Star by Eliza Witte - HTML preview

9

Mrs. Brix was in a pre-hysterical condition, ‘I tell you, if you keep falling asleep in my classes, I will… I will…,’ but she didn’t finish the sentence. Her glance lingered over Annie’s sketch of a dressed model on the tripod and she softened. It was again time for her to flaunt her impeccable behavior, professional attitude and moral superiority that had made her unpopular even among her colleagues-professors, ‘This is very, very good!

Look here everyone!’

Mrs. Brix turned the drawing so that everyone in the class could see it and continued her monologue, ‘That’s what I mean when I say I want a gradation of colors and unification of forms. This is an excellent example! Just superb!’

The bell rang. The students started to pack up and to head for the door, accompanied by Mrs. Brix’s complaints that actually she had not dismissed the class yet. Annie didn’t move from her chair. She stared incredulously at her drawing and in the end asked aloud,

‘Did I do that?’

Mrs. Brix squinted at her, ‘You are sleeping all the time and now that the time has run out you prefer to gaze on your own art and don’t want to go away. Thank God, I don’t think you such a great star yet to tolerate that but yes, you’ve got some talent. I’ll give you that.’

She said that with a face that could as well be used for a vinegar advertisement, but what was her surprise, when Annie smiled all of a sudden, stood up and proclaimed, ‘I’m dreaming, right?’

A guy bumped onto her from behind on his way out at this very moment startling her and making it clear that she was not dreaming. The students who had not left yet, giggled. Mrs. Brix was clearly left speechless by Annie’s last statement! What boldness!

And to leave Mrs. Brix speechless on any subject was a sheer artistry. It seemed that Annie also possessed this talent alongside with the talent for painting. Mrs. Brix gawked at the insolence of it all and forgot to shut her mouth even after she stormed out through the door.

In the next minutes, Annie was left alone in the room. She hesitated for a moment before she took the bag hanging on her chair. She was not sure whom it belonged to but as everybody had already left, she presumed that it should be hers. Anyway, she took it as an instinct rather than a conscious act, as all her mind was busy calculating what to do next. It was then that a dark-haired girl with beautiful blue eyes and mischievous smile popped up at the door.

‘Annie, let’s go! They have hamburgers in the canteen. Shall we have lunch together?’