Art is Chaos

Chapter 2

When Bradley walked into class the next day, everyone was already seated with their partners. Milo was waiting for him at his desk, turned around so he could chat with Melissa and Zack behind him. When Milo noticed him, he turned back around with a smile and greeted, "Hi, Bradley!"

"Murphy," Bradley returned the greeting with less contempt in his voice than usual.

"Alright, students," Mrs. Morrison called to the class. The students restlessly came to a calm. "Today, I'll explain how to mold the clay, and then at the end of class, I'll give your groups your clay. You'll have until Monday to finish, so you'll have tomorrow for in-class work time and questions, and then you'll be able to finish up this weekend. If you need more clay, feel free to come to me."

Bradley half listened to the lesson, scrawling down notes about scoring and proper measurements. His thoughts wandered back to his plants. He was sure to be laughed at if anyone else knew. What would he say when he presented the project? I'll just pin it on stupid Milo, Bradley thought, quickly amending, No, no, I don't think he's stupid. A hazard, yes, but not stupid. At this point, I know that much.

Mrs. Morrison added at the end of her lecture, "And of course, after firing them, you may paint them with glaze."

Bradley perked up. Painting? That was something he could do quite easily! And he enjoyed it too! A wide grin spread across his face just thinking about it. The feeling of moving the paintbrush across paper, the way the paint spread as it moved across the surface it was applied to, he loved it passionately. He noticed Milo glance at him with a knowing smile, but he didn't care. If Milo let him paint the glaze because he had another dumb interest, then more power to him.

Mrs. Morrison pulled out a plastic box filled with bags of clay. "Alright groups, come up and get your clay."

Bradley stood up. Glancing at Milo for a moment, he said, "I'll get it. Don't move."

"Not moving won't make the Murphy's Law stop," Milo laughed.

Bradley rolled his eyes. "Whatever, just don't move. At least it will make me feel better."

"If it makes you feel better," Milo shrugged as Bradley walked away.

Bradley approached Mrs. Morrison's desk. He reached his hand out to accept his clay. "Where's your partner?" She asked, giving him a plastic bag with a sizable chunk of clay in it.

"My partner is Milo," Bradley explained, "He's waiting over at the desk for this."

"Alright, I understand why you're doing this, but between you and me," She bent down and murmured so only Bradley could hear, "I think you and Milo could be great friends."

"Unlikely," Bradley replied instantly, keeping his tone flat to avoid showing that there was a glimmer of doubt in his mind.

"There isn't anything you like about him?"

Bradley shrugged. "He's not as bad to work with as I thought he'd be," he admitted, "But I still don't think we'd be good as friends."

"If you say so," Mrs. Morrison hummed with a coy smile that Bradley knew meant that she didn't think so.

Bradley let out a breath that wasn't exactly a sigh or a huff, but somewhere in between, turned around, and walked back to his desk. Without a word, he placed the bag of clay on the desk for Milo to see, before snatching it up a few seconds later and shoving it into his bag.

"I can't break the clay yet," Milo joked.

Bradley looked at him in exasperation, "Don't underestimate yourself, Murphy."