The bell had already rung by the time Aster could finish his preliminary test that was intended to gauge his prowess as an animator. His face was buried in his arms even as other students had gathered in small circles to congratulate each other on their work, and to express concern about their performance while being showered with compliments. Any confidence the students held onto was crushed to dust.
All Aster could think about was how he couldn’t find the perfect way to express emotion in his two characters; no matter how jovial he wished them to appear, they felt fake. In reality he knew he was jealous of his own characters: they were so well knit together and perfect. Each of them perfectly encompassed a personality that Aster had imagined, and as long as he had both of them interact positively, they would always be content with their existence together.
“If only I could be one of you guys, and have my life so perfectly planned out without any problems,” Aster murmured as he half-heartedly poked his screen. With a heavy sigh, he rose from his seat and walked up the alley past the crowd of people that refused to leave the room to converse with one another, and exited through the doorway. The moment he entered the hall, he found it packed with students leaving the campus.
“Asta-licious! How was your first project?” called out Linh wearing a shirt reading, “Crazy? I was crazy once.” He took a bee-line to Aster before looking up. “You look kind of tilted not going to lie, what’s up?”
Aster smiled down towards him, “Hey Linh, I’m good, just exhausted.” Aster then glanced away. “I just need to turn in my finals next week and honestly I don’t know what to do.”
Linh cocked his head to the side. “Don’t be stupid, your art is always amazing, like you.”
Aster could only rub Linh’s head and mess up his hair in response. Linh protested and tried grabbing at his hands until Aster stopped, before pouting. He crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out. Aster finally gave into his tremors of laughter, letting out a few snorts before reforming his composure. Linh exasperatedly nodded his head off sarcastically, blatantly obvious that he disliked being indirectly insulted about his height. Aster crouched down, noticing that Linh felt a little deflated, and patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, we only see eye to eye on an escalator.” They stared at each other in the eye for a moment before they both giggled.
“Alright, alright, I get that I may be short, but at least my emotions are taller than you,” proposed Linh. Aster cast his friend a side eye, questioning how he was able to establish a social construct of his emotions in a comparative sense with physical height.
Linh raised his hands to his head, permitting him to rest his face, squishing his cheek. After a few moments of contemplation that his joke clearly fell short of Aster’s comprehension, he shrugged and proceeded to tilt his head. “Hey, now that class is over, do you want to go grab some coffee?”
Aster responded, “Sure, I’m down.”
They both took to the side of the hall and walked off campus with the diminishing crowd. The campus ground itself contained various arts created over the years by exceptional students to boast student skill for school pride. Aster thought to himself as he stared at the walls, I also want to have something to mark my worth in the school. Something I could say to the public as they fawn over it, “I made this”.
Linh had taken the front as they walked together, constantly checking back to ensure that Aster kept following. Only once they made it to the coffee shop across the street from the campus did Linh take the initiative to join the line of customers to await being attended. He indicated to Aster with sporadic contortions of his hand that he could rest while Linh ordered their drinks. Adhering to his signals, Aster found a table for two next to the windows amidst the cafe, preparing to rest upon the intricately shaped metal chair contrasted against the surrounding wood aesthetic. He winced as it shrieked for attention as he dragged it across the floor, rewarding him with the glances of fellow patrons as they located the origin of the sound. Immediately, Aster sat down and laid his head on the table to cover his ears with his hands as he felt them burn, counterproductive from the original intention of avoiding the plausibility that he was the perpetrator. Aster was only saved once Linh sat down across from him and shook Aster’s shoulder until he raised his head to face him.
All Aster could think about was how he couldn’t find the perfect way to express emotion in his two characters; no matter how jovial he wished them to appear, they felt fake. In reality he knew he was jealous of his own characters: they were so well knit together and perfect. Each of them perfectly encompassed a personality that Aster had imagined, and as long as he had both of them interact positively, they would always be content with their existence together.
“If only I could be one of you guys, and have my life so perfectly planned out without any problems,” Aster murmured as he half-heartedly poked his screen. With a heavy sigh, he rose from his seat and walked up the alley past the crowd of people that refused to leave the room to converse with one another, and exited through the doorway. The moment he entered the hall, he found it packed with students leaving the campus.
“Asta-licious! How was your first project?” called out Linh wearing a shirt reading, “Crazy? I was crazy once.” He took a bee-line to Aster before looking up. “You look kind of tilted not going to lie, what’s up?”
Aster smiled down towards him, “Hey Linh, I’m good, just exhausted.” Aster then glanced away. “I just need to turn in my finals next week and honestly I don’t know what to do.”
Linh cocked his head to the side. “Don’t be stupid, your art is always amazing, like you.”
Aster could only rub Linh’s head and mess up his hair in response. Linh protested and tried grabbing at his hands until Aster stopped, before pouting. He crossed his arms and stuck his tongue out. Aster finally gave into his tremors of laughter, letting out a few snorts before reforming his composure. Linh exasperatedly nodded his head off sarcastically, blatantly obvious that he disliked being indirectly insulted about his height. Aster crouched down, noticing that Linh felt a little deflated, and patted his shoulder. “It’s okay, we only see eye to eye on an escalator.” They stared at each other in the eye for a moment before they both giggled.
“Alright, alright, I get that I may be short, but at least my emotions are taller than you,” proposed Linh. Aster cast his friend a side eye, questioning how he was able to establish a social construct of his emotions in a comparative sense with physical height.
Linh raised his hands to his head, permitting him to rest his face, squishing his cheek. After a few moments of contemplation that his joke clearly fell short of Aster’s comprehension, he shrugged and proceeded to tilt his head. “Hey, now that class is over, do you want to go grab some coffee?”
Aster responded, “Sure, I’m down.”
They both took to the side of the hall and walked off campus with the diminishing crowd. The campus ground itself contained various arts created over the years by exceptional students to boast student skill for school pride. Aster thought to himself as he stared at the walls, I also want to have something to mark my worth in the school. Something I could say to the public as they fawn over it, “I made this”.
Linh had taken the front as they walked together, constantly checking back to ensure that Aster kept following. Only once they made it to the coffee shop across the street from the campus did Linh take the initiative to join the line of customers to await being attended. He indicated to Aster with sporadic contortions of his hand that he could rest while Linh ordered their drinks. Adhering to his signals, Aster found a table for two next to the windows amidst the cafe, preparing to rest upon the intricately shaped metal chair contrasted against the surrounding wood aesthetic. He winced as it shrieked for attention as he dragged it across the floor, rewarding him with the glances of fellow patrons as they located the origin of the sound. Immediately, Aster sat down and laid his head on the table to cover his ears with his hands as he felt them burn, counterproductive from the original intention of avoiding the plausibility that he was the perpetrator. Aster was only saved once Linh sat down across from him and shook Aster’s shoulder until he raised his head to face him.