Books pressed harder into her chest as she struggled to break free from the tsunami of chatting students and lost freshmen. Her bookbag dug into her shoulders with an oppressive weight. She inwardly chucked; maybe it could symbolize the weight, metaphorically, placed on her shoulders since birth, or maybe she was trying to find similarities in things that have nothing to do with each other. The brunette weaved through the stagnant crowd, perhaps they weren't in a hurry to study, but she was. She narrowly avoided a collision with a large wooden door. Why did the doors have to open outward? Normally, students wouldn't be glad to see their classroom, but to her it meant safety. 

     It was still thirty minutes till the bell. Wendy took out her text book and started to take notes. Technically, she was five chapters ahead but that wasn't enough. It was never enough. She pushed her glasses farther up and buckled down; it was time to put in the work now so she wouldn't have to later. Top marks didn't magically just happen. It wasn't that she disliked learning, she had taken her courses willingly, absorbing information came naturally to her. She just wished that she had kept her talent under wraps. Once the bar was set, her parents wouldn't tolerate anything less.

    Wendy excelled in many things academically and even artistically. This had made almost all of her classes a breeze. Almost. She had entered her senior year content, only to find out that she needed one more elective credit to graduate the way her parents wanted her to. It wasn't a problem, there were many electives offered at their school. It wouldn't have been a problem if she hadn't taken most of the worthwhile ones. Her only option left was an elective in the arts. The only program left in the arts department, however, was visual art. Damn budget cuts. She could deal with anything musical, maybe even drama, but no. To add insult to injury, the beginning art classes had been filled and the only choice left was college level art. She knew less in the way of Monet and more in the way of stick people. So, of course, she dreaded her last period: art class.

     As if the universe had plotted against her, the entire school day seemed to flash by. She stood before the door to her own personal hell. She had regarded many of her classes as a safe haven of sorts, her comfort zone. Yet this was new territory, a wild beast she feared would spit her out and brand her as a failure. She could feel how clammy her palms had become. Was it too late to demand a schedule change?

     A slender hand entered her vision, stretching over the door handle. A feminine voice spoke out, "you can go in, the door is always unlocked." Wendy could hear the smile in the voice. She followed the hand up to meet bitten, red lips. Over the gentle slope of the girl's button nose, up to mono lidded eyes. Everything about this girl seemed to radiate warmth. Maybe it was the blinding smile, or the bright eyes of the other, that gave Wendy a need to look away. 

     Too lost to respond, Wendy watched as the stranger pushed the barrier open and waited for her to enter. The shorter girl was almost glad that manners had been instilled in her to the point that they were reflexive. She managed to form a smile, "thank you very much,"

"Seulgi."

"Yes, thank you Seulgi."

     The pair entered the room, but that was as far as their interaction had gone.

     Mr. Kim, the art teacher, stepped in and abruptly began his class introduction. It was short and to the point, the art kids that had made it this far had known him for years. He jokingly reminded everyone to just call him Heechul. The first task he assigned was a simple shading exercise.

     Wendy struggled to sketch out the circle needed for the sphere exercise. Some times she would end up with wobbly spirals and other times they were odd potato- like ellipses. From what she could tell, her last year was going to go great.

     Heechul had noticed that his new charge was struggling. He had been notified of her situation. It was a pity that the girl had to take such an advanced class with no prior experience. As a teacher, he wanted all of his students to succeed. He sent out one of his favorites over to help her, discreetly of course; the girl seemed to be a bit introverted. He doubted that bringing lots of attention to her would make the girl feel comfortable in his class.

     Seulgi gathered her things and plopped right next to the 'door girl,' her mind noted. She looked down at the girl's sketchbook, trying to figure out why she was drawing lumpy ovals. The bear figured that the girl probably wasn't doing it on purpose. Seulgi didn't want to offend the girl's art skill, so she started off with, "hey, if you don't me asking; are you new?" 

      Wendy jumped, she hadn't noticed the other girl sit next to her. "Yeah, is it that easy to tell? I didn't really choose this class myself." 

      At the girl's distressed countenance, Seulgi panicked. "No! No, it's not that, well it kind of is but," The other chuckled, the taller of the two was struck by how light the sound was. If she could hear colors, she'd swear that this girl's laugh would be her favorite shade of golden yellow. Seulgi cleared , "what I meant to say was; would you like some help?"

"I would really appreciate some actually. Thank you."

"Ok so, um, sorry but I didn't get your name." Seulgi felt compelled to ask.

     The shorter girl blushed. "My name is Wendy."

"Okay Wendy, first you hold your pencil like this." 

     The hamster followed along easily enough. A charismatic look crossed Seulgi's face we she was in her element, making it rather hard to focus even on a simple task like holding the utensil properly.

"Then you lightly apply pressure and arch you hand in a fluid motion like this."

     Wendy tried but her lines were much darker than Seulgi's and the grip she had was uncomfortable. The taller girl leaned over and blanketed the other's hand in hers. "No, lighten up a little." Seulgi guided Wendy's hand in gentle arches, turning the paper beneath them, slowly forming a circle.

     The outline was ready, but Wendy had no clue on how to shade it. She looked at the other girl's page. That sphere looked real, practically jumping of the page. She sighed, maybe she could just drop out and move to Mexico. She could live as a beach bum. The idea was looking better by the minute.

     Seulgi noticed that Wendy was still blankly looking at her paper. She held the girl's hand again, guiding her. "Start off light and layer in a crescent shape, don't smudge the graphite. If you make it too dark on one layer just add more farther below it."

     Wendy seemed to have the hang of it. The girl's face was scrunched in concentration, it was actually adorable. Seulgi felt the need to capture this moment. She turned to a blank page in her own book and started to sketch. Each and every contour of Wendy's face was drawn with immense care. Shadows were added, providing depth, making it look as if the girl on her page was real. The best part was that her model was real, right in front of her. Seulgi felt a rush of realization, this girl that she had just met inspired her in such a vivid and moving way. The epiphany had settled in her very soul; this girl would be her muse.

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First chapter done. The idea for this had changed quite a few times before I settled on this. If you can't tell; I'm an art nerd. So far this is unedited so I hope there aren't too many errors. This might be a long story, it just depends on how my life goes. Parts of these characters are insights of myself, to be honest.