he found the colors to paint her where the world had left her grey
"Closing your eyes and letting go won't kill you," he whispered to her, the soft pad of his thumb gently caressing her cheek.
"I'm afraid of it, Harry," she muttered, swallowing the...
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"Bev, you're creative, right?" Ellie asked, her voice muffled by the pillow she was resting her head on. Her ribs were starting to get that familiar ache from laying on them too long, but she still wasn't done with her assignment for art history. At this point, she was convinced she'd never be done with her assignment for art history. She had been staring at her computer screen for what felt like ages, trying to get any sort of motivation to describe what she thought the painting she'd been assigned meant.
"I'm not helping you, whatever it is," Bev laughed from across the room, shaking her head and turning the page of her magazine. Since moving in three weeks prior, Ellie had seen Bev approximately five times. Though she didn't often spend the night in their room or come back to the house for longer than a handful of hours, Bev was really kind to Ellie and she'd welcomed her as best she could. She offered Ellie to help her with anything she needed, gave her her phone number, and took her out for coffee. Ellie thought it was safe to say she'd made a friend.
"Please?" Ellie whined, shoving her face into the pillow. "If I don't finish this before midnight my first assignment will be late and I don't understand literally anything about art."
"Jensen the professor?" Bev asked, glancing over to Ellie.
"No, he was supposed to be," Ellie breathed, turning over on to her back to give her ribs some relief. She stared up at her ceiling, taking a piece of her hair in between her fingers to play with it. "Then some hipster dude showed up and apparently he's our professor for the semester. Dr. Styles."
"Oh, yeah, I've been to his shows," Bev said, shrugging and looking back down to her magazine. "He's actually a really cool guy. Amazing artist, too."
"Do you think he'll hate me for not knowing anything about paintings?" Ellie asked, looking over to her roommate. She wanted nothing more than to put this assignment aside and start on her project for her final accounting class she'd ever have to take. She wanted to get that out of the way as soon as possible.
"No, I don't think he'll hate you," Bev laughed, rolling her eyes dramatically and setting her magazine aside. "I think he'll grade you by your effort. So maybe actually put some effort into it. I'll leave so I don't distract you."
"What?" Ellie sat up quickly, almost making herself dizzy from the sudden movement. She watched as Bev slipped on her shoes and grabbed her bag, pouting jokingly. "Fine, but don't be surprised when you come back and you find me dead from boredom."
"Art can be fun. Just give it a chance," Bev said simply before she exited the room. Ellie groaned loudly, flopping back down on to the bed.
It was exactly 11:57 when Ellie finally submitted the assignment. After wallowing for a little bit, she took Bev's advice and actually put effort into it. Except that didn't work. So she decided to be completely honest in her assignment. She wrote two and a half pages about how much she didn't understand what the painting was even supposed to mean. She wrote about how she had absolutely no clue how to assess art or look at it in a way to make it anything other than a picture to her. She thought that honesty might just be the best policy. She figured that Dr. Styles would rather have her tell the truth than just make something up. She was wrong.
When she came to the next class, Dr. Styles called each student to the front to collect their assignments, which he'd printed off and made comments on. He took attendance at the same time, scribbling down the attendance next to each student's name. As Ellie stepped up, he looked down at her, raising an eyebrow as he handed her her assignment.
"Eloise, see me during my office hours today, please," he said, quiet enough that only she could hear. She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and glanced down at her assignment, her eyes widening at the '40%' at the top of the page.
She had to take a moment so she didn't open her mouth right then and have an outburst. 40%? How could he justify giving her 40%? She didn't want to be disrespectful, she was raised right. She would never get upset at a professor for giving her a bad grade that she deserved. But she didn't deserve this one. She had taken so long to just get through the damn thing, that earned an A on its own. She took a deep breath and stared up at him for a moment, knowing her cheeks were turning red in embarrassment.
"Ellie," she muttered to correct him, turning on her heel and going back to her seat. She was fuming. She knew she had to keep it in and wait until his office hours to go and see him, but god, she wanted to kick and scream and throw a fit. Instead, she calmly sat in her place and took out her notebook, mindlessly taking notes throughout the lecture.
When the class finally ended, she stood up as quickly as she could. She packed up her things, minus the assignment, picking it up and making her way down the steps to the front of the hall.
"Dr. Styles," she said, approaching his turned back and clearing her throat as she adjusted her bag on her shoulder. "Can I speak with you, please?"
"Eloise, I told you to come to my office hours. I haven't got time to speak with you right now," he said, his back still to her. It took all of her strength not to correct him again.
"Well, I have class during your office hours, so I wouldn't be able to make it during those times," she said, crossing her arms over her chest. She was not letting him get away without speaking with her. She heard him sigh and he turned around, looking down at her.
"Fine," he stated simply, glancing at his watch. "What time are you available, then? When is your last class?"
"I'm done at 5," she said, her voice quieter and a bit shyer than it had been when she approached him. She came up to him confidently, because she thought she'd be able to speak with him right then. She wasn't expecting him to hold off on it.
"Come by my office right after and I'll be able to see you. Do not make yourself late," he stated firmly, then turning to walk out the door.
Ellie hated confrontation in the first place, and now she had to wait for it. She'd just have to sit on her thoughts and rethink them over and over until she was able to meet with him.
