New Lifestyle

You Again.

Helia looked at the clock, that was ticking towards five-thirty in the evening. The art shop was about to close in thirty minutes, with next Monday being his third year at Linephea College.

He carried the newly, delivered sketchbooks to restock the nearly empty shelf, though it pained his back a bit. Hoping that the leftover minutes would be quiet, smooth, and tidying up the place, it would be interrupted with a small ding as the shop's door opened. Helia looked over to see who it was, which only surprised him.

" Huh... I wonder what Riven is doing here?"

Riven is well known for his bad reputation at Linphea due to his records of fights, rule breaking, and many other abominations. Seeing the dyed, magenta-haired delinquent  in a hoodie not causing trouble was quite amusing. Riven's eyebrows furrowed, looking around the art shop with discomfort and disgust. Helia shrugged to himself, refocusing on his task.

"HEY!"

Helia jumped at the sudden shout, looking back again to see the delinquent with a more angered and discomforted face.

"Do you know where the spray paints are?", Riven asked inpolitely.

"They're next to the bigger sized canvases, on the left."Helia answered, as Riven hasted away, with a huff.

It only took a few minutes for Riven to finish his quick shopping, impatiently tapping his finger on the check out counter, as Helia walked over. "Spray paints. Big Sketch book.", naming the items in his head to keep them in order, while swiftly putting them in a bag.

After paying and receiving the items, Riven walked towards the exit.

"Have a good evening!"

He looked back at Helia and rolled his eyes, mumbling something.

"What a fag."

With a ding  and closing door, Helia stood from where he was, in complete silence.

.

.

.

"A what?"

*

Two weeks have already passed by since the incident, but it didn't affect Helia much. The only thing he needed to worry about was passing college, which would go well if he keeps track and stays up to finish assignments. Currently, he was walking to art class, it was a nice afternoon with the sun's light shining through the large windows in the hall. Sighing, Helia looked outside for a bit.

The trees swayed a bit from the breeze, while other students were either having lunch or just hanging out. He kind of appreciated the scene, it somewhat matched the weather. Warm, enlightening, and comfortable.

Blinking once, he stopped zoning out and hurried to class.

Entering the art class, he settled his bag next to his assigned easel. The students were either talking to each other, or napping a bit to catch up on their sleep. Helia looked at the back to see Riven again, who had his legs up on the table, with headphones on while looking at the window.

The classroom's door opened, with the teacher coming in.

"Afternoon students, we're already two weeks into college so let's talk about your first major grade project.", they started while walking up in front of the classroom.

"It'll be a partners work project. I'll give you an assigned partner, where both of you will combine your art skills onto whatever material you guys decide to do it on. Canvas. Pottery. Anything, as long it's appropriate."

Some of the students laughed.

"Your grades will depend on your effort, teamwork, and meaning/description on it. I would recommend you do a presentation on the whole progress of your art piece if you want extra credit."

Finishing their statement, the teacher handed out a piece of paper to each student.

"You'll find your partner's name on the top, right corner of the paper. For now, you both will start on the draft before starting. With that being said, as usual, if you need any help just come up to me."

Looking at the paper, Helia felt unsure about the name on top.

Riven.

Everybody else were either already with their partner, or were calling their partner's name. Helia looked over to see Riven, he looked pissed.

Hoping for the best still, Helia walked over to Riven's table, feeling Riven's annoyed aura. Riven saw Helia walking up to him, and decided to ignore him.

"Hey...I'm supposed to be your partner."

Riven looked at him again, huffed, and pushed his paper to the side. Deciding to sit down, it was awkward silence for both of them for a moment, until Helia broked the awkwardness.

"Do you have any ideas on what the project should look like-"

"No."

That was a strong no.

"Maybe...you can get inspiration from other-"

"No."

Before Helia could say anything else, Riven snapped.

"Look here art boy. I'm only doing this class for credit, not to draw out my feelings. Besides, I can make you do all the work, and still get credit regardless."

That wasn't particularly team work.

"You're just lucky I'm whispering this, instead of shouting at you. Don't want to give myself attention, now just do whatever your art hands do, and leave me alone."

Riven inserted one of his dangling earphones back into his ear, and started to scroll through his phone. This wasn't how Helia expected the conversation to go, he though maybe Riven was having a grumpy day back at the art shop incident, but apparently being grumpy is Riven's nature. Helia wasn't sure if he wanted to continue bothering Riven, so he started doodling ideas for the project.

Majority of the class's time passed by, until it was time to leave.

"Make sure to finish your drafts between one through three days!", the teacher shouted, while everyone was packing up and leaving the classroom. Helia caught up to Riven in the hallway.

"Hey, can you still at least try to get an idea for the pro-"

"Look.I said no, I mean no. Just stop bothering me, then maybe I'll get an idea (most likely not). But until now, just do all the work."

Riven shooed his hand at Helia, and walked away. The feeling Riven left behind was familiar, the same way Helia felt after Riven left the art shop. However, instead of allowing the disrespectful quietness to take over, Helia clicked on the end of his pen.

Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

His eyebrows furrowed, his lips tightly pressed together, and eyes closed.

Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click.

With one more click, Helia sighed and shook his head. He wouldn't allow Riven's annoyance to spread, and left.