Sketchbook Girl
Sharra Veltheer
Published by Sharra Veltheer at Smashwords
Copyright 2012 Sharra Veltheer
Smashwords Edition.
Dedicated Josh, who is my love and inspiration for so many things and to all those people who have put up with me over the years!
I love you all.
Preface:
Sketchbook girl was a story I wrote in high school that has undergone many changes and edits and rewrites over the years. The core idea of the story, however, has remained the same throughout every draft. Please enjoy this story, it is close to my heart, and I want to share it with everyone.
Prologue
Part I: Ivory White
"Freak"
"Idiot
"Retard"
Elliot had heard those insults a thousand times before. She held her sketchbook tighter as she walked further down the hallway. No matter how many times they said it, no matter how many times they tripped her in the halls, no matter what they did, no one was getting her sketchbook.
The tormenting began two years ago when Elliot started attending East High school as a year seven student. Seventy students starting high school together and yet somehow she managed to get singled out and teased. The names her classmates had given her should have lost all meaning by now; but for Elliot, the bees sting never waned, and going to school meant pain and isolation.
Elliot was only a small girl. She had hollow ivory skin. Whenever she drew a portrait of herself, she opted for tones of ivory white and pale pink to represent her delicate flesh. She had messy platinum blond hair that she tended to sling over her right shoulder; her sketchbook often describing it as straw yellow, cream and lilac. her eyes were blue: cobalt, Kingfisher.
Elliot did many self portraits, because she didn't have many drawing subjects. She had no friends, no one talked to her except to insult her. People other than Alexis, her designated helper, would talk to her, if she didn't have a speech impediment. People wouldn't say she was ugly if she didn't have the stupid glasses. She would have friends if she was normal, but Elliot was different and she hated it.
"Well, well, well," June Micheli,a girl who frequently tripped Elliot, spoke to her. June’s fraternal twin sister, April, was right next to her, blocking Elliot from going any further.
This happened on a daily basis, everyday Elliot would come to school, carrying her sketchbook and her vinyl backpack depicting pink butterflies and flowers. Almost without fail June and April would be waiting either at the front door or near their lockers for Elliot.
“If id isn'd the retard with the budderfly back pack" April Mocked. She used Elliot's inability to pronounce the letter t properly. Elliot kept her head low and tried a different path around them.
They weren't going to allow that. April stuck her foot out and tripped Elliot. Elliot held her sketchbook tightly as she fell face first on the floor.
She sat up slowly and put her left hand to her face, it felt wet. She took her hand away and saw blood all over her fingers and palm.
"Elliot, you're bleeding!" Alexis, Elliot's helper, found her sitting on the floor with a blood nose.
Alexis was a nice woman; Elliot had drawn her on several occasions. She'd used emerald, Tasmanian grass and cats eye green for her eyes, Chocolate, Golden and burnt brown for her hair and copper, rose pink and coral orange for her skin.
Elliot was still looking at her own blood when Alexis pulled her off the ground and helped her wash up.
"There now, all better." Alexis soothed and smiled. "What happened?” She asked her.
"I chripped." Elliot replied. She didn't want to specify what she tripped over. Alexis never asked for specific detail and Elliot didn't intend on giving it.
"You need to watch where you're going." Alexis scolded her lightly, "Why didn't you brace your fall?"
"My sketchbook." Elliot held up the book, still clutched tightly in her right hand. Alexis sighed.
"C'mon Elliot, time for English," Alexis lightly grabbed her students arm to help her up and led her to class.
Elliot hated English, because her teacher, Mr. Trevora, made her read out loud. Elliot had no trouble reading to herself, she just couldn’t get the words out at the same time as her brain read them. That and the other students always laughed at her speech impediment.
Elliot pushed her fluorescent pink glasses closer to her face and opened her book. She awaited Mr. Trevora's call on her to read, but it never came.
Instead he called on a boy Elliot had never seen before.
"Xander Colliver, welcome to East High. Would you do the honours of reading our poem." Mr. Trevora said. The boy nodded and stood up, her grabbed his book from the table and began to read.
Elliot stared in awe at the boy, he read the entire poem, without a mistake, not even a waver in his voice.
Elliot noted what he looked like, hoping she'd see him again. Preferably not in her English class.
Luckily for Elliot the English lesson and indeed the day passed with little incident. April tripped her again at lunch and broke her nose, but that was all. Alexis, being a qualified nurse, bandaged it up, now Elliot sounded even worse than normal.
ooooo
Elliot was glad to be home. It was the only place she felt comfortable, she put down her sketchbook long enough to hug her little sister and fish her coloured pencils from her bag.
"Ellie?" Raine asked, "Whad happened do your nose?" Raine, Elliot’s younger sister was 4 years old and adored Elliot so much that she'd adopted her speech impediment, there was actually nothing wrong with Raine.
