Blue

Chapter 12: A normal day of school

Ellie had a pretty relaxed afternoon. She'd called her parents – she will visit them again this weekend – and Blue left her alone. It visited her at home and they talked a little bit, but eventually Ellie asked for it to leave her alone for a little while, asking it to give her some normalcy in her life again for a few hours. Blue nodded as it understood her request and slowly vanished as it wished her a good day, but not before tipping over an empty (thank goodness) mug, sending it off the little table next to her sofa. The mug didn't break, as it landed on the soft carpet, which broke its fall. It didn't want to be mean to her, especially since the dream really upset her, but it still had to do its job at making her life miserable. Ellie's just happy it plans to 'ruin' her life with silly little things like that instead of nightmares like she thought earlier this morning. She'd spent the rest of the afternoon exactly as she wanted to: a nice cup of tea, a good book or two, her sketchbook next to her as she sat of the sofa, reading the remaining hours of her free day away in a lovely and warm atmosphere.

But a new day had arrived and now she was at school again. She's feeling pretty awake; she'd had a good night's sleep. No nightmares to haunt her this time, which was greatly appreciated. Ellie grabs her phone and unlocks it. The display tells her that she still has fifteen minutes until her first class starts. 'Makes sense,' she figures, she's still all alone in the hallway, sitting on the ground with the book she started reading in yesterday lying next to her. Most of her fellow classmates arrive only five minutes before class starts. Or they are late, that happens a lot too. Ellie adjusts her skirt, draping the long fabric over her criss-crossed legs and her feet as if it is a blanket. She wiggles a bit in her spot, trying to get a bit more comfortable (not that getting comfortable is really possible on a cold, stone floor), and grabs her book again to spend the remaining fifteen minutes she still has to wait reading.

After a while, in the middle of her chapter, Ellie hears footsteps echo down the hall. The tired steps get louder and louder as they near her and they stop next to her. That must be her classmates – and that means it's almost time for the digital art class. Ellie quickly finishes reading the right page of her book, delighted to see that the last sentence on the page ends, meaning a new one will start on the next page (she doesn't like stopping mid-sentence). She places the bookmark on the next page, closes her book and puts it in her bag, zipping it shut. She moves her skirt at bit to reduce the chance of tripping over the fabric, shuddering at the cold that sweeps by her legs as she'd removed the warm, extra layer of clothing, and she turns to sit on her knees and after that she moves to stand on both her feet again. Not really a graceful way to get up, but it works for Ellie at the moment, her muscles stiff because of the cold, hard floor.

As Ellie smooths out her skirt she hears the clicking of heels approach the small waiting group; that must be Jade, the digital art teacher. Jade is a nice and fun teacher, with a passion for everything vintage and digital art. You're immediately friends with her if you like even the slightest bit of vintage or digital art, which is really nice, but it might be a bit annoying if you don't like any of that. But Ellie quite likes both digital art and vintage, so she doesn't mind her at all.

"Good morning everyone!" Jade happily greets as she nears her students with a bright, applied with blood-red lipstick, smile. Her long, carefully curled ponytail bouncing in sync with her clicking step and her (probably new) fifties polka dot dress flows around her as she holds the classroom keys in her right hand, slightly dangling them around as she greets her students.

She doesn't get much of an reaction, except for the few small waves and a few students mumbling a small and tired 'morning'. Jade hums an old song as she opens the classroom door, letting the students go in first. Ellie watches some of the students reluctantly walk in as she slowly reaches down to get her backpack. She groans as she attempts to swing it around her shoulder, the laptop and the digital drawing equipment making the pack incredibly stuffed and heavy. She steps into the classroom after greeting Jade, slightly stumbling and tripping over her own feet as she struggles to keep herself in balance with such a heavy pack on her back.