that tactic. Act distant on the first day so people will stay away.
After closer observation, I noticed his black sweater was pulled over his knuckles and pulled into his fist. His black jeans were tight all the way to his ankles where it piled up at his red and white striped socks. His blue shoes were worn from use. He appeared to be of medium build and a bit shorter than me as his head only reached to the top of the 'Starry Night' poster my art instructor had hung up. My head reaches to about two inches higher than the poster.
Mr. Davis instructed Joshua to take a seat. Three seats were available. One in front of my seat in the left back. One in the front right, and one in the front left. Blue boy Joshua chose the one in front of me.
Johnny sat next to me. He didn't seem too interested in blue boy. His attention was still focused on his fruit basket painting. I sighed. "Fruit baskets again, Johnny boy?"
He looked at me with his sharp blue eyes. His slicked black hair caught the sun from the window.
"Yes Toe Jam, I am in fact painting fruit baskets again."
I heard a soft giggle from in front of me. My head snapped to Joshua. The chuckle was almost inaudible. It could have been passed off as air blowing under a door or someone dropping a piece of paper.
Johnny was already back to painting his fucking fruit basket by the time Joshua pulled his art supplies out of his backpack.
He had good paint brushes. A sturdy canvas. Rich paint colors. Something only an experienced artist would own. I was excited to see his handiwork put to the canvas.
I looked at my own canvas and remembered what I had been painting. I only had a lightbulb drawn onto the canvas, but it would be something soon.
I glanced in front of me and noticed blue boy taking out all the colors of the rainbow. Red, orange, green, yellow, and blue of course. He started by making a black outline. The picture was cartoonish but beautiful. I loved his style. It was nothing like I had ever seen.
The picture was of a thick liquid, almost like tar, seeping out of the canvas in thick drops. They dripped into a larger pool at the bottom of the canvas. Next he added orange, green, blue mixed with red to make purple. Once it was done, he sat back to admire. I did too. It should be in one of those abstract art museums.
I suddenly felt ashamed of my measly light bulb and put it back in my art bag. Blue boy Joshua was packing up his art things. I zipped my bag and threw it over my shoulder. I said a quick goodbye to Johnny before walking behind Joshua and tapping his shoulder. He quickly turned to face me, mouth open and fear in his eyes.
"I just wanted to say that your painting is...amazing"
The fear in his eyes quickly dissolved into confusion. It saddened me a bit that he didn't know how talented he was.
His calloused hand reached behind his head to scratch at his blue hair. "Thank you" he whispered out. He then quickly turned back to putting his brushes back in his bag.
I walked past him to the door, again feeling his sad aura as I passed.
I hope he knows that he's lovely.
