ALANA'S MISTAKE ✔

Chapter 5

It was a bright sunny day and Alana found herself alone, with the whole day ahead of her. She thought perhaps she should spend the day down at the botanic gardens, lying in the sunshine with a cold drink and the grass under her bare feet. There was a particular tree that she loved which would be in full bloom at this time of year, she could park herself under that. It was a Saturday after all and normally she would never get the chance to do such a thing.

But as she nibbled on a slice of toast, listening to the silence of the kitchen, she kept thinking how her first end of year exhibition was coming up in a few months time. The first art show that would really mean something, a chance to show her best work, where her mark for the year would be decided. She was planning an ambitious project, complicated to execute.

She had to give it her best shot. There could even be gallery owners and art dealers at the exhibition. It was her chance to get noticed, to make something of her art career.

It was normal for Alana to feel like she had to work harder than anyone else when it came to her studies. After leaving school when she was six months pregnant with Snow, she never took her education any further until last year when she began the Fine Art degree, which she had only been admitted to because of an outstanding body of work she had built up during those spare hours when Snow was asleep or at nursery.

During the years after Snow was born her school friends went on to colleges and universities, mostly with the goal of having fun. Not so with Alana. For her, bothering to get a degree was about building something real, something that mattered, a way for her to contribute to her family. It wasn't a hobby or something nice or interesting. She was good at art so that's what she was going to do with her life.

It seemed like most of the other students on the course were there because it seemed like a good way to fill their youth, but becoming a mother so young meant she never had time to meander about. In a way it was her strength. She seemed to know way more than the other students, she knew what life could really be like. What other students complained about: lectures, workload, she shrugged off, grateful for the opportunity.

And so she applied herself to her work with a diligence that seemed to bewilder the other students and delight her tutors. She hadn't made many friends on her course but she wasn't there to make friends. Noah and Snow were her best friends, Riley too of course and the other girls she knew from school.

After breakfast she pulled on a loose pair of denim dungarees over a cherry red t-shirt, pulled on her trainers, filled her enormous handbag full of bits and bobs, tied a scarf in her hair then stepped out of the house.

She put in her headphones and lost herself in the music as she walked along the tree lined street, then through the park, along the pond with the ducks, along a few more busy streets, ending up at the art college. She walked through the archway entrance and followed along the familiar corridors to get to her studio.

The whole place was hushed and lifeless. Very few of the other students would even be awake now, let alone at college. It was rare to see many of them before lunchtime during the week but a Saturday was unheard of. She arrived at her studio - one of eight separate spaces in this enormous room with its high ceilings, full of light streaming through the skylight and windows that lined the walls. She greeted the only other person in there, one of the other students who was sat on a paint-splattered stool, doing nothing.

She rushed to her area, which was one of the biggest ones right in the corner, pulled out her earphones and immediately flicked on her music system. She dropped her bag, stood back and took a few moments to look at what was before her. The entire space - walls and floor, were covered in brightly coloured concentric circles. That was her thing. Round shapes that blossomed all over surfaces. She just loved to transform spaces into something else entirely, something that made you look and wonder and question. Her spaces made her feel a certain way and she hoped others might feel it too.

She craned her neck upwards and saw exactly where she needed to go next. The ceiling. It was her dream to get the whole ceiling space in the end of year show. She could only hope that no one else wanted it and that if she made the ceiling in her studio look so striking no one could refuse her.

And so she climbed up a pair of very tall ladders and got to work. It wasn't long before she was lost in a haze of coloured tape, pencil and music.

At first she didn't hear them come in. They were there for some minutes before she glanced down and saw them: a group of guys standing around in the other students space. At first she thought nothing of it. They seemed to be talking to the student about getting him to design their stage. But then one of the voices was oddly familiar.

She squinted down to see who they were and nearly fell off the ladder when she realised that one of them was the singer from the band Silence. In fact, she recognised the other guys as band members too. Her first instinct was to hide but there was very little she could do, being at the top of a ladder. The next minute, one of them looked her way and before she had a moment to catch her breath they were all looking at her, including him.

He wore shades despite being indoors but when he noticed her he raised them from his eyes, then broke out into a knowing smile.

'You,' he said.

Alana's cheeks flushed pink as she said hello and scrambled about with all the art materials she was holding onto, all too aware that she was covered in bits of tape. He stood there and watched as she clambered down the ladder, a vaguely amused look on his face.

When she arrived back on the ground he sauntered over to her, playing with his shades in his hand. She dumped the stuff on the table and he stopped short when he came to her studio, then proceeded to stare at it.

'This is your work?' he said, eventually.

'Yeah, all mine.'

'It's great,' he replied. 'Really great.'

'Thanks.'

He began to walk around the studio, totally engrossed, eating up the shapes and colours with his eyes. He's getting it, she thought. He's feeling it. Her heart quickened. He ran his fingers along the walls and moved in, then out again. After quite a long time, when he looked like he was done, he turned to her and declared that he needed her.

'I need you to design the artwork for our next stage. This look is exactly what we want.'

She wasn't sure what to say other than: 'ok'. She couldn't turn down any opportunities that came her way, they were a signed band, her work could be seen by thousands. He gave her another look and another smile before calling over the rest of the band.

They came along, inspecting, nodding their heads and murmuring to each other. They mumbled a few words to Elias and a few seconds later he declared that Alana was now the stage designer for their next major gig.