Love & Other Ephemeral Arts

Chapter 3

You know that feeling when you genuinely think the day can't possibly get worse?
Then you must also know how irritating it is when it actually does. But that's just entropy doing its job.

Before the oily smell of Room 9 could even get inside my nostrils, someone got a hold on my wrist.
"Yo! Hazel," I heard Alex's voice behind me. "I've just seen Dianne walk right past me crying. You know what's wrong with her? Apart from the fact that she seemed to be just taken out from a Disney movie," she pointed out. "She didn't even wave when I called on her," she started as I turned around.
"Long story," I said plainly, even though I knew that wouldn't stop this curious creature from asking.
"So you do know. Oh, this has gotta be good." There was something about the way she pronounced that last word that reminded me of a hungry vulture, ready to finish off a corpse. "Talk," she ordered playfully.
"I'm not in the mood." I wasn't at all. The day hadn't really started and it already had me wishing it was over.
"I'm starting to think you just may not have that one mood," she teased. She folded her arms and leaned her back against the window right next to our desks.
"Yeah, I think they ran out of the time-to-tell-lame-teen-gossip mood when I was made."
She let out a soft laugh and reached for her bag, pulling out a chewing gum.
"No but really, she okay?" She asked, getting rid of the wrapping and introducing what would be the first of all the gums of the day.
"No."
I wouldn't lie to her, but I wouldn't tell the whole story either.
Her owlish eyes stared into mine, expecting for me to explain myself. But I was determined to not talk about Jared for the time being.
"You must be dying to talk about it," she argued, accusingly half shutting her massive and shiny eyes.
"For what it's worth, I'm dying for this ridiculously fucked up day to be over," I admitted, and hoped that would be enough for her to stop asking, though I knew it was a difficult task to succeed at.

"Watch that tongue, tragic girl."
His voice came from behind me. No way he was taking
Anatomy.
"What the hell are you even doing here?"
There were so many emotions inside me, none of them suitable for the social space this class was.
"I attend lessons here, if you haven't already noticed."
I rolled my eyes, trying to count to ten, each number drawing me away of yelling at him.
"That was a rhetorical question; it was just supposed to make you aware of my displeasure." I explained as if doing so to a five year old. He pulled a mild smile and half-shut his eyes, so that the upper lashes were just millimetres away from the lower ones, and I felt an irrational urge to draw those eyes. In fact, I had to slap myself mentally to snap out of it.
"Oh, shit." said Alex, eyes wide open, ever bigger than they already were. I had enough trust in her intellect to believe she had already realised what was wrong with Dianne. But she could never have guessed the whole story.
"What's up? You know Hazel?" She pointed at me with her right thumb, holding my stare with those shiny black eyes of hers.
"We've only talked once," I said, faking unconcern, but soon realizing my mistake,"...Maybe, twice."
"I'd say it's three times now," he highlighted, smoothly adding himself into the conversation. Would he ever shut up and stop interrupting?
Alex looked at us, one at a time, repeatedly, until she realized neither of us was speaking. I didn't want anything I said to be used against me, and he surely had to be satisfied with his job so far.
"Excuse me, you two, but if you don't do some explaining here I'm gonna start imagining things and, trust me, my brain here's wilder than you think," she warned pointing to the side of her head while unconsciously tilting it a little. A shiver ran down my back and I was quite sure my cheeks has turned at least a bit red. Alex could be too honest at times.
"We crossed words the other day at the Timeless, that's all."
"Sure," he purposely added in a tone that denoted something else. The worst thing was I took longer to realize because I was to busy thinking about how it had sounded so fancy, like "sho", almost like a puff of fresh air.
I frowned at him and Alex kept staring at us until the silence was cut by the squeaky and aversive bell ring.