N O T I C E D

Chapter 6: Tension-filled airs.

-WRITTEN-: November 5th, 2021

-PUBLISHED-: November 20th, 2021.

''So that's it?'' I asked the brown-haired guy in front of me. I watched as he scoffed at my words. ''It's not just that.'' He said as I frowned wondering what was going on in his mind.

''Care to expand?'' I asked him softly knowing it wasn't my place to know or push him to tell me. He met my eyes and I swear I saw a swirl of emotions in them; doubt, worry, and something else, something I couldn't quite figure out.

''Look, I just need you to look after my brother for the weekend and that's it, I don't need to explain my sob story to someone I barely know.'' Reasonable. I sighed and watched him take out his phone, he handed it to me as I now stared at the screen. I entered my name and number on his contacts and handed the phone back to him.

''I'll send you the address and time this afternoon.'' He said and all I could do was nod at his words. We ignored the silence in the air as I looked around the empty art room. There were a few displayed sculptures and paintings but what really stuck out was a black hole painting. The details captured spoke a different level of emotion; an emotion of being alone. I inspected the painting as I noticed a signature on the bottom right corner, narrowing my eyes I read the signature; J.W.

Turning around I opened my mouth to speak but realized Jacob was gone. 'Maybe it wasn't him, I mean there could be others with the same initials.' I told myself and walked out of the classroom, rushing towards the gym to get changed and head to class figuring I was already late.

'Yeah and no thanks to Jacob.' Walking into the gym changing room, I quickly freshened up and changed into my clothes. It took at least 20 minutes, minus the 5 minutes of interrogation from Jacob.

Rushing out of the gym I ran up a flight of stairs and into my next class; Mathematics with the 'loving' Mrs. Bush. I quickly walked inside and took a seat. ''Ah, Evelyn how wonderful of you to join us.'' Mrs.Bush said as I took a seat noticing the slight tension in the air.

I sat down as she started the lesson, I watched how she explained the task and tuned out the rest, sighing as I thought about going home and eating a slice of banana bread.

After a while of daydreaming, Mrs. Bush had assigned us work that related to our careers although all I could think about was going home. I took out my laptop and logged on as another teacher walked into class and approached Mrs.Bush. They exchanged words as Mrs. Bush nodded and then cleared her throat. ''Alright class, we all have to head to the theater as there is a special guest willing to speak to the Year 12s about the next year and how it's going to be very very important for your career pathways.''

We all gathered our belongings as I looked around for any sign of Diego or, at least, Jacob. No sign of them. I sighed and walked towards the theater.