Luca & Renée

[Luca D'Amico]

Luca had stayed in the art room long after the dismissal bell. His last period class was in that room and he had barely noticed the bell even ring and the other students leaving. The teacher had allowed him to stay in there alone while he went to a teacher meeting in their lounge.

He was busy sketching away with the darkest graphite pencil he could find from his set. In one of his ears, he had a headphone plugged in, humming a tune from A Perfect Circle. He, himself was mouthing the words as he couldn't sing to save his life. He'd rather burn at the steak than sing.

Luca pushed his bangs out of his eyes, straightened his back up and then went back to his slouched position. He was working on a drawing for history class. It was a zombie that was getting shot in the neck, but it had a bigger meaning than just showing off his art skills. He still had yet to add the Star of David to it's shirt symbolizing the Genocide and annihilation of the Jews during the Holocaust and how they were just test subjects and empty corpses awaiting their deaths.

Almost all of his drawings consisted of pictures that people thought were cool, but he knew the real meanings behind them. His pencil had rolled from the table and dropped by his feet. He reached down to get it and frowned at the broken tip. "Are you shittin' me?" He muttered to himself and pulled out his pencil sharpener.

[renee]

{ www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=71394343 }

'And you're sure it isn't a problem?'
'No, go ahead'
'Thankyou Mr.Windsor, thankyou!'

Renée practically skipped down the hallway towards the art room, her ink bottles clinking together cheerfully in her small leather satchel. It had looked like she wouldn't get any time to work on her butterflies today, well, that was until she ran into her art teacher. It didn't take much persuading, as he was rushing to a meeting of some sort. Renée managed to get herself some time in the classroom to paint.

Expecting to be alone in the room Renée was startled to see another person in there when she entered. After all, Mr Windsor hadn't mentioned there would be another student. Was he even meant to be in here? And what was he drawing, without saying a word Renée marched forwards to stand behind the boy.

'Hello', she said, sharply, staring at the boys art over his shoulder, it really wasn't to her taste, 'Can I ask what you are doing here?', she added, more than a little annoyed.

[Luca D'Amico]

Just as he had begun back on his drawing, the classroom door was opening and a pretty blonde girl had entered. Luca shifted his eyes from the paper in front of him to the stranger who just made her way over like she had known him for years. Now that she was practically standing behind him, he could feel his hands starting to get clammy. He hated when people watched him create over his shoulder, and that's exactly what she was doing.

"I'm working on something." He grunted and protectively shielded his drawing with his arm. "Which is what I'm going to assume you're doin' too?" Luca rested his temple on his fist as he turned to look at her. He'd never seen her before and was unfamiliar with her accent. No one around here had a funny way of speaking that he had actually met. Most of them just sounded like they should belong in some kind of Mafia movie or something - or at least he thought.

"So.. am I right?" Luca asked as he raised his eyebrows.

[renee]

'Well, yes, of course I am here to work on something', Renée replied, though she didn't move from behind him to go and set up her things elsewhere. The fact that there was someone else here had completely thrown her off, she wasn't expecting it and she hated last minute changes.

'What is this, what are you working on', she asked, trying to sound more curious than angry, but it wasn't coming across all too well, 'It this a project for art class, because it does not look like one', again she wasn't trying to sound rude, but with her accent her words just came out sharp.

[Luca D'Amico]

Who was this girl and why was she interrogating him like he had just killed someone? He thought for a moment that maybe she was genuinely interested in what he was working on.. she was in the art room for a reason, it's not like you practiced the tuba or ballet in here after school. Luca pursed his lips before he answered her.

He hesitantly uncovered the drawing and looked at this oddly inquisitive girl. "It's something for my history class, actually. We're covering the Holocaust." He leaned his shoulder out of the was in case she wanted to take a gander at it. "What about you? Pencil? Paint? Clay? What are you all about?"

