Peintures vivantes - Joseph Descamps

Une nouvelle amie

"Tell me, what was it like working with Henri?" I ask, arranging my books in the folder. Annick is already standing waiting impatiently; the class has now emptied. She glares at me and turns her gaze towards the last few desks. "I got angry, to tell you the truth." He replies, returning to observe me.

I adjust my chair under the desk and give her a confused look. "Serious?" I ask her quite stunned. Why on earth would Annick be angry with Henri. We leave the room and walk down the corridor towards the dining room. 'He kept staring at me, instead of working and engaging me. So I undressed in front of him to give him a final look, and then he was able to concentrate." She confesses, keeping her gaze fixed in front of her.

"Are you crazy!"

"What did you expect? That he would keep staring at me, throwing away two hours of my hard work. That was all he cared about, so I decided to accommodate him so I could work in peace afterwards." Annick scolds me, clutching her French book to her chest.

After only a few moments, Dupin jumps on us from behind his back, laughing. "Hey Annick. If you were to have kids with Pipi Pichon people would say you were raising pigs!" I turn sharply, blocking him. "Go away Dupin, I'm sick and tired of your nonsense. Instead of airing your mouth, think about shutting up." I reply annoyed, taking Annick by the arm and increasing my pace.

Dupin starts grunting like a pig, and from not far away, a professor picks him up. "Dupin, any problem?"

"Not him sir, but Pichon. He is happy, and when he is happy, he grunts." Descamps, who had meanwhile caught up with him, replies cheerfully. As Annick continues walking, I stop and turn to look at him. "You are very mature, Joseph." I tell him in a sour tone, as his gaze goes from being cheerful, to being troubled.

"But I say, you can be so obnoxious." I blurt, sitting down next to Annick at our usual cafeteria table. Michelle gives me a look of understanding, while Simone scrutinises me. "Have you been calling him Joseph since you started working together?" Simone asks me in a vague tone, filling her plate with some baked vegetables.

Damn, I actually called him Joseph in front of my friends. Big, big mistake. "I didn't notice." I reply, avoiding her eyes. "Thank you for defending me Romy." Annick thanks me, filling her glass with water. I start to feel pressed by Simone and Michelle's constant criticism, Annick remains the only one who doesn't judge me for how I behave with Joseph. Descamps, I mean.

"By the way, how is your couple's work going?" asks Michelle, savouring the baked vegetables. Annick inhales and fixes her hair nervously. "Well, Pichon and I have been working well, but we still have a lot to do to complete it to the best of our ability," he answers her, smiling. She didn't mention the incident. Perhaps she considers me her closest friend.

"The two of us have worked wonderfully." Squeaks Simone.

"If it wasn't for my brother stressing me out," Michelle snorts, in a serious tone.

"No come on, he's nice. What about you Romy?"

"What?" I pretend not to understand, as I serve myself some grilled chicken on my plate. Simone gives me a questioning look. "How did the job with Descamps go?"

"Very bad. We didn't talk to each other at all, we just shared topics. Clearly, he didn't do anything," I lie to him. As they start talking to each other again, I notice a few tables away Joseph watching me in an accusatory tone. Oh God, I hope he hasn't heard my lies.

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Outside in the yard, the wind is getting cold, winter is coming, and I feel relieved. I love the snow, the cold and the festivities of Christmas. At Christmas, we exchange lots of presents at my house, and it's the best part of the winter holidays.

"What is Michelle doing?" asks Annick, snapping me back to reality. I turn to look for Michelle's figure, and find her outside the gate, next to Alain and...two guys I've never seen. "Who are those two guys talking to Alain and Michelle?"

Annick shrugs at me. We watch the scene in silence. The two guys are laughing and joking, engaging Michelle, but Alain is very serious and gloomy in the face. After they've finished giggling, and made an awkward bow to Michelle, the two boys walk away and get on the backs of their two mopeds and zoom off, in a cloud of smoke.

"Oh, well. I'd better get going. I've got a lot of studying to do. See you Romy." Annick greets me, walking towards the front door. "Wait Annick, can we study together this afternoon?" I ask her with a smile. I need company, to keep my thoughts away from the things that have been happening these past few days.

Annick turns to look at me and glares. "My house is far away, I can't!" she replies, widening her eyes. "Well I'll gladly walk."

"No sorry Romy." She replies dryly, and walks away, leaving me alone at the foot of our high school's front door.

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"Romy! It's the phone, someone called Annick is looking for you! Come!" my mum shouts from the kitchen. Annick? Why is she calling me? I close my English book, and walk down the stairs quickly so as not to keep her waiting too long.

My mum, with a big smile, hands me the green handset of the kitchen phone and goes back to the cooker. "Yes?"

"Hi Romy." Annick's voice greets me, much hoarser than usual. Blame this damn old phone. I squeeze the handset between my fingers. "Hi Annick."

"Sorry about before...I realised too late that I answered you wrong. It wasn't my intention, I'm really sorry."

"It's okay Annick, no problem. I just wanted to be in your company to study, I didn't want to annoy you."

"I wasn't annoyed about that, it's just...It's fine. To apologise for my bad attitude, tomorrow afternoon would you like to study together?"

"Sure! Gladly."

"Can we do it at your place please?" he asks me in a low voice. I don't see what the big deal is about studying at his house, but I gladly accept. "Yes it's fine Annick. Let's come back from school together, you can have lunch at my place if you want." I invite her, smiling.

My mum gives me an enthusiastic look, and nods resoundingly. "Invite your friend, we want to meet her dear."

"Hear that? My mum wants to make your acquaintance."

"Oh, all right. Thank you so much for inviting me to lunch, see you tomorrow Romy."

"See you tomorrow Annick, take care." And thus ends my first phone call with a friend.