Speedpainters!

“One Day or Day One- You decide.” ~ Unknown

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(Scene 1)

(POV: Yuki Shiro)

I walked down the sidewalk, onward to the academy, as I did every day. I always liked watching people who had budgeted their money so well that they could afford to shove a few cents down those outdoor vending machines in the city. Outdoor vending machines weren’t cheap this time of year. And those bougies always got the last Strawberry Coffee Tea! Budgeting can be so much fun, ya know? After all, I’ve always loved working with checkbooks and doing quadratic equations. Hehe, oh yeah, there’s nothin’ quite like sittin’ in my room in the dim light and workin’ out some mathematics!

Coming from a long line of mathematically inclined people, Ishouldbe no different, because I’ve always enjoyed tackling algebraicandfiscal problems, alike.

I always wanted to pursue financing, and I couldn’t wait to graduate from my current school, Sylton Academy, and go on to greener pastures and teach people how to budget.

As I took a turn around a corner, though, I took in the look of the sky, the clouds, the people clutching onto that tea of theirs, and... even the car that was currently spinning out of control and comingstraightfor me!

Ah, yes, another day in the life of--

WAIT, WHAT?

I darted to the left, bashing into the window of some jewelery store, as the black sedan crashed into a drugstore nearby. Holy crap, that was aclosecall! My heart pounded as my breath went short. I regained some bit of self-awareness and turned to see the employees of the jewelry store staring at me. As I worked out the kinks in my shoulder and stepped away from the destroyed window, all sorts of adults rushed out of their fancy modern box-houses to see who had caused such a commotion.

But I was still motionless... until I had a thought.

“Hey, ma’am?” I asked, waving down one of the clerks.

“Yes, young man?”

“I have to get to class today, so when the cops show up, could you just tell them that I didn’t mean to be a negligent witness, please? Or whatever those’re called nowadays? I really can’t stay around and act as a testimony. My deepest apologies!”

“Hmmm, can’t your classes wait? This is serious. We need witnesses for that drugstore to write it off on their next insurance bill!”

“No, it actually can’t! I’m sorry, but I have an exam today that counts for forty-percent of my final grade. Ya think our boys in blue would understand?”

“And this exam of yours can’t be ‘rescheduled’?”

I bit my bottom lip and pulled my phone out of my pocket. “Ma’am, I’d rather not be an inconvenience to my professor today.”

That’s right, Mr. Arbor can be aseriousdick. I... don’t wanna have to face him outside of class, if I can help it. But, I mean, why? I’m anHonor’s Studentfor Pete’s sake! This doesn’t make any sense. I shouldn’t be such a piss-ant about a rowdy professor. I just shouldn’t. And thus, as I take one step towards my academy, the white tip of the tower shining in the distance, I feel my other leg go backwards.

“Young man, are you doing some sort of jig right now?” The woman, her face as wrinkled as a block of wood, asked.

“Um-- I-- Well, I’m not really one for dancing, so, no?” I laughed, feeling tense.

“And why’s that? Dancing can be quite fun! Granted, I wouldn’t say thatnowis the appropriate time for it.”

“You’re right, it’s not! And, uh, well, I don’t know why I’mnotinto dancing, to be honest! Maybe I just found it too artsy? I’ve never really been the artsy type, before, yeah? It’s just not as profitable as mathematics.”

“Oh? Hmph! To do something just because it’s profitable-- I’m surprised the youth of today have such callous attitudes towards following their dreams.” The old woman glared.

I lunged back some.I’m sorry, lady, but I’m into financing! That’s my dream. I mean, it definitely is, right?

I blinked, then turned back towards my school. “Well! I guess I have to go to class--”

Below me, my phone started ringing in my hand.

Ya see, moments earlier, I had actually planned to call my professor and tell him I couldn’t make it today... for catastrophic reasons. I guess that car wreck was a blessing in disguise! But just then, the nastiest feeling came over me. I couldn’t articulate it, but this horrid bout of anxiety started to shroud over me. I looked down to see the number of a familiar classmate, Mana Chutney, ringing me up.

Why wasshe, of all people, contactingme?

Plus, I can’t think straight right now, and I hope that driver’s alright!

“H-- Hello?” I said into the phone.

”Yuki?Hey, it’s me, Mana! I heard that there was an accident on Calvin Avenue. It was Breaking News, and you still haven’t shown up to class today for the exam. Everybody was wondering if you were alright. There’s also still a few kids who haven’t shown up yet, either, though. I just hope everybody’s alright.” Mana said.

Man, her voice came through the phone like a flower pushing against a static TV-screen.

Hehe-- Excuse me, what?

Why the hell did I think upthatanalogy, of all things, just now?

“I mean,” I began. “It’s technically still early in the morning.”

“Yeah, but it’s also the day of the exam, and youknowthat Mr. Arbor likes to have all his eggs in one basket!”

I swallowed. “I do, but I’m not sure what I can do about that at this point. I’m now gonna have to stick around to make a testimony for when the cops show up. I’m looking at this accident as we speak. They’re gonna want me as a witness. If I go to to the exam, they’ll just show up and ask for me there, anyway.”

As I stood there, I took in the scenery around me once more. I don’t know why I did that. It didn’t make much rational sense. Ishouldbe thinking about my test. Ishouldbe thinking about all the algorithms I’ll do for fun in my room later, too. But I couldn’t resist just taking it all in, like I was somehow imprinting a photograph into the back of my mind.

Then, there was a bit of breathing and mumbling on the other line. I looked back down at my phone. Mana’s voice came closer to the line again. “Um, Yuki, I hope you get that squared away as best you can, then. Sounds like such an inconvenience, dude! I’m also gonna shoot you a text here in asec, okay?”

