Assigned Partners

Chapter 28 [Final]

trigger warning: self harm mentions

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Every day during art class, I worked on my assignment. I wanted it to be perfect. Once they were finished, Mrs. Hudson wanted everyone to hang it up somewhere in the room so we could all wander around and see what our classmates had created. That adds a lot of pressure to me. I don't like when people see my stuff, it makes me really anxious.

By Thursday night when I got home, my portrait of Normani still wasn't done, and it was due the next day. Panic started to set in for me. Part of me knew I could finish if I set my mind to it but I was really scared. I felt sick thinking about what would happen if it wasn't finished on time. I really wanted it to be great, so I couldn't just half ass it and rush through it.

I had the urges. Things in my body were screaming at me to go and get a blade and cut. A few tears rolled down my cheek. I looked down at my arms, littered with scars. Maybe I didn't have to do it. Was I better than this? Did I really have the strength to keep myself from cutting?

I wiped my face from the tears, and let out a sigh. It took a few minutes of sitting in silence with my eyes closed, focusing on breathing until I had calmed down. Once I had, I had to refocus myself and get back to work. I stayed up late, and didn't end up falling asleep until there were only three hours left before school.

I woke up in the morning and glanced over at my clock. I was late. Not even a little bit late. I had slept through more than half of the school day. I leaped out of bed, rushing around my room to get myself ready. It took me thirty minutes, but I eventually made it out of the house. I couldn't find my car keys, so I had to run. There was nothing fun about sweating on the way to school, but I had to get there. My phone was constantly buzzing in my pocket, but I knew better than to text and run. With my luck I'd probably trip, or run into something.

I made it to school as the bell was ringing, and I rushed inside. I was going to make it to art class almost on time, that was good. I stopped dead in my tracks on my way there. I had left my project at home. I felt my chest tighten, and it felt like it was harder to breathe. My teacher was going to be so upset with me. After a minute or two, I managed to keep going. I approached the classroom door, and I hesitated before pushing it open.

At the front of the room sat a man behind the teacher's desk I'd never seen before, and the class was doing nothing yet. I hurried to my seat, letting out a sigh of relief. This meant we weren't going to be presenting anything, and it was okay that I didn't have what I needed.

Normani got out of her seat with her things, sliding into the chair next to me. She pressed her lips to mine and I grinned, kissing her back.

"Hi babe," I said once we pulled apart, "That's definitely a nice way to be greeted."

"Where were you earlier? I texted you so many times, and you never answered. I was worried."

"I overslept.." I admitted, shrugging.

Normani laughed. "I'm really glad that that's all it was. You chose a good day to sleep in like this though. This teacher seems like a complete dud. No worries about him getting pissed off," she commented.

"I forgot my project at home when I left," I told her sadly.

"So did damn near half the class."

I looked around the room and sure enough most of the students in the class, Normani included, had left their assignments behind. I felt really good to know that I wasn't the only person. It was also nice because if I wanted to, I could go back and make any finishing touches if I needed to.

That was exactly what I did. When I got home that night, I made sure that this assignment was one of the best things I'd ever produced in that class. I knew that everyone was going to love it, and for once I was actually excited for people to pay attention to something of mine.