An Artist in Love

Chapter 8: Tutoring Sessions

Dan's POV:

The class ended and right after I fixed my things, without even getting the chance to say good bye to Lexi, Beatrice clung unto my arm, smiled brightly at me, then told me that we should already go to the library. I keep getting stunned whenever she smiles at me or hugs me or, in this case, clings unto me. As I looked back for the last time, Lex was talking to Jake.

=In the Library=

It's been two hours and it's already 5:00 in the afternoon. I gave Beatrice a set of word problems and she's stuck on the last one. She put sown her pen first and reread the problem for the nth time now. Her half-closed right fist was where she rested her chin and the other hand held the paper. Her eyebrows were a bit furrowed and I could tell she was trying her best to understand the problem. I'll admit... she looked adorable. She wasn't at all the Beatrice I knew since first year high school (yes we were classmates even then). No, she was nicer, sweeter, kinder, and a much more appealing person. She didn't act bratty and her words weren't as harsh as they were back then.

After five minutes, I decided to help her. "Here," I said at the same time as she exclaimed, "Aha!" We reached for the pen at the same time, her hand holding the pen, and my hand holding hers. We stared at each other in surprise until she decided to break the moment. "U-Uhh, Dan, my hand?" she chuckled. I blinked at least twice and let go of her hand. "Sorry, I was going to help you solve the problem, but it seems you have found the solution." She only smiled at me and continued answering.

I found myself only looking at her while she answered the problem. "Done!" I checked her work and it was all correct. "So, let's go?" I asked. "Mhm." As we walked back together to her dorm, I said, "Umm Beatrice, your hands were so cold earlier." "Oh, yeah. Sorry, I was feeling a bit cold. Well it IS cold even out here," she replied. Unknowingly, I removed my coat and put it on her shoulders. For a moment, I was nearly hugging her from the side. She was surprised by my action and I only smiled at her. "Th-Thanks," she smiled. I only nodded my head and we continued on walking. The wind blew stronger.

"Dan, take your coat back. It's freezing!" she told me, removing my coat from her shoulders. "No," I said and put the coat back on her, the tips of our fingers touching, "I'm fine, really," I said, even though I already felt myself catching a cold and feeling a bit sick.

Lexi's POV:

Jake and I left for the café riding his car. The windows were open since it was cold anyway. "The streets look so pretty when it snows," I started, "around us, it isn't really bright and colorful. It's rather dull, but the white snow falling from the sky somewhat helps me see the color." He looked at me and asked, "How? It's just... snow." "Well because the basic, white color of the snow falling and the one on the ground really helps make the other colors in the surrounding stand out." "But you said it was dull," he stated again. "Yeah, because there's no sun. The brightness isn't there." "Ahh... you're an artist, aren't you?" "How'd... how'd you know?" "It's obvious. IN A GOOD WAY, in a good way. You can just describe things and even if I can't see it, I could picture it." "Oh... umm... th-thanks? Haha!"

The stoplight turned red and the car had to stop. Across the street, I saw a café. "Jake!" "What?" "Do you wanna stay there?" I pointed to the café. He sat closer to me so he could see it from my window. "Where? Oh there! Yeah, why no --" Jake was saying before a motorCycle bumped the back of his car. "Ah!" I squealed. Jake's reaction was to extend his one arm and put his hand on the back of the driver's seat and surprisingly... he wrapped his other arm across my shoulders. He was basically back hugging me.

"A-Are you okay?" he asked me, his face close to mine. I felt tears escape my eyes. "L-Lexi?!" He made me face him and he was panicking. "What... what's wrong?! Are you hurt somewhere?!" I shook my head. It's like the accident all over again... Mom... Dad... "Lexi." He wiped away the tears from my cheeks, his hands cold and shaking. He too felt nervous I guess. "S-sorry," I muttered. "It's okay... you're okay," he assured me. "Come on," he said, holding out his hand. I looked at him, confused. He took my hand and we went out of the car.

"We'll just be in the café, driver. Call the police," he told his driver. We crossed the street and sat at a table located in the second floor of the café. I couldn't find the words to say... "Lexi, I am terribly sorry for what happened." I smiled weakly and nodded my head. "Are you okay? You seem..." he was saying then his eyes grew wider. "Are you... did you go through a traumatic experience involving the crashing of a car?" Tears streamed down my face again and I looked down at the table. It's been a while since I cried... since I felt lonely... since I felt sad.

He immediately got up from his seat and he held his hand out again. I took it and he pulled me up gently to stand up. He hugged me, arms around my shoulders. I buried my face on his chest just to cry. There was nobody else there so we didn't care. I was afraid, I felt lonely, I missed my parents, and I felt sad as the memories rushed back to me. I hugged him tightly and cried. "It's okay... you're okay... you're safe," he told me, gently and slowly patting my back.

Jake's POV:

After she was done crying, I bought us drinks and we proceeded with the tutoring session for English. After about an hour or so, we had finished. My car couldn't pick us up, so she sent hers. There were four personal bodyguards inside, so I couldn't really talk to her since it was really awkward. Lexi opted to walk from the parking lot to our dorms, so I chose to accompany her even if it was still daylight since it was just 4:00 in the afternoon. "Lex," I started, "I really am sorry about earlier." "It's okay, it wasn't intentional anyway. Besides, accidents... they always happen," she said with a faint smile. I put my arm around her shoulders and shook her lightly. "You are really something, Lex!" I cheerfully said.

"Of course! Haha!" she replied. I removed my arm from her shoulders and smiled brightly at her then shook my head jokingly. We both kept our eyes on the road as we walked. I tried to do it until we reached her dorm, but I always found myself looking at her and smiling. "What?" she chuckled when she caught me. "Just wondering if you're cold. I can lend you my coat." "Nope, I'm fine, thank you." During the walk, we were constantly talking about art. Although I wasn't much of an arts person, whenever she talked about it, I was interested. Ahhh... love. Such a crazy, mysterious, and powerful thing. Slowly, I think it's changing me.

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