Forbidden Love

Chapter 14

The events of the day had made me extra tired, so after everything, I just went to sleep. I think I fell asleep faster than I thought I would. I opened my eyes and looked around; I was alone on the bed. Where's Anna? I sighed whilst sitting up. Wait, where's Maureen? Has she left? For some reason I felt sad at the thought. I frowned, why is it bothering me so much? 

"Hey, I'm about to leave.", Maureen spoke, entering the room.

Oh, she's still here. 

Relieved, I got up, "Ok."

Again, I don't know why it bothered me so much.

She picked up her bag, wore her sandals and exited the room. I followed behind. I think she got the memo that I was going to escort her home.

"Are you still mad?"

I shook my head, "no, I'm not."

She didn't look like she believed me, and I knew why. I hadn't spoken much since I woke up, which is unlike me, I was just following her with my hands in my pocket, quiet. I think it bothered her cos she felt I was still mad, but I was telling her no. I really wasn't mad, I was fine, everything was fine. Like I said, I had already forgiven her. The thing is I simply didn't feel like opening my mouth. 

Like.... I want to reply, the reply is in my head, but opening my mouth to say it felt...... Heavy. No, it was not intentional, I woke up like that.

Note: That was the last time I ever did that. No, I'm not whipped. She simply doesn't like it, so I don't do it. Deliberate or not. I'm not whipped.

We got to the classrooms and this one guy - who I thought she had a crush on - it was the other way round - was actually going to escort her too. Ugh why? I smile at him and we're on our way. She and this guy (I'm not giving a name) are holding a conversation, when she brings my silence up again.

"So yea, she's not talking to me cos she's mad.", she finishes.

On the inside, I laughed. On the outside, I smiled.

Calmly, I replied, "I told you, I'm not mad. Really."

"You're not mad but you haven't even hugged me."

aw, this girl. She wants a hug. Well I'll be honored.

 I stopped walking, which caused both of them to stop walking too. I pulled her in for a hug. At the time she was a little shorter than me. Infact she was the shortest among us three; Anna being the tallest. Please don't imagine 6ft. Just a lil taller than the average girl, followed by me; I'm not tall, then Maureen. 

She being shorter made the hug quite comforting. It felt like I was able to hold her fully. We pulled back after a while, "Is that ok?"

"No. You only did that cos I said something."

I shook my head, amused. How can you say that? Again, on the inside I was laughing, but outside, I smiled. We got to her house way too fast; didn't we just leave? She hugged the guy and then me and went inside, "See you tomorrow".

"Ok.", he replied.

"See you.", I replied. 

Now it was just him and I. He started to make conversation, Oi, did you not see how quiet I was?

I answered though. and then he asked an interesting question, of course I don't remember it, but I think it was related to Maureen. That's what got me to speak. Really? Now? I asked myself. We got to the school, parted ways, and I just couldn't wait to lie down. Anna was on the bed when I got inside. 

"Hey."

"Hi"

"How're you feeling?"

"I'm ok."

"You sure?"

"yes I'm fine."

I was quiet for a bit, a few seconds passed. "Were you really awake? Did you know about this?"

She looked at me, "No, I knew nothing about it until I woke up."

"Okay.", I nodded. I don't get it. Maureen had no reason to lie, so what is Anna's reason for lying?

Maureen and I were ok so that's fine.

The weekend passed by in a flash, before I knew it, it was Monday. Another paper to complete. Another headache to feel. Another week to finish it. The next paper was..... what was it? Lemme check. How? I still have the timetable. The next paper was leatherworks, practical. Again, had no idea what I was gonna do or how it was supposed to go. We didn't cover anything under leatherworks in class, so I was lost. Correction - we - were lost. 

But some of the guys knew a bit about it so I was good. Even though we were now three (the rest are into ceramics and jewelry) doing leatherworks, we had enough information on what to do and how to do it.

The idea planning for this one was easier than the first. For this, we had to make a leather stole; the kind used for graduation. Lemme tell you this, by the time I was done with this project, my fingers were a fucking purple color. I was so not prepared for this, like at all. But I wouldn't hesitate, if I was given the chance to re-live that day, I'd gladly do it over again. I think I had the most fun doing this than any of the other projects, despite it needing to buy and use more items than any other. 

First, we had to.... umm smoothen out the leather. Sadly, I've forgotten what it's called. I went searching but couldn't find it. Boy did that take a lot of strength. We used a champagne bottle for that and by the time we were done, our wrists were hurting. It turned out really pretty though, shiny and smooth. Next, we had to sandpaper the back. Mind you.... we had nothing automatic. As in we didn't have any of the tools for leather that would make our work easier.

Well, apart from the, the umm.... not the tonging chisel. The one that punches holes in the leather for you and it has alternate sizes, yea that one. That was it. So the sewing, the lacquering, the gluing, the designing, the wearing down of the hide and everything else, was manual. We had one more day to finish everything. Luckily, for this project, we could take it with us to keep working on it. But you had to make sure to bring it back. 

I'm over at the Visual Arts department, with Maureen of course, continuing my work, when my math teacher comes up to me. 

"Is that how the design to be?", he asked me.

Yea.", I replied, giving him the paper. He read through and said "Nah. I think it has to be underneath. Not on top."

Are you shitting me?!

I had to start over. But I was almost done, and I had just a day left. I have to start the whole fucking process again? I sighed.

At least I had help. Let's see how far we can go in a night.

Thank you for reading🙂.