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I enter the animation room and let myself breathe for a moment. I took it last year too, and the teacher is super laid back. I log in and just start drawing. This is probably the only thing I missed.
"Nice to see you too Kiara."
"Sorry Miss Adwin."
"What are you working on?"
"Fan art."
"It looks good. What fandom?"
"The Marvel one. I'm working on this mix of Ghost Spider, Kid Arachnid, and the blue and black superheros."
"It looks amazing. I love the shading here."
"Thanks."
"You plan to turn anything into the contest this year?"
"Yeah actually." She beams.
"Wonderful. Which one?" I shrug, embarrassed.
"Probably the Comic Con."
"You'll win."
"No way. Have you seen some of the stuff they have?" She tsks as she straightens. "They're way better than mine!"
"You're trying this year. I'll take it." She goes over the introductory stuff, but those of us who were in her class last year get to sketch. I like this class, I can breathe in it. It's a nice break, sort of gentle. I finish my sketch, feeling satisfied. I love the post she's in, the traditional spiderman upside down pose, but with one leg croqueted up the web like you do in aerial silks and the way both feet are pointed give this feeling of elegance that in a moment she will move and breathe and dance.
Of course, she won't. She's just a multitude of colors on a screen, but I love her anyway. I send it to my phone and then to Thana who sends back an embarrassing amount of emoji's and compliments. I start on another, this time I make a Red Hood genderbend one. I'm only a smidge obsessed with how awesome he is.
Just a little. Whenever we walk out of the animation room I breathe in and out carefully.
I'm this close. One more class and I've done it. I walk down the halls, putting one foot in front of the other. I'm watching for traps, waiting. I let my guard down for one moment when I see a really cool frog stuck to the window. Then someone splashes water all over the front of my clothes. I glare, furious.
"Man, I was hoping the holy water would work!" Richard calls out to his ensemble of moronic pidgeons. I slam my fist into his face, tears in my eyes.
"You are just a piece of filth." He snorts.
"That's the best you got? Doubt it'll bruise." You know what, I don't even regret this. I bring my fist back and hit him upwards. He slams up a foot and falls hard. I walk away feet slamming.
I don't why that hurts me more than everything else. Maybe because water terrifies me. Maybe because it honestly had something to do with Christians. Who know. Who cares? It hurts. I enter my classroom, scrubbing furiously at my eyes. I'm the first one there.
"Nice to meet you Kiara. I'm Gerald, and I'm pretty sure we're the only two people here who get it." I look up at my teacher who's smiling so gently and offering me a towel. I can see faint stains on his clothes too-guess they got him.
"Thanks." I mutter. He's taller than I was expecting, I don't know why. He's black, and he has a buzzcut. He's really really fit which is cool but kinda weird for a teacher. He's in khaki's, a polo shirt that's a pale teal, and he has awesome looking glasses. "Yeah. I guess so."
"You know, there's not many people who could jump 10 feet." He notes, gesturing to a seat next to the window. In the front. So he can see when they're awful. But the window matters most. We're on the third floor, the smallest one. He's isolated from most of the place, and it's on purpose. I can see trees, the lake, and clouds.
"Thanks. You won't tell? About bugging Richard?"
"Your secret is safe with me."
"Thanks."
"You say that a lot."
"You kinda helped me a lot."
"Miss Adwin told me that you draw." I nod. "Could I see? Not now, but some point." I pause then nod again, flushing a little. "My name's Gerald. Gerald Harold, hilarious I know. He/Him."
"Kiara Park. She/They. I think." He laughs.
"Trust me, I think we've all been there. Goodness, I think I changed identities 6 times before realizing that I just love people in general."
"H-How do you identify? For now?"
"Bisexual." I nod with a smile.
"That's cool."
"Thanks. What about you?"
"I, uh, kinda don't know." He nods. "I just know guys are generally gross. No offense." He laughs.
"Well, I'm dating one but I have to agree, they are now and then." Other people start filing in and he tips his glasses to me like you might tip a hat. I don't know why that little gesture gives me so much hope but it does.
I got this.
We got this.