Behind the Books | ✔

22. Drama

RYLIE

EVEN IF IT'S been a day since we all gotten back from Thanksgiving break, I was already dreading it all. I was dreading exams coming up and all the tiring assignments I'd have to do before the semester closes for winter break. I was also dreading the pressure to study all the information that has been learned this entire semester—especially the information that has been learned towards the beginning. 

Things weren't any better for Elias, from what I could tell. Cannon, him, and I were situated in the art room as we watched Elias perform finishing touches to his painting. Nora would've came, but she had to help out with the theatre kids' dress rehearsal for their performance soon. It may be just me, but he seemed as if he was in a hurry—which wasn't a good outcome for what appeared on his canvas. It made everything seemed so . . . thrown together. 

"What's the matter, man?" Cannon questioned to his best friend as he closed a textbook. "You seem like you're in a hurry." I guess I wasn't the only one that noticed his strange behavior. 

"It's nothing. It's just that as I paint this, I keep thinking about how these last few weeks of the first semester are going to play out," he set down his paint brush on a circular paper plate, the same one he used for his paints. "Final exams are coming up, I have to get this painting turned in for the contest, and, you know, the usual end-of-semester stress." 

"The last few weeks are pressure, however, don't rush things. When you finish with your last touches, I can drive you to city hall so it can be judged," Cannon assured him while combing a hand through his shaggy, lemonade pink hair. 

"Take everything a step at a time. Breathe," I added while planting a hand on his shoulder. "There's still time for everything." 

"Thank you both," he acknowledged with a relieved smile. It was a half smile. He looked back at his canvas and I did the same. It was more gorgeous than I could've ever imagined it to be. The colors he used were vivid, like colors of a rainbow, but better. His painting style seemed modern, but that didn't make it any less better. It was cute and way out of my league. 

In my opinion, he was sure to win. 

As Elias made his last touches, he got up from the table to dispose the plate filled with a colorful mess of multiple hues and to wash his paintbrush. When he came back, he wiped the table with a citrus-scented disinfectant wipe to clear any splotches of paint that unintentionally got on the table. I watched him gracefully glide the wipe around the table. I found it amusing for some reason, kind of like those hair videos on YouTube where people just do hair. 

"I can't do this anymore," a voice trembled from the hallway. "I just can't." 

My head shot up from the table. I gulped and exchanged worried glances with Elias and Cannon, who looked just as baffled as I was. I made sure to remain still so I could hear properly. 

"But . . . do you actually want to end this now, Axel?" A desperate voice questioned. "Do you actually want to throw away our two-year relationship? Do you actually want everything to unravel?"

That's the moment when we all realized who it was. It was Adrienne. Axel and her were having quite a feud, a public one that was meant to be discussed privately. Maybe they thought that no one was around. 

"Adrienne, I don't want to, but, I just can't do this anymore," Axel countered with a groan. 

"Can we at least sort things out? I don't want our relationship to end this way—I truly don't," Adrienne sobbed. 

"I can't . . ." Axel prodded. "We've did that so many times, but this time, it just doesn't feel right." I could hear sobs grow louder, then disappear into the opposite end of the hallway. Even if I only listened to the conversation, goosebumps crawled all over my skin. I could feel the tension by the way they were both speaking.