Inanimate Middle School • Inanimate Insanity AU

"Don't Cry."

     The rest of first period was pretty boring, no one else seemed as interesting as those other three. Out of the three, my mind was mainly focused on Paintbrush. Why did they seem so upset today? The first day of school is supposed to be fun and easy! They were also the only person in the class that wore some type of clothing. Just a simple black hoodie that hid everything but their legs, hands, and head, yet they had their hands shoved in the pocket most of the time.
     They also seem to not get any sleep, or take care of themself in general. They have pretty deep eyebags and messy hair. Their teeth are stained, and so was their hoodie. Paint stains to be exact. They were super tall though, and honestly, the messy hair was a look! Despite looking terrifying, their voice was pretty high-pitched.

     The bell rang not too long after we finished our ice breakers activity. I grabbed my things and successfully made my way to my second period. There was no seating chart, instead, we were told to pick a responsible seat. I watched as the seats started filling up, not knowing who would be best to sit with. I then watched as Fan made his way into the class, then sat down on an empty seat. I quickly walked over to where he was, sitting next to him.

     "Hey, Lightbulb is it?" I nodded. He gave me a thumbs up, then looked up at the board.

     When the bell rang the teacher shut the door and made his way into the classroom. He introduced us to the room since a lot was going on in there. He then told us our project for the first week would be to draw a different person in the room every day, today being ourselves. This made sense, this was art class after all.
     When instructed I started sketching out a portrait of myself. I started with my body, that way I can figure out a pose along the way. I eyed Fan's blank canvas, why isn't he drawing anything?

   "What's wrong Fan, art block?" 

   He looks in my direction, then sighs, nodding. 

   "I've never drawn myself before." He admits. "I don't know where to start."

   I look him up and down, then I grab a sheet of paper.

   "You seem pretty easy to draw, here let me show you!" He watched as I slowly sketched out his body. I then slid the paper to him.
   "You can have it for future reference." He looked at the paper, then at me, smiling. 

   "Thanks." He turned back to his canvas and started replicating the way I sketched him out. I smiled, then returned to my canvas. I started to draw my limbs. What if I was holding up peace signs? Yes! Great idea Lightbulb!

   I'm surprised that Paintbrush kid isn't in this class, they seem like an art kid. Maybe they're in another period. What if I ask for their schedule? Focus Lightbulb, you still need to do the line art and colors!
   I have a variety of lining tools to choose from. 0.7 or 0.5? Black or brown? There are so many I could pick! 

   Better idea, lineless art! My line art is always so shaky, so why not just skip it? I gently erase my sketch, making sure I can still see it. I grab a paintbrush and start painting over the pencil. The colors aren't the cleanest, but it works!
   I look at the kid to my left. It was amazing! I mean, he was only on the sketch part, but it was one of the best drawings I've ever seen! How will I compete?

   Come on Lightbulb, this isn't a competition! Just paint.

   Paint.

   I mixed up the red and the white to create a pink, then painted around my body to make a background. It's not the most unique, but a colored background is better than a blank one!
   Once I finished I used a pen to mark my signature. Finally, I'm done! Boy did that drain me.

   As soon as I handed in my painting the bell rang. How many more classes until lunch? I heard eighth grade is after all the other grades, that's too far from now! I grabbed my things and hurried to my next class.
   I held my schedule to make sure I didn't get lost. Room seven, that's all the way across the school! Yet I somehow arrived on time.

   Where's the teacher? I don't see an adult in here.

   Suddenly, the bell rang and the door slammed shut. I bolted over to an empty desk, hoping I wouldn't get in trouble for not being seated. I looked at the door.
   There stood an older figure, our teacher. He turned at us, revealing his blood-red screen. He shifted his sunglasses down, looking around the room. He pushed them back up and proceeded to walk to the front of the classroom.

   He stood there for a few seconds, silent. We all looked at him, trying not to look terrified. After a bit, he pulled out a clipboard.