PLOT

[keladry mindé]

Staring at the Blank Page Before You


I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined, I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned,
Staring at the blank page before you, Open up the dirty window, Let the sun illuminate the words that you could
not find, Reaching for something in the distance, So close you can almost taste it, Release your inhibitions, Feel the
rain on your skin, No one else can feel it for you, Only you can let it in, No one else, no one else, Can speak the words
on your lips, Drench yourself in words unspoken, Live your life with arms wide open, Today is where your book begins,
The rest is still unwritten

Kel opened the door to the small, paint stained art studio and started getting ready straight away. She found a large piece of thick, white cardboard in a cabinet and used a metal clip to attatch it to an old, paint-splattered easel. Placing her wooden painting box on a small table, she began to take out the things she would need. When she had finished she'd neatly laid out a series of paintbrushes in different sizes, black, white, red, yellow and blue paint tubes, a palate, a pencil and a water bottle, which she took a swig of and then emptied into a deep, plastic jug.

She stared at the big, white space in front of her. Usually blank canvasses made her excited, but this was different. This was one of he first paintings she was going to send to her brother Daniel who was currently residing at Yale. He deserved to own the first (and finest) artworks she'd ever make at Milestone, well it was because of him that she was here. With the thought of her beloved brother in mind, she was suddenly itching to paint. Tying her long hair back, she go to work

Using a couple of photographs as reference, Kel began to pencil sketch the outline's of some trees she had seen in the park earlier that day. Once she had the basic outline it came to the time for painting. Mixing colours was probably one of the messiest parts of painting, so Kel took an old apron, which she believed may have once been red, from a peg on the door, hooked it over her neck and tied it round her waiste.

After completing the tricking task of mixing, Kel put paintbrush to paper and began to paint. Even though she took casual glances at her photographs, she was constantly closing her eyes, trying to remember the details her camera hadn't picked up.

Taking a step back, the budding artist admired her half finished work. Kel stood there for a bit, wondering what to do next, but was suddenly knocked from her art-fueled daze by the loud sound of a door handle turning and a person entering the small studio.

[kate sullivan]

Kate was bored. Like, bored bored. She'd already tried running her contemporary routine nearly a dozen times. That'd taken about twenty minutes, but she'd stopped caring on about the second run through. Then came the stretching, the painful, monotonous stretching. Sure, given the pain it'd caused her, she probably needed it, but it was just too boring.

In a restless move, she'd snatched up her bag, yanked her iPod from the dock in the studio, and when on a run through the halls. Feeling the wind whip her face, hair flowing behind her haphazardly, Kate, for the first time that evening, felt at peace, even if a little bit. It was in this restless stage she found herself in the theatre, and after having run up and down the isles a couple of times, found herself face to face with the theatre manager. He was not pleased- and Kate was sent from the Theatre, once again bored.

Back into her dorm she went, but found it empty- her roommate obviously had better things to do with her life than sit in a dorm. Flinging herself on her bed, she cast her mind back to her childhood, and the hours she had spent painting in Kindergarten. It’d been fun, she recalled, looking at something and representing it on paper in vivid colours- maybe that could work. She looked up at the clock, it was only 3.15, she still had hours to fill until dinner, and clearly dancing wasn’t going to do it…

As she left her dorm and started walking down the drafty corridors, Kate was greeted with the sudden realisation of just how cold it was today. True, it wasn’t snowing- but it was only a matter of time. Wrapping her coat tighter around herself, she folded her arms and began to walk faster. Clearly the icy weather had slipped her mind while running through the corridors like a mad-woman. Here- the art room. In the cold she didn’t bother to consider whether someone was inside, simply that it had to be warmer than out there. She turned the handle and opened the door to see-

Kel somebody, second year, standing in front of a painting. A good painting at that. Kate’s heart sank- of course there would be somebody more artistically talented in here already. Frankly, why was she even bothering? It wasn’t as though her painting would be any good- especially compared to the rest of the school. As Kel stared, Kate rolled her eyes and said impatiently, ‘Jeez- what are you looking at?’ She took a couple of bold steps into the room, eying the younger girl with disdain. Not taking her eyes of the girl, Kate grabbed the only thing she could lay her hands on, a piece of A3 paper. Shoving the painting to the back of her mind, Kate focused on the only thing our of whack with the girl- her grubby apron. ‘Nice apron, by the way.’

