The rest of the week passed without too much drama. I managed to get to the end of Thursday without anything going wrong. Pretty successful! I'd had a couple more English and psychology lessons, which I was starting to feel more comfortable with. I recognised a few more faces that I was happy enough to nod to in acknowledgement and of course, I'd spent some more time with Ro in psychology class. Everything was starting to slot into place.
By Thursday, I still hadn't had my first art lesson yet. For some reason that was only known to the college tutors, they'd decided to block the art lessons into just one day this year. I guess it meant that we wouldn't have to hurry to get our equipment tidied away like we would if the lessons were the usual hour-long blocks. Still, if I was honest, the idea of spending a whole day in the same place, with the same people, was quite intimidating to me.
Friday rolled around at last and I woke up with a knot of discomfort in my stomach. I skipped breakfast, still feeling a little uneasy and headed out for the bus. I was earlier than usual, so I took a longer route, along the high road which looked over the coastline. I smiled as I remembered that I would be seeing Zach after college tonight. It had only been a few days but I'd missed him.
I reached the bus stop only a couple of minutes before the bus pulled slowly round the corner. It screeched as it came to a halt and the driver had to get out and open the doors himself. Clearly, they'd sent the crappy bus today. I got on, ignoring the wheezes coming from the engine, and made my way to the back, since the bus was empty.
I stuck my headphones in and stared out of the window, wondering what kind of people I'd meet today and whether any of them would live up to the tortured artist stereotype. I really hoped not.
The bus pulled up at the college stop, coughing and spluttering from the tired exhaust. It didn't seem like there were many people there. Perhaps that's why they'd put on the rickety old bus, since there wouldn't be a lot of passengers.
I wandered round to the Creative Arts block which was just next door to the main college building, which looked pretty deserted. Other than a couple of people walking into the arts block, there didn't seem to be anyone around. Maybe it was only the arts students that were in on Fridays? I thought back to yesterday and remembered that Ro had said she wasn't in today. It seemed profoundly unfair that we were the only students still here when everyone else had finished for the week.
I found the art room at the top of the stairs. As usual, I was a bit early so I waited outside. After a few minutes, a woman seemed to float up the stairs. Now, she was an arty stereotype, although definitely not the tortured version I'd been worried about: paisley skirt, wavy blonde hair that went down to the small of her back, some kind of knitted waistcoat in around five different colours. She came to the door, fumbling in her macrame bag for the keys to the classroom, dropping a pile of papers over the floor as she rummaged.
"Gotcha!" she said, as she pulled out a tangled bunch of keys and started trying them one by one. She didn't seem to notice me until I'd collected up the flurry of papers. "Oh thanks, my love. Just a second." I stood awkwardly as she worked her way through several more keys.
"Aha!" she triumphantly pushed open the door and let me through. "Just pop them down on the bench will you, love?" I nodded and went over to where she was gesturing. "Just the two of us this morning, is it? Well, looks like you've got pick of all the good seats!" She chuckled. I really hoped it wasn't just the two of us. I might not have been a social butterfly but a full day of one to one art tuition was far too intimate.
My internal monologue had already started telling stories about how awful it was going to be, when the door opened again and four more students came in. I couldn't fully relax – I was out of my comfort zone after all – but at least my nightmare of being with one person all day hadn't come true.
"Oh good!" said the woman at the front, the bangles on her wrists tinkling as she clapped her hands together. "I was beginning to think you'd got lost, my loves. Take a seat, take a seat." She waved her arms absentmindedly, ushering them to sit down. Everything about this woman was chaotic. "Right, I think there's another one to come so we'll give them a few minutes."
I looked around at my fellow students. The knot that had been tight in my stomach all day started to ease a little: even I could cope with a group of six. Three of them had pulled up around one of the other tables, clearly friendly with one another. The fourth, a girl with a violently purple bob, came and sat at the table with me. We exchanged nods and smiles, before turning our attention back to the tutor, who had decided to get started.
She beamed around at everyone in the room. "Hello, hello. So, welcome to your first art day at St James' College. A whole day of art, every week!" She looked like she couldn't think of anything better and was underwhelmed by our lack of visible excitement. "So, I'm Gloria and this is my room. I'll be your tutor this year, my loves." Of course, she was called Gloria. Everything about her oozed 'Gloria'. She was never going to be a Sarah or a Marie.
Gloria had started reeling off the different topics we would be looking at over the year, gesticulating wildly as she did so. The more I watched her, the more I loved her eccentricity. Whatever else these art days were going to be, they definitely weren't going to be dull.
