Graffiti Warfare

I. It's Called Art

The paint can in Skyla's hand was almost empty, yet she didn't let that stop her as she let the purple color fly across the brick wall of Stoneside High. Was that the actual name of the school? Probably not, but the street name for it kind of just stuck inside her head. She tossed aside the can letting it clatter to the floor as she grabbed a blue can instead. The sound of the spray paint was calming as was the added thrill of painting, whilst simultaneously trying to avoid the cops.

The world was her canvas, so long as she didn't get caught, right?

As the artist was admiring her work, she heard the distant sound of the bell screaming and quickly added her signature to the bottom. She scooped up the rest of the cans and ran to bury them in the nearest dumpster along with her mask and gloves. Her leather jacket was tucked into the corner between a rock and the metal gate that served as the entrance to the back side of the school. If you asked her, it was more like a loud barrier to entry. She pulled the jacket on over her blue crop top and climbed the gate, cursing at the shrill noises it was making as she dropped down to the other side. Something warm trickled down her ankle as she bent down to examine a new rip in her jeans. Luckily, it was just a scratch and besides, her jeans were already ripped anyway.

She took a detour behind a nearby building and around to the front of the school as kids were trickling out with food in hand. Was it lunch time already? She tried casually walking past, that is, until she spotted the best food in existence.

Pizza.

And it was on every kid's lunch tray as they walked past. Minus the kids with bagged lunch and those who opted for a salad. Don't get her started on the latter.

Her mind wandered off a bit. I could just walk in and steal some. I mean, is stealing pizza really a crime? If that's not a fundamental human right already, I'm going to start a petition. Right after I find myself some pizza.

It wasn't too hard to get inside the school, since the office lady was too busy eating her own lunch and laughing at some Netflix show to pay much attention to Skyla. She had walked by the school dozens of times, but she had never felt the need to come inside until now. It was kind of boring looking actually. Lots of lockers and hallways that didn't lead to the cafeteria. You'd think it'd be easy to find considering it was lunch time and all. How was she supposed to ask someone without looking like she didn't belong here?

"What the heck are you wearing?" a male voice said behind her.

The artist spun on her heel to find a guy with books in hand, walking up to a different girl leaning against a locker. She found a spot near the wall to see how this would play out. The girl was wearing a bright pink t-shirt that read "I woke up like this" in big, bold letters along with Hello Kitty leggings and flip flops. Skyla didn't need the shirt to know that the girl didn't put much effort into her appearance, considering the state of her long, black hair, but she still managed to make her lipstick and dangly, feather earrings match.

The girl coughed. "Look who's talking."

The boy was wearing jeans and a green graphic tee with some wording Skyla couldn't make out alongside a big lightning bolt plastered diagonally across the middle. A camo green beanie kept his brown, shoulder length hair out of his face. His nose scrunched up as he pushed up his glasses, looking visibly offended.

"I'll have you know that this is a sacred lightning bolt. Harry Potter himself made it awesome," he said.

The look on the girl's face and the way she crossed her arms made it clear that this was an ongoing argument, one that she wasn't making any progress on.