Yellow

- sixteen -

"Wow... I, uh, thank you," Karina laughed softly to herself, flattered by his compliment.

"I can't say I'm surprised anymore, though," Mr. Johnson pulled her sketches from last week and laid them next to her painting. "After seeing your interaction with your visitor today, that is."

Karina bit her lip, wondering if she was in trouble.

"Looks like you've found yourself a muse, Miss Yu," he chuckled and nodded to the artwork on the table.

"A what?" Karina asked, tilting her head to the side.

"A muse," he pointed to the silhouette of the girl in the painting. "Someone who you use as inspiration for your art. She looks familiar, does she not?" he asked, nodding for Karina to look at where he was pointing. Karina's cheeks grew red.

"I... I-I..."

"Pablo Picasso had many muses, out of his many romantic interests," he continued, ignoring how flustered his student had grown. "Manet found his muse in a stranger on the street, and has over eight paintings of her."

"I didn't mean for her to interrupt y—,"

"Does she make you happy?"

Karina swallowed hard. "Yeah," she said softly.

"Then all is forgiven," her teacher smiled and stacked her sketches back into her folder. "I don't say this often, Karina, but you have potential. You just needed someone to bring it out of you."

Karina looked down to the ground to try and hide her smile. Winter seemed to be helping her in every aspect of life. "Thank you," she said softly, looking back up and running a hand through her hair.

"You're dismissed," he nodded towards the door. "Keep up the good work."

"Thank you, again, thank you," Karina adjusted her bag on her shoulder and glanced at the clock, realizing she had to be at her next class soon. She exited the classroom without another word and quickly hurried to her Art History class.

Time dragged on and eventually Karina found herself tossing her backpack into the backseat of her car and heading back to the apartment. When she was about halfway there, she made a rush decision and quickly pulled off onto a different road. Ten minutes later, she ended up at the mall and made it inside just as it started to rain.

About twenty minutes later, she sprinted back to her car with a few shopping bags in her hands. It was pouring down rain, and as she pulled out of the parking lot, a loud clap of thunder startled her. Seconds later, lightning flashed across the sky.

It took Karina a bit longer to get home than usual because of the storm. Eventually, she made it back to the apartment parking lot and pulled her hood over her head to try and protect herself from the rain. It didn't help much, though, because it was pouring down so hard that she was soaking wet by the time she made it inside the elevator.

She heard thunder rumbling in the distance as she was walking down the hallway to her apartment. Immediately afterwards, she heard someone cry out, someone who sounded exactly like Winter. She quickly ran to their door and fumbled with her keys. When she finally got the door unlocked, she burst inside and scanned the apartment.

"Karina, thank god," Yeji sighed in relief. Karina turned to look in the corner of the apartment, feeling her heart drop when she saw Winter curled up in the corner with her head in her knees. "She started freaking out when the storm started," Yeji explained, standing up from where she'd been sitting next to Winter.

Karina nodded, dropping her bag on the floor and jogging over to Winter.

"Jeong, Jeong it's me," she said softly as she knelt down next to the shaking girl. Winter lifted her head slowly.