The tiny room that had been dedicated to the display of the new art exhibit had never seen so many people. It wasn't that it was packed, it was just that not many people could usually find the time in their day to come look at paintings. Even those who could didn't think it would be worth it. So this crowd, twenty or so people, was breathtaking in itself.
The paintings were placed around the room with about two feet of space in between them. There were at least twenty five paintings, so rarely were there more than two people at one painting at any given time. The group bustled around the room, glancing at subtitles whose phrases were often relied on to explain what was happening in the picture above. Motion was constant, and no one person stayed in one place for very long. That is, except, for one girl, who's large maroon hoodie, ripped jeans and worn vans wouldn't have suggested that she was an art scholar. However, her actions showed otherwise. At first she circled the room, still slower than the rest, and observed the pictures. But it wasn't long until she found one that she apparently liked and stopped. There she stood. People milled around her, exchanging trivial conversation in passing, but she didn't budge for the longest time.
"Hey, crazy! What up in yo head?" a boy asked, sneaking up behind her. She jumped a little, as if she had fallen asleep on her feet.
"Well, I was looking at this painting..."
"I noticed! You've been standing there for like, half an hour."
"There's a reason for that."
"Yeah? Which is?"
Like a kindergarten teacher showing her student how to write, she began teaching him about the painting, explaining that they should elicit emotions from their viewers. The boy was looking at the girl as if she was to him the same type of complex mystery that the painting was to the girl. Finally she let out a defeated laugh and gave up on him.
"Everyone's leaving soon to go to that pizza place down the street, you in?" he asked. She was obviously hard pressed to leave the painting that she so revered.
"Yeah sure, just give me a minute. I'll meet you out front."
After the boy left, she turned to find that the whole room had cleared out and she and the painting were alone. Looking back at the painting with a pleading look in her eye, she stood there for a few precious moments more before hesitantly leaving the room.
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