It was Thursday after school, the first day that Diana was going to paint Alex, and she didn't think she could possibly feel more dread than she was feeling at that moment. She didn't want to have to paint Alex. She was beginning to sound like a broken record as this was all she could think about. Moreso, she had made this very fact clear to all parties involved. But yet, no difference. She was going to have to paint Alex whether she liked it or not. And in this case, it was 'not'.

Diana was seated in the private art room where she was to paint Alex. She jiggled her right leg up and down nervously as she waited. Each moment that passed, the dread that she was feeling only began to grow. It took no genius to know that this was not going to work out. In fact, it was going to be a hot mess. She and Alex just didn't mix. However, Diana waited.

Thirty minutes passed by and still no sign of Alex. The dread that Diana had been feeling had now transformed to annoyance, border lining on anger. She was almost determined that Alex would be a no-show when the door burst open.

Alex was there, but she wasn't alone. She was making out with some girl. Diana recognized her as a Junior in the year below. The déjà vu from her first encounter with Alex hit her and Diana cleared her throat loudly, not willing to have to go through the whole thing again.

Alex stopped kissing the girl and instead whispered something into her ear before winking at her and walking further into the class. Diana watched as the girl blushed before closing the art room door behind her on her way out.

"Well, you look delighted to see me," Alex said with a lopsided grin as she made her way over to a chair.

"Alex, you are more than half an hour late," Diana replied sternly as she glared at the girl sitting across from her. "Do you have any regard at all for others?"

Alex pretended to be in deep thought. "No, not really?"

"Really? I didn't notice."

Alex's playful attitude had disappeared, and she had now matched the glare that Diana was giving her. "I don't want to be here, you know that?"

"I think so, you might have made it clear a couple hundred times," Diana retorted as she set up a canvas in front of her and adjusted her seat, "neither do I."

"You should be a tree for how far you've got a stick up your ass."

"Nice one, did you come up with that yourself?"

Alex sighed in defeat, much to Diana's relief. She wasn't sure how much longer she could take the petty bickering that was going on between them.

"Honestly, did you really have to take so long to show up here?" Diana grumbled as she set paintbrushes out in front of her.

"Can you blame me? Perfection takes time."

It was then that Diana took a good look at the girl sitting idly a little distance from her. They were starting off with the professional portrait and Alex was dressed in a navy blue suit with her hair swept to the side. She looked good, everything about her appeared crisp and cleanly cut in that moment. Diana had to admit it, she was pretty much the definition of perfection in that moment.

"Done checking me out?" Alex asked, noticing Diana regarding her. She had a smirk on her face, which immediately aroused a deep irritation within Diana.

"I'm not checking you out, you look ridiculous. All that making out you were doing moments ago has fucked up your face," Diana lied.

Once again, the smirk disappeared from Alex's face. She opened her mouth to reply.

"Could you sit there instead? I have a better view and the sun hits you better, so it'd help conceal the lipstick stains over your face," Diana quickly interjected before she could say anything.

Alex looked like she was about to object but got up and did as Diana had instructed her. However, she made her annoyance and distaste clear from the scowl etched on her face.

"So should I paint that scowl in too? I think it'd be a nice touch for colleges to really see who you are off the field," Diana remarked. She knew she was walking on thinner and thinner ice, but she was getting too much satisfaction from winding Alex up.

The scowl on Alex's face didn't completely disappear, but it softened significantly. "You're insufferable."

"Ooh, big word."

Surprisingly enough, the next couple of minutes flew by fairly peacefully. Alex remained silent and cooperated with the instructions Diana gave her. Neither of the girls spoke or said anything to each other. It was no surprise that Diana found herself preferring Alex when she kept her mouth shut.

"Like the princess?" Alex suddenly asked.

Diana let out a low breath, already missing the silence. "What are you talking about?"

"Your name," Alex stated, "Diana, like the late princess?"

"If you're asking if I was named after her. Yes, I was. My mom kind of had an obsession with her," Diana replied, never taking her eyes off the canvas in front of her.

Alex nodded. "Cool. Princess Diana was cool. It's a cool name."

"Thanks," Diana replied, scratching her head awkwardly. She wondered if in some weird way Alex had just complimented her.

They fell into silence again. Unfortunately, it was very short-lived.

"What's taking so long, I've been seated in this same position for hours," Alex grumbled, "can't you hurry up?"

"It hasn't been hours," Diana muttered in reply.

