Art is Chaos

Chapter 3

"Your guys' project looks amazing!" Mrs. Morrison complimented as she passed by their desk the next day. Bradley had worked on it more that night while he was home, referencing the flower pots he already had to make it really come together. Despite the fact that he only had one hand to work with, his vine hand used mainly to (roughly) keep it in place, he was proud of the work he put into it. Mrs. Morrison added, "Find a way to smooth out the clay, and it will look like it was professionally done!"

Bradley felt pride well up within him, and a quick glance at Milo's telltale grin told Bradley that he felt the same way. For once, Bradley felt like he and Milo understood each other. Maybe not everyday for Milo was a search for a quest for greatness, but he got them often; for Bradley, it was a search for something eye catching to use to be seen. Right now, the best kind of achieving something great was happening to both of them. It was a small kind of achievement, one that shouldn't matter, but someone cares, and you worked hard, so it ends up mattering more than most, so of course both of them were flushed and smiling, looking down at their creation.

"You did a really great job," Milo commented, taking a closer look at the rim that Bradley had scored onto the pot, "Really! I'm impressed!"

"Thanks," Thanks Bradley replied, "You gave me a good start."

"That sorry excuse for a flower pot?" Milo laughed.

Bradley laughed as well, "It turned out fine in the end, didn't it? Well, except from the faint marks my vine left behind." He traced the shallow outlines with the tip of his index finger. "I tried to get it out to the best of my ability, but I have to hold it with something. I'm getting better at gently gripping things, but even so..."

Milo shrugged with a soft smile. "I'm sure that you'll get the hang of it."

"Working on this has helped a great deal, honestly," Bradley admitted. He didn't know why he was telling Milo all this, he was just in a better mood than usual. Or maybe it was that he wasn't being ignored, even if the person listening to him in question was Milo Murphy, of all people. It was a little worrying for Bradley, though, to have Milo know so much about him (Although he knew that, with the way Milo got to know people, Milo probably thought that he didn't know Bradley at all, and Bradley was more than okay with that.).

He didn't have to worry about it for very much longer anyways, as Melissa and Zack came up from behind them.

"Very nice, Milo," Melissa commented with a hum of amusement, Zack nodding in agreement, "I didn't know you were into gardening."

Milo hurriedly corrected, "No, this is Bradley's project, and he did a lot of the work."

"And the correct term is botany not gardening," Bradley clarified, "But thanks, Melissa."

Melissa ignored him. Of course she did. What else was I expecting? he thought. He tried to look like he didn't care. "How much did you do for this project?" Melissa asked Milo.

"I started it for us, actually," Milo announced proudly, and then, with a shy chuckle, added, "I didn't do a very good job. That's when Bradley took over."

"I hope there hasn't been too much conflict," Zack stated, glancing at Bradley a second, a gesture that Bradley noticed even though it looked like Zack had meant to signal only to Milo.

"There hasn't been," Bradley insisted firmly in retaliation, "I, for one, have been having a great time, and I'm sure that Milo has been also."

Melissa shrugged with a coy smile. "Is it true?" she asked, eyeing Milo.

"Uh huh!" Milo confirmed with a grin and a nod, "No fighting! Just a few small mishaps with Murphy's law."

"And Bradley lets you work on the project too, right?" Zack wondered.