88 - The chapter with the call from Ms. Davis

CHRISTIAN

It took Rose a while to prepare all the paints she would need for her painting, especially without the help of Liam who was lost in his own private world preparing his own paints to finish the drawing he made earlier. But a few minutes later, she took her place on the stool in front of the painting easel, experimenting to start with soft, slightly hesitant brush strokes.

It was clear that our help as a group was over, now the work would be all hers. Rose was gaining confidence by the second, putting more strength into each stroke. That was the first time I saw her painting, and I must admit it was a beautiful sight.

I moved in search of a better position to watch her, all her concentration displayed on her face as she worked on the silhouette stamped on the MDF made me admire her more and more, it wasn't the first time I saw her in action, I had seen that passion while she was drawing but it was the first time I saw her with a brush in her hand working with paint like a great artist, and for me, that was exactly what Rose was.

My great artist.

" Well, I think we can leave  them here and go get something to eat,” Theodore suggested.

" What? " I frowned, snapping out of my contemplation.

" Those two are going to be very busy and we don't have anything else to do here,” Sky explained.

" Besides, Rose has to concentrate and Liam is in another dimension,” Theo pointed to the Van Derr Waal who was working at a frantic pace without any hesitation.

I took a second to compare the two. If Rose looked like a professional artist, Liam resembled a mad scientist working on an experiment.

" In another dimension? " Camille frowned, moving closer.

" Ahh yes, want to see? " Theo smiled " Hey Van Derr Waal, what do you say we go out for a drink tonight? My treat.”

Rose stopped painting, looking with amusement at the boy who ignored the invitation, talking to himself.

" It's so hot in here. I think I'll take my top off and I'm not wearing a bra " Rose tried to get the boy's attention.

" Green... I need a new shade of green." He stood up and walked to the cabinet.

" Liam, what do you say we get out of here and spend some time in the bedroom?". " Sky was next " Liam?”

Without bothering to look in his girlfriend's direction, he grabbed a new brush and the tube of green paint, putting it on his palette, going back to work on the painting.

" Sure, sure. Go on, I'll see you later," he stammered in response.

An amused smile appeared on Rose's face as she went back to painting. My friends followed to the door, Camille was the first to notice that I wasn't following the group.

" 'Aren't you coming, Chris?”

" I'll wait for Rose. I'll see you later." I shrugged, pulling up a high stool to sit on.

My friends didn't pay much attention to that, leaving the classroom afterwards while I admired Rose working on her painting.

" 'You could have gone, I'm still going to be here for a while” she commented, lifting her gaze to watch me.

" I have nothing better to do anyway,” I assured her.

A small smile appeared on her lips before she went back to work in silence. We spent the next few minutes in silence, her working on her painting and me watching her, until after a while my cell phone started ringing in my pocket, announcing a video call from my mom.

" Hey mom " I greeted her, not bothering to leave the room to accept the call, seeing the image of the woman putting away some glasses on the bar pop up.

" Hi honey, it's been a while since you've heard from me," she smiled.

" Sorry, the last few days have been pretty hectic." For a moment I thought about calling Rose to talk to my mom, but she seemed so focused that I was afraid to interrupt her.

But before I could make a decision, my mother continued.

" How are you? Your sister told us that you broke up with Rose." She surprised me with that question.

Rose raised her face, looking confused by that sentence, but as soon as our gazes met her face blushed a little and she returned her attention to her painting.

I remembered the talk I'd had with my sister over Thanksgiving, when I'd said I'd end everything as soon as I got back to campus. It was likely that she imagined she was helping me stick to my story. The thing is, I didn't know which story I wanted to keep anymore.

" 'No, I'm fine... I just…” I fumbled a bit with the answer, not knowing what to say next.

" Are you sure? You seemed very involved. If you want to talk…”

" "I don't want to talk, I'm fine," I hurried to say, feeling Rose's gaze on me from time to time.

I should have left to take that call! What must Rose be thinking about this story?

" I'm boarding for home tomorrow night," I warned, determined to change the subject.

Rose got up from the stool, taking the brushes and all the utensils she used to the sink, starting to wash them.

" Right. Let us know what time you land, we'll pick you up. We can take Abby, she was very interested to know about the end of your relationship " my mom hinted, making me want to bang my head against the wall.

Can't she just forget about it for a second?

" I don't know who Abby is, and I need to go now, see you tomorrow?" I took a deep breath, deciding to run away. I took a deep breath, deciding to run away from that conversation before the situation got worse.

" Sure, I miss you " she smiled before I ended the call.

I went to the easel where Rose's painting was resting, watching the final result with a small smile.

" It's very nice, congratulations," I complimented her as soon as she returned to me, having already washed the brushes and discarded the rest of the paint she used in her work.

" Well, it will never reach the feet of Liam's painting, but I think I'll get a good grade.”

Rose forced a smile but I could see deep in her eyes that something was bothering her and I didn't need to be a genius to know what it was.

" It may not be up to scratch now, but I bet you'll soon do better than him,” I encouraged her before picking up the painting from the easel, “shall we take it to the dorm?”

Rose just smiled in response, starting to walk beside me towards the exit leaving our friend behind.

" You didn't take so long, there's still time to get something to eat in the cafeteria " I suggested carrying the MDF board with her work.

" Of course.”

We walked in silence, through the corridors of the arts building, Rose still keeping quiet, although I felt her gaze on me from time to time.

" Right, Rose. Let's talk about my mom's call." I sighed, deciding to get the story straight.

" Look, I'm sorry. I know it was a private call and I shouldn't have listened to it," she returned.

" I answered it in front of you, Rose. If I didn't want you to hear, I would have left " I stopped walking, turning to the girl.

" So you wanted me to hear it? " she stared at me.

Her hurt look made me mentally berate myself for the way I constructed that answer.

" I didn't know what my mom was going to say, but I didn't think about leaving because I have absolutely nothing to hide from you,” I explained.

That wasn't quite the whole truth. If it had been a call from her father, I would certainly have gone out to answer it, because we didn't even have the excuse of him calling to talk to his daughter, since just yesterday I took her to Waterfall to get a new device.

Rose remained silent at that explanation, sighing before walking back.

" Were you bothered by that? " I got straight to the point.

" It just took me by surprise, okay? When you said you lost the time talking to your sister yesterday I didn't expect you to be talking about us, even more with everything that happened " she crossed her arms, lowering her head a little.

" But that's not what happened! When we went to Montana I had this conversation with Amber and I told her that we would break up as soon as we got back to campus " I tried to explain to her what happened.

" Ohhh…”

" That's what we agreed, right? Or did you want to remain my girlfriend? " I decided to be a bit more direct " You always made it clear that you don't date.”

" And it's true, I don't date. I have a lot to enjoy before I get attached to someone " she hastened to answer, to my utter disappointment " it was just weird to hear that first hand, even more so from Abby. She was so keen to know about our fake relationship. I should have known.”

It was my turn to be silent at her response. Rose and I walked side by side towards the cafeteria, and in the end, she went inside to get our dinner while I waited for her outside with the painting.

Rose took a few minutes to return carrying a sizable paper bag and we soon resumed our walk.

" Are you sleeping in my room again tonight? " she asked when we were close to the dorm.

" If you want to…”

I shrugged, noting that that week I had only spent one day in my own bed.

" I do, I'm going to spend two weeks without seeing you, so I better enjoy all your nagging while I can” she smiled.

" I'm also going to miss telling you how insufferable you are, Campbell," I quipped, getting a laugh in return.

We had dinner together in her room and I went back to my room just to prepare my bags for the trip home the next day, taking a shower before going back to her, spending another night by her side.