P1 Art | APRIL 1st

[Tomi-lovely]

Elric walked awkwardly into the classroom, which was slowly being filled with students. As he passed the threshold, there were immediate gawking stares coming left right and center. Elric pondered this for a second, and remembered his boots. He knew his first day was going to be a long one. He meekly walked to an empty desk at the far end of the room, next to the window, and sat down at it as he placed his bag on the desk in front of him. He sighed knowingly. 'Nothing changes..' he thought to himself as he rested his head in his palm. He wondered if anybody in this class would talk to him as he stared out the window next to him. It was a surprisingly nice day, quite warm, with a soft breeze that barely ruffled the leaves on the trees blowing in every now and again.

[Cupcake]

<sub>Alice had had to make a detour to the main office of Hanemaboroshi before making her way to room one for first period. She had been excited before, when she was in the dormitories with Edric, but now that she was alone, she was scared. As she passed through the threshold, she saw almost two dozen new faces scattered around the room. The classroom itself was filled with noise and laughter, and it grew louder as she squeezed herself through a few clumps of students. She tried to smile and nod politely at the older looking females she encountered, and shyed away when she received interested looks from the males of the class. She hadn't thought about the fact that she was a new student, a new foreign student at that. This meant some degree of attention, and she didn't like the thought of that. Luckily, as if God was listening in on her thoughts, Alice spotted the newly familiar face of Edric, sitting at a desk by himself, with his dark hair covering his eyes and huge boots on display. A smile spread between her cheeks as she bobbed over to him, throwing herself down into the chair beside him. She turned to him and giggled.

The rush and excitement of the new year was something Sayuri didn't give much thought to. This was her third year at Hanemaboroshi High School, although she was in Fourth Grade, so these kinds of things already felt old to her. Her first year, she had had little friends and kept to herself a lot, but in her second year she became vastly popular with her female classmates. She got along with the males too, but she had never experienced anything more than friendship. Sayuri hopped through the doorway into the bustling classroom with a neutral look on her face - her usual look. She had assumed she would be one of the later students to arrive, and her eyes confirmed that thought. There looked to be about twenty five or twenty six people in the room, so she indeed was one of the last. As she hopped between groups of students smiling and greeting past friends, she glanced over to the teacher's desk and saw that the teacher had not yet arrived. Sighing in relief, she plunked herself down at a nearby desk, behind two foreign-looking faces she hadn't seen before.</sub>

[Tomi-lovely]

Edric looked to his right slightly just as Alice sat down next to him. He looked back at her happily and giggled along with her.

"Alice! I was beginning to think you were not going to attend!" Edric said with a breath of relief. "The teacher hasn't arrived yet.. I wonder what's keeping him. Or her.. Do you know who teaches this class?.." Edric asked inquisitively as he turned himself to face her more.

He looked at Alice's smiling face and felt much less exposed. He knew as long as Alice was there he had nothing to worry about. Amidst the giggling and idle chatter, a girl had sat nonchalantly behind the two.

Edric turned to Alice and whispered softly. "Do you think we should talk to her?.. That girl behind us?.. She's sitting alone.."

[Cupcake]

_{"Hello again Edric." Alice replied as she greeted her new friend. She looked around the room and saw many pretty faces among the groups, and shivered a little as an innocent looking young girl sat behind the two. "I got caught up at the office, but I did overhear someone saying that the current flu had infected a couple of teachers. Perhaps it has infected out teacher." She wondered, turning her head a little to get a glimpse of the girl behind them. She was pale and delicate looking, perhaps half a foot shorter than herself. Her brunette hair was pretty and wavy, stretching a fair bit past her shoulders. Quickly, she returned her gaze to Edric and smiled. "She's pretty." Alice giggled, blushing a little. "I think we should talk to her." Although she was nervous to be around so many unfamiliar people, Alice wanted to make friends.}

[Tomi-lovely]

"My.. How dreadful.." Elric replied with a slight look of concern on his face. He wondered if the teacher really was sick. He was eager to meet the teacher who would be taking the class and did not want to have to wait.

"Regardless.. A replacement should have been appointed in the mean time.." Elric said with a tone of distaste in his voice as he trailed off.

He smiled and nodded at Alice gracefully. "She is.. and, I concur." He said as he giggled nervously. He took a deep breath and turned around slowly. He looked at the girl sitting behind them and said timidly;

"H-.. er.. Hello..!"

[Cupcake]

<sub>Alice hoped that their teacher would join them soon too, although understood why there was such a delay. "Well you know Edric, I guess Hanemaboroshi isn't the kind of school where finding replacement teachers is easy." She giggled. She knew for certain that there were very few teachers at Hanemaboroshi in the first place, so if they were to fall ill it would create much a nuisance. Alice turned around as Edric did to face the pretty girl behind them. She looked predominantly Japanese by her toned complexion, although Alice detected that her facial features and what seemed to be natural hair and eye colour contained some Western background. "Hi there, we're new to Hanemaboroshi. My name is Alice Cheveril, and this is my friend Edric Hoppe. Nice to meet you." Alice was amazed at herself for being able to string out an entire sentence to a stranger without shaking or stuttering. She'd never done that before. Perhaps it was the fact that she had Edric beside her, giving her confidence and reassurance without trying.