[renee]

'Oh, alright then', Renée replied, pleased to have a reasonable answer. After taking one last look at the drawing she walked over to a table and put down her bag.

'Im working on some coloured ink paintings for art class', she replied, before vanishing off into the stock room to retrieve her painting, which she had left after her last lesson.

'See?', she flashed him the canvas and then placed it gently down on the table, 'It is a project all about where you come from, things that remind you of that place', she explained not caring whether he wanted to listen, 'So I am painting butterflies that you can find in France, my home country. Oh, my name is Renée by the way, and yours?', she glanced up at the boy quizzically.

[Luca D'Amico]

"Colored ink?" Luca asked as he remained put in his seat. He was secretly very intrigued by her choice in medium and was finding himself growing curious of her own skill. As she vanished into the other room, he returned to his drawing but was only able to get not even half an inch colored in before she had returned to her table.

Luca was able to catch just a glimpse of her painting before she had placed it on the table which was out of his sight from where he sat. She carried on about what the project was for and where she had gotten the idea from and what it meant to her, and he was listening, he was just lost in his own thoughts at the same time.

He had made a quick decision to get up and return the gesture of shoulder lurking. Instead of standing behind her, he went to her side, almost too close for comfort, and rested one hand on the table and the other on his hip. Luca gazed at the bright colors and let a faint smile shape onto his lips. He had to admit, she had talent. "France, hm? That's not something you see every day." He said as he tilted his head to look at her, then back her work. After a short moment, he replied with a sweeter tone than what he had been using. "Uhh, Luca. Just.. Luca."

He paused and hadn't said anything for a moment, which was kind of a regular thing for him as he wasn't much of a sociable type of guy. But she sparked his interest and that was a rarity from the kids at this school with all of their drama and teen pregnancies and he was almost certain of a STD epidemic. Maybe it was because she wasn't around here, much like him, or that she didn't seem very impressed by him or his own work.. Luca wasn't sure, but he wanted to know more. "So.. Renée. What brings you all the way to little ol' New York?" He asked this and sat on the table with his feet in a spare chair.

[renee]

Renée had simply carried on with her work when Luca came over to observe, she wasn't going to let him distract her from her work. After all, she really needed to get this done, art was only one of her classes, and she had a ton of other work. At the mention of his name she glanced up and studied his face, Luca, it suited him.

When he questioned why she was here she put down her paintbrush and looked up at him and let out a little sigh, as if he'd annoyed her. Which he had a little bit, but then, everyone annoyed Renée to begin with.
'Both my parents are novelists, they wanted to make it big in America, so we moved over when I was seven. My mother is still very famous for her romance novels, my father, well, he moved back to France years ago', she told him, picking up her paintbrush and dipping it in to some orange ink, 'I think he's still writing, but it all non-fiction, boring', she added with a little smile.

[Luca D'Amico]

He listened and fiddled with his thumbs as she talked. Her accent was fun to listen to and her story was actually pretty interesting. He didn't even pick up on the chance that maybe he was annoying her by being so quizzical. Luca watched as she continued on with her work. He, personally, hated being watched while he was in the creative process but he liked watching other people. It gave him the muse he needed to try new techniques and styles that he wouldn't normally venture into.

"Mm, yeah, fiction is where it's at, for sure." He smiled and stood up from the desk without saying anything else. Luca returned to his spot and began to pack up his supplies. It was almost 3:30 and he had forgotten he had to pick up his aunt from work today. Before leaving, he wrote his number down on a small piece of paper, folded it into a little origami butterfly and returned to Renée's side. "I've actually gotta run. It was cool meeting you though." He said, discreetly placing the folded paper butterfly by her canvas and stepping back.

He headed for the door and stopped to awkwardly turn around. He rested his palm and torso against the metal frame, "You have a really awesome talent." Luca ran his hand through the back of his hair like he usually did when he was nervous. "Seriously." He finished with a smile and then headed down the hall for the parking lot.