Ink on the Pages

1

Genesis held a pencil in her left hand, letting it glide across the paper in front of her. She emptied her mind of all stress—any pressure she was dealing with was being transmitted to the page.

She didn't know exactly what she was drawing. The picture started out as a scribble and was slowly beginning to take form.

The girl had loved art her whole life. She had an art room, which used to be her father's office. In it were paintings and sketches of many kinds. Ones she didn't particularly love were kept in a specific bin below her desk. The lid had trouble staying on because the bin was so full of paper. Several drawers also contained her artwork while much of her art had been hung up on the walls.

She was most talented at drawing people. She accurately portrayed the makeup of a human being, providing enough detail to make some people think her greyscale drawings were just black and white photos of strangers.

Next, she enjoyed drawing plants and animals. She loved the way branches twisted and leaves curled. She would often venture outdoors and create still images of her surroundings, with only a number 2 pencil and a sketchbook.

Genesis would often create disturbing artwork. Images of monsters, people, and objects, each one monochrome and eerie. She did this kind of art whenever she felt alone in the world. Much of the time, Genesis' emotions reflected whatever she put onto paper.

Her favorite subject has always been art. Ira, Genesis' best friend and a junior, was currently taking an art class with her at their high school. Ira always kept Genesis company, especially if the two got bored in class. Ira would compliment Genesis' work and tried his best at his. He was not near as skilled at art as she was, but that sort of went for everyone.

While art always seemed to be at the center of Genesis' world, she was also an athlete for her high school. As a freshman, she had made the Varsity volleyball roster and was a starter. Their current season had been going very well, but after occasional tough losses, Genesis would run home and hide in her art room.

This was currently one of those moments.

The girl sat at her desk in her uniform and spandex, refusing to put down her pencil.

After a few moments of drawing, there were a total of six tall, silhouetted, and slender figures placed strategically on the page. She drew six more figures, appearing to be smaller and more human than the first six. Once all twelve sat mindlessly on the page staring at her, she drew a rectangle around all the characters. She added a line down the middle, dividing the twelve into two groups of six. The dark figures stood towering over the shorter figures. She finished shading the sketch and then sat quietly for a moment.

"Wait," she murmured. She drew a scoreboard in the corner of the page, just above the rectangle she had added a few moments ago.

The score read "23-25."

"There we go. Now it's perfect."

Genesis then aggressively ripped the page out from the sketchbook, crumpled it up and threw it in the nearby trash can.

"Gen!" Genesis heard from downstairs. James, her stepdad, was calling for her. "Gen!" he shouted again.

"What?" Genesis yelled back at him.

"Come here!"

Genesis rolled her eyes and sighed. She got up from her desk and left the room, closing the door behind her.

———

A/N: Hey! This is a short story of mine that is going to be updated every Friday for the next few weeks. There will be a total of five parts. I'm currently working on two other stories which will be full-length and far longer than this. I'm really looking forward to those! Thank you for all your support! Oh, and also, future chapters for this are going to be longer. Have a great weekend, everyone!

— H