Hidden Artist

Chapter 1: Newcomer

Hi guys! This is the second story I've published on Wattpad. Hope you guys like it! There are two different covers for this book and I think I like the current one better, because the old one didn't have anything to do with my current idea of the story, and this one at least has a drawing in it. The book is supposed to be a sort of mystery/horror, but we'll see how it goes considering I don't have much experience with the scary stuff. The only reason I considered it "Mature" is because of the potential horror, but that may be changed.

Brisk November winds chilled Southside Highschool students, herding some to the heated indoors. Two students, in particular, stood in line for hot chocolate.

"I'm telling you, practically all of the celebs have been replaced by the government!" Oliver White whispered excitedly to his friend, Cara.

"Wanna know what I think? I think you watch too many of Shane Dawson's conspiracy theory videos," Cara said, patting Oliver on the back. 

The two had been the best of friends since third grade and were practically inseparable. Everyone kept saying they were dating, that is, until Oliver came out as gay. Cara knew she could always count on Oliver and loved his unique dorkiness. Oliver was 15, about 5'9, dirty blonde hair, and brown eyes. He'd always been the scrawny type, so he chose to take up swimming as a recreational sport. Cara was 15 too, had lengthy brown hair with blonde highlights, and brown eyes. She was shorter, about 5'1, and preferred books or video games. 

They approached the front of the line at last and pulled out four quarters each. They handed over the coins and received two cups of steaming hot cocoa in exchange. As they walked to their third period, they sipped the hot liquid gently, not wanting to burn their mouths. 

"I don't understand how the school can have crappy food, but the BEST hot chocolate ever!" Oliver exclaimed, a smile spreading across his face. 

"Mhm," Cara mumbled.

"You have a cocoa mustache," Oliver said, laughing at Cara.

She giggled and wiped it off with a napkin. They turned down the hall and nearly ran into a young girl leaning against a wall. Her face was beautifully structured, perfect cheekbones, eyebrows, nose, eyes, and jaw. She looked as if she was drawn and then brought to life. Black earbuds dangled from her ears, her face buried in a spiral drawing book, pencil scratching wildly.

"Oi!" Cara said, stepping back.

The girl looked up and a smile grew on her face.

"Hi! I'm Raina. I'm new here. Do you think you could show me around?" she asked, tucking her earbuds away.

"Um, sure!" Oliver said, clearly curious. "What's your third period?"

Raina pulled out a folded white sheet of paper, smoothing it out against the drawing pad. She began to close the pad when Cara caught a glimpse of the drawing. It was just a sketch, but it was amazing!

(Insert a sketch by Faith W.)

"Um, Mrs. Hopper?" Raina said, reading the schedule out loud.

"That's who we have!" Oliver said, almost jumping with excitement. "She teaches geometry. I guess you could say she's nice. She is very interactive, so that's good." Oliver was trying to suppress his energy, trying to appear cool. It wasn't working very well. 

"And you guys are?" Raina asked.

"Oh, where are my manners? I'm Oliver and this is Cara..." he gestured first to himself, and then to Cara, his face dropping when he saw Cara staring at Raina. "Hey, hey, snap out of it," he whispered, nudging Cara in the ribcage.

"Oh, right. Sorry," Cara said, looking up at Oliver. "Let's go, shall we?"

The trio made their way down the hall, hung a right, and entered the third door on the left. Cara noticed Raina's shoes, making loud clacking sounds as she sort of flicked her heels on the tile. Cara had some sort of creeping suspicion, Raina seemed perfect, too perfect. 

"Who's that?" Raina kept asking, pointing at nearly every boy in the hallway. Each student they passed ogled her, looking her up and down. 

"Those are just the school idiots, also know as the creeps that stare at new, pretty girls," Cara said, rolling her eyes. 

Raina blushed, now understanding the peeping looks she was receiving. Cara gently shut the door to the geometry room, quick enough to tell the boys off. 

"Hello, Mrs. Hopper, we have a new student, her name's Raina," Oliver said, furtively glaring at the popular squad. They always tried to lure new girls into their ever-growing group, like some sort of infestation.

"Oh, wonderful!" Mrs. Hopper exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "She can sit between you two then."

"Is it okay that I learned geometry at my old school?" Raina whispered to Cara.

"Yeah, as long as you don't say anything about it, then you can basically have a free period," Cara whispered back. 

Raina grinned as they navigated through the narrow rows of desks. She plopped down excitedly, then pulled her notebook out again. 

Mrs. Hopper started explaining angles in a polygon to the class, droning on and on. A quaint rustling noise came from Raina's backpack. She carefully slid her notebook onto her desk, and removed two pencils, a black sharpie, a few colored pencils, and a few colored markers. Cara's attention flipped to Raina. She watched attentively, noticing Raina's quick, light movements. Her drawings were perfect, each detail seemed realistic. Raina definitely had a talent. Cara looked up to see Madison leaning over Raina's shoulder. 

"Hey, whatcha drawin'?" she asked, her long ponytail falling over one shoulder. 

Madison was in her cheerleading attire, evidently a new "Popular Group" member. Cara furrowed her brows, she didn't want Raina to become one of them.

"Madison!" she whisper-yelled. "Hey!"

"Ms. Culligan, can I help you?" Mrs. Hopper asked rhetorically, peering from above her glasses. 

"Oh, um. No ma'am," Cara said, feeling her cheeks go red. 

The class chuckled in sync, giving her sideways glances. Cara was satisfied though, Madison was distracted enough that she had sat back in her seat. At the moment, she was busy drawing hearts on Chad's paper. He sat next to her, and she'd had a crush on him for two years now. Cara took her focus off of them and looked back at Raina's paper. 

"Wow," Cara breathed.

The drawing was life-like. Cara noticed simple, in-human details, such as pointed ears atop the head, large, clouded eyes, perfectly angled eyebrows, and odd face markings. Still, the resemblance to humans was incredulous. With two quick flicks of her wrist, Raina signed the bottom right-hand corner of the paper. Cara focused back on her own paper, smiling, still amazed. She had seen good drawings at the school before, but Raina's talent was different, special, unique. Cara had never seen an art style as such. She looked out at the paper once more, wanting to view the skill once more before she focused on math. She looked up at the paper, but noticed something was wrong. The signature was still there, but the drawing itself wasn't. She looked at Raina, quite confused, but all she saw was Raina devilishly grinning at the paper, petting it like a psycho.

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So what'd you guys think of the first chapter? Are you interested to see what went on in that classroom? Do you want to know Raina's secret? Stay posted, I'll post the next chapter A.S.A.P. If you want to, feel free to comment and tell me what you did or didn't like! If you really enjoyed it and can't wait for the next chapter, vote this one and maybe it'll encourage me to write more! 

Love ya'll,

MyBrownBear