String of Fate

Chapter Twenty One

I used the rubber to erase the bottom half of the dress design that I had just drawn. Again. I hated the fact that I was rubbish at art even though I had so many different clothing designs going around in my head. I just couldn't get this skirt to fall right in the sketch, though. I was aspiring to be a famous fashion designer in the future but it looked like I could only dream at this point. Olivia, my best friend, glanced over at my sketchbook. "Still not going the way you want it to?"

"Obviously." I answered grumpily, brushing the bits off the rubber away with my hand and picking up the pencil again. Now time for my fourth attempt at completing this dress design. Of course, I messed up again, so, I rubbed it out again and just rested my head on the table. I felt Olivia pat my head from across the table. I spoke into the table. "Remind me again why I took art."

"Because you want to become a famous fashion designer and see your clothes in shops around the world." Olivia explained, telling me the same thing that I had told her since I was eleven years old. Not that it made a difference because if there was no way that I was going to draw my designs, there was no way that anyone could actually create the designs. "I mean, that would be nice, wouldn't it, Layla?"

"Yes. It would be all of my dreams come true." I replied. I thought about what she had planned for the future. I couldn't remember her telling me about what she wanted to do in the future. It was like she had kept it to herself. I sat back up in my chair, looking at her across the desk. I rested my arms on the table to look at her. "What do you want to do in the future anyway? We'll be leaving school in a few months and I can't really remember you telling me what you want to do in the future."

"I just want to do work in the art field. I don't really mind what I have to do as long as I can draw." Olivia admitted, finishing off the sketch that she had been working on. She put the pencil down as I stared at the sketch on the desk. I wanted to be able to draw like that. Then, I had a great idea.

"Hey, I have a great idea. You're really good at art, so, maybe I could explain the design to you, you sketch it and any profit can be split fifty-fifty, so, we could both go into the fashion industry." I suggested, the idea sounding perfect in my head. This could really work. "You'd be able to do art, and I'd get someone who could sketch up my designs. It'd be perfect for us."

"That would be nice." Olivia answered, thinking about it. Then, she turned the page in her sketchbook and started a new sketch. I noticed her glancing at my rubbish sketch as she drew hers and I wondered what she was trying to sketch. I watched her pencil move and finally noticed that she was sketching the design that I had failed at drawing. Before she finished, she continued talking. "So, are your parents dragging you away for your birthday? That's this weekend, isn't it?"

"Yes. It's my sixteenth this Sunday. My mum and dad are taking me to Scotland so I can see my grandma." I explained. Then, I started describing the rest of the design to her. She completed it easily, handing the sketchbook to me to look through. "It's perfect. I really wish you could come this weekend, though. I would actually kill your hand getting you to sketch all the designs that I have."

"I don't doubt that." Olivia laughed. Then, she took her sketchbook back, moving it across to a new page of the sketchbook and starting to sketch another image. She honestly did love sketching. "I don't know if your parents would agree to let me come with you though. They would not let you get away with dragging a friend along on the family holiday."

"I could ask them if you wanted to come. I'd love to have you there, if I'm completely honest." I told her. I pulled my phone from my pocket and sneaked it under the desk so the teacher wouldn't see. "In fact, I'm going to message them and ask them, the worst thing they can say is no."