Chapter 1: The Canvas and the Architect

​Feli hated the first day of school. The fluorescent lights of the art room hummed like an angry beehive, and the sterile white walls felt less like a blank canvas and more like a prison. She had spent the last two years dreaming of this—her first job as a high school art teacher—yet here she was, clutching a coffee mug and feeling completely out of place. Her predecessor, a woman who had taught for thirty years, had left the room in a state of meticulous disarray: organized stacks of paper, labeled jars of paintbrushes, and an almost sacred order that Feli didn't dare disrupt.

​She tried to be optimistic, to see the potential in the faces staring back at her. Some were bored, a few were eager, but most were just... there, ticking off a required course on their schedules.

​Then her eyes landed on her. Sangsangi.

​She was sitting in the back corner, almost hidden behind an easel. While the other students were filling out their information sheets, Sangsangi was sketching in a small, worn sketchbook. Her fingers moved with a deliberate grace, and her long hair fell over her face, shielding her from the world. Feli couldn’t see the drawing, but she could sense the intensity of the girl’s focus.

​"Alright, everyone," Feli said, her voice a little too loud in the quiet room. "Let's start with a simple exercise. I want you to draw the person sitting across from you. Don't worry about it being perfect. Just draw what you see."

​A collective groan rippled through the room. Feli saw a few students exchange amused glances, but Sangsangi didn't even look up. She simply flipped a page in her sketchbook and began to draw something new. Feli walked over, a polite smile on her face.

​"Sangsangi, right?" Feli asked gently. "Could you try the assignment?"

​Sangsangi finally looked up. Her eyes, a dark, rich brown, met Feli's. They were deep and a little guarded, like a forest at dusk. She didn't say anything, just gestured with her chin toward the easel. On the stand was a half-finished watercolor, a swirling tempest of deep blues and vibrant reds. It was beautiful and chaotic and spoke of a profound emotion that Feli couldn't place. It wasn't what was in front of her; it was what was inside her.

​"I don't draw what I see," Sangsangi said, her voice a soft murmur. "I draw what I feel."

​Feli felt a jolt of something akin to recognition. It was as if Sangsangi had just articulated the very reason Feli had become an artist herself. The words were a quiet rebellion against the structured, rigid world of the classroom. Feli found herself smiling, a genuine smile this time.

​"I see," Feli said, stepping back from the easel. "Well, in that case, Sangsangi... you're excused from the assignment."

​The other students looked at Feli in confusion. But Feli didn't care. She had found something real in the humming, sterile room. She had found a kindred spirit in the girl who drew feelings instead of faces. And for the first time that day, the art room felt less like a prison and more like a canvas.

Chapter 2: The After-School Silence

​Feli spent the rest of the class period watching Sangsangi. While the other students struggled to capture the likeness of their partners, Sangsangi worked with a fierce, quiet purpose on her own project. Feli would occasionally walk by, glancing at the swirling blues and reds, trying to decipher the emotion Sangsangi was trying to convey. It looked like a storm, both violent and beautiful.

​The bell rang, and the room emptied in a rush of teenage energy and chatter. Feli stood at the door, saying goodbye to her students. She noticed Sangsangi was one of the last to leave. The girl carefully packed her sketchbook, her movements precise and deliberate.

​"You have a unique voice," Feli said to her as she approached. "That piece... it's really powerful."

​Sangsangi paused, her bag slung over her shoulder. "It's just colors," she said, her voice still a soft murmur.

​"No, it's more than that," Feli replied, walking over to the easel to look at the watercolor again. The paint was still wet, the colors bleeding into each other like tears. "It's a story. I just don't know what it is yet."

​Sangsangi didn't reply, but Feli saw a subtle change in her eyes. The guard she held so carefully seemed to lower, just for a moment.

​"I need to work on the technique," Sangsangi said, gesturing at the still-wet paper. "The water control is messy."❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

​"It's not messy; it's free," Feli corrected gently. "But if you want to work on it, I'll be here after school a few days a week. We can work on whatever you like." She didn't have to say it—it was part of her job—but she felt a genuine pull to help this one student in a way she hadn't felt for anyone else.

​Sangsangi's expression remained neutral, but Feli saw a flicker of something in her gaze, a spark of hope in those deep, dark eyes.

​"Okay," Sangsangi said simply. She turned and walked out of the room, leaving Feli alone in the quiet classroom.❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

​Feli sat down at her desk, the silence of the empty room a stark contrast to the earlier noise. She looked at the watercolor on the easel, then at the empty chair where Sangsangi had been sitting. The piece wasn't just colors; it was a conversation. And Feli realized she was looking forward to the next one. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Chapter 3: The First Session❤️❤️

​The following Tuesday afternoon, the art room was quiet save for the soft scrape of a pencil on paper. The late afternoon sun filtered through the high windows, bathing the room in a warm, golden light. Feli sat at her desk, grading papers, while Sangsangi sat at a drawing table in the back.

​She had arrived promptly at four o'clock, her sketchbook clutched in her hand. There were no pleasantries, no small talk. She simply sat down and opened her sketchbook to a blank page. Feli didn't mind. She found the silence between them to be comfortable, a shared space where they could exist without the need for conversation. It was a language she understood.❤️❤️

​Feli glanced up from her papers. Sangsangi was sketching a human figure, but it was abstract, fragmented. A hand, a shoulder, a torso—all disconnected and drawn with a sharp, precise line. Feli walked over, intrigued.

​"Is that a person?" Feli asked, leaning over the table.❤️❤️

​Sangsangi nodded, not looking up. "It’s what I feel like on the inside. All the pieces are there, but they don't fit together.❤️❤️

​Feli felt a pang of empathy. She knew that feeling, the sense of being an incomplete puzzle. She picked up a charcoal stick from a nearby jar. "What if you tried to connect them?" she suggested softly. "Not with a line, but with a different shade, a different tone. Let the shadows guide you."

​Sangsangi paused, her pencil hovering over the paper. She looked at Feli, her eyes searching, as if trying to understand the deeper meaning behind her words. Feli didn't look away. She simply held her gaze, a silent promise of understanding passing between them.❤️❤️

​Slowly, tentatively, Sangsangi took a charcoal stick and began to fill in the spaces between the fragmented lines. The smudges of charcoal acted as bridges, connecting the disjointed pieces of the figure. The drawing began to take on a new life, a new coherence. The disconnected pieces were no longer just fragments; they were part of a whole, held together by the careful blending of light and shadow.❤️❤️

​Hours passed, and the sun began to set. When Sangsangi finally looked up, the drawing was complete. The figure was still abstract, but it was no longer broken. It was whole, held together by the careful, intentional marks she had made.

​Feli looked at the drawing, then at Sangsangi, a genuine smile on her face. "You see?" she said quietly. "You're not broken, you're just... not finished yet."❤️❤️

​Sangsangi smiled back, a small, genuine smile that Feli had not seen before. It was a flicker of sunlight in a room that was now filled with the gentle, fading light of dusk. For the first time, Feli didn't just see a student in Sangsangi. She saw a person. A person she wanted to know.❤️❤️