Sunday, August 18, 2013

POPULAR by SUMMER DAY (chapter nine: artisans)


Chapter Nine
Artisans
    It all started in art class.
    Here’s what happened: 
    First of all, when Flynn entered the room I whispered to Hilary, “total cuteness.” Hilly agreed. Veronica and Tyler all nudged me and I was way happy that the only seat empty was the one beside Hilly.
   Ms Dash is always busy, in a hurry to make sure everyone is present or absent, not misbehaving, has an idea about what colleges or more importantly, what Art Colleges they’d be interested in attending). She really is the best-natured teacher at Sunrise, by far. (It’s not her fault that her boyfriend dumped her for the local realtor. That was horrible of him. Grown men can be so evil when they are only driven by selfish desires).
    Anyway, I’m choosing my paint brush and wondering if I should recommend highlights to Ms Dash, when I realize it’s time to update Flynn’s file. So far he’s just been included in my daily wrap up.
    Newsflash.
    I have Ethan to thank for my official matchmaking system.
    Of course, when he was web designing, he didn’t really think he was designing a matchmaking system, even though he’s very clever. He sorted out this technology and a web page for me to input all my information into (thinking I was just playing ‘a game’) but I changed some of the titles and used the system to generate what I term, ‘perfect matches’. You just put the  information of a person into the system along with the corresponding person’s information and whoala!
     I really think we could patent it but I’m not ready to go public. Sometimes my system generates other names that match and sometimes I just get a set of characteristics of a person’s perfect partner. Then I match up my two new B&Bs or D&Ds (that stands for Bachelor & Bachelorette or Desperate & Dateless).
   For example, Hilary (who is currently a D&D but is probably moving up to Bachelorette status) would probably not be an immediate match with… oh, let’s just call out Ethan as a random example.
    B&Bs are peeps who are often prepared to wait. D&Ds tend to be more than a little desperate. For example a B&B would definitely be new boy, Flynn Elton. A D&D would be peeps in need of… dating advice and clues – Ms Dash, for example.
   Right now, I’m drafting Flynn’s information into my laptop under my desk although Ms Dash thinks I’m working on our commercial art project. Ms Dash is so not into computers but I explained to her last year that she needed to incorporate new technology into art classes. I encouraged her to develop her foundation program. I’m so glad she took my advice because from the freshman art projects on display, everyone is benefitting.
   Of course, I’m a bit dismayed that my advice to teachers is often misinterpreted. I’m also dismayed students mess up in art class – they don’t take it seriously, especially the guys. Every hottie in school takes this class because they have access to a computer and most of them are addicted to research of a, let’s just say, more adult nature.
    I totally think some kids need to be saved from themselves.
    Take Flynn, for instance. He definitely takes risks where school rules are concerned. There is even talk he has a sideline business having his homework delivered to him, but I refuse to believe it. It’s so obvious Flynn is way too intellectual to need a homework service. Maybe he’s just busy; too busy to finish his homework. Either way, he has no idea how semi-perfect he and Hilly would be together. Even their star signs mesh well.  
    Once we chose our afternoon projects and Flynn chose to sit between me and Hilary, I realized he wanted to be closer to her. Sometimes the only difference between the dated and the dateless is mere proximity.
    “Yum,” I mouthed to Hilary as Flynn sat down. It would be totally uncool to let new boy see how many fans he has already though.
    Flynn is very sure of himself. This is obvious from the way he slouches and smiles, first at me, next at Hilary.
    I go into my laptop and tick that box: Image redesign.
    Ms Dash suddenly stops blabbing on and looks at me.
   “Honey Woodhouse, please explain the morning’s project.”
    Unshaken, I quickly flicked to my schedule which gave me the exact plans for the day.
    A few peeps yawned as I started, but that’s okay, I’m undeterred:   
    “This morning, Ms Dash, we are working on the portrait section of our syllabus: the medium to be used is either computer animation, old fashioned painting, or sketching or photography – your choice. But remember, your initial choice is important as it informs all aspects of the final product.”
   I heard that very annoying red haired boy. Rafe Martin, say under his breath, “Is that this week’s dating advice, Honey?” His little partner-in-crime friend, Trip, who’s a total wastrel, laughed. They hang out together in totally unco-ordinated clothes and geek on about computer science. Really? I know ‘the geeks shall inherit the earth’ but couldn’t they just be a little less resistant to those with better fashion sense before they do?
    I continued when I was rudely interrupted again, “As I was saying, the class may work in pairs or larger groups depending on numbers.”
   “Thank you, Honey. I’m glad you were paying attention,” Ms Dash said.
    Whatevvs. I sat down. That’s so like Ms Dash to cut me off before I’m finished but I wouldn’t want to keep on dishing out unwanted advice. That would just make me, dare I say it, dare I even type it – unpopular.