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wondering
if I should hit the dance floor alone and pick up another chick to take home to
warm my bed. I didn't like sleeping alone. This little interlude was going
terribly, so it was definitely time for me to move on to the next one. But
before I was able to make a decision on whom to hit on next, Natalie and Julie
got up from their seats, drinks unfinished, and left
without even glancing at me again. No see ya later , no thanks
for the drinks ; they just up and left me.
    I was dumbfounded by Natalie's
behavior. Bars were the best possible place to pick up girls, and yet I was
turned down by a girl who hadn't even known I existed until that night. It had
never happened to me before. I didn't like the feeling; I'm not going to lie.

 
    Chapter Three
    Natalie

 
    Class ended with me thinking
about my art assignment for the new semester. I lingered in the classroom as my
fellow classmates filtered out of the room, onto their next class or maybe off
on a break. I had nowhere to be at that particular moment, except to study.
Sometimes I liked watching people, wondering what their lives were like outside
of school. How much different were their lives from mine? Were they happy? If
not, what was going on in their lives to cause unhappiness? The amazing thing
about watching people is that you could never tell what kind of life they lead
by their expression, or the way they held themselves. Hell, with all this
reflection, I probably should have been a writer; then maybe I would know human
nature a little better. I smiled at a few of them as they walked past me,
quizzical looks on their faces, probably wondering why I wasn't escaping with
them. To be honest, I was exhausted. Exhausted from my life,
and now this project. I took my classwork seriously, because honestly,
it was all I had. Maybe all I would ever have, and that certainly was a scary
notion. It had occurred to me that I should stop the melancholy thought process
before it got the best of me.
    I looked down at my notebooks,
unsure whether I should head out just yet. I flipped through the notes I had
made in art class, hoping that an idea would pop out at me. For the first time
in a while, I didn't know what to do. No brilliant ideas had come to me thus
far, and yet I had to get started working on it before I got behind. I was
puzzled by the assignment, and wasn't sure how I should handle it. I loved the
class, and everything to do with my new semester, but the classes certainly
forced me to dig deeper as an artist. The professor had assigned a task for us
to complete, and I wanted to do a good job on it. My art career was very
important to me, and I was determined to excel. I didn't want just any job when
I graduated―I wanted the best job out there. I hoped to one day work in
Europe, in one of their finest galleries, that is, until I became a famous
artist myself. Until then, however, I planned on working amongst the greatest
art pieces in the world. The assignment was to draw a changing object once a
month, and at the end of the semester I would hand it in. I hadn't a clue what
object I would use. I would have to find something that would constantly
change. Something interesting, fascinating even, something to
knock the socks off of my professor.
    I grabbed my books, art supplies
and slipped them in my bag. I stood up, pushing the chair in, and I headed out
the door. I was lost in the puzzle of my art project when I walked down the
hallway toward the end of the building, and pushed through the doors. Sunlight
shone in my eyes, and I ran smack into Jet, dropping my bag, and spilling my
books all over the ground. What. The. Fuck.
    “Great, you again.”
    He laughed, “Yep it's me, and
sorry about that. It wasn't my intention to body check you.”
    “What exactly was your
intention?”
    He bent down to help me pick up
the books. He handed me the books one by one and I slipped them back into my bag
as neatly as I could.
    “Art, right? I heard you were into