Sayuri had been listening in to the foreigners conversation without meaning when she noticed that started speaking about her. She thought it was nice of them to want to introduce themselves considering they were obviously knew to school, so she decided to put on her happy face and be polite as they turned around to greet her. "Oh. Hi, I'm Sayuri Naoko. Nice to meet you too." Sayuri replied, rather bluntly. She wasn't good with meeting new people, well actually she wasn't good with people in general in her opinion. She was popular among classmates for her wit, humor and outgoing personality, but she wasn't good at getting close or getting to know them. She looked down from the pretty blonde girl and handsome dark-haired boy to her fingers on the tabletop, sighing. "Where are you two from?" Sayuri asked, more friendly and smiling this time.</sub>

[Tomi-lovely]

Edric smiled politely at Sayuri as she was looking down at her fingers..

"I was born in London, and Alice was born in France." He said promptly as he smiled politely again at the Japanese girl.

"You seem quite popular.." Edric added. "I suppose you've been attending this school for a considerable amount of time..?" He inquired as he flicked his dark hair out of his eyes and looked sweetly at Alice.

He was trying his hardest to make conversation, he noticed the distance Sayuri was used to giving people and wondered if it would be any different with Alice and himself. In the back of his mind he still wondered desperately if a teacher would show up soon. He was itching to start his first lesson, but was more than contented with making a new friend.

[Cupcake]

<sub>Alice giggled awkwardly, happy that she had a friend who knew about where she came from. And hopefully, if she was lucky, her and Edric would have Sayuri as a friend too. "Naoko-san, where did you grow up?" She asked, politely. Alice wanted to get to know Sayuri, and she thought it was best to make the most of the time they had before their teacher showed up... Whenever that would be. The class looked full now, so she hoped their teacher would be here soon.

Sayuri wasn't expecting either of the new students to notice her somewhat popularity, but she felt her cheeks redden a tiny bit when the good-looking boy, Edric, suggested it. "Ah. Um. I've been here since second grade." Sayuri answered, stuttering a little. She didn't like speaking about her past at all - her childhood experiences weren't something she enjoyed sharing. "I grew up in Kyoto." That was all she said. Maybe, she'd tell the two that she moved in with her godmother and godsister, but that was as far as she would go. "So did you two know each other, or did you meet today? You seem pretty close." Sayuri asked, indiscreetly changing the subject from herself to them.</sub>

[Tomi-lovely]

Edric thought to himself that she seemed a bit distant. 'Perhaps she had a hard life, too...' he thought to himself as he smiled politely at Sayuri.

"Oh.. we just made friends with each other today, yes. We're both new here and we got along right away." Edric said with a sweet smile and joyful tone in his voice.

Edric wanted to know more about this girl, but restrained himself when tempted to use his telepathy.

"By the way.." Edric added. "Do you know who the teacher of this class is?.." he said as he looked around the room slowly.

[Ghost]

<sub>"That would be me!" The booming voice of an adult female rang through the room, as Haruna Narita passed through the threshold in her burgundy business suit and surveyed her class. Well, it wasn't really her class, but for now it was. "Good morning students, I apologize for the lateness, but as you may be aware, there's been an outbreak of swine flu in the area and many of the teachers have been infected and in quarantine." She continued, flicking her matching burgundy hair over her shoulder as she stood behind the extravagant wooden teacher's desk and leaned on it, winking to the students scurrying to find seats around the classroom.

"Of course, you guys have nothing to worry about. A new virus barrier has been put up around Hanemaboroshi for your safety." Haruna smiled, hearing both sighs of relief and disappointment come from the students around her. "Oh, my name is Haruna Narita. I'll be your art teacher until a permanent teacher is appointed. When they will be appointed, I have no clue. So you have to make do with me for now." Haruna paused, looking over the students again for any familiar faces. This would be her second year as a substitute teacher at Hanemaboroshi, so she knew a fair few of the students around the school. She recognized very few of the students in this class, one of the only ones being Sayuri Naoko, who was sitting in the second row behind two foreign-looking students. Then, suddenly, she remember something.

"Ah! Seating plan!" Haruna exclaimed, waiting for the familiar groans students made whenever they were placed with people they didn't exactly get along with. "Everyone, line up along the wall right of me."</sub>

[Tomi-lovely]

Edric's head swung around as the teacher entered boomingly. 'Finally!' he thought to himself, happy that there was finally a teacher, even if it wasn't their permanent one. He listened to what she said with a vacuous look on his face, and let out a disheartened sigh as he heard there would be a seating plan. He knew he wouldn't get along with many people and was utterly crushed at the fact he couldn't sit with his new-made friends. He moved to the back of the room with everybody else and waited in anticipation of seating assignment. 'Who knows? Maybe I'll get seated next to someone nice.." he thought wearily as he stood with his hands together in-front of him.

