The Art of being Strangers

ix.

Monday came sooner than expected. I haven't seen Basil over the weekend, nor did I think I would. I was looking forward to this week of school. No tests, no events, just peace.

As soon as I entered the school, Basil greeted me. I was a bit caught off guard. Of course, I was glad he didn't disappear again, but I found it weird that he was waiting for me beside the door.

"Hey," I call.

"Hey," he responds.

He didn't say anything else and I also didn't know what to say, so we just walked in silence through the hall. It wasn't an awkward silence, though. It was the comfortable type.

I arrived pretty early so I had enough time to talk to Basil until the first period started.

"Are we good again?" Basil says out of nowhere while rubbing his hand on the back of his neck.

This could've meant a lot of things, but I knew exactly what he was referring to.

"We're always good. I just get annoyed with you from time to time," I reply with a shrug.

He smiles and nods. "Is your cheek alright?"

My cheek was still a bit red, but the small wound left by Esther's ring was now gone. "Yes, don't worry about it."

When the bell rang, Basil and I hurried to class. After all the unpleasant events that happened Friday, I totally forgot that I had art class and Esther was in it too.

I could feel her eyes on me from time to time, but I refused to look into Esther's eyes.

Basil was weirdly agitated and couldn't stay still for more than a few minutes before doing something else.

The teacher wasn't paying attention and just let us draw whatever we wanted, but almost the whole class ignored the drawing part and started talking to one another. I decided to try my luck and draw an animal. However, judging by Basil's reaction while he was watching me draw, my so-called animal didn't turn out great.

When the class ended, people started exiting the class. Which led to me and Basil being the only ones in the classroom.

"Does this look like a dog?" I suddenly ask, showing him the drawing I made during the lesson.

"Why yes, of course," he lied with a smile. "It's a lovely dog."

"It's supposed to be a cat."

We both started laughing. I missed laughing like this with Basil.

"It's a lovely cat, I swear," he said, laughing even more.

"Isn't it?" I grinned.

*

During the lunch break, something unexpected happened. I was talking about random stuff with Basil when someone entered the classroom. My first reaction was to freak out – which I did – but then I saw who entered.

"Creek! I looked for you everywhere! Art class was the only class I haven't checked," Marigold said happily walking towards me.

"Mari! What made you look for me?" I ask, truly confused.

"You idiot, didn't I tell you we'd have lunch together from now on? Me, you and Ansel!"

"No, you didn't," I say slightly amused. "If you have said that I bet I wouldn't have forgotten."

"I haven't? God damnit! Well, now you know," she says, smacking a hand to her face.

I giggled as she held out her hand, motioning for me to follow her. I sat up from my seat, looked at Basil, and nodded. He understood what I meant and got up from his seat too.