SMARTS

Chapter Thirteen

Once we all arrive in art class, we all head to an empty table in the back. As we put down our things, we head to get our paintings from the shelf. I sigh as I grab my lizard painting, it seems to have smudged a bit on the tail. I don’t take this too heavily however, I was not very proud of it to begin with. Jamie grabs her pumpkin painting and I watch Avery pull out a beautiful painting of a bird. My jaw falls open slightly when seeing Avery’s painting, the same reaction I had to Jamie’s painting yesterday. Logan and Joseph each painted simply a box, so I feel a bit relieved that I’m not the only artistically challenged person here.

As we go back to sit down, I notice Jacob and one of his friends arguing. The teacher still hasn’t arrived yet so they continue on. I crane my neck to better hear their conversation.

 “I always sit here” I hear Jacob say.

“Well where’s Matthew going to sit?” his friend replies.

“Anywhere but my seat” Jacob says angrily.

The teacher then arrives and becomes more involved in their argument. The final verdict is that Matthew can sit in Jacob’s seat while Jacob needs to find another seat. This seems a bit unfair and I can tell Jacob is trying to hide his anger. Who wouldn’t be angry about their friend betraying them like that, I hope I never need to go through that myself.

I watch him walk over to the last empty seat in our table and sit down. Judging by his current facial expression, I decide not to bother him. Once he sets down his blank canvas, he starts painting stripes. Everyone at our table glances at him quickly then goes back to focusing on their painting.  

About forty five minutes into the period, I notice Jacob has cooled off a bit. I courageously decide to start a conversation with him,. What’s the worst he can do? Ignore me?

 “H-Hey Jacob” I say shakily.

 He looks up from his painting “Hey Sheldon, what’s up?”

 Oh shoot, now what? Think Sheldon, think.. “Just painting a lizard” I reply smiling. “What are you painting?” I ask.

 “Well at first it was supposed to be a zebra, then a black and white rainbow, and now, I have no idea” he replies, laughing.

 We continue talking and eventually, everyone at our table joins in. It’s a nice feeling, getting to know people better. At the beginning of the year, I perceived Jacob as being similar to a vicious lion, and now, he might actually be considered one of my friends. However, I do not know how he thinks of me, I’m probably ruining his reputation.  Once the bell rings we each get up to put our paintings away to dry. I remember to put it away carefully this time to prevent it from being smudged again.

I am excited to head to math class, I truly hope the teacher is here today; but no such luck. While walking in, I see yet another supply teacher, with his head down on a desk. This one doesn’t even take attendance, he only sleeps on the desk. At least I am able to talk with Avery, Logan, Joseph, Jacob, and Jamie more. However this time, Avery, Logan, and Joseph are conversing separately from us while Jacob, Jamie, and I sit quietly at the table. We end up talking more about science, while slowly Avery joins in, then Joseph and Logan.

As the bell rings, we then head to our last class of the day: English. I am a bit eager to get there for once as this previous math class was very uneventful.