[Ghost]

<sub>Haruna smiled as the students lined up, all not looking forward to the seating arrangement for this trimester. "Okay, I'll be calling you out in alphabetical order and assigning your seat via this chart." The substitute instructed, pulling a red clipboard out of her black work folder. "And if you have any complaints as to where you are seated that are not health related, I don't care. This arrangement wasn't formed by me, so deal with it." She added, seriously. Haruna sat down at her desk and sighed, pulling the sheet off the clipboard she was given by the faculty head.

"When I call out your seat, please stand behind it. Now, who's first..." She read out the first few names, placing them in their allocated seats and watching as they walked towards them grudgingly. "Cheverill, Alice. 3A." As Haruna called out the next girls name, she looked over to the blonde girl named Alice who was moving to her seat. She was pretty, and she'd never seen her before. She guessed she was a transfer this year, and suddenly felt sorry for the lonely looking girl. Haruna looked back to her paper and continued calling out names. "Hoppe, Edric. 3B." This boy also looked like a transfer, only he had dark messy hair that covered half of his face. "Naoko, Sayuri. 4A." Haruna liked Sayuri. She seemed popular with her year, but wasn't one of those annoying stuck-up girls who thought they owned the place. She mainly kept to herself and did what she was asked.

Eventually, the list had been read through and Haruna was up to the last name. "Yamane, Aya. 4B." She was glad that was over with. All of the students were now lined up at their seats, some looking gleefull, but many not. "Good morning, class!" And that was their signal to take a seat.</sub>

[Cupcake]

<sub>Alice, Edric and Sayuri had walked over to the wall quickly when their teacher came in, announcing a seating plan. Minutes later, Alice's name was announced and she walked very self consciously to the desk that had been allocated to her. It was a pretty decent seat. It was in the middle of the classroom, although a window seat, which she liked. She stood behind it, nervously awaiting for the person assigned to be next to her to join her. Seconds later, Edric's name was announced, and to her luck, he was placed directly next to her! Perhaps whoever had organized the seating arrangement, had known that Edric and herself would be friends. But surely, that was impossible... Then again, Hanemaboroshi was pretty much the definition of 'impossible'.

Sayuri had followed Alice and Edric, the two new foreign students, to the wall where they awaited for their arrangements to be announced. Conveniently, Sayuri had been seated behind Alice and Edric, and next to a girl called Aya. She was indifferent with the plan. She didn't really speak all that much in class anyway so it didn't bother her who she sat next to. Sayuri walked over to her seat slowly, and say down as soon as Narita-Sensei said good morning.</sub>

[Tomi-lovely]

Edric felt a wave of relief wash over him as he heard his name and the words '3B'. He was seated next to Alice. He walked quite quickly over to the desk, un-phased with opinions of him that may be circulating. He smiled in a relieved way at Alice and looked down at the floor. He heard Sayuri's name, called, and turned around to see where she was going to be seated. To his and Alice's luck, she was going seated right behind them, as it was before the teacher had arrived. The unlikely had happened right then and there, and Edric couldn't help but notice how much of a coincidence it was to have it happen almost immediately after he hoped for it. 'Must have accidentally had a premonition and not realized..' Edric thought to himself as Sayuri stood behind her allotted desk. A last name was called, and she was assigned the desk next to Sayuri. Edric gave her a shy smile and took his seat as the teacher instructed.

[Ghost]

<sub>Haruna sighed and put the seating list back in it's clipboard. She opened the black folder that had also been given to her by the faculty head and flipped to the third or fourth page. The subject they would be studying this semester would be 'International Contemporary Art', so the students should be pleased. It was a fairly easy topic to study, the students would have no problem passing their assingments if they got the choice of focussing on whatever country's art they want.

"So I've been advised that this semester, you'll be studying 'International Contemporary Art', which as you should all know, means the study of modern art worldwide." Haruna paused, waiting for the response of the students, "The main focus of this study is on European, Asian and American art types of this time period. You'll have an assignment towards the end of this semester on a chosen continent's contemporary art, which of course, will be decided by you. I haven't recieved the details of the assignment yet, but I do know it will involve both a practical and theory work." She continued explaining, getting bored with her own conversation. "Anyway, enough of that. This lesson, as it is your first for the year, I'd like you to fill in a questionaire about your interests and influences. It will help you when it comes to creating a body of work, later on." Haruna finished, smiling. She took out a large lump of white sheets from the folder and handed a pile to each of the desks in the front row, indicating for the students to 'take one, pass it back'.</sub>