King of Hearts

3.

The whole class is gathered at the entrance of the museum, doing a repetition of the last lesson before entering the building.

"Psst!" A rather loud whisper interrupts Val's thoughts. She turns to her right, meeting big green eyes that belong to her friend Stella. "See, I told you he would come", her friend whispers indicating with her head behind Val. Val doesn't turn around but replies with a short "Who?"

Stella rolls her eyes, "The same guy who said that art isn't really his thing, so he was going to skip today's trip. The same guy who stares at you in class and compliments your work. But again, he's not interested, right?" Stella says sarcastically and smirks. "Oh please, not again. When are you going to stop annoying me with this nonsense?", Val complains.

The "guy" is called Liam, a classmate. Stella is, in her opinion, a great observer and according to her investigations, Liam has a secret crush on Val. He seems to compliment her a lot when it comes to her paintings and he is surprisingly supportive, even though he says he is more of a sports guy. Val would never even imagine him fancying her since he is incredibly popular and good-looking, but Stella is very insistent on her assumptions.

Stella steps closer to Val, although her whisper could be heard even from afar. "I know you don't want to admit it, but I noticed you're slightly blushing. You cannot fool me, Val. He's throwing so many obvious signs at you, he definitely wants you to ask him out, and you definitely should."

Various students already turn their heads at the girls. "You do realize you are not alone here?" Cloé now joins the conversation. She can hear every word since she is standing right next to Stella. The girls wait for the unwanted attention to fade away.

Then Stella continues, "He's staring at you right now."
"No, he's not," Val says without moving.
"Yes, he totally is!"
"Stella, stop it! "
"You should go and talk to him."
"Certainly not."
"Yes, you should!"
"Will you stop? God, you're so embarrassing," Cloé grunts. Val doesn't bother looking in Liam's direction. She doesn't want him to notice that they're talking about him, although Stella made it quite obvious. Thankfully, the teacher is done speaking and the students can finally enter the museum. The long-anticipated tour is about to begin.

                                                                     ----

"Hey, you with the crooked nose! No touching, I said! Alright, coming to our last piece, the legendary painting of Salvador Dalí: The Persistence of Memory. His fame rose with this masterpiece. Now, what you may have not known, this majestic painting was created amid a hallucination. Furthermore, ... "

Val's nerves have reached their limits. It is absolutely painful listening to the annoying nasal voice of the museum educator. According to his shiny raven black hair, there are no limits to the usage of hair gel. He is wearing a black turtleneck, accentuating his unrealistically long neck, black skinny jeans, making his legs appear even skinnier than they already are, and pointy black leather shoes, ready to stab whoever dares to interrupt his speech. His villainous appearance reminds Val of someone, but she can't put her finger on it. His snobbish and know-it-all attitude makes the tour tiresome and unbearable.

After a few minutes of daydreaming, Robbie Rotten from Lazy Town, that's who he reminded Val of, has come to an end, and Val can't wait to explore every single corner of the museum. Now that the tour is done, the class is dismissed. Every student is allowed to either walk freely around the building and catch up on things they've missed, or leave the museum. 

"Thank god it's over. I thought I was going to pass out", Cloé sighs, as she takes a seat on a bench nearby. Val, lost in her thoughts, watches the last few students leave. Stella immediately notices it, of course. "I kind of hoped he would have come and talked to you", she frowns while looking at Liam, who is leaving with his friends. Somewhere deep down in Val's heart, she hoped it too.