The Art of Falling in Love

Episode 6: Fortune | Insight

Raelyn:

Every October 24, Ellin Academy would hold a fall festival in which all students—arts and non-arts—would come up with a booth per graduating class. Since it was Halloween themed, the seniors got dibs on making the ultimate haunted house; our class, the juniors, were in charge of fortunetelling; the sophomores had a photo booth; the freshman had a vampire-themed cafe; and the middle school students were in charge of food stands. All of these booths would be open during regular school hours. After that would be the powderpuff game where the boys would be cheerleaders while the girls competed in flag football, class versus class (with the exception of the middle school division). To end the night was the all-time favorite Test of Courage where students would be assigned into teams to scare each other off; whichever team wins earns an entire semester's worth of free pastries and desserts at everyone's favorite Litzer's Bakery.

In years past, our class was always second best to the sophomores in the Test of Courage and first in the powderpuff competition. I, for one, never cared about these events before. I was always so focused on music that I shunned out anything that wasn't music related. When our class was responsible for taking charge of the booth, when they'd gather to watch powderpuff, when they were busy scaring each others' asses off, I always found a way to sneak out and practice back in my dorm.

Since the gig, I never sang live with Andrew and Jack's band ever again, despite theirs and the fans' protests. I was left speechless when everyone told me my singing was amazing. I was taken aback when they said they wanted to hear me again. I rejected it because, since that night, after witnessing what happened to my sister, I was racked with guilt. Nevertheless, when Andrew begged for me to sing it one last time for a recording, I didn't object.

Additionally, I rarely spoke or made any contact with Isaac. After seeing him comfort Rachel, I left the scene quietly. I don't know what happened between them since then specifically. All I could do from my observations was speculate that Isaac kept a close eye on her. Or rather, Rachel never left him alone.

She called him constantly each and every day until she calmed down, which took two weeks. Even so, I heard that, after school, Isaac would skip free-drawing period to take the metro to Rachel's school. I would practice my instruments back in the dorm until ten at night, but Isaac wouldn't come back until midnight.

There was one instance last week where he returned around three in the morning and collapsed climbing the stairs. I couldn't sleep that night, so I busied myself by reading about Frederic Chopin. I was learning more about the background of his famous Nocturne when a loud thump slammed on the ground outside my door. I opened the door to see Isaac passed out on the stairs right next to me.

"Isaac!" I exclaimed, but there was no response.

I crouched down next to him and shook him awake, but all he did was scrunch up his face and groan in pain. No one else was up, so I did my best to pick him up and drag him into his room. Much to my surprise, his room was unlocked, but I didn't have time to be relieved over the fact that I didn't have to worry about finding his keys.

I brought ourselves into his room, but there was no bed to lay him on, just a blanket and pillow, a chair, and his canvases lined up along the wall. "You can't be serious..." was all I could say. So I laid his head on a pillow and tucked him in the blanket.

Isaac released a hoarse and heavy cough, and my first instinct was to place the back of my hand on his forehead. Sure enough, he had a high fever, so I quickly yet quietly went downstairs to get a small towel damp with cold water, a cup of water, medicine, and a bag of ice. When I got upstairs, he was still coughing violently. Propping his head on my lap, I lightly tapped Isaac's face, and he finally woke up.