008

I got carried away.

I shouldn't have taken Sophia's comment seriously. Due to my high self-esteem taking over my common sense, I ended up accepting her challenge.

"Once you're done, just gather at the front. I'll be in the office if you need anything."

"Alright, Miss," the class chimed in unison.

I twisted my pencil's tip, making sure all my weapons were sharp before applying their colors onto the drawing book. I took out a ruler, measured one centimeter from the edge to the other side of the drawing book, then drew the border line.

Alright, now let's think about what I should draw.

Although the teacher told us to draw freely, in reality, it's harder than drawing with a predetermined theme. I could just draw mountain landscapes, traditional houses, and rice paddies. Plus, I learned about perspective in middle school. I was confident that even with a casual drawing, I would get an average score.

Drawing landscapes was a shortcut to avoid getting a low score. However, at the same time, it would be hard to get a high score. Based on experience, drawings like that never reached a ninety-point score. In other words, there's no guarantee that I would surpass Sophia. After all, our little protagonist is a Mary Sue figure in her novel. It wouldn't be strange if Sophia magically got a perfect score.

Maybe I should search for inspiration first.

The enjoyable thing about art practice is that there's no prohibition against walking around the class and checking out other people's work. So, I went to Mika's desk.

Mika seemed to know what she wanted to draw. It turns out she's quite skilled at drawing. Her sketches clearly resembled the figure of Pinocchio. Not just one, she drew three Pinocchios holding hands. There's a mustached Pinocchio, a long-haired female Pinocchio, and a small Pinocchio in the middle.

Okay, don't just guess randomly. It could be that Mika didn't intend to draw Pinocchio, but that's how she draws people's noses.

"Mika, what are you drawing?"

"Pinocchio."

Well, turns out it really is Pinocchio!

"Oh, Pinocchio's family. They look very happy, don't they?"

"Happy?"

"Oops, did I say something wrong?"

Mika pouted. "They're not happy at all."

They're holding hands and each one is smiling. Dressed neatly, wearing suits and dresses. From here, it can be concluded that Mika drew them as a wealthy family. As far as I know, wealth is a source of happiness, and happiness brings smiles. So, where did I go wrong?

"If that's the case, then you should have drawn their faces sad."

"You really don't understand art." Mika seemed even more irritated. "You better continue drawing! You're in a bet with Sophia, aren't you?"

"How did you know...?" Suddenly my head turned towards Sophia. "You blabbermouth!"

"Better than you, knows nothing about art!"

***

Damn it, I wasted my time dealing with that mischievous kid's argument.

With the remaining time, it wouldn't be enough to draw a mountain landscape. I wouldn't have time to color everything. In other words, I needed to create something that didn't require coloring the entire canvas.

Like ... cross-hatching, perhaps?

Oh no, that's a bad idea. Creating a cross-hatched painting requires sensitivity to lighting. It's not possible for an elementary school kid without an art background to paint cross-hatching. That would be a reckless gamble. I could end up being suspected again, just like when I was working on the math problems.

Let's think of another way.

I managed to catch a glimpse of Sophia's sketchbook. It seemed she was drawing a river and a bridge. More precisely, she took her viewpoint downstream, at the river where we used to wash our clothes. Honestly, her sketch was good. I couldn't wait to see how it would turn out after she refined the lines and added color.

Seeing Mika drawing the Pinocchio family and Sophia with her river scene, I felt a bit left behind, a bit slow as the only adult in this circle of friends.

The advantage of Mika drawing Pinocchio was that she didn't need to depict a background. As for Sophia, I thought it wasn't really about how she managed her time. It could be said that she remembered the scene from that day accurately, allowing her to freely draw from her still-sharp imagination.

Should I draw a non-background object like Mika, or a landscape portrait like Sophia?

No.

I just had to draw as I normally do in the real world. This isn't about maintaining the balance of the "Sophia's Story" world anymore. Besides, the current scenario isn't part of any flashback scenes in the novel. Right here, right now, I'm in a bet. There's no time for hesitation. I can and should exert my adult traits.