[keladry mindé]

Staring at the Blank Page Before You


I am unwritten, can't read my mind, I'm undefined, I'm just beginning, the pen's in my hand, ending unplanned,
Staring at the blank page before you, Open up the dirty window, Let the sun illuminate the words that you could
not find, Reaching for something in the distance, So close you can almost taste it, Release your inhibitions, Feel the
rain on your skin, No one else can feel it for you, Only you can let it in, No one else, no one else, Can speak the words
on your lips, Drench yourself in words unspoken, Live your life with arms wide open, Today is where your book begins,
The rest is still unwritten

Kate Sullivan, what was she doing here? Kel stood there, staring, Kate was a dancer, a very good one too, why would she want to come into this humble art studio? Obviously she noticed Kel's unmoving gaze, because suddenly she'd spat a sentence out.

‘Jeez- what are you looking at?’

Staring down at her paint splattered, supermarket-brand shoes, Kel mumbled something under her breath. From the corner of her eye she saw Kate march across the room, her eye's never leaving Kel, and grab a piece of A3 paper. 'No' Kel silently moaned, Please, please don't stay,' her blissful afternoon of painting was turning to mud with every step the other girl took towards the other easel.

Rumours flew through Milestone like wildfire, and even though Kel had only been at the school or six months, Kate's story was still some of the hot gossip. Apparently she'd disowned her parents after they'd not let her continue dancing, people had done risky thing to get into this school, but never anything as drastic as that. But it wasn't only Kate's story that was on everyone's lips, it was her attitude, apparently she was notorious for using people and had a bad habit of bullying first years.

'Nice apron, by the way'

In a sudden burst of emotional anger, Kel found herself talking, "I wouldn't get too cocky" she motioned to her palate, "I've got paint in here, so if you value your clothes, I'd put one of these nice aprons on as well,"

[kate sullivan]

Kate spat out the last comment, all boredom forgotten, and sat down at one of the easels. She picked up a pencil, and let it hover over the paper for a fraction of a second- in truth, she couldn’t draw to save her life, and was currently pissed off that someone had intruded in her private ‘drawing’ time. She mentally shrugged, and drew a long line down the paper, mirroring the line of the windows. It was probably best just to ignore the other girl, and, in an odd move for Kate, figured it was too close to Christmas to be mean. Honestly. She stared out the window, her head tilted slightly to left, blurring and focusing her vision. As she stared, a harsh voice cut through her peace, throwing her off balance. ‘I wouldn’t get too cocky.’ Kate’s head snapped up, locking eyes with the younger girl. Kel motioned to her palate. ‘I’ve got paint here, so if you value your clothes, I’d put one of these nice aprons on as well.’

All previous sentiments of Christmas peace vanished and Kate eyed Kel with disgust. ’You wouldn’t dare’ Kate stood up, letting the pencil fall to the floor with a clatter. In a swift movement her coat was in her arm, her eyes never leaving Kel. Whatever happened next- that coat was her favourite piece of clothing- well, winter clothing, and she wouldn’t let that coat to be covered in paint.

But no, she wouldn’t let this girl dictate her wardrobe- she wasn’t worth it. Kate’s mind was flying a million miles a second, figuring her options. Engage this girl in… whatever she was planning. Odds are it involved paint- which she wasn’t too keen on. That was bound to have consequences, besides that her clothes would be ruined and she really couldn’t afford to buy any new ones at the moment- not that she’d let Kel know, of course. With hate flowing through her, Kate changed her tact- it was the best way, that she knew. She gritted her teeth, offering the girl a smile. Take a deep breath, she tried to appear as friendly as possible ‘I’m so sorry- I’m just surprised to see you here- I was hoping for some peace. You’re Kel, right?’ That was probably far enough, Kate reasoned to herself, but, as she cast her eye out the window, she noticed the snowflakes beginning to fall from the sky. They floated down haphazardly, some reaching the ground, others piling up like icing sugar on the window sill. ’I love snow- don’t you?'

She would get Kel later.