The Roses Project - P.L D.H

chapter one

i will be doing song recommendations at the beginning of each chapter. they don't necessarily have anything to do with the story, but they're nice songs that you should listen to while reading the chapter, bc they add emotion to it :')

song recommendation: paris, the chainsmokers
phil

"A rose?"

Mrs. Marcane smiled a little, her expression softening as a girl yelled out across the classroom. Suddenly it was quiet, her eyes glistening slightly as she bobbed her head up and down.

"Yes," she giggled, resting her hands on the desk in front of her. "This rose symbolizes something you admire. Something not even a million stars could convince you to throw away, or a lifetime of suns could blind you from. Through everything, nothing could separate you."

It was silent again.

"You all seem lost."

Majority of the class nodded, some humming in response while others silently observed. I was one of the minority, not entirely keen on having my voice heard.

"Basically," she whispered, racking her brain for a simple way to explain our new art project. "You're going to draw a rose, but not just simply a rose. Everyone needs to think of something, someone, an object, animal, anything that means more to you than anything in the world. Something you couldn't live without. On this rose, you will somehow express that thing. The background needs to be colored as well, so it could express something about their personality, or if it's not a person, just how it makes you feel. The rose is the most important factor though; so color it, design it, give it details that symbolize that thing without words. Do you understand?"

The class hummed in response, and I nodded my head, my face mutual. I loved art, planned on going to college for it, actually; but this was my first assignment here at this new school, and I had no idea what I was going to base it on. I felt stuck.

"Another thing," Marcane shouted, attempting to catch our attention again. "For a lot of you, the first thing that may come to mind is romance. That's alright, romance is great for this project, but it doesn't have to be. This is just whatever makes you feel at ease. For example; mine would either be art, or my younger sister. Those are two factors of my life that I couldn't imagine living without."

Still stuck. I nodded when she glanced at me for approval, considering I was the new kid and she needed to make sure I understood everything clearly, but as soon as she looked away, a slight frown enveloped my lips and my eyes casted downwards towards my desk.

I didn't have a whole lot of things in my life that I couldn't imagine living without.

Scratch that; I didn't have anything in my life that I couldn't imagining living without.

So what the hell was I going to do this damn art project on?

Just as I began to go insane over how my grade was going to fail, the bell rang, and everyone bounced out of their seats, scrambling to get out of the classroom.

Me, though, I took my sweet time collecting my things. I was stressed and not about to rush myself.

"Lester," A high voice rang, and I glanced up, before coming face to face with Mrs. Marcane.