A couple of days passed, Oddey was in Madam Vestia's art studies, and she watched one of her classmates present their art on romanticism. One by one, she saw their take on the movement; one was only a pencil sketch, but it was still great, the other was done with colored pencils, chalk, and, like hers, some of them were painted. "Next up, let's have... Ms. Empirio," the professor said. "Are you ready?"
"Yes," the art student answered and took her sketch pad, then went in front of the class. She showed them her final work, and they seemed impressed.
"Alright, tell us about your artwork there. What are we seeing here?"
"As you all can see, I drew a man and a woman. The story here is that they haven't met yet, hence the way they are not facing each other, even though they are just a step away from each other."
"I see, and what's that red... thing around them?"
"It's called the red string of fate."
"Oh! What is that?"
"In Japanese belief, there's this invisible red string that connects a person to their destined soulmate."
"Very interesting, now tell me your process."
"I used watercolor to paint with soft, subtle color for the two soon-to-be lovers and the red string of fate. I used acrylic to give that wavy motion."
"Beautiful. Excellent work, I see the romanticism in your painting, and I love the story behind it. You nailed it," Madame Vestia commented. Oddey had to hand it over to her. "You may take your seat."
"Thank you, Madame Vestia," Oddey said, then went back to her desk, feeling so satisfied by the words that she was given by her professor from her artwork. Even when she sat back down, she got some praise from her classmates.
At the end of the class, the students were cleaning up their belongings before leaving, then all of a sudden, "Attention, Students, as you all know, I am the supervisor for the theatre club, we'll be doing Romeo and Juliet," Madame Vestia announced. "Since we are low on casts due to the dengue outbreak, we will be needing help, and I will put up a sign-up form online for those who want to volunteer to play extras such as the townfolks, knights, horses, or volunteers making the sets. I hope I'll be seeing some names of yours in the forms."
Oddey heard other students whispering at the back, "Romeo and Juliet for a college play? Are they for real?" said one.
"But that's so high school," replied the other one.
"More like middle school," then they started giggling. Oddey just rolled her eyes and shook her head. She left the classroom right after.
Students were putting up posters about the upcoming play, and the two girls saw it. "Romeo and Juliet?" Rita scoffed. "Isn't that a middle school play?"
"It's still a classic," Oddey replied. "And who knows, maybe the college version might be better."
"Maybe. So, how did your romanticism painting go?"
"Oh! Amazing, I nailed it."
"That's great, Bestie."
"Thanks, now let's get our drinks in Usagi Cafe and go finish those backdrops."
Later, once they got their beverages, they continued working on the farm-themed backdrop. The girls were on the floor dividing their tasks. Oddey had sketched and cut three barnyard animals from the styrofoam, and Rita painted them. It was a quiet yet fun thing to do.
All of a sudden, Felix knocked on the door, so Oddey signaled him to come inside. "Hey, I'm just returning the green paint, sorry I didn't get to do it yesterday," he said. "Hi, Rita."

YOU ARE READING
No Reason But Us
RomanceYoung love is sweet and innocent, but would you break any rule just to be with the person you love? Odette 'Oddey' Empirio, a freshman art major, and Gage Munro, a sophomore taking architecture, accidentally met one day. However, they had no idea th...