Pieces

Chapter 3

"Art class? She signed us up for fucking art class!?" Jake looked through the window of the classroom door and cursed again under his breath.




"I honestly don't see why you're so upset about this. Art class isn't that bad."




Jake's mouth formed a tight line and he folded his arms across his chest. "Do you not remember the last art class we took together?" When I met his gaze with a blank stare, he rolled his eyes. "With the glitter!?"




Suddenly, I remembered and winced at the memory of the glitter explosion we caused in the sixth grade. We had to clean the art room after. It took weeks.




"I think we're a little more mature, Jake. We aren't going to be throwing glitter around the room anymore."




Jake peeked in the window again. "Spencer is in this class."




I joined him at the window. Spencer sat at the table closest to the window. She played with the end of a lock of hair as the teacher spoke in front of the room, gesturing wildly with her hands. I stepped away from the window.




"So she is."




Jake stepped back and pointed at the door with his thumb. "I totally call--"




Jake's sentence was cut short by the swift opening of the door. Ms Ross smiled at us, the terrible smile of a teacher who caught you doing something wrong.




"I thought I heard voices out here. Miss Henry called me and said I should be expecting two new students." She clapped her hands together, her smile growing, stretching across her face like the Cheshire Cat. "I'm hoping you two won't cause any trouble. I'd hate for you to get in trouble..again."




"We won't be any trouble, Ms Ross," I assured her, stepping into the classroom. Jake followed behind me.




"Well, lovely." Her red lipsticked lips formed a tight smile and she gestured towards the class. "Take a seat, then."




Spencer, smirking in amusement, moved her bag off the seat next to her so I could sit down. Jake found a seat behind me, so we could still kind of talk.




For the next thirty or so minutes, I tried to pay attention to Ms Ross' lecture about how "art is all around us, and if we open our hearts, we can find beautiful things in places we never imagined possible."




When the bell rang, twenty students gratefully escaped into the hallways to chat with their peers before the next class started. Spencer and I both had history next, so I offered to show her the way to class.




"This school is huge," Spencer noted, glancing around.




"I guess. I never really thought about it." I took a few more steps before speaking again. "Your old school wasn't big?"




Spencer shook her head, her ponytail swinging side to side with the motion. "Not at all. There were probably only a hundred or so students per grade." She sighed and adjusted her backpack. "Everybody knew everything about everyone. It got a little tiring."