Once Upon A Time High

Chapter Five

---I wish I owned Disney---

ADAM BÊTE

He knew what people thought of him. Adam was completely aware of the fear and admiration that he seemed to instill in his classmates. He liked it. He liked not having to talk to others; he loved being able to dictate how he wished to live his own life. It was a rather lonely existence with very few friends, but it left him free to pursue his passions or, rather, passion.

There was really one thing that he was passionate about: art. He loved how he could create his own world with the help of some pens and paintbrushes; his hands never sat still. He thought of himself as a photographer of sorts, capturing beauty through canvas rather than a lens. Adam was a tall, thick individual who probably would have been a spectacular athlete if he had any interest in playing sports, although his lack of interest did not stop the coach and players from trying to recruit him. Instead, he used his strong hands to turn ordinary supplies into magnificent works of art—not that he would ever show his work to anyone. In fact, he put a considerable amount of effort into hiding his talents, which is why he was so irked by his new French partner who seemed very interested in his creative side.

"Qu'est-ce que vous dessinez?" The beautiful brunette asked, trying to catch a glimpse of his doodle. He looked up at her with a hostile scowl.

"What?" He growled, wishing that she would just go back to silently filling out her worksheet.

"What are you drawing?" She translated, a little miffed by the boy's surly attitude. He shifted himself, trying to put more distance between the two of them, but he was already at the edge of his seat. He settled for covering his drawing wit his right hand and continuing to sketch with his left. He was ambidextrous, a quality that came in handy with his nosy classmates.

"Nothing," He muttered before looking Belle in the eyes and returning to his work. Truth be told, he was drawing her—actually, he was drawing her eyes. On a small scrap of binder paper, he had etched the outline of her round eyes but had placed the faint outline of a beast within. He had heard her friend, Lottie, giggle about it once and knew that the vapid blonde would have never looked up the English translation for his name herself. That's what his new classmate saw him as: a beast.

If he was being honest with himself, Adam would admit that it was what most people saw him as. His friends, or close acquaintances anyways, thought he was a beast: n. perceived badass who disregarded authority and could take on just about anybody in a fight. Girls saw him as beast: n. cruel, handsome man full of mystery. What he couldn't figure out was what his definition was.

He turned the thought over and over in his head until he came up with a work-in-progress definition. Beast: n. someone who doesn't care enough to make small talk with vacuous, self-centered teenagers.

But, he was lying to himself. The real reason for his distant nature was that he cared far too much about his shortcomings to open up to anyone and, instead, settled for living a quiet life detached from his peers.

"It's clearly not nothing," Belle argued, craning her neck to see the drawing. Thoroughly annoyed by her, he picked his head up about to tell her to shut up when she snatched the paper from him and held it in her delicate hands. She gasped in appreciation before touching one of the colorless irises with her finger. She recognized the eye shape as her own and wondered why closed off teen had decided to use her as a model. She was also confused by the hulking figure that was sketched so small inside the eye. It appeared to be some sort of howling animal.

"I'll take that back," He said angrily, wrenching the slip of paper out of the French girl's hands.

"Is it me?" She asked quietly, unsure how to proceed with the hostile teenager. Adam didn't know how to respond so he didn't. He settled for staring into her eyes and giving a single terse nod.

She didn't talk to him for the rest of the class period and he was grateful. He didn't like having to come up with the right words to say to her and he didn't want to offend the girl. She was so sweet and innocent, pure of all the evils that plagued society, but he still didn't want anything to do with her.

"You know, you're a wonderful artist." Belle said quietly, her voice barely audible over the ringing of the bell. The slender brunette quickly headed towards her next class but Adam was momentarily paralyzed. He was stunned by her sincerity and kindness, shocked that she was still being sickeningly sweet to him even though he had been a real ass towards her since the first day of school.

He recovered and sprinted to his next class because had only a minute before the art class began.

Technically, he wasn't enrolled in the school's art program. He had a free period but had worked out a bargain with the teacher; he could use the supplies and work on his own in the back of the classroom so long as he helped clean up after class. Sometimes this meant that he had to stay after school for an extra half hour and watch paint off the desks, but, normally, it just meant that he needed to sweep up some extra craps of paper and pull a few pencils out from underneath the tables.

Truthfully, he would have done just about anything to be able to use the supplies. The best part about the arrangement was the fact that, because he wasn't enrolled in the class, he didn't have to display his work in the cafeteria or tell anyone about his hidden talent. Art remained his little secret.

Adam entered the colorful room, gagging at the suffocating aroma of acrylic paints. He decided not to use the supplies intended for that class and, instead, he pulled out a some charcoal pencils and a kneaded gum eraser. He returned to his seat, pulled out his beloved sketchbook, and began to draw.

He started with soft fluid lines, a smoky outline, and began to slowly put more pressure on the dark pencils and move them in more angular motions. Soon, he was stabbing the page, leaving jet-black imprints on the white paper as he attempted to complete his picture. He was so caught up in making sure that he properly depicted his idea that he didn't really stop to think about what he was slaving away over.

He was startled when he looked back at his sketchbook at the end up the class period. In various shades of black and gray, he had drawn a girl looking wistfully at something. Her eyes were clearly focused on something and her neck was strained as she craned her body towards the thing she was trying to get a good look at.

What surprised him was the obstacle between the girl and the item; it was a boy which long hair and hunched shoulders. He couldn't see the boy's face but he knew that he had drawn himself and Belle. He had recreated the scene in French class from his memory, sculpting a image out of his perception of the incident. He didn't know what to do with the picture he had drawn and began to think of ways to get rid of it. He could recycle it or toss it into the paper shredder, but he liked the drawing in a weird way that he couldn't quite explain. Perhaps it was because it was lifelike or because it had taken him the entire class period to draw, but Adam knew, deep down, that he didn't care about either of those two factors.

He liked having a scrap of proof that there were truly good people out there and that someone cared.

That night, he hung the drawing above his desk as a small glimmer of hope in, what he thought to be, a bleak, unimpressive world. It was the first thing that he saw every morning and the last he saw each night, proving to be very therapeutic for the hotheaded teen.

Whether she knew it or not, the French girl was already changing the Beast; slowly but surely, she was opening him to the possibility of love.

A/N:

Howdy Y'all,

Sorry that this is even shorter than the previous chapter but I promise that I tried. Despite its length, I'm pretty proud of it because I think that it really shows how Adam Bête is feeling and depicts how Belle is starting to chip away at his stony exterior. Feedback is greatly appreciated.

Much Love,

-SSSTD