Fixation

Chapter 8: Model

Ace grimaced at his words of critique. "Well I'm sorry, I wasn't born an artist." She sent the male a glare. "And why are you helping me?"

Ryoma sent her an annoyed look. "Your drawings hurt my eyes. I've seen what you've drawn in that sketchbook of yours. Maybe I can help a hopeless case."

The female defensively pulled her sketchbook back, hugging it against her chest. "I didn't give you permission to look through it!"

"And nobody told me to return it." He retorted.

She sighed, defeatedly placing her sketchbook down onto the table.

"And," Ryoma started again. "Nobody is born an artist. Drawing is a skill. Everybody starts off the same. Some just have more experience than others."

"But it just seems like my practice is getting me nowhere. I feel like I haven't improved at all." Ace mumbled.

The red-eyed male rolled his eyes and wondered why he even bothered talking to the girl in the first place. "Do I have to punch it through your thick skull? Of course you won't turn from a beginner artist into a professional in a week."

Evan hummed softly to himself, silently agreeing with his friend's words.

"Alright, our next model will be modeling for fifteen minutes." Mrs. Prez alerted the class. Looking down at her roster, she chose the next model. "Okay. Evan will be modeling next."

Besides her, Ace felt the boy immediately shrink at the proclaimed words. The girl gazed at the hooded boy, seeing the fear and anxiety building up in his eyes as his small body began shaking. She felt a wave of sympathy wash over her bones. Ryoma glanced at the boy before nodding encouragingly at him.

When it seemed like the boy would never get out of his seat, Mrs. Prez was prompted to say, "Come on now, don't be shy. Everyone will have to model, so won't it be better to get it over with now?"

"I-I..." The small boy muttered, unable to get the words out. He felt like his skin was burning as he felt the gazes of every student burning into his body. He began curling into a ball, wanting to shield himself from those judgmental eyes.

Ace stood up abruptly, feeling a surge of courage washing through her. "If it's okay, I'll model in place of Evan. Maybe he could model next time for two minutes instead of fifteen."

The female met her teacher's considering eyes, trying her best to ignore all of the eyes on her. She was acutely aware of Evan's shocked expression while Ryoma remained taken aback from her sudden actions.

"Very well. I think that's an excellent idea. Thank you, Miss Asai." Mrs. Prez smiled, scribbling down a small note onto her roster.

The female walked towards the table in the middle of the class, climbing up the chair and situating herself onto the hard surface. She met Evan's thankful grey eyes and gave him a small smile before deciding to lower herself down onto one knee, posing like she was tying her shoelaces. This way, nobody will see my knees shaking, she thought to herself.

"Fifteen minutes, begin!"

~

Ace climbed down from the table after her teacher had called time's up, shaking and stretching her cramped up legs. She walked back to her seat and sat down, her eyes falling on Evan. He gave her a shy, grateful grin. "T-thank you so much, Ace. You really s-saved me."

Ryoma scoffed, looking at the female for a second before looking back down at his sketchbook, writing a few words down on blank space.

The female gave the thankful boy a smile. "You're welcome. I couldn't stand seeing you go through that."