Chapter 2: Drawing From Life

Drawing from Life, a staple class in every art school in the country.

Gavin, the TA for this particular class in this particular school, struggles with his duties, unable to pay proper attention to the students and their work. What did he do to make Stina break it off with him so suddenly? Why do his girlfriends always dump him, when all he wants is to love them and make them happy?

 During the model's break, a student approaches with questions, but Gavin only half listens as he wonders what Stina is discussing with Eleanor behind him. Is she talking about him? Does she regret breaking his heart? Does she even care?

Gavin takes a deep breath and decides to face her head on, to see her and interact with her as just another student and nothing else. It's not fair to the others for him to have only her on his mind. It doesn't help that she glares at him like he was the one that dumped her for no good reason when he approaches, but Gavin bravely brushes it off and proceeds to comment on her work, showing no emotion or any indication of how badly she hurt him. Take it as a lesson, he tells himself, this is why you don't date undergrads.

Change your attitude, change your world. That's the core tenet of Gavin's belief system, and it has yet to fail him in practice. He was in love with Stina, and she broke his heart. His heart has been broken before, more times than he'd care to count, and every time he's patched it back together with an unruffled smile and the faith that there will always be another opportunity for love just around the next corner.

After the morning studio class, Stina decides to blow off the boring art history lecture in the afternoon and return to her apartment to work on her painting. Distracted, she gets nothing of value done. She'd expected more from Gavin after breaking up with him. He always went on about how deeply he loved her, how much she meant to him, but in class, he was totally cool about everything, like she'd had no impact on him. After making a few fruitless daubs at the canvas, she gives up on painting.

 Making dramatic poses when no one is around to appreciate them can only entertain for so long. After a half hour of that, Stina decides to at least get her laundry done.

While she waits for clothes to dry, one of her neighbors joins her in the building's laundry room.

"It's after noon, and you're doing laundry in your pyjamas?" she comments as Coby loads the washer.

"I can't get dressed without any clean clothes," Coby answers, "Well, I could wear the dirty ones I guess. But most of my stuff has gone past the 'wear them even though they're dirty' stage. Otherwise, I wouldn't be down here."

"You're just pouring the detergent in. You aren't going to measure it first?"

"Dude, is there a reason you care how I do my laundry?" Coby asks in return, his voice sharp, "Or is being a nosy bitch just your hobby?"

"No, I guess not," Stina answers, unsuccessfully suppressing a sob.

"Oh, hey, dude," Coby turns to her, "I didn't mean to make you cry."

"It's not you," Stina says, letting the tears flow, "I just broke up with my boyfriend, and I'm just bummed out about it, I guess."

"When I get dumped, I just chill out with a nice, fat bowl and let it all just drift away," Coby suggests, trying to help, "If you want to come by my place, I could set you up."

"You know, that's almost tempting," Stina answers, smiling now, "But I think I just need to be alone for awhile."

"That's cool," Coby answers, then, after a moments thought, he reaches into his pocket and then slips a blunt into Stina's hand, "Here, have one on me. Feel better."

"You bring a joint with you into the laundry room?" Stina laughs, "In your pyjamas?"

Coby laughs with her, "Yeah, well, you never know when you'll need one. I like to be prepared."