The door opened, interrupting Gloria's flow. "Er, hi," a boy stepped into the room, stepping from foot to foot awkwardly in his skinny jeans. "Sorry, got a bit lost."
"Not a problem, my love, not a problem," Gloria almost sang her reassurance. "Why don't you take a seat over there?" She waved her arm in the direction of my table and he made his way over, slipping onto the stool next to mine as quickly as he could.
I felt for him: I knew what it was like to walk in late when you didn't know anybody. If he was anything like me, he'd want the ground to swallow him up right about now. I caught his eye through his dark fringe and gave him a friendly nod. He smiled back.
Gloria carried on her talk. Now this was a woman who adored her job. Who woke up every morning, joyful that she was able to go and teach. I remembered, a little sadly, that Mum had used to be like that when she was teaching but she'd lost her love for it a long time ago. I hoped that Gloria could hold onto hers.
I was shaken from my thoughts when I realised that Gloria was looking at me expectantly. I figured I needed to respond somehow but I had no idea what the question had been.
"Erm..." I started, but Gloria took pity on me.
"Just your name, my love. None of those awful icebreakers or putting you on the spot in here," she smiled kindly.
"Oh, right. Yeah," I cleared my throat quickly. "I'm Nina." I waved my hand a little awkwardly as I looked around at the others.
The purple-haired girl was next. "Izzy," she said, nodding at Gloria. She didn't seem at all phased. Clearly, she'd been paying better attention than I had.
"And you?" Gloria looked at the boy to my right.
"Oliver. Ollie," he spoke quietly but looked around the room as he introduced himself.
"Lovely," she moved on to talk to the other table, where Jamie, Beth and Jasmine introduced themselves. Everyone seemed quite comfortable with the small group.
"Right then," the bangles tinkled again as Gloria clapped her hands once more. "We're starting this term with our sketching unit. So, I'm going to pair you up for this one – you'll be working together on this for the next six weeks."
*
I didn't bother with the bus at the end of the day. It might have been a whole day of art but the sessions had finished an hour or so earlier than the other days I'd been in college. I took a slow walk towards the beach, stopping at a little shop on the way. I started heading in and managed to open the door right into someone's face.
"Oh God, I'm so sorry!" I started, looking up to see if I'd caused any damage to the poor stranger on the other side of the door.
Except it wasn't a stranger.
"Ollie!" My voice seemed to raise a few decibels as I realised who I'd barged into. He was rubbing the bridge of his nose where the handle had hit. "I'm so sorry. I wasn't paying attention and I wasn't watching where I was going and I didn't see you and I didn't realise that there was anyone behind the door." I was rambling now, wanting the ground to swallow me up.
"Hey, it's fine," Ollie's voice was quiet, like it had been in the art room earlier. "Don't worry about it."
I almost laughed darkly. Not worry? He clearly knew nothing about me. I would worry about this for at least the next decade.
"Are you ok?" he asked, looking at me funny, brushing his dishevelled fringe from his eyes.
"Er, yeah," I shook myself out of my thoughts. "I am. Thanks. I really am sorry, you know? I'll make sure I'm paying more attention next time—"
"Next time you smack someone in the face with a door?" he smirked. He went to leave, turning back to me before he left. "I'm glad I ran into you actually."
"Oh?"
"Yeah, or that you ran into me, I suppose." That was annoying. Couldn't he see that I was clearly dying of embarrassment over here? I wasn't sure he needed to keep mentioning it. "Anyway, since we're going to be working together for the next six weeks, it might be an idea to swap numbers. You know, so we can sort things out?"
Of course. Of course, the person I'd hit in the face was my partner for the term. Of course, he bloody was.
"Right, yeah," I said, pulling out my phone and handing it to him. He typed his number in and rang himself before hanging up.
"See you then," he said, heading off up the street.
I couldn't decide what to make of him. All I knew was that something about him put me on edge. But then, something about most people put me on edge.
I cursed myself for being an idiot and decided not to bother with the shop. I was running late to meet Zach.
*
"About time!" Zach called to me from the water's edge as I put my things down by the rocks.
"Yeah, I know," I said, heading over to where he stood. "I'm sorry."
He stopped throwing the pebbles into the ocean, looking at me with concern etched in the line between his eyebrows. "What's wrong?"
"What do you mean?" I asked warily.
