Overthinking It || j. m. (UNDER CONSTRUCTION)

11.

Chapter 11

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"Class it's that time again! Time for your term projects!" Mr. Lee, my art teacher, said excitedly from the center of the semicircle where we sat in front of our easels. A loud grunt escaped the lips of nearly every student in the class at the mention of a project, including me.

"Now don't be disappointed! Every year, my students always love this project. Unlike the other small assignments I give you however, this term project will be with a partner," he said. The students around me instantly started looking around the room for their partner even as Mr. Lee continued to talk. Quickly he added, "Partners that I will pick!" The groans came back at this statement, but I wasn't involved this time. Now there was a chance I would be paired with James, meaning we'd get to spend a lot of time together.

"Now don't think it's going to be all fun and games. The assignment is pretty extensive, some might even call it taxing. You will have to find a natural setting and figure out a way to make it personal, to incorporate the both of you into the painting. When I see these projects I want to feel something. I want it to make me see the things you learn about each other in the painting. The only catch is, the project is due on Tuesday so you all better start soon." Mr. Lee said. I already had ideas swimming in my brain for things to do with the project and I really just wanted to begin it now, which I guess my partner and I would have to do. It was already Thursday, so considering all the time it would take for the paint to dry and to create our piece, we'd have to begin this afternoon.

"What about our partners?" Someone called out.

"Oh I got a little ahead of myself there, didn't i?" The scatter brain art teacher laughed. Mr. Lee pulled out an old canvas bag from one of the drawers in his desk and put a number of multicolored paintbrushes into it. "I'm going to go around the room, and each one of you will pull out a single paintbrush. There is one for every one of you, but there are pairs of brushes with the same color in the bag. Whoever has the same color as you will be your partner."

He began to go around the classroom with the bag. There were no partners yet, and when James picked his brush out of the bag I saw that it was a light purple color. Quickly I scanned the brushes of the five students who picked prior to him and thankfully none of them had the same color. I let out a thankful sigh, but then held my breathe, nervous that all the other students to my right would pick James's color. I was sitting second to last in the order of our semicircle and Mr. Lee was in front of the third to last student in line- the one to my right. He picked out a green brush, leaving just two colors in the bag for me and the person to my left to pick- the yellow brush and the purple brush.

Would I be so lucky to have James as my partner? It would be amazing, and I had a 50% chance of it, but I doubt that it would happen. I mean with all the students in this class, would the two of us really end up paired together? And who's to say he would be content with me as his partner? Since our kiss this weekend at the mall, we've talked a few times here and there, but never for as long as we have the night of the concert or at the mall. There's been no explanation of why he'd kissed me or any other advancement in our friendship-slash-acquaintanceship- slash-relationship, or whatever you'd like to call it. Personally, I'd call it a complicated acquaintanceship considering the minute contact we've had.

I sucked in a sharp breath when I saw that the bag was in front of me, Mr. Lee's waiting eyes telling me to reach in. My hand went into the old canvas bag and I wrapped my fingers around the slick shaft of a paintbrush. I pulled it out, with my eyes closed, and when I opened them I saw a purple paintbrush sitting in my hands. Relief instantly washed over my body. Was it seriously that easy? I'm partners with James- how creepily ironic is that?