"Chripped." Elliot replied. She sat down on one of the heavy armchairs in her lounge room and took out her sketchbook. Using her grey lead pencil she drew and oval on her page. Raine sat cross legged on the arm of Elliot's chair and watched intently.
Every now and again Elliot would glance at her sister and pick out the appropriate colours. Crimson, vermillion and cherry red for her hair, pale, kingfisher and cobalt blue for her eyes. Raine looked exactly like Elliot did when she was younger. Only she had red hair.
When Raine worked out what Elliot's sketch was of she squealed with joy and ran up to her room. Presumably to draw a picture of Elliot in return. One that would most likely join the many already hanging around Elliot's room.
When Elliot finished her sketch of Raine she flipped to a fresh page. She pulled out the appropriate colours and sketched what she remembered of Xander Colliver, but it didn't look right.
Elliot resolved to take a better look at Xander Colliver when she could.
ooooo
Part II: Cobalt Blue
Xander Colliver was a boy of many talents. He read poetry, played the piano, had a knack for remembering things and he was a fantastic photographer. When his parents moved from the North of town to the East of town, Xander had to shift schools as well. Hopeful that his first day of school would bring something good he stood at the office waiting for the staff to help him out.
"Well, well, well" Xander spied a pair of rather vicious looking blondes harassing a petite pale girl with pink glasses, a sketch book and pink vinyl backpack that most little girls would have. Xander watched, intrigued by the girl who was so small and frail.
"If id isn'd the retard with the budderfly back pack" the blonde with her hair styled like ant antennae mocked the small girl. She tried to walk around them but to no avail. Instead of letting her pass, one of them tripped her. Rather then holding her hand out to brace her fall, the pale girl clutched her sketch book closer and closed her eyes while she slammed into the floor.
The blondes laughed and left the girl on the floor. Xander only had time to see her slowly sit up before one of the office staff notice his presence.
"I'm Xander Colliver, I'm new here." he said to the woman, she looked down at her list of things to do that morning.
"Xander?" She asked, just to confirm what she'd heard. Xander nodded. "I'm Lilly," she leaned to her side and ruffled through a draw, "Everything you need should be in here." She handed him a packet full of information, most likely maps and timetables.
"Thanks." he nodded and smiled gratefully. She smiled and bobbed her head back down to what she was previously doing.
Xander went through several information sheets and two maps before he found his timetable. The very first lesson was English, something Xander was good at.
He made his way to the classroom, lead by his map, and spotted the girl who'd been bullied earlier. She seemed to have recovered well, there was also a woman beside her, she handed the girl a book. The girl the stared at the teacher
The teacher was quite a small man, with slate coloured hair, hung over half his face. Xander glanced at one of the information sheets that identified the staff of the school and saw that he was named Mr. Trevora.
"Xander Colliver, welcome to East High," he welcomed Xander shortly after the class had settled, "Would you do the honours of reading?" Xander was expecting quite the forward request his first class as way to break the ice.
He complied with Mr. Trevora’s request in a very Xander-like manner; he simply nodded and read the poem from the book, not missing a line, word nor syllable along the way.
He sat back down and saw the albino girl staring at him from where she sat across the room. Xander felt his cheeks heating up and quickly directed his attention to the front of the room where Mr. Trevora was writing an analysis topic on the board.
Xander's classes for the day went smoothly. At lunch a rather naïve boy named Zack and a tall, very frightening looking guy called Kai chatted idly with him at lunch. Kai laughed when the two girls from earlier tripped the sketchbook girl. Xander didn't find it funny, especially since it looked like she broke her nose. She neglected to brace her fall in favour of her sketch book once again.
Xander wondered if this was the norm at East High: get to school, pick on sketchbook girl, class, bully sketchbook girl, eat, tease sketchbook girl, go home, lather, rinse and repeat.
The next day he was going to talk to sketchbook girl, put a name, and a voice to the girl behind the sketchbook. Maybe they could be friends. Xander had three friends back in the North: Corey, Tabatha and Dean. He missed them dearly but his mother insisted he make new ones.
ooooo
The next morning Xander discovered his lather, Rinse and repeat theory was correct, the two blondes blocked sketchbook girl's path again in the morning, only this time they didn't trip her. Instead they pushed her into the wall, cackling viscously as they left.
Sketchbook girl fell to her knees as soon as the pair were out of sight. Xander heard her soft sobbing as she clutched her sketchbook closer to her chest.
Xander knelt beside her and brushed some dust off her shoulder. She was smaller than he originally perceived. Her school shirt was at least two sizes too big and her skirt was much longer than any of the others worn that Xander had seen.
"Are you okay?" He asked gently. The poor girl was a mess. She shook her head in response to his question and refused to look at him, just the floor.
"I'm Xander," He introduced himself, trying to meet her gaze. She squeezed her eyes shut and took a deep breathe.
