Artwork [h.s]

eighteen

"I'm sorry for yesterday" I said when Aiden stopped in front of my desk in maths.

"It's alright" he replied, "I'm sure the drawing ended up being amazing."

I shrugged. "It's okay, I guess."

"Well, see you later then." He walked past me to a desk at the bottom of the class, leaving me alone with Ella.

She opened her pencil case and took out a pen, acting nonchalantly. "So you didn't go out with him in the end?"

"I had to redo a drawing, so..." I let my words drift off as I looked in the direction of Harry's desk, just to notice that Janette was sitting next to him, Niall being nowhere to be seen.

"You're still on about him, aren't you?"

I turned fast to look at Ella. "What?"

"You still like Harry. That's why you aren't interested in going out with Aiden. He's hot and interested, so there's no other explanation." She tapped the pen on the desk as she spoke.

"Maybe I'm just not interested."

"You'd have to be dumb not to be interested in Aiden" she said sharply. "And blowing off your chances with him just to pine over a boy you'll never have a chance with is profoundly stupid."

I sighed. "I don't have to necessarily be interested in someone not to be interested in somebody else."

The entrance of the maths teacher in the class saved me from any possible continuation of the conversation.

I glanced at Harry again. I wasn't possibly interested in him... was I? He was for sure interesting to me, but did that mean that I was interested in him... in that other way? It wasn't an option. It had never been one. But what if Ella was right, and I was indeed starting to like him? What was there to like, anyway, if not his pretty face? He was still a mystery to me. And I couldn't possibly like someone I didn't even know. That wasn't how it worked.

Janette put her hand on his forearm to catch his attention, and he subtly turned his head towards her. She whispered something in his ear, to which he didn't seem to reply in any way.

I shook my head and went back to look at my notebook. The last thing I needed was to be called out by the teacher for being caught looking at Harry.

As soon as the class ended I rushed out of the class. I put on my coat and checked if my notebook and pencil were still inside my pocket before walking out of the building and sitting on one of the five steps that brought to the main door. I took the notebook out and I opened it to a white page, my eyes momentarily focusing on the remainders of the page I'd torn away just the day before. I looked up, wondering what could've been a good subject to draw. A wisp of wind came around, making the leaves of the tree next to the stairs tinkle, a few falling to the ground.

I stood up and carefully took one. It was brown and crumpled up, as you'd expect it to be in mid-autumn. I went back to sitting in my previous place and put the leaf on the short white wall. I glanced at it for a few seconds, letting my mind drift off. Ella was wrong. I didn't like Harry in that way. It wasn't professional, to say the least.

I sighed and started to sketch the basic shape on the white paper. I'd always preferred to draw in black and white. It was way easier, and it allowed me to relax and think of other things, which didn't really happen when I was focused on using the right colour in the right way.

All of sudden I heard the sound of steps coming towards me, and before I could turn around someone was sitting next to me.

I didn't need to look at him to know who he was, I could recognise the cologne perfectly. "Hi" I said, staring at my drawing.