“Oh! Okay, uh, sure.” I nodded, my back still tense from having beenalmosthit by a car.

I tightened my lips into a kind of scowl. I felt my hands tremble. Mana’s text... hurt. I remember getting her number at the beginning of this school year for some sort of group project. Aside from that, she never stuck out to me all that much. She seemed to function as her own girl in her own corner of the world. And me? Well, I was my own kind of guy.

But right now, my world was kind of unraveling.

”Yuki, I’m really sorry. The professor is a complete and utter asshole for this, but... for not coming to the exam today, he’s not letting you retake it."

I read the words of the message over and over again.

It... didn’t feel real.

If I didn’t pass this class as an Honor’s Student, under the clause of Sylton Academy’s expectations of getting a B+ or higher, then I’d be taken off of the free-ride I have with financial aid, and wouldn’t be allowed to attend anymore. That is... less than stellar. In fact, it’s... bullshit. This is bullshit! I came to class every single day. I arrived with firm punctuality. I never missed an extra study-session, and I-- I--

I felt my feet begin to take me away from the scene before me and I just... ran.

When I slowed down my pace a few minutes later, I thought about how peculiar it was that Mana,of all people, had texted me. Like I had recalled moments before, I never knew her very well, in all honesty. We interacted as acquaintances who never minded the company of the other. She’s a fine classmate, really.

And yet, that’s when it dawned on me. I had no real close friends at Sylton. All the time I spent, I spent on textbooks and drowning myself in my courses. I overworked myself to the bone, and what was it all for? What was the collateral? Well, the collateral was that I ended up forming no special bonds with anyone. Never really getting to know anyone. I knew only mathematics and equations, but never any... human beings! Never any inspiration.

I was a false version of myself.

As I passed a nearby house, its closed-in front porch full of beams and green wood, I saw myself in the reflection of one of the windows. I decided to repeat in my head what I had just thought. What did that mean, exactly, to be ‘a false version of myself’? Why did I think that just now? Did that thought evencomefrom me? I mean, Ilikemath and economics, right? So why does it feel so bitter to say that?

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(Scene 2)

(POV: Yuki Shiro)

At home, I sat in my room, scrolling through website after website. The house had fallen silent at my return. My parents raised their eyebrows at me, yet no one said anything. I had walked in through the door with a lethargic manner about myself, and neither of them had cared to say a single word. They were pragmatic parents who never cared for things like feelings or praise, unless it was brutal disappointment.

Alone in my room, I wondered when a good time might reveal itself. That is, for me to tell them that I... had lost the Honor-Student Scholarship and, consequentially, couldn’t attend Sylton anymore. I doubt a good time could ever reveal itself over something as life-changing as that. Of course, because this doesn’t just change my days, buttheirs, too, I didn’t know how I would ever hope to blow off all of this shame.

I’m in my twenties, for crying out loud! Have I really just gone and screwed up my life? I ended up running away from that accident anyway, so I guess I could’ve just ran in the other direction earlier and actually made it to class. But it felt like the ground had grabbed a hold of my very feet.

“Hello there! Do you feel like you’ve just completely botched your life and your family’s sense of security? Well, have no fear-- Credit Insulation is here!”

Oh dearGod, I forgot I had the TV on.

“You can pay off your credit for as little as sixty--”

Yeah, I don’t care about that as of right now. I’m having amood, TV! Gosh.

As I changed the channel, I landed on some esoteric artist’s hub. There was a table of older men, and one woman, talking. Their mouths moved as scenic portraits of paintings hung in the background, but I couldn’t care less. Still, I decided to leave it on and go about scrolling through my phone. I needed to find a way to make more money. Still, the TV was slowly capturing my attention. Even if it sounded like bullshit.

“So, have you heard about these ‘Speedpainters’, Morris?” The woman, a brunette with stylized side bangs, asked the group.

Speedpainter?

Hah! What the hell is that nonsense about? That couldn’t be more ridiculous.

“Well, with the art-world -- and society by and large -- being as developed as it is, all the little sports and activities that kids do to keep themselves entertained have evolved. We can live in a world now where sports and art alike can come together. Gone are the days of people painting pretty scenery, or abstract art, in an hour or more. Now, society wants to see people who can paint beautifully, butpragmaticallyfast.”

‘Pragmatically fast’?Pffft! I don’t even know how to feel about that.

As I looked around my room, I suddenly spotted this old easel I’ve always had. It was just sitting by its lonesome. The wood had garnered some dust in its time of unused idleness. There was still one piece of large paper hung across its frame. Hmmm.

Jokingly, I got up and picked up an old colored pencil I had under the easel’s tray. I don’t know why, but as I did this, I felt a strange sense of bliss and fulfillment take over me. I decided I’d make an attempt at sketching up some sort of picture, because at this point, I felt as though I literally had nothing else to lose anymore. What couldonenew hobby really hurt?

And so, I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and imagined a vivid meadow. I couldn’t help but picture a green prairie, some darker patches of grass, and long stems of plants that sprouted in the distance. I saw lilypads and bits of ponds plop up here and there. When I reopened my eyes, I saw an intricate design on the paper. How many minutes had passed? Right there, in front of my eyes, were the... ponds, lilypads, grass, and prairie.

“Wh-- What the hell?” I staggered back in my chair, almost falling out. “Did I... draw that?”

As the seconds passed, I realized that whoever I was before today-- Well, he had no place in the future. What I was doing wasn’t rational or frugal, but as I began to let go to myself, I realized thatIwasn’t, either. All along, I had been putting on a well-dressed performance. I’m not frugal, rational, or even that passionate about mathematics and economics!

I was going to be... a Speedpainter. Convention be damned!

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