Mabel

12

I find my bearings within our small dynamic very quickly after one supportive conversation with Talia Alpin that went something like 'you told me you thought my ass was the best thing you've seen all week the first time you met me – how can you be awkward?' and suddenly I'm unafraid to text Kai Adkins at any waking moment with 'Kaiiii I need more pictures. wanna meet up???' and too many emojis.

Some may call it a poor development, but at least I'm not like Morin and Talia: constantly insulting the other to hide their true love.

Talia walks in one afternoon to see a clusterfuck of art spread around the room.

You see, I haven't actually planned out my project and where I was going to go with it and it'll be a long and confusing year if I don't sort it out now.

So, naturally, I've tried to put my pieces into an order to figure out a story–and the only way to do that is to clip, hang, and display them around our living room.

"It looks like Leonardo Da Vinci exploded in here. Mabel? You around?"

I come out from behind a particularly large canvas that I haven't even touched yet but know I want to do something with–it's too big not to–and scare the living shit out of Talia when I say, "Da Vinci was an inventor and sculptor as well. It's more like Rembrandt exploded." 

Talia, clutching her heart, scowls a little at me, before she continuously shakes her head, saying, "I cannot believe one boy has gotten you so ridiculously into art. If I knew it was that easy to get you kick-started I would've introduced you to him ages ago."

Imagine knowing Kai Adkins for a whole year previously.

What a great year that would've been.

"He is art, Talia. He's art."

Talia lets out a soft groan into both of her hands when she covers her face, and stays still for a second before she brings them down and looks at me with sound desperation.

"When are you going to tell him he... makes your heart melt like wax crayons or whatever you said the other day?"

I'm so taken aback I stumble into one of my other blank canvases and end up knocking down two others in an attempt to stay upright.

Once I do, I'm only a little hysterical when I yell, "I can't!"

I don't bother picking up the canvases and just go back to the sofa where my laptop is sitting patiently, resuming the video I'd been watching before I decided to unleash artistic chaos in the room.

"I can't tell him," I mumble just a little childishly, curling up on myself as I shoo Talia away blindly, hand waving in the air, saying, "Now go away – I'm watching a video on the depletion of the world's fish."

Then, almost like a warning, I add, "Go. It's sad. I'll cry."

Talia giggles at me, jumping onto the sofa which makes the colouring pencil set I had sitting on the edge of the sofa's arm spill onto the floor.

She ignores the crashing sound of my precious pencils and slings an arm around me instead, snuggling close to me, somehow managing to sound fond when she says, "You're still a fish nerd, deep down, aren't you?"

I pause the video, looking over to my friend in an overdramatic, wistful glance. "My passion for fish is the ocean floor and art is the water."

Talia scoffs, dubiously asking, "Art is the water? Or Kai is the water?"

"Like I said: to-may-to, to-mah-to."

"Aish."

As for the order or general direction of my project?

Eh, I'll figure it out later.

<・)))><<

I stand happily beside my professor as he sifts through my portfolio, passing comments every so often on each piece – what's good about it, if I should add something – so that I can clean up what I've got so far for my midterm review and I listen intently because, hey, Kang actually knows what he's talking about. Who knew?

"It's going great, Mabel," Kang says, getting to the end of my work with a pleased 'I'm glad you're doing what I asked' smile of a teacher. "There is one thing, though. I think—"

Just then, I hear the studio doors open, and look to them with strong interest because the only person that comes halfway through a class is me when I'm very late (which happens much less frequently now, considering I actually really like art these days).

But it's not me.

Obviously.

It's Kai Adkins, looking unsure of himself, peering around the studio.

"Ooh! Okay, hold that thought, sir—Adkins!" I yell, leaving my professor with charcoal and painted versions of the boy I just ditched him for as I skip over to Kai standing near the door, who suddenly looks a lot less unsure and lost when he sees me. In fact, he smiles a whole lot.

"Oh, hey Mabel, I was just... here to... um... you know..."

I grab onto his hand without a second thought, too excited to listen to his excuse as I tug him across the room to my workstation, urging, "Come and see what I've been working on."

Kai lets out a short, disbelieving laugh, but lets me take his hand anyway.

"Alright. Sure, Ortega."

(I never did find out why Kai came. If he needed to talk to Kang again, he must've forgotten because he didn't leave my side once).

<・)))><<

Trips to the library have become a lot less frequent for us both, since I can't really conduct a photoshoot there, and we both talk too much for the librarian.

Besides, sitting on one of my precious couches, closer than necessary, perhaps, and being able to look over Kai's shoulder at his physics or photography or dance choreography plans is a lot better than having to lean over the table.

But, I'm fairly absorbed in a little oil pastel piece I'm working on right now, tongue poking out; which Kai keeps pointing out as something I do solely when I'm doing art.

And then I hear a click.

I look to see Kai, lowering his camera that he had been flicking through the gallery of for the past twenty minutes or so and tilt my head at him with a non-verbal um?

"It's, uh. For my project," he tells me, turning his attention back to his camera gallery, as if it hadn't happened at all.

"I thought you were a landscape photographer."

Kai's cheeks seem to flush a little.

Taking pictures without someone's permission? I have half a mind to call him a stalker again.

But, then, remembering that I drew him in secret for, like, a month I decide to drop it.

"My professor suggested trying other things, too."

I nod in understanding, then notice how cute he looks right now, a faint red shyness to his skin, and pull out my phone to take a picture of my own.

Kai's used to me snapping random pictures of him by now, so he doesn't say anything, just softly chuckles when I look at the photo for a second.

"Watercolour," I explain unconvincingly.