Then, I began to draw.

***

I was called to the teacher's office.

More or less, I knew why. No doubt, it was about my drawing that was laden with profound life meanings and worthy of appreciation. I opened the teacher's office door with my chest puffed out.

"Excuse me!"

"Please come in."

Now, it was more than ten minutes past the dismissal time. I glanced around, looking for the figure of the Teacher. She wasn't at her desk. After confirming that the Teacher wasn't anywhere to be found, I asked the Principal, who responded earlier.

"Where is Miss ...?"

"She's in the restroom, she'll be here in a moment. Just have a seat."

The only available seat for guests was a long corner sofa on the left side of the room. I took a seat on the left side of the sofa, allowing me to see the window if I looked to the right. After a minute, I caught a glimpse of the Teacher's figure passing by the window next to the door.

"Oh, good of you to come in, Martha."

"But wasn't it you who asked me to come?"

The teacher was searching for something among a pile of sketchbooks. "Yes, and you should know why you were called, right?"

"Appreciation?"

"Right, appreciation." The Teacher pulled out my sketchbook from the stack. "But before that, I want to know why you chose to draw something like this."

"The only reason I drew that was because I was in a bet, Miss."

I couldn't possibly win against Sophia by relying on beauty. So, I just had to emphasize the value of my drawing not in its beauty, but in its uniqueness.

"A bet?"

"Yes, a bet for scores with Sophia." I glanced at the stack of sketchbooks. "By the way, what score did Sophia get?"

"Sophia... Oh! Sophia, yes, she created a very beautiful river scenery. If I'm not mistaken, I gave her an eighty-five." Teacher pulled out Sophia's sketchbook. "Look!"

The Principal rose from his seat and sat beside me. He looked at Sophia's drawing that Teacher was showcasing while standing. The drawing was truly beautiful, neat, and balanced in its coloring. Its only shortcoming was the absence of dark and light colors that emphasized the three-dimensional impression.

"She's talented," said the Principal. He patted my head. "Now, what about this girl's drawing?"

"Ah! The thing is... that... the drawing is a bit unique, Sir." The teacher stammered. "The drawing is good, really. It's just that... it has to be evaluated from a unique perspective as well."

"You're beating around the bush. Just show it, quickly!" he demanded.

"You might be offended, Mr. Principal. I assure you it's better if you don't see it." The teacher turned to me. "Alright, Martha, I understand you're in a bet and you surely wouldn't want to lose, so I'll change your score to match Sophia's—"

"That's cheating!" the Principal interrupted.

Wow, this is getting interesting.

"Yeah, Miss, that's cheating!" I replied, trying to stir things up.

The teacher's face instantly tensed. "Martha, you stay quiet!"

"Hey, don't be so harsh with a student!" the Principal scolded, ruffling my hair. "Give me the drawing!"

"D-Don't say I didn't warn you."

The teacher handed my drawing book to the Principal. As soon as he saw my latest drawing, he was momentarily stunned. The strong charm might have melted his heart, and he quickly closed my drawing book to not get carried away.

"Dear, where did you learn to draw something like this?"

"Well, I'm also a girl, Sir. No need for further explanations, right?"

There was no way I could tell it was a cartoon of a naked woman printed on the pillowcase my brother gave me. As much as possible I want to avoid my true identity being revealed.

"Well... your drawing is good. You're talented, no doubt," said the Principal. "But maybe you could develop your talent in a more decent direction."

Did he mean that just because my drawing was not decent enough, it shouldn't be developed?

"Morality exists to enrich art, not to suppress it!"

"Where did you learn those words? Well, anyway, like your teacher said, you got eighty-five. Next time, make something more polite."

Damn, you guys don't understand art!

I left the teacher's office with a bitter feeling in my heart. However, before I walked out the door, I gave a warning to those who didn't appreciate me.

"Oh, by the way, Miss, Principal, it reminds me of a story. There was a time when a painter was rejected from art school. Then, he made a mess of the world."