Art Class With My Enemy

Chapter Ten

She nodded silently as she continued writing down notes here and there. "I think I should finish this myself," she told me in an odd tone. She didn't sound like her normal self.

"Are you sure? David's not picking me up until later—"

"I'm sure," she interrupted forcefully.

"Uh, okay. I'll talk to you later then," I said, walking out of the living room. I said a quick goodbye to the guys (well, Mason) who were just coming in and made my way outside before I started my walk home. Something was seriously up with Harlow; I just didn't know what it was yet.

*****

A couple hours later as I was getting ready for my date with David, I realized I didn't have my phone with me. Assuming I just left it at Harlow's, I decided to quickly make my way over to her house before David would arrive. I had another hour before he was supposed to pick me up anyway.

I let myself in like I usually did, only this time I wasn't welcomed with cheerful hellos or the sound of Mason and Gage joking around in the living room. No, this time I was welcomed to the sound of someone crying and talking to someone else. As I neared the living room, I overheard part of the conversation.

"...I tried to hint that maybe he wasn't right for her at first, but I guess she didn't get the message! I just needed space because I love him," Harlow sobbed. At that moment, Mason's eyes flickered over to where I was, which made Harlow and Gage turn as well.

"Are you okay?" I blurted, though I knew it was the completely wrong thing to say. She obviously wasn't okay if she was crying so hard like this.

"No, I'm not okay," she answered, tears still streaming down her cheeks.

"Then tell me what's wrong and I can help you," I suggested. Although I overheard the end of her conversation with Mason and Gage, I didn't know who she was talking about.

"You can't help me," she replied, shaking her head.

"I can try if you just—"

"I'm in love with your boyfriend! And he loves you, not me," she interrupted, causing me to pause in shock. "Yeah, I don't think you can help me in this situation," she said bitterly, though there was more hurt than bitterness in her voice.

As I opened my mouth to say something, she cried, "I'm sorry," and ran out of the room.

After staring after her for a second, I turned to Mason to talk to him, but he cut me off before I could. "Maybe you should just go home," he said. At his protective tone, tears starting building up behind my eyes.

"I didn't know," I said, glancing between Mason and Gage. They both remained silent as they simply stared at me. I could tell Mason was angry with me for causing his sister's emotional pain. Gage was probably angry with me too. After all, he'd always take his best friend's side over his enemy's, right?

"I'm sorry," I choked before leaving in a hurry. I let the tears escape my eyes as I hurried back to my house, ignoring the fact that my phone was still at Harlow's house.

Well, I finally found out what was wrong with Harlow. And now I knew I had to fix this.

*****

By Wednesday, Harlow was still avoiding me. Gage gave me back my phone in art class on Monday (which I was not expecting), while Mason and Harlow both didn't speak a word to me. Gage didn't either, though that was normal for him.

Although I called Harlow and Mason nonstop up until Tuesday night, I figured they wouldn't speak to me any time soon. I wanted to apologize to Harlow in person, but every time I would go near her, she would walk the other way or Mason would stop me.

"Hey, are you alright?" David asked me as we ate lunch. Well, he ate while I just poked around at my food.

"I'm fine," I answered, trying to block out the loud voices of his friends, who I've been sitting with since Harlow started ignoring me.

"No you're not. Kody, we're friends, you can tell me," he said, looking at me with a concerned expression.

It was true, that's all we were. Just friends. After I learned that Harlow loved him, I broke up with David that same night on our date. I explained that I thought we were better off as friends, which really was true. I thought about how David made me feel and I couldn't place my feelings with anything more than camaraderie.

David was surprised that I was breaking up with him at first, but I think deep down he knew we were better off as friends. So for the past few days, he's been a great friend by letting me sit with him at his table instead of my usual table.

I continued to poke at my food. "I don't want to talk about it," I told him.

He nodded. "Okay, just know that I'm here if you want to talk." I offered him the best smile I could give when the bell rang.

The next couple of classes went by rather quickly, which I was grateful for. Of course Harlow avoided me during English class, and I didn't really do anything in Chemistry. It was just art class that I had left to endure.

"You'll be working with your partners again today," Mrs. Wilson stated before she explained our project. I sighed. I could definitely still say I detested this class, even after it's been about a month and a half of having it five days a week.

As usual, Mrs. Wilson stuck me with Gage. However, for once we both started working on our collaborated project right away in silence. It didn't last long though because I desperately wanted to know how my best friend was doing.

"How's Harlow?" I asked him.

He continued painting on the canvas we shared. "She's fine, not that you care," he answered coldly.

I stopped painting and looked up at him. "Of course I care," I snapped.

He tore his eyes from the canvas to glare at me instead. "Oh really? You're saying you care after what you've been doing?"

"What is that supposed to mean?" I whispered harshly, trying not to lose my patience with him. It was very unlikely that it would last though.

He shook his head at me, still glaring. "I knew you were a cunning brat, but what you're doing to Harlow is way out of line."

"I didn't know she loved him! Do you really think I'd do that to Harlow?" When Gage didn't reply, the glare I was shooting at him slipped off my face as a hurt expression replaced it.

I nodded and let out a short, dark laugh. "You do. Well, even though we don't ever get along, I thought you would've at least known me better than that. I would never do that to anyone—especially Harlow. I broke up with David that same night," I told him. I quickly stood up, grabbed my bag, and headed out of the classroom, completely ignoring Mrs. Wilson's angry calls after me.