Broken

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

My time with Brandon blurred by too quickly. It was like the time between when he picked me up and dropped me off didn't even exist. One moment I'd be blah and mundane, then next I'd be with him and the world was perfect. When I was by myself, it was hard to believe it all hadn't been a dream.

Thursday morning flew by, it was like I blinked and it was already time for Mrs. Campbell's class. A number of the other girls, and even a couple of the guys stopped by my desk before the bell rang to congratulate me on winning the last ticket to Les Misérables. Britney wasn't one of them. I actually caught her glaring at me a couple of times out of the corner of my eye.

Under normal circumstances I probably would've felt guilty, or at least wished things had worked out differently. Today, I was fully prepared to acknowledge Britney as the spoiled, self-centered brat she was.

The bell rang and then Mrs. Campbell's lecture was over in record time. I even finished my assignment a good ten minutes before class was scheduled to end. I was absently sketching what I expected the inside of the opera house to look like, when a tap on my shoulder pulled me out of my reverie.

"I'm so sorry Mrs. Campbell. I finished early, but I should have started on one of the catch-up assignments. I just didn't want to get into a whole new subject with only ten minutes left."

Her smile was much more understanding than normal for a classroom situation. It took the sting out of the words that were probably just for the people close enough to overhear.

"Don't you worry Miss Paige, I'll let you know when I don't think you're keeping up. Seeing as you are done though, would you please run something over to Mrs. North? I'd do it, but I need to go to a special projects meeting today during lunch."

As quickly as that, my books were in my backpack and I was on my way to the second story of the school, which housed music, sketching, and all the other forms of art lesser mortals like myself would never master.

The journey would've been completely unremarkable except that I happened to glance into one of the classrooms just before I found Mrs. North's room. Even a brief glance screamed art students. There were at least twenty people sitting in front of contraptions that looked like a cross between an easel and a desk, and most of them had the look of intense concentration I'd come to associate with Mom attempting to frame a picture.

The notable exception was Alec, who I almost didn't recognize. I hadn't expected to see him in an art class, but more than that was the way his face seemed transformed. He'd always been gorgeous. I could dislike, even hate him, and still acknowledge that he made my heart go pitter patter, but this was something else. He looked so happy, so at peace with the world, that for the brief moment between when I saw him and when I recognized him, I thought I'd seen an angel.

I'd always thought the intense look of concentration was the sign of a true artist. Maybe it still was. Maybe whatever he was drawing was absolute crap. Maybe the masters like Michelangelo and da Vinci had completed their greatest works with expressions very similar to what everyone else in the class was sporting. Still, I couldn't help envy such contentment.

I dropped off my bundle of papers at Mrs. North's class, and started back towards my locker. I couldn't help trying to catch another glimpse of the art class as I walked past. I'd been hoping to see Alec again, but hadn't expected him to look up as I craned my neck to see inside.

I stumbled a little in surprise. He was still gorgeous, but the simple joy was gone. He no longer looked like something that couldn't exist in this world, but even with anger etched on his features my heart still skipped a beat. I ducked around the corner and started down the stairs, my embarrassment at being caught staring giving way to anger. It didn't make any sense. I'd never done anything to him. Did he really hate me so much just because I told him off about not protecting Rachel?