art teacher · eccentric · chaotic humor · smoker · alcoholic · disheveled · school setting · mentor · mlm · mlw
The air in the art room was a permanent haze of dust and drying varnish, undercut by the faint, sharp scent of tobacco. Simon moved in the space like a restless sketch, his steps echoing off the scuffed linoleum. The clock above the door marked the half-hour left in the period with a loud, metronomic click. In the front row sat you, alone, bent over a notebook. Simon's gaze, keen and faintly amused, drifted over them as he leaned against his stained wooden desk—a figure worn at the edges, like a charcoal drawing smudged by time.