It was the day of the art show, and Clementine was about one minor inconvenience away from having a breakdown
Which Beth could understand to an extent. Because of all of the preparation beforehand and it being Clementine's first time participating in a school-run competition like that. Beth felt her panic at that moment, because the first time is never fun, whether you win or lose. Beth will never forget that 3rd-grade spelling bee...what a disappointment.
They had been focusing on finishing several works of art for the past 2 weeks. Since then, Clementine had enlisted the help of Beth several times. But Beth never got to do any actual painting or drawing, but she did get to help in finding ideas, cutting things out, and doing general scrap work. She enjoyed it though, as she got to hang out with Clementine, and that was always something unique every time.
Beth hadn't really spoken to Minnie since the day they had their talk. It wasn't exactly awkward, but the two of them had little idea what to talk about. Beth's mind always froze up in those scenarios, she became rigid and fearful and then blurted out things she was embarrassed about later.
They were good at talking shit about their 2nd-period teacher with each other though. The few times they did end up talking.
"Did you make sure you have all the paintings and everything?" Clementine suddenly asked, snapping Beth out of her thoughts. She had been surveying the chaos, figuring it would be best to stay out of Clementine's way because Beth had this uncanny ability to make things worse when she would be trying to help.
Beth nodded, trying to give her a reassuring smile, "Yes I counted all 4 of them, and made sure they were the correct ones. You best be sure I remember them." Clem calmed down a little at that statement. Nodding at her as a thank you, Clem went back to brushing her hair.
The competition required four unique pieces of art that had a hidden meaning behind them. Beth and Clem had talked about ideas they wanted to try out but had no message behind them. They had many messages but no ideas. But, eventually, they settled on 3 other ideas. Yet for some reason, Clem avoided telling Beth about the first painting, and what its meaning was. Beth didn't mind much, if it was personal, it was personal.
The other three were simple ideas, Beth liked to think. One of them was how the opinions of others can change the way you view yourself. The painting had many different shades, tints, and tones of blue and purple, each eye drawn in detail which pointed to the blocky figure of a person in the middle.
The two others were similar in idea, but not execution, as following the rules of the competition.
Beth thought they were pretty impressive. But Clem thought otherwise. Several times wanting to throw them out and not do the competition at all. Or she wanted to start them over hours before they had to submit. But from an outsider's perspective, nobody could see the small mistake in the corner of the painting, and if they did, they didn't care. Beth believed art was something that was felt and not seen. But Clem thought the opposite, which is what made it so difficult to calm her down. As she already had this ingrained belief in her that her painting was ugly, and that nobody would like it.
The two arrived and set down their stuff. Clem desperately needed to go to the bathroom, so they set their stuff down where they would put their paintings up to present them. Beth followed Clem to the bathroom, while Clementine's mother, who was a very kind lady, Beth found, went off to talk to Clem's teachers.
Naturally, Beth and Clem ended up messing around. While washing her hands, Beth thought of maybe one way to get Clem's mind off of everything. While thinking about this, she suddenly felt a droplet of water land on her face. Confused, she looked at Clem, who had a mischievous smile on her face.
Clem flicked water at her again. They stared at each other, trying to intimidate the other girl to step down, but nothing could make Beth cower in fear and it seemed the same was for Clementine.
Beth could see Clementine's hand slowly moving towards the faucet. Her hand cupped, and it only took Beth half a second to realize and start moving. She moved out of the way as the water splashed at the spot she once was. Before Clem could even process what was happening, Beth had placed herself behind Clem and had her wrists in her left hand. The other was up on her shoulder.
"Don't start fights you can't finish," Beth said to her in a low voice, hand moving gently from her shoulder to her cheek, back down to her neck. She could see goosebumps rising on Clementine's skin, for some reason.
Clementine shuddered, "Okay," She said in a breathy voice before she squirmed out of Beth's grip. Beth was a little confused. Had she accidentally freaked out Clem? Her face was all red.
"Let's, uh, go back to the paintings and put them up," Clementine said, clearing her throat and leaving without a second word or glance. Beth really hoped she hadn't upset Clementine.
Beth followed Clem out of the bathroom, who was moving quickly to rejoin all the candidates. Clem had made herself look really nice, with a skirt, a turtle neck, and a wool cardigan which added to it. She looked very fancy and put together, which Beth knew was the opposite of who she was. She found it quite endearing if she was honest.
Beth walked faster to walk by Clementine's side. She wasn't so red in the face anymore. But she did seem more dazed than before as if she was deeply lost in thought. She hadn't even noticed Beth's presence beside her for several seconds. Clementine eventually noticed Beth's gaze and smiled at her. Beth figured that meant she wasn't mad?
Finally, the two returned to their paintings. They sat in the bag, waiting to be taken out and displayed. But Clementine was still hesitating, her eyebrows twitching and her fingers picking at her lips. She was nervous again.
Beth, noticing this, smiled at her, trying her hardest to reassure her. She wasn't the best at people and she knew that but she understood exactly what her friend was feeling at the moment and wanted to do everything she could to make her feel the least bit better. It was the least she could do for her.
"Hey, don't worry alright? It's just some dumb contest. Once it's done you'll never have to worry about it again alright?" Beth told her, but Clem's eyes were still glued to the bag of paintings on the floor.
Clem paused, her eyes occasionally glazing towards Beth, until she finally replied, "What if I'm not good enough? I mean, look around, all of these kids are so talented and I'm just.." She trailed off, her eyes glued to the floor again. Clementine looked defeated even before the contest even started.
Beth tried to think of anything to say, but if she were in Clem's position at the moment, she would be feeling quite the same. It was never easy to put yourself out there on show for everyone to see. And art was something so personal that putting it out there for someone to tear apart and the judge was terrifying. So Beth got it, but that meant that she didn't have much to say to comfort her.
"I mean-" Clem continued, "I just, I guess I'm just...so used to being and doing something everyone else wants me to do, and this is something that is mine so it scares me a bit," Clementine chuckled nervously, hands twisting and twirling the hair around her fingers.
Beth tried to think of something to say to that, and the silence dragged on until Beth finally spoke, "Well, that's something to be proud of, I think. You did this for yourself, the whole time you thought about what you wanted to do and no one else. And in the end, who cares about what others think?" Beth went silent again, hands clasped behind her back, but she spoke again in a soft tone, "But if you really don't want to do this, we can go home. It's always an option if you aren't ready."
Clem stood there. Her eyebrows were furrowed, and her eyes were slightly widened. She seemed to be deep in thought, tense shoulders telling Beth everything she needed to know. Before Beth was going to suggest they go home, Clementine startled Beth, meeting her eyes and sighing. Her entire body seemed to lose the tension.
"No. I have to do this. Not for you. Not for my parents or siblings. Not for any of my classmates. I have to do this for myself," Clementine's voice was hard and driven. Before she strode over to the bag of paintings on the floor, she gave Beth a grateful smile, who returned one back.
Clementine picked up the bag and looked inside. Almost immediately her face dropped from gratefulness and determination to horror and shock. Beth, confused and concerned, made her way over to where Clem was standing, frozen, eyes on the contents of the bag. Carefully, Beth took it from her hands, and Clementine let her hands and arms drop to her sides.
Beth looked inside and felt her own stomach drop. The paintings inside were destroyed. She had no idea who did it or even how they did it, but there was absolutely nothing that could be salvaged, not even a picture that could be seen in it. Beth took pieces of the tattered canvas in her hands, feeling the smooth edges of where it was obviously cut with a knife. She felt dazed, confused.
Finally, she turned her head to Clementine again. Who looked absolutely crushed.