Paint the Pictures

Chapter 11

Rhys's POV

Dad was right. I needed to try and talk to Sydney because I did miss talking to her. I thought that he would tease me about liking her but he didn't say anything like that. I think that he figured out that I didn't actually like her like that.

I was early to art like normal and Sydney was still sitting next to me but she would never talk to me. If she was talking to anyone it was the person across the aisle but we were mostly quiet. She made sure to face away from me and do her own work.

Mrs Wiley started talking about what we were going to do today and unfortunately mentioned that we were going to be doing another group project. I felt myself tense up because I knew that I was going to have to work with Sydney.

"You have a couple of lessons to work on two pictures each. All four pictures must relate together in some way but the theme can be anything that you want. You should work with the person sitting next to you," she finished.

I turned to face Sydney and she still hadn't turned to face me.

"We have to work together," I told her.

She turned to face me and I could see that she wasn't that pleased to be working with me.

"You don't have to like it but we do have to work together," I said softly.

She nodded and grabbed a piece of paper.

"What should our theme be?" she asked.

I shrugged and she thought about it for a minute.

"What about something simple like rooms in a house?" she suggested.

I nodded because I thought that it was a good idea.

"I'll do the kitchen and bedroom," I suggested.

She decided to do the lounge and bathroom. We picked out a colour scheme in the hope that they would look like they belong together. I grabbed a canvas and started to draw out the bathroom. I started with it because it was simpler than the kitchen.

"Do you want to work on it together afterschool?" I asked.

She nodded. Neither of us wanted to go to our houses so I convinced Mrs Wiley to let us use the art room afterschool. She felt fine giving me a key if I promised to return it the next day. I relayed this to Sydney and she nodded. The bell rang and she disappeared into the crowd.

I headed back into the art room at lunch and then again afterschool. Sydney was already there and she had grabbed our canvas out. We spent the first hour working in mostly silence. Occasionally we would ask each other for our opinions but that was it.

"How come you stopped talking to me?" I asked.

I had been thinking about it since I talked to Dad the other day and I wanted to know the answer.

"You didn't come and sit with us at lunch. I guess that I assumed that you didn't want to be friends anymore," she admitted.

I sat there for a minute and thought about it.

"I still wanted to be friends but there is a reason that I didn't come and sit with you and your friends was because I have anxiety and it means that I can't deal with social situations including the cafeteria. It's why I spend my lunch in here," I explained.

"Rhys, I'm so sorry. I didn't realise," she rambled.

We then settled into a more comfortable conversation that reminded me of the ones that we used to have. Sydney started talking about something that she had been doing and I was happy to just listen.

I glanced at my phone and realised at a) it was almost seven and b) I had three missed calls from my Mom.

"Holy shit, it's almost seven," I muttered.

Sydney looked at me in shock and glanced at her own phone. We both glanced at each other and laughed.

"Time flies fast when you are having fun," she smirked.

I just laughed more and we started to pack up. We had both finished out our first canvas so we had had a productive afternoon as well as sorting out our friendship. I locked the classroom and we headed off in separate directions.

I walked slightly faster home and saw all my family sitting at the table. Even Dad was home before me and that is rare during the season.

"Sorry, I lost track of time," I said and grabbed a plate of dinner.

"And what were you doing?" Dad asked.

"Sydney and I were working on our art project together," I admitted.

That was when everyone in the room started talking. The only that was Dad and he just looked at me. I nodded and I think that he realised that I meant that we fixed our friendship.

It took another five minutes before they stopped talking about Sydney and the conversation moved away from me and my friend. I didn't talk much and once dinner was finished I headed down into my art room.

Dad joined me down there and took a seat on the stool again.

"How did you fix it?" he asked.

"We were assigned a project together and I asked her why she stopped coming into the art room. She thought that I didn't want to be friends anymore. I explained my anxiety and we are friends again I think," I said and returned my attention to what I was painting.

He nodded and then headed upstairs. I heard arguing between what sounded like James and Kyle so I shut the door and focused on my picture. I felt my phone vibrate and I saw it was a number that I didn't recognised.

It's Sydney. I stole your phone and stole your phone number

I saved the contact just as another message came through but this time it was just a picture. It was of an email from Mrs Wiley that was just sent to her.

Sydney

I know that you and Rhys were working late but the school has informed me that they prefer that students are out of school before seven at night. I wasn't expecting you to stay that long but Rhys would. Please would convince him to leave next time or I will have to lock him out of the art room at lunch

Mrs Wiley

I closed the picture and laughed. I sent a reply to Sydney before locking my phone and returning to painting. It was nice to have someone to laugh with.

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The Wise One