Hearts Parade of a Lyrical Life

There's a reason these Bands have Names

I happily pull Ryan along to the pottery painting café I had mentioned, it wasn't too crowded as it was still before midday. It could make a good spot for brunch as we paint, I cheered at my genius. Ryan and I took a seat at one of the stations, I noticed sat in the far corner was Amanda. She was alone, painting what looked like a vase with various hearts and flowers. She didn't see me and Ryan from the other side of the room, and I made sure that we stayed hidden, motioning to Ryan subtly that she was in our vicinity.

"Should we leave?" Ryan asks.

I shake my head, "We aren't doing anything suspicious, for all she knows we are just here painting as friends." Ryan nods and looks around, deciding what he wanted to paint. The walls were lined with different ceramics, houseware on one side; with bowls, plates, mugs, and vases, the other wall was lined with more decorative items, clearly aimed at kids.

He scanned the walls before turning back to me, "What are you going to paint?" I thought for a moment, the options all seemed appealing.

"I think I'll paint a bowl." I decide, "They seem easy enough to paint, and I'd like my own bowl for the dorm."

Ryan nods. "I'll do the same." One of the staff members comes over to ask us what we've chosen and brings the bowls over. Ryan eyes his bowl up and down, you could see the gears turning in his mind as he decided on what to paint. I'm not much of an artist, let alone a painter, so I opt for something simple. I had seen some designs on Pinterest that I liked and decided to use them as inspiration, lacing the edges of the bowl with various shoddily painted flowers. Ryan was more optimistic, he pulled out his phone and attempted to re-create album cover art that he liked directly in the centre of the bowl.

"So... this is normally the time that people get to know each other right?" Ryan nervously adds, I can see his hands shaking ever so slightly, and wonder if it was the painting or the fact we were finally on a date that was making him so on edge.

I giggle slightly, "You don't have to force it Ryan, we've known each other for a bit, I think we know how to hold a conversation by now." Ryan smiles, embarrassed, he knew he was overthinking. "How about I go order us some drinks while we paint?" I get up, Ryan tells me his order and I go over to the small café area to order.

While waiting for the drinks I looked back over toward Ryan and noticed him frantically texting on his phone, he seemed to be reading each message closely. I bring our drinks over to him and set them down.

"Thanks" Ryan smiled, he took a breath, "You look pretty today by the way." He squeezed his lips together tightly, hoping he had said the right thing.

I smile, "Thanks Ryan, you do too." We were both just wearing our clothes from the morning, it was nothing special, but I wasn't going to make fun of him when he already seemed so on edge. I thought I'd try and calm his nerves with a change of subject, "What are you painting?"

He looked down at his own bowl, as if he himself had forgotten, "It's MCR cover art, I thought it looked cool, though I'm not sure I'm going to do it justice." I looked down at what he had started on, it was just a sketch and it wasn't great by any means, but it was at least recognisable. I'm sure once he added the paint it would start to take shape.

"I like it, it's a cool idea." He relaxed as I said this, seeming to have been relieved at my approval. We painted in silence for a while, it didn't feel awkward to me, I was just enjoying doing something fun with Ryan for company. After we settled in more Ryan got more focused on his painting, and I could see him ease up. Amanda passed by and noticed us, I noticed she was attempting to walk past without saying anything, which only added to my suspicions of her behaviour.

"Hey Amanda." I perked up, trying to grab her attention. She turned and pretended to have only just noticed us both sitting there.

"Oh hey you two! What are you both doing here?" Amanda sounded nervous as she spoke.