The art club

As Lysana made a wish and blew the candles, everyone wished her a happy birthday. She then cut the strawberry cake with a knife. She loved strawberries. It was her favourite flavour.

She was very happy to have her friends and family close to her on her 20th birthday. She was officially an adult now! She always wanted to be an adult whenever she was younger and now that her wish had been fulfilled, her excitement couldn't be held back. Now, she could tell anyone who dared to stop her from anything: I'm an adult. What I do is none of your business!

Just at that thought, Lysana's smiling lips curved more into a radiant smile.

Her brother remained close to her through her dad and Selene remained on the contrary side.

Lysana gave the first bite to her father, followed by Selene and her brother then the rest of her other close friends.

"Lys, what's that?"

Samuel shook his head as he shoved a piece of cake into Lysana's mouth who was unable to react nor ask any question. However, her confused expression led Samuel to explain himself.

"Your dearest friend is a higher priority compared to me?"

"Oh, come on!" Lysana exclaimed, after finishing the cake in her mouth. "Obviously. She was close to me constantly yet you were never there. Not that I blame you for it but it's the truth."

"Fine, then. But from now on, I'll reclaim my position."

Selene, who was staring at him, attracted his smirk.

Selene looked down. Then she laughed.

"Oh, seriously? However, reclaiming something that is yours is not necessary. Perhaps you are initially attempting to obtain something that is not yours in the first place."

Samuel backed away, leaned against her and whispered into her ear, "Aren't you quite impolite? I come from a higher social class than you do and have more influence and power, shouldn't you treat me with respect? Not everyone will treat you well just because my sister does.

"I sure am rude if speaking the truth makes me sound rude."

Selene scowled, unmoved by his potentially dangerous words.

She never lied to anyone and was an extremely sincere person. She did have a lot of problems with her classmates as a result, but she couldn't lie. She sometimes thought it was a curse. When asked directly, she had to tell the whole truth.

She was, however, very skilled at distracting others, which assisted her in neither lying nor speaking the truth.

Lysana was with her other friends at the time; laughing, dancing, and drinking.

Selene was sipping her juice while standing at the end of the hallway.

"Do you need some entertainment?"

With a dazzling smile, Samuel made his way toward her.

His grin. Selene disliked it for some reason, despite how nice it looked.

"Are you here to make fun of me?"

Samuel just came into the country so he doesn't have any friends so he decided to have a talk with his sister's so-called best friend.

"Yes."

Samuel stated, "For instance, aside from my sister, you don't have any friends."

"You are all alone at this party, and nobody cares enough about you to even come and talk to you. Do you not feel lonely?"

He took a sip from his wine glass, enjoying her silence and the anger that was arising within her which tried her best to not express.

She was holding it back for the sake of her friend who's birthday she didn't wish to ruin.

He didn't like her, but he wanted to make her feel bad. Extremely bad. Perhaps it was hate. A hateful feeling he couldn't describe though and the reason of such hate didn't even exist in the first place.

"I wouldn't mind instructing the driver to drop you home."

Before making her way toward Lysana to say goodbye, Selene made a firm statement.

"Mister, that won't be needed."

"Mister?"

Samuel spoke softly.

"I'm just a few years older than you."

He mumbled.

Selene gave Samuel a second glance before leaving the room.

When she saw Samuel's gaze meet hers, she turned her head quickly and dashed outside immediately.

She felt weird. She didn't know how to describe it. It was definitely not hate or love.

She couldn't despise a new acquaintance! That was not Selene's personality. Not like she ever fell in love either.

She never had the experience of people initially hating someone.

She quickly changed and took a shower once she got home.

She couldn't fall asleep despite repeatedly rolling on the bed. She was seeing odd things whenever she closed her eyes however she was unable to recall them when she would open her eyes. It would often leave her perplexed.

***

The following day, still drowsy, Selene entered her classroom.

The fact that she couldn't get enough sleep wasn't new. She had trouble sleeping because she would always have strange visions.

Fortunately, however, she never experienced any health problems other than the typical colds and fevers for which she was delighted.

"Selene!"

Lysana waved to her friend with a smile.

Selene walked up to her with a grin on her face and sat next to her at her desk.

Seeing Lysana made Selene feel a little better.

She was the only one after her grandmother that made her feel safe.

"Lys, good morning."

"You left way too soon! Last night was so much fun!"

Lysana complained and soon began to ramble about her night and how much she enjoyed it.

Because Selene didn't want to hurt Lysana, she never expressed how she truly felt alone at times, when she would be abandoned at her parties and Lysana would join her other friends.

"Do you not feel alone?"

She suddenly heard Samuel's words echo in her ears.

She gulped, shocked that she had considered his words.

She never gave it much thought, but maybe it was time for her to accept that she didn't need any friends and start making new ones.

She had decided. Indeed, she will join a club today, which she did not take part in last year because she was too preoccupied with her studies and worried about her grandmother. She will, of course, ensure that her grandmother does not face any difficulties and will assist her, but she must also enjoy her college life to it's fullest.

At the point when the first class ended, Selene went to meet the class president to get some information about every one of the clubs in the school.

"Hi, class president. I wanted to ask..."

Selene was hesitant. She was starting to have second thoughts about this. She didn't interact with her classmates unless it was about studies, so she was slightly freaked out about it. What would she think about her?

"Yes, Selene? What is it?"

"Well, the clubs. Can I… I wanted to get the information about them. Could you give me the papers?"

"Sure."

Dalia smiled and gave her a few papers which included the information on each club and their descriptions.

Selene quickly went back to her seat and took a deep breath.

She did it.

It felt so hard, but it wasn't that hard after all. Then, she started reading the papers carefully. The sight of one word and her eyes twinkled: the art club.

[Come to our creative space! We invite you to express yourself by sharing your poems, drawings, and more with our creative club. Our creative space provides a safe and inviting atmosphere to share your art. Join us and make your vision a reality. Let's create a safe place together!], was written in the description.

That was the perfect opportunity for Selene. She had been wanting to get more involved in art, mostly telling stories, and this was the perfect way to do it. She wrote down the details and decided that she would be attending.

The art club was not very popular in the whole school. Merely a few students were members of the art club. Surprisingly, it was having one last event before it would close because of its lack of achievements in the last years.

Selene quickly filled out a form for club membership and handed it to Dalia, the one in charge of giving the application forms to the club presidents of the clubs.

***

After a whole two weeks of preparation, Selene was finally ready for her art show.

In the morning, she didn't skip breakfast and ate properly with her grandmother. Fortunately, her father wasn't home. She wouldn't be able to handle her anger at his sight and she couldn't afford to ruin her mood right before such an important day.

She needed to demonstrate to the audience, including the school president and teachers, the significance of the art club and persuade them to maintain its existence in the school.

She put her drawings inside her backpack as she embarked on her journey to the dance studio, eagerly anticipating the stage where her talent would shine brightly and make many people further interested in the art club.