The Art of Falling in Love

Chapter Fifteen

❝I either eat too much or not at all. Sleep for 14 hours or have insomniac nights. Fall in love very hard or hate passionately. I don't know what grey is. I never did.❞ -Anais Nin

Dotting the final touches of the oil painting I had been working on for two weeks, I lean back in satisfaction as the purples blend intricately with the darker colours below.

"Is that supposed to be two people we know?" Alyce asks suggestively, winking at me. "Perhaps...Noah?"

I roll my eyes. It is true that it does sort of look like Noah, but it is pure coincidence that I decided to make the boy's hair brown. That could be Damon for all she knows.

"Not to mention," Thalia drawls as she picks up the most recent rose off my desk. "He gives you roses just like Joshua used to. He knows how much it means to you."

"It's because he saw how sad I got when I talked about Josh," I say vaguely. "He's just being a good friend."

Even Katia looks sceptical. "If you say so, Diana."

"I'm friends with Noah, but you don't seem him giving me any flowers," Alyce muses.

I never really thought about that. I brush it off, concluding that it's probably because Noah and I are closer than him and Alyce.

"You guys would be cute together," Katia says casually.

I feel myself blush a little, unsure how to take that bit of information. Noah's just a friend. Right?

❀ ❀ ❀

"C'mon, Elington, it will be fun," Damon whines. "This is our grad trip! We only get to graduate once."

Hunter looks at him and scoffs. "I wouldn't worry about only experiencing grad year once if I were you..."

Damon glares at him. "Says the guy getting fifty two percent in foods class."

Damon and Hunter continue to bicker while Noah rolls his eyes. "Give me one good reason why you shouldn't go on the grad trip." Noah challenges.

"The trip is in December," I state. "It's going to be cold."

I actually love snowboarding, but for some reason, the idea of going on the trip makes me nervous. Perhaps it is because the most laidback teachers supervise the trip every year and this year, Noah Jackson is going. The trip is notorious for hookups.

"You could stay in the lodge all day," Noah argues. "It has a hot tub, pool and huge rooms. You don't have to go skiing or snowboarding if you don't want to."

After thirty more minutes of incessant pestering, I finally agree to go on the grad trip to the mountains. It's the same, gorgeous lodge every year and only Seniors are allowed on the trip. All my other friends already agreed to go. Almost the entire graduating year is going, despite more than half of them not even knowing how to ski or snowboard.

At around noon, Hunter leaves to meet up with Alyce and talk about what happened at the party. Damon leaves shortly after without telling us where he is going.

Since our friends ditched us, Noah and I decide to go for lunch at a nice restaurant nearby. Noah used to come here a lot with his family, so all the servers know him well and I occasionally came here with Josh when we used to date. Noah suggests the pasta and basil lemonade. I take his suggestions and order the dishes.