Douse This Fire

1

Clarke; Friday, 10:26am.

    Low chatter drifted around the room, filled with giggles and shushes. A group of twenty-three seventh grade students sat at paint covered tables with brushes in their hands and table-top easels in front of them. Their teacher sat at the desk in front grading papers as they painted, while a young blonde walked around behind the students. The blonde wore faded jeans speckled with dry paint and a grey tee-shirt fairing about the same. Her hair was pulled up in a messy bun, a few loose tendrils curling around her cheeks.

    Even with the chattering and giggling, the students diligently worked at their stations, smearing acrylic paint on canvases. Clarke Griffin’s art lessons, which they attended twice a month at the art museum in Polis City, was their favourite class. Even for those who struggled to create, those who loved to create but didn't quite have the talent. Clarke always made sure to compliment each student on their art, giving tips on how to improve. They usually painted their own things, unless they couldn't think of anything. In which case, Clarke would give them a prompt. Like their future house, or their favourite animal, or something like that. She loved spending time with these kids, sharing her techniques and watching them come up with ideas.

    The artist studied the canvas of one girl, leaning over her shoulder. “I really like the dark colours here, Charlotte. Maybe, if you want, add just one bright colour, to emphasise the darkness.” The girl nodded, looking at the paints laid in front of her to decide which to use. Charlotte was a quiet kid, who always seemed to drift towards Clarke when the kids weren't painting or drawing. Clarke kind of took her under her creative wing, encouraging her to try new things.

    “Aden, this is brilliant! Is this a real place?” The boy had painted a landscape, a backyard full of trees and flowers. An old swingset sat to the side, and a fence surrounded the area.

    The blond boy nodded, scratching his nose. “Yeah, it's my yard. Well, minus the flowers there, but Lexa says I can plant some when spring starts.” Clarke smiled and nodded, straightening up. He was talented, and always did some sort of landscape or scenery or cityscape.

    “I like how you plan things.” She moved on, stopping at the girl next to Aden. She painted coloured shapes, all blending together at one point before bursting out. “Tris, this is awesome. Do you not feel like blue this week?”

    “Blue is a sad colour this week,” the girl confirmed. “And I don't feel sad. Mom finally got promoted, so I'm more happy than anything.” Abstract painting was Tris’ strong suit, shapes and colours contrasting each other.

    “Nice! She's a police officer, right?” Clarke leaned against the end of the table, crossing her arms.

    “Yeah. She was a patrol officer and now she's a detective. I dunno what there is to detect, though, Polis City isn't really full of crimes to detect, is it?” The girl swirled a new colour and added it to her masterpiece.

    “I don't know. Maybe there is sometimes, like when things get stolen. Or that vandalism over at the church,” Clarke suggested, shrugging.

    There was a knock on the door by the desk, and it opened to reveal a young man with shaggy brown hair and a self-satisfied smirk. “Hey, babe.”

    “Finn! What are you doing here?” The blonde smiled, ignoring the snickering coming from the kids.

    The smirk stretched into a smile when she kissed him on the cheek. “Just wanted to visit my girlfriend. When do you get off?”

    Clarke raised her brow, amused. “Four p.m., but then I have plans with O.” She set her hands on her hips. “I told you that yesterday.”