"Elliot," She replied. Before Xander could make the conversation go any further, the woman who was with her the previous day came rushing up to Elliot and told Xander to leave her alone.
At least sketchbook girl had a name and voice to Xander. His only obstacle now was that woman.
ooooo
Part III: Imperial Purple
April pushed Elliot into the wall that morning. Xander Colliver asked if she was okay, but she couldn't reply. She was too conscious of the bandage across her broken nose and her speech impediment to say anything. She managed to give him her name before Alexis told Xander to go away.
Elliot was afraid to tell Alexis that Xander was only trying to help and it wasn't him that pushed her. Instead she waited for the one class that Alexis's presence wasn't required. Elliot was quite capable of doing art on her own. It was her favourite class overall and she hoped Xander was there. She just may get a partial conversation with him. Providing he was there of course.
Rebecca, the art teacher, was very friendly towards Elliot and understood her hesitation in class discussion. She encouraged her to continue her sketches outside of school, telling her to use as many subject as she could.
Elliot sat in her usual seat in the class. Rebecca welcomed her with a casual nod. Other students began to enter the room, taking their usual formation around the room. No one sat near her.
"Sorry I'm late." Xander Colliver entered the room last, "I got a little lost," he scratched the back of his neck, obviously embarrassed. Elliot watched him carefully as he scanned the room. Xander was unknown to Elliot and the unknown was unpredictable and potentially dangerous
Xander sat down on a seat very close to where Elliot was sitting. Much closer than anyone other than Alexis sat.
"Elliot, right?" he asked. Elliot nodded in reply. She was very good at avoiding conversation. Years of practice had made her capable of answering every question with a simple hand gesture, nod or shake of the head.
"Xander?" she asked his name politely. He nodded in response. She thought for a moment before asking. He was unknown, unpredictable potentially dangerous and Elliot detected a feeling a feeling inside her that fitted that very same description.
"May I?" She asked, she wasn't sure if he understood. "May I draw you?" she finished her question. Xander looked blank momentarily before smiling.
"Only if I can take a photo." he bargained. Elliot didn't quite understand
"Dake a phodo of whad?" She asked, then inwardly punched herself for not thinking before opening her mouth. He seemed to not notice at all, or he chose to ignore it.
"You, of course." he grinned. From his pocket he pulled out a digital camera and took a snapshot of her stunned look. "I've got my photo, enjoy drawing me." He laughed. Elliot found another word to describe her unknown feeling. It was volatile.
She pulled out her sketchbook and laid it on the table. Like a ritual she went through all the sketches. The ones of herself were all backwards because she was drawing from a mirror. The one of her mother happily preparing a meal in the kitchen. One of Raine.
"Who's that?" Xander asked, pointing to Raine, Elliot was very protective of her sister. She didn't want Raine to go through the same things she did.
“My sisder Raine" Elliot told him. He nodded thoughtfully. She continued through her sketches. Skipping the attempts she made at drawing Xander the previous night. The last one was of her own hand covered in blood. Xander looked at it confused.
"I chripped and hit my nose on the floor," she explained "I thought it looked inchresting." She shrugged. Xander nodded. Elliot realised she was comfortable talking with Xander and she wondered why that was. She never talked like this with Alexis and she was the closest thing Elliot had to a friend.
She turned to a fresh page and rummaged through her back pack for her pencils. She found the browns and selected Chocolate to begin with. Xander watched her as she drew him. Chocolate brown, Burnt umber, tree bark and golden brown. When she finished she held it up to show him.
"I think you've made me a lot better looking then I really am." he laughed. Elliot frowned at the picture. How was it possible for her to draw him better looking, she only ever drew what she saw or remembered.
Rebecca dismissed the class for lunch. Elliot hated lunch. Generally speaking it was the worst part of the day.
"Want to join me for lunch?" Xander asked "I don't really know anyone here," he explained when Elliot gave him a confused look. She nodded in reply.
"You're that new kid." June tapped Xander on the shoulder. He and Elliot spun around to see Both the Micheli twins, looking rather twinny with their matching school skirts (cut and hemmed to be much shorter than they really should be.)
"Xander Colliver," He introduced politely. “Elliot and I were about to get lunch. It was nice meeting you," he led Elliot away from the twins.
"Looks like we have another freak to deal with." June scoffed, April cackled ferociously.
"I'm sorry Xander," Elliot couldn't help but feel sad. Xander was now considered to be the same as Elliot in the school.
"Don't worry, I'm used to it." He soothed. Elliot wondered how someone so nice could be called a freak. "People didn't like my photography at my old school." He grinned. Elliot assumed it was memories that made him grin.
It wasn’t until they were eating lunch, Xander a sandwich and Elliot an apple, that Elliot realised she had made a friend. Her first friend and his name was Xander Colliver.
ooooo