***
"Wow, there are so many people!" Julie exclaimed as she looked around in anticipation. "Want to check out your class first?"
"Sure, it's just up this hall, I think," I replied, pointing to our left. "It shouldn't be that hard to find." We stopped in front of two large sliding doors. I instantly knew this was it; I could smell the paint thinner and oil paints; I could almost feel the electricity of creativity emanating from the other side of the doors. I was totally unsure of my move to the city or starting college, but if there was one thing I was certain of, it would be my love for art. We stepped through the doors.
"Wow, nice classroom, Ave," she said, looking around at the murals painted on the walls and ceiling by previous students. One side of the room was lined with shelves that stored the art supplies and the other side were all the benches, tables, and easels for the students to work on. The windows connected to a set of old French doors that looked out onto a beautiful garden balcony. It was the perfect class to motivate young artists. Just then, I felt someone breeze in through the doorway next to us, bumping the books out of my hands.
"Hey! Why don’t you watch where you’re going?” I cried, bending down to pick up my books. I looked up and saw a petite, strawberry blonde girl in a floral sun dress and tall, brown suede boots. She turned to glare at me with striking blue eyes filled with malice.
"Well, don't stand in busy doorways," the girl snapped back. She was pretty, in an obvious sort of way, but she had a set look to her face like it was permanently stuck on angry. God, I hoped she wasn’t in my class.
"Sorry," I cowardly muttered under my breath. I didn’t want to cause any trouble on my first day. I looked at Julie who was giving the girl her best stink-eye.
"Jules don't," I whispered. She always had a problem with keeping herself from telling people what they deserved to hear. Sometimes it was a good thing and other times it was not so good. This would be one of those not so good times.
"Well, that was rude! You shouldn't be saying you’re sorry, she should be!" And with that, she marched over to the girl.
"Excuse me?" she said, tapping the other girl on the shoulder. The girl turned and scowled at Julie as if she were the dirt under her fancy shoes. "I think you owe my friend an apology."
The girl cocked an eyebrow and appeared to find this funny. "I'm sorry, who are you?" She laughed then.
"Julie Ryan. She's Avery Quinn," she added as she pointed at me with her thumb.
"Okay, Julie, how about you leave and go to whatever pathetic class you're enrolled in and leave your friend here to be a big girl," suggested the nasty blonde with a bitchy tone and a snap of her fingers.
"Are you in this class?" I asked over Julie’s shoulder, with a bit more confidence than I had before.
"Yes, of course, I am,” the girl replied as she flipped her hair back and stuck her nose in the air. “Not like I need to be, though, I could be working at a gallery right now if I wanted to."
"Then why aren’t you?" I asked. I’d already begun to despise her.
"Because I feel that it’s important to get an education to back up my natural talent." Wow, she really was something else. Julie looked at me with wide eyes and raised eyebrows as if to say 'can you believe this chick'? I laughed in agreement.
"You think it’s funny?" the girl snapped. "If you don't take this class seriously then you shouldn't be here. Actually, I like the sound of that." She turned away and walked over to a small group of people standing on the balcony. I was speechless. I hoped she was just having a bad day, I couldn’t imagine having to share a classroom with her for the next three years.
"Come on, Avery, let’s go," said Julie, motioning me out of the studio with a hand on my back. "Good luck with that self-important bitch," she added.
I decided I’d just sit as far away from her as I could. There’d be about forty or fifty people in this class, I could avoid her if I wanted to.
On our way back home, we ran into the cute guy from the coffee shop. He struggled with a mountain of books and looked like he was about to lose the battle. Julie ran over and caught them just in time.
"Hey thanks," he said as he started to reassemble the books back into a manageable pile. "You're the girls who moved in upstairs, right?"
"No problem, and yeah, we are. I'm Julie and she's Avery. How many classes are you taking?"
He smiled shyly at her. "Oh, these aren’t all school books. Some are for casual reading," he sighed nervously. “Lame, I know,” he added, "Will, by the way."
We stayed for a bit, talking on the sidewalk, continuing our introductions. Will said he was taking Creative Writing and Literature. That really perked up Julie’s interest. She was taking World History and World Mythology. Will was pleasantly surprised at both Jules’ and my areas of study.
"Well, guess we're a bunch of art geeks then." Will laughed awkwardly. I couldn’t tell if he was nervous around girls or if he was just like this all the time.
We ended up hanging out for a while longer. Since we really enjoyed each other’s company, we invited Will to our place that evening. He accepted before he continued on his way, saying he couldn’t wait to see us tonight. I caught a shy smile from him directed toward Julie before he turned away.
CHAPTER FIVE
LOVE HATE