After the day’s constant clatter and bustle, the silence of the empty classroom had an eerie quality. Jim stared vacantly at the crooked desks and untucked chairs. He slowly wandered the classroom tidying the desks and picking up any unloved stationery. He noticed a red pencil on the floor and was about to put it in one of the colouring tubs when a compulsion to draw overwhelmed him. He took the tub to his desk and began layering on a blank sheet of cartridge paper. In moments he had the red hair, the cheekbones, small nose and wide smile on paper. He shaded the pale skin colour in bright apricot and used night sky blue on her eyes. Jim became so entranced that he didn’t hear the footsteps approach from behind.
“What’s that?”
Jim dropped the pencil and covered the picture instinctively with his forearms. “Just a drawing. Have you forgotten something, Angus?”
The boy cocked his head to one side, “Was that a girl?” His eyes grew double in size. “Is she your girlfriend?”
“It’s just a drawing.”
“Can I see it then, if it’s just a drawing?”
Damn little smart arse. Jim smiled politely, “Maybe when it’s finished. What are you doing back here?”
The boy stared at the hidden drawing beneath Jim’s arms undeterred.
“Who is she?”
Jim tried to put on a stern face, “No one. What do you want?”
Angus saw through the act. His questioning continued unabated, “Do you love her?”
“Why are you here, Angus?”
“Is she why you’ve been so grumpy lately?”
“I haven’t been grumpy.”
Angus threw out his palm, doing his best talk to the hand impression. “Whatever. You yelled today.”
“I yell all the time.”
“Yeah, but not proper, and you said we were terrible.”
“I didn’t say that.”
“No, but you meant it. You shouldn’t yell so much.”
“I said you lot were being apathetic, that doesn’t mean terrible, it means uncaring. If you were listening…”
“Whatever. Does she know you like her?”
“Who?” Jim rubbed his eyes wearily. Stupid pesky kid.
“The girl in the picture. She’s really pretty.”
“It’s just a drawing.”
“It’s pretty good though, Mr Murphy. You should be an artist or something.”
Jim shrugged, “Maybe one day. For now, I’m teaching you. When would I have the time?”
“Now who’s being apa-whatsies?”
“Apathetic.”
“Apathetic,” the boy smiled, obviously pleased with himself. “Is that why she won’t go out with you?”
Jim slammed his palm on the desk in frustration and the boy flinched taking a step back. “Angus O’Brian, why are you here?”
“I missed my bus.”
“Did you go to the office?”
“I was going to, but then I remembered I left my diary in my desk.” The boy tiptoed away theatrically, slowly retrieving the book from his desk before letting his desk lid slam shut of its own accord.
Jim’s eyes flicked down to the picture then back to the boy. “Got your diary?” Jim asked.
Angus nodded, “Mr Murphy, you should teach us how to draw like you.”
Jim raised his eyebrows, “It would take forever.”
“Still, I wish I could draw like that. She looks almost real, like a photo. She’s really pretty.”
Jim stood up and walked towards the door ushering the child out, “I guess so. I’ll tell you what, we’ll have a go at sketching this week. I’ll show you a few tricks.”
The boy nodded, “Okay, cool. Can we draw her?”
“She might be just for me. There are plenty of other people you can draw.”
The boy thought about the moment and shrugged, “I guess so; I’ll leave her to you. Does she know you like her?”
“Angus,” he warned.
“She might like you too. Then you would be less grumpy.”
“I’m not…”
“I’m just saying, if you’re happy, then we’re all happy. Is she really that pretty?”
“Prettier,” Jim admitted.
“Are you scared?”
“When you get to my age, you realise girls are nothing to be scared of,” Jim lied pointing at the door.
Angus thought for a moment, “You’ll be alright, Mr Murphy. See you tomorrow.” Then he was off. Jim was quick to lock the door behind him.
Bloody kids, it was bad enough that they acted like experts on everything, it was even worse when they were right. He went to his desk drawer and picked out his mobile. Looking at his drawing of Hels, he dialled her number.