Street Artist

Chapter 10

I sit alone in the middle of the warehouse, with my legs crossed and my eyes closed. I'm not sure how long I've been sitting here, only that it seems like an eternity has passed. A large sheet of paper rests on the floor in front of me, with a box of charcoal to my left and a boombox older than Mrs. Kali (which is saying something) to my right. I am surrounded by candles that fill the warehouse with the scent of cinnamon sticks and vanilla. I haven't touched the paper the entire time I've been sitting here. Somehow, even though the paper is as blank as it was when I first sat down, my right hand is almost completely covered in charcoal smudges. I grip the stick of charcoal even tighter, so tight that it snaps, the sound prompting me to finally open my eyes. There is a smattering of black charcoal dust spotting the once completely white paper.

For a second I let my hand hover over the paper, not knowing what to do next, before deciding it's better not to think about it anyway. That in mind, I move the charcoal aimlessly on the paper, creating large swirls and lines and smudges and not really caring about anything. As I draw, I let my mind wander, my thoughts drifting far away and hopping from topic to topic.

I wonder how Ms. Solandy even got a job at Langston Private Academy. It's a pretty snooty school and extremely well known, after all. The teachers are usually as stuck up as the students..

I should call mom soon to see how she is, I haven't talked to her in a while. Besides, if I don't call her occasionally we would probably stop contacting each other completely, since she never bothers taking the initiative to call first.

When is that English essay due again?

Thank goodness Seth isn't that observent. The idiot saw me without my glasses and he definitely had to have noticed that I was carrying a sketch book, either he's denser than I thought or I really do disguise myself well when I go out at night as 'K'.

I press the charcoal down harder on the paper, making the lines darker and bolder than before. It might lack definite shape and form, but it looks... interesting. The lines of charcoal twist and turn and curve around the edges of the paper before coming together once more. They are darker in some places and lighter in others, varying in the thickness of the lines and everything is surrounded by specks of charcoal that smudged away from the original lines. The result is something strange, and weirdly beautiful in its awkwardness. How poetic.

Setting the charcoal down, I lean back against the wall with a sigh, letting my head fall back to rest against some bean bag chairs as my eyes flutter shut. It's probably going on 2 am by now, and I have school tomorrow morning.. Still, my eyelids get heavier and heavier and before I know it, I've drifted off to sleep...

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When I wake up the next morning, my back and neck are both stiff from sleeping in an awkward position on the hard floor of the warehouse. My hair feels (and most likely looks) like a rodent decided to make a nest out of it, and my vision is clouded with sleep. The second thing I realize (after remembering why I woke up on the floor of the warehouse instead of waking up in my own bed to the sound of my extremely annoying alarm clock) is that I'm already a half hour late for school. Crap...

That jolts the remaining sleepiness right out of me. I stand up, stretching out my stiff joints and yawning.

Checking my cell phone, I find two new texts from Jade, both asking where I am. I shoot her a quick text saying that I overslept and asking her to cover for me (unexcused lateness and absences would catch my father's attention, which isn't something I want to happen). The sooner I get to school the better.

Since I don't have time to go home and get ready, I opt for raking my fingers through my knotty hair and tying it up into a sloppy ponytail. Fortunately, I brought my glasses with me when I came here last night, but unfortunately I decided to change into 'K' attire first, meaning instead of the Katie wardrobe consisting of ill fitting khakis and grandma sweaters that I usually wear to school as a precaution, I'm currently stuck in converse sneakers, paint-splattered skinny jeans, and a tight, black tank top with no change of clothes. I'm running late enough as is, I can't afford to stop for a change of clothes. Shoot! What to do, what to do...