"Nina, I've known you forever. I know that if I give you stick about being late, you give me a hard time back. Call me a couple of names, an eyeroll and probably a dig in the ribs. You don't apologise for it. Not to me."
"I'm sorry," I shrugged, the encounter at the shop still weighing on my mind. "Strange week, I guess."
"Tell me about it?"
"Not much to tell really," I picked up a handful of pebbles, starting to launch them one by one into the greyish water. "Just lots of new things, I suppose. Bit draining, you know?"
He nodded but I felt like he didn't really understand. After all, he'd stayed where he was. He didn't do change, didn't do new things.
"Anyway," I said, trying to brighten up a little. "It's not all draining, there's been a few positives this week."
He looked at me expectantly, "Go on."
"I think I've made a new friend."
The cool sea air suddenly became slightly cooler as Zach said, "Oh." He threw another stone into the water. Unusually, it plummeted to the depths, without bouncing once. He was off his game.
"Yeah," I went on. "She's called Ro."
Zach struggled to hide a snort.
"What?" I asked, throwing my own pebble into the water. Two bounces, I'd take that.
"Nothing. Just... Ro? What kind of a name is Ro?"
I looked at him for a moment, struggling to recognise the face staring back at me. Narrowed eyes and sneering mouth. It didn't look like Zach at all.
"I don't know?" I said, chewing on the inside of my cheek nervously. The air had become even cooler now. "I guess it's short for something. Not sure what though."
"Hmm."
"I suppose it's a little unusual. It does suit her though. Anyway, she's the girl from the café last week, remember? Well, turns out she's in my psychology class and we ended up sat together." For the second time this afternoon, I was rambling. This time though, I didn't really know why. Earlier, it had been down to sheer mortification at hitting Ollie with the door but I wasn't really sure why I was doing it now. I never rambled to Zach. Never. Something had changed and I didn't like it.
"Convenient."
I took a deep breath. I didn't want to end the day with an argument. Not with Zach. But we wouldn't get anywhere if I kept saying a hundred words to every grunted response of his.
"What's got into you?" I asked, more boldly than I was feeling.
"Oh nothing, nothing. Just let me see." He paused for dramatic effect. "I've been waiting down here all afternoon, in the cold and drizzle, waiting for you to turn up and now you tell me that you've been with your new friends. Not bothered about me at all." He threw the last of his pebbles into the water, all at once, and strode towards the rocks.
"Hang on, when did I say I was with my new friends?" I went after him, feeling my own temper rising at how unreasonable he was being. "Firstly, it was one new friend. One. Singular. And secondly, I was late because I accidentally smashed a door in the face of someone from my art class. I couldn't exactly run away, telling him I'd be late to meet a friend, if his nose was pouring with blood, could I?"
Zach turned. "Was his nose pouring with blood?"
"Well, no," I said. "But I didn't know that at the time. And then it turned out it was Ollie, my class partner, so he wanted to get my number before I left and—"
"Uh-huh. You ditched me so you could give your number to someone. Nice one, Nina. Real nice." He carried on walking.
"Zach," I was shouting now. "You can't seriously be angry that I've started speaking to people a bit more? Come on. I've not made a new friend in about ten years. And they're never going to take your place. You're my best friend. I always put you first."
He turned round, starting back towards me. When he was about a metre away from me, he looked at me, eyes narrowed. "You don't always though, do you Nina?"
It was like my body had been doused in ice water. "That's not fair," I whispered.
We stood there, looking at each other in silence for a couple of minutes, neither of us wanting to be the first to look away. The moment was only broken by the sound of my phone.
"It'll just be Mum," I murmured, reaching into my pocket to quiet the text alert. Zach just raised an eyebrow.
The phone sounded again.
"Best answer it, Nina. Don't want to start letting your new friends down too," Zach snarled, his lip curling almost involuntarily, as he turned and started towards the rocks again.
"I told you," I said, fishing it out of my back pocket. "It'll just be – oh!"
I was pretty surprised to see Ollie's name pop up on my screen.
OLLIE: Lucky you bumped into me earlier. Literally. Let me know when you're free to start planning this project.
I hadn't really expected him to get in touch, especially not less than an hour after our awkward encounter in the shop. And why did he have to keep mentioning it?
"New friends. Knew it."
"Huh?" I said, still caught off-guard by the text. "Oh, it's nobody."
Zach barked a derisive laugh.
I thought about replying to Ollie but this thing with Zach needed sorting first. I looked up, ready to try and rationalise with him.
"Look, Zach..."
But I was only talking to the breeze. Zach had gone.