Meet Me in the Middle

Chapter 13

His hair was dripping wet as the rain poured relentlessly against his back. The gentle beating of raindrops almost matched his heart as the weather continued to get stronger and angrier.

Who knew it would rain on this faithful day?

Luke clenched his fist. In shame, in anger, in resentment. The blackened tombstone staring up at him, the grass slowly being drowned by the pooling rainwater by his feet, the bouquet he'd brought just moments ago, now soaked and ruined.

He didn't know what made his face a sopping mess, was it his tears that magically appeared; being blanketed by the facadé of rain? or was it the pouring sky disappointed in him time and time again?

He couldn't tell but was glad of the latter, too headstrong to let his dad see him so vulnerable.

"Luke, let's go" The devil himself spoke by the canopy. He was sitting in a bench, smoking that damned cigarette that made his already fucked up system cough up in agony.

Looking back, he stared at his father blankly and approached; indifferent to his orders. He walked past him toward the car.

"Hey" his dad spoke out, stopping him in his tracks. "You know I'm doing this for you right?"

And with that, he walked ahead. He knew what his dad meant. It wasn't for him, or the family, or their relationship. As if they had any more to begin with.

It was merely business, a partnership.

He almost blamed his dad more for his mom's demise.

Almost.

-

The day had been a hectic one. With the ever near midterm examinations looming over his head, came the countless quizzes and work the professors had to dump on them to put the cherry on top. He had been sleeping 2 hour intervals for the whole month with barely any food and the sustenance of energy drinks to keep him barely sane.
The formulas of his physics booklets are a mashed up mess inside his head.

But the other thing that kept his mind off of things was during the weekends.

And today was one of those days.

For the last couple of semesters he had been trying out a painting course offered by the university for those interested. An extracurricular if you will. It pained him to have let go of his hobby long before he could truly reach his full potential so when he got news of this opportunity, he immediately took it.

It was one of those small, lecture rooms with barely 15 pupils present. The learning environment was all conducive.

Luke sat with his arms crossed, listening to the lecturer talk about today's topic of interest. Her voice was barely audible given the lack of paying attention he was giving.

"-to the heart. For one of our final projects before gallery week, it's up to you as a student to paint a piece that represents city life for you. Whether big or small, I'm sure this class environment in the urban city can give you a pretty good idea on what to draw" she spoke confidently as she clasped her hands, smiling cheerfully at the crowd before her.

This caught his attention. Straightening up his posture, he listened intently once more and pulled out his sketchbook.

"But, everyone. The painting shall not be administered today as we speak. I will be expecting your works to be submitted the following week as this week's meeting is merely a lecture to let you all allow your minds to explore. Even your feet, to find inspiration within the city" she added, waving a finger and gesturing fantastical buildings with her hands. Whispers and murmurs ensue as some people started sketching right away and some decided to pack their bags and go on with their day.