"Can't you hurry up? Gosh, you are taking forever. How much longer do I have to sit like this? This is really going to mess with my form-"

"Okay," Diana suddenly exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air, "we're done for the day. Go. Please leave, I can't stand your presence any longer." And Diana meant every bit of it as well. Apparently, Alex was feeling the same thing as she was out of the door in less than seconds.

The next couple of weeks seemed to fly by. As usual, school was an absolute drag. The painting sessions on Thursdays with Alex didn't get much better. At least she did not show up as late as the first time, but most days she showed up kissing someone. It was always a different girl each time. Diana had started to wonder if somehow Alex was trying to flaunt it in her face, as if to say 'I can go around and display my sexuality however I want but you can't'. This, along with Alex's overall annoyingness, always ensured that Diana was in a sour mood by the end of the session.

The only thing that seemed to be going well was her job at Tracey's. Her mom still had not found out that she was sneaking out of the house most nights, much to Diana's satisfaction. She was finally able to make money of her own. Furthermore, it was a good amount, seeing as overnight shifts paid twice the amount of money as the day shifts, but had half as much work. The only thing Diana really sacrificed was her sleep. Most days she hardly got any and only managed to sneak in a few hours after school and before her shift.

On this particular Thursday Diana was feeling extra grumpy. It was just one of those days when everybody seemed to want to get on her nerves. Moreso, the fact that she had a painting session with Alex after school was not something that she was looking forward too-not in the slightest. She knew the other girl was just going to do everything to get on her nerves.

School finally came to a close and Diana all but dragged herself to the art room. She began setting up her art supplies, and it wasn't long before Alex made an appearance. As usual, her lips were hooked to some random girl's. Diana had been hoping she wouldn't do that today.

"Alex, it's so kind of you to join me," Diana announced loudly, interrupting the make-out session that was going on in the corner of the room.

The girl who Diana didn't know her name glared at her before whispering and giggling at something Alex said, before (finally) leaving the room.

"Don't you feel a little weird? Self-conscious even, when you make out in front of someone? Or do you even have an ounce of respect or regard for the other person in the room?" Diana asked.

"Why should I?" Alex said as she made her way over to the chair. It wasn't a question, but a statement.

Diana rolled her eyes. Of course she wouldn't, her ego was way too inflated for that.

They settled into a silence and Diana began working on the painting, glancing over at Alex every so often.

"Could you please stay still?" Diana said through gritted teeth. Alex kept on fidgeting, which was beginning to drive her over the edge.

"No!" Alex said, her voice rising softly. "You don't know how fucking hard it is to have to sit here in one position."

"Wow, that must be so hard. Gosh, whatever should we do?" Diana replied sarcastically, making it apparent that she didn't give a flying fuck about Alex's comfort. After all, she knew the girl didn't give a shit about hers.

For some reason Diana's response seemed to have struck a nerve with Alex as the girl was immediately on her feet.

"Don't talk to me like that," Alex said angrily.

Diana regarded the girl's body language. Her hands were clenched into fists at her sides and she was glaring at her sinisterly. This was probably enough context cues that Diana shouldn't edge her any further.

A few moments passed of both girls awkwardly staring at each other before Alex sunk back into her seat. Diana carried on painting as if nothing had happened.

"I should be out on the field training," Alex grumbled. "We have our first game of the season less than a week away, but here I am, cooped up in an art room with you."

Diana doubted that missing out on training for a couple of hours was going to have any effect whatsoever on Alex's skill.

"You know," Diana said, "the world doesn't revolve around you."

Alex fake gasped. "Really? It doesn't, that's such a disappointment."

"You're hilarious."

"You're not. You're unbearable. Have you ever considered that maybe that's the reason you have no friends?"

Diana didn't know why, but that hit a nerve. It was clear that Alex seemed to have picked up on this too, and from the look on her face, Diana could see that she regretted saying that.

"Hey, Diana I-"

Diana wasn't listening. She was already taking off her painting apron, flinging it harshly on a table and swallowing hard to push down the lump forming in her throat. She didn't know what it was; she didn't know for the life of her why she cared about what Alex said. She said things like that all the time. After all, she was a Grade A bitch. But at that moment, she just couldn't handle it.

"Diana..." Alex had gotten out of her seat and was making her way towards her.

"Stay away from me," Diana said through gritted teeth. She didn't really care what Alex had to say, she didn't care what empty apologies the girl wanted to say.

"Diana, please..."

"Fuck you," Diana yelled, cutting Alex off. She was facing her now, her eyes had begun to sting. "Fuck you, Alex! Go find someone else to paint your fucking portraits, I'm done."

With that Diana was out of the room, slamming the door loudly behind her. Leaving Alex staring after her with wide eyes.