Knox's Little Annie

5

From the near lack of empty desks in the classroom, it appeared that Knox and I were that last few to show up. Not surprising considering our absence of hurry after leaving the office. Normally I'd be worried about being some of the last to show up - worried about all the eyes that would surly dart to me.

That worry didn't come though, and apparently there was no reason for it to.

Even though Knox and I had arrived on the brink of being late, the rest of the class were still taking to their seats, fussing with their notebooks and pencils and laptops, and from the noise encasing the room, still in the midsts of conversation. Not a single glance could be spared in our direction.

Knox didn't pause in the doorway for longer than a split second before veering off to the back of the room with me still being tugged along with him. There were only two seats left in the back row - two seats that shared the same table just as it was for every other table in the classroom.

I gulped, licking my dry lips as my eyes flitted around the room. I had yet to actually see my new schedule, Knox having taken it right away even though he already knew what it was as it had now matched his own. The desks gave me some clue as to what the class was but I hadn't truly known until my eyes found the papers that hung all around the room - Art.

Reaching the two seats, Knox took the aisle which left me the chair directly next to the wall. Now sitting down, I released a tense breath. Nobody to my right, only Knox to my left, and a girl in front of me. The tight grip of my chest eased, quickly being replaced with the hope that maybe I could actually focus this time around.

I wiped my sweaty palms off on my skirt just as my new teacher took to gathering our attention.

"Good morning, all. Like I told you yesterday, since it is only the first week of school, we will not be starting any projects as of yet..." she paused, giving a knowing smile before continuing. "That doesn't mean we won't be working, of course. New to practicing art or not, I want you all to get comfortable with allowing your mind to take creative reign."

I chewed on the bottom lip, my leg bouncing as I listened. I was not particularly "new to art" as she had phrased it but that didn't mean I was very skilled at art either. I enjoyed painting the most out of any other medium - finding the vivid colors, textures, and softness of the stroke of a paint brush to be soothing.

I wasn't specifically good at painting anything to a realistic degree. I more so enjoyed a mild interpretation of the basic elements. I hadn't found the inspiration to paint in months though. Not after what had happened.

I almost jerked in my seat, surprised once my teacher's voice found my ears again, "Each of you should have a blank piece of paper on the desk in front of you and I trust you all brought your own pencil to use. If you did not, I do have some spares that I would like back before you leave. We'll be doing this for the rest of class and you are to finish the assignment for homework. Don't worry about it being perfect, I just want to measure where each of you are at individually. Go ahead and start." She smiled before turning around to sit back down at her own desk.

I looked around the room and saw everyone either digging in their backpacks for a pencil or already reaching for their paper. My face blanched, embarrassed I had zone out long enough to almost entirely miss what we were supposed to be drawing in the first place.

I glanced over at Knox only to find him already looking at me, his body slightly turned slightly in my direction with a pencil already in his grasp. The slight pull of a knowing smile on his lips told me he must have understood the look of confusion on my face - he was just waiting for me to ask.

"W-what are we drawing?" I asked, my voice just above a whisper.

"A portrait of each other." Knox replied without hesitation, his head tilting to the side as he continued to study my face.