Paper Girl

"ARRGGG!" I screamed, winding up my arm and throwing my sketch into the wall. I couldn't come up with anything good! It bounced off of the wall, hitting me in the eye. Ouch! Sometimes, I wish that I didn't throw quite so hard. 

I sighed as I looked around my cramped studio. It was small, like my apartment, with one bedroom, one tiny bathroom, two closets, one walk-in (which I converted into a studio), and a tiny kitchen with an ancient refrigerator, and no dishwasher. I worked at the local art studio and gave drawing lessons to children; it paid surprisingly well, and sometimes I could earn a little extra if I worked late to teach pottery classes to adults. I enjoyed sculpting, but I preferred drawing. 

It was around ten-thirty on a Friday night, anyone who had a social life was out at a club, or on a date, but not me, I was single and I was twenty, so no clubs for me. I sighed, and pulled a tub of Rocky Road out of the freezer. I went into my room, and switched the TV on. 

I turned on Ghostbusters, quietly humming the theme- it was my favorite movie, and I knew the whole script. Suddenly, a  strong gust of wind blew my windows open, knocking over my picture frame, it showed me, winning The New York Young Artist's Competition. I grinned and settled into my saggy bed.

I woke up to my alarm clock beeping loudly, my ice cream was dripping on my face and hair, making it sticky and hopelessly matted. I groaned, stripped off my clothes and stepped into my shower. I let the warm water run over my muscles. I stepped out of the shower, dried myself off and pulled on my running clothes. Tying  my long curly hair into a pony tail, I threw some greek yogurt, berries and honey in my blender making a breakfast smoothie. I poured the frothy mixture into a tall glass, tossed a few ice cubes into it and gulped it down.

I started with a slow jog, coming around a corner near my favorite ice cream shop, Any Given Sundae. I took a step and felt my shoe land on my shoelace. I bent down to tie it, my fingers slipping through the silky laces, pulling them into a neat bow. I wanted to get a sundae, but considering the amount of melted ice cream that I had ingested last night, it did't seem like good idea. I had some money in my pockets and I had been wanting to check out the new art store that had just opened up. I jogged over to look at the store. I stepped in and gasped. 

The walls had shelves stacked with papyrus paper, parchment, canvases and other beautiful papers. In a corner there were buckets of paintbrushes with gleaming handles and shining horse hair tips. I groaned in pleasure, these were some pretty high end supplies. I reached out to stroke a beautiful brush with a green bead separating the bristles from the handle. It was slender with the bristles curling at the end, I loved it. I looked for a price tag, I found it on the bucket holding the brushes, it was thirty dollars, I winced. I decided to look for some paper. I browsed through the shelves. I walked up to the register and paid for the brush, paper and paint. The cashier was a nice old woman, who according to her name tag, her name was Shelby.

"You have good taste in materials, I hope that they do their job well, also, there is a no returns policy with these brushes. Sorry about that."

           "That's fine." I assured her

 The supplies cost about one hundred and twenty dollars, and it was a splurge, but it was worth it.

I arrived home, carefully setting down my supplies. I showered again and made myself mug of hot chocolate. I was padding over to my studio, when the phone rang. I didn't know who would be calling me, but I picked up.

      "Hi Reena, it's Ari."

"Hey, Ari,"

       "I'm having a Halloween party at 8:00 tomorrow, do you want to come?"