The Art of Forbidden Romance (Student x Teacher)

Chapter 41

Before I knew it, it was spring break and I finally finished my last painting. I had taken over the entire apartment, every inch of wall had wet paintings hanging on them. I had painted much too thickly, trying to cover the under paintings and mixing in the spices, and the oil paint wasn't drying fast enough for my gallery exhibit.

I was relieved to be done but everywhere I looked I still saw the original paintings - even though I had covered them thickly with oil paint and they weren't visible at all. Anytime I looked at the paintings as they hung in our apartment I could feel what was underneath the drying paint. I did my best to ignore it - or just not look at them.

That following Monday, I went into Andy's class with my proposal for the gallery. Anxiety boiled inside me, threatening to spill over at any time. I sat down win the back of the classroom with my laptop, fidgeting with my fingers as I waited for Andy.

"I'm glad to hear you finished your portfolio," Chuck said, sitting down for the review. I nodded.

"Thanks," I said, my voice cold. I could feel that he wanted to say something but I refused to look at him. Andy clapped his hands as he joined us, making me jump as he broke the tension between Chuck and I.

"Okay Winnie," he said, obviously excited. "Let's see what you got!" The pit in my stomach only grew as I showed them my proposal for the design of the studio. Andy's excitement subsided and by the time I was finished he was quiet.

"So that's it," I said, clicking through the final photo of my proposal draft. I looked over at Andy and Chuck, each of them looking more confused than the other. My eyes met Chuck's and my heart sank at the hurt in his eyes. We looked at each other for a moment before he opened his mouth to say something before closing it and clenching his jaw. He turned his eyes away from me and looked at Andy.

"I..." Andy started. "This...." He shook his head, scratching the back of his head, his eyes furrowed in confusion. He looked over at Chuck who refused to look back at me.

"Can I talk to you?" Andy asked, turning back to me. I nodded. We both got up and walked outside of the classroom and to our usual path for walking critiques.

"What happened?" Andy asked me as soon as we stepped outside the building. I kicked a few pebbles on the cement in front of me, sending them sliding across the quad.

"It's hard to explain," I said.

"What you put together last semester was so incredible, Win," he said, rubbing his temples. "I don't understand what happened. What happened to all those paintings?"

"I trashed them," I lied. Andy eyes grew wide.

"You did what?"

"I trashed them," I lied again. "We broke up... and... and I couldn't look at them anymore."

Andy blew out a heavy breath, shaking his head.

"I'm sorry," I said. Andy shook his head again.

"I'm mostly in shock," he said. "Your work was incredible. Winnie, you had some of the best work I've seen in almost twenty years of teaching, and I don't say that to every student." My eyes prickled as tears stated to form and I blinked furiously forcing them away.

"I couldn't look at them, Andy," I said. "He broke my heart and it was like a kick in the gut every time I saw them. I never finished the last one before things ended."  It was quiet between us for awhile. Andy kicked at a couple of leaves as we walked. We made it back to the building, completing our loop.

"Listen, Winnie," Andy said finally. "Your work is still amazing. I'm just... disappointed I didn't get to see it completed." My gut twisted.

"I'm sorry," I said. Andy shrugged.