Hands of Clay, Heart of Stone

Chapter 1: The introduction

Ayra

I stand in front of a mirror in my bedroom. Little Things by One Direction is playing through my pink coloured speaker. I hold my breath as I take a look at myself after getting ready to go out with my younger sisters. I let my long dark brown hair down, it is slightly wavy but thankfully not frizzy because lately I've been taking a really good care of myself (bet it's a pre-period symptom and will only last for two weeks). I put on a red lipstick in a South Korean beauty way, put it in the middle and dab it around. My dark brown eyes are looking bored as usual and my stomach feels bloated but it cannot be seen thanks to my oversized jumper.

"You're done?" asks my youngest sister as she peeks through my bedroom door.

"In a minute" I say and spray my perfume. I glance down at my outfit once again. Soft pink jumper, black skirt that reaches my ankles and black socks. It's fine, I tell myself.

I turn off the speaker, grab my phone, my purse and head downstairs to the living room. I see my younger sister named Alina who is 2 years younger than me is wearing her lilac shift dress, makeup that accentuates her beauty even more and some more lilac accessories to match with her dress. She doesn't have to try hard because she's already beautiful since birth plus she's a fashion design student. While my youngest sister named Alysa who is 10 years younger than me is dressing like how most teenagers would. A pair of jeans and her black printed t-shirt that says 'professional yapper'. She likes printed t-shirts so much, her wardrobe full of it. Alina sometimes would try to dress her up and Alysa only allowed her depending on her mood.

"I'm done, let's go" I say as I grab my car key from the key holder.

"Buy coffee first then stroll around?" asks Alina as she puts on her lilac heels. Alysa is still on her phone while using one hand to put on her sneakers. I swear she only puts her phone down when it's time to eat, to sleep or when she's using the toilet.

"Yeah, sure" I say as I put on my wedges then we head outside to my car.

A while later, we arrive at the city centre. There's not many people around yet since it's only 11 in the morning. We rarely go out and prefer to stay at home but we try to once a week. Only go out for work or school. After we finish buying our drinks at a cafe, we stroll around the city centre, looking for things to do or buy. I'm walking in the middle and even though I'm the oldest, I am the shortest among all of them and it makes me feel humbled sometimes.

Then we see a few girls in line waiting for their turn to take a picture with this one guy in front of an art store. The guy is tall, tan skin, light brown hair, wearing a green button shirt with collar tucked into his khaki coloured pants. He has dimples, cute, I thought to myself.

"Is he a celebrity?" I ask my sisters. Alina shrugs as in 'I don't know'. Alysa puts her phone down and gazes at the guy.

"He's a pottery artist. You followed his work instagram account and you even said all of the pottery he made is beautiful." says Alysa and she's on her phone again. I narrow my eyes slightly as I try to remember. I did follow and said that a month ago but I don't know the artist.

"Really? But I didn't see any of his pictures on the account" I murmur as I glance at the guy again.

"He posted videos of him making pottery on Tiktok and even has almost two million followers, mostly because of his looks" says Alysa, she glances at me for a moment and continues typing on her phone. I nod slightly. I have a Tiktok account but I only open it to look for book recommendations, poetry or to buy things.

"You're a fan of his work so go talk to him or something" says Alina then take a sip of her iced caramel macchiato. I let out a small scoff and gaze at her.

"I'm a fan of his work, not him" I murmur and glance at the guy again. The line is getting shorter. I notice his smile, a sweet smile which shows a few of his teeth. From where I'm standing and watching his gestures, he looks like a humble guy. I notice his polite smile and his polite small head bow as he says thank you to his fans.

"So? What's the difference? Come on, he's handsome and you can't deny it. How often do you usually come across that kind of guy?" says Alina and before I could respond, she grabs my forearm and drags me towards the guy. There's only one girl left in the line and we are standing behind her. I watch as the girl talks and takes pictures with the guy. Alina won't let me escape and is still holding my forearm firmly. I swear, my sisters can be the death of me one day. The girl says her goodbye and I could feel my heart almost leap out of my body, through my mouth.

"Hi, how are you guys doing?" greets the guy with his smile. The smile, the deep voice and the British accent which I would find totally charming if I weren't being held hostage by Alina right now. All I feel is annoyance and dread right now.

"My sister is a fan of your work" says Alina with her cheeky smile as she points her finger at me, still holding my forearm tightly as if I were a child that would roam around aimlessly without a care in the world. I slightly glare at her.

"Yeah and she said that your work is beautiful and is a masterpiece. She followed your Instagram account so she didn't know you're the artist" adds Alysa. Great, she's always on her phone and barely talks to me but now? She's literally backstabbing me. These demons, I won't spend money on them anymore. I hear the guy chuckles and he gazes at me, our eyes meet and now I know the colour of his eyes. His eyes are green with a tinge of brown which reminds me of a forest.