Watercolors (B.A.)

Chapter Eleven

Seurat

Amina tapped her left foot insistently all through her fourth period Calculus class. She knew lunch was next, and that meant seeing Brandon as well. They hadn't spoken all weekend, and this was the first time they would see each other since the Friday ordeal. Nerves bit at the bottom of her stomach, a warning for her Monday morning breakfast possibly making a return to the outside world.

"Miss Parker," Her teacher called. "What's the next step?"

Within the past few weeks, Amina got extremely good at bs-ing her way through her classes. "You take the derivative of both sides?"

"Yes, perfect." Mr. Gildhart smiled. "And next?"

Amina sighed in relief as his eyes moved on to the next student. She glanced up at the clock—only seven minutes left. Seven minutes until lunch. Seven minutes until discomfort. She felt her breathing quicken.

She couldn't help but feel she was having an internal meltdown from both the sadness of not speaking to her friends all weekend, and the nerves of having to face them. Amina wondered if Zane knew what happened. She knew her friend would be nothing less than furious that Amina hadn't told her herself.

The truth was that Amina had nothing to say.

When the bell finally rang, releasing all of the seniors for their lunch period, Amina stayed glued to her seat. It wasn't until the classroom was empty that Amina finally made the first move into packing up her supplies.

She slowly shuffled down the packed hallways, keeping her head down. When she finally reached the lunch room, she took a deep breath before opening the doors and approaching her table. All of her friends say there waiting for her. As she neared, however, she realized that everyone was just as lively as usual. She was the only oddball out.

"Mimi!" Austin exclaimed, standing to hug the petite girl.

Amina smiled nervously as Austin released her, taking her usual seat in between Nick and Brandon. The former smiled widely, throwing an arm around Amina's shoulders. Brandon, however, just averted his eyes down to his lunch, choosing not to greet her.

"Someone's been MIA," Nick commented.

Amina cringed internally, hoping that no one would mention it. "Yeah, I've been busy."

"Like Brandon midterm busy or Edwin tryna pick out a cohesive outfit busy?" Zion joked.

The entire table laughed, causing Amina to crack a smile. The feeling in her stomach had calmed slightly. "Somewhere in the middle."

When Amina looked up, she was surprised to notice Zion looking directly at her. He looked over towards Brandon (who was still staring down his sandwich like it broke his heart) and then back to her, raising his eyebrows in a question. Amina just shook her head subtly, reaching down to begin unpacking her lunch.

.        .        .

After school, Amina stood by her locker to determine what books she needed for homework that night. She was surprised when a figure stopped next to her, but she recognized the bleached dreads out of her peripheral vision.

"What's up, Zion?" She initiated, finally looking over and seeing that he was alone. "Where's Zane?"

He shrugged. "She went home. But I just wanted to talk to you. You and B..." he trailed off, words heavy with implications.

"No."

"Got it," Zion nodded. "But how long have you been into him?"

Amina instantly shut her locker, looking at the tall male incredulously. "I'm not into him."