Black Velvet

I trudged to Art as slowly as my feet would allow. The bell had rung five minutes ago and part of me wondered whether to skip it all together and go home. Once I reached the building I dithered outside the door. I could hear low rumbles of laughter alongside the occasional bellowed order from Mr. Way. I couldn't bare the thought of him thinking I was just a silly, naive teenage girl who had a crush on her teacher. Deep in my thoughts I slid down the side of the wall and chewed over my options. I stared blankly at the field ahead of me, the main building of the school looking small and insignificant. Just as I was about to leave the door opened abruptly and Mr. Way fell out of it, his head still inside the classroom as he yelled a jokey reply at someone. The door slammed and he looked startled when he saw me crouched on the floor.

"You scared me! What are you doing out here?" he questioned hurriedly, hand still on his heart from where I had scared him.

"I wasn't really ready to come in yet," I mumbled pathetically, picking at blades of grass with my fingers. He plopped down next to me heavily, his knees bent and his arms loosely wrapped around them.

"Why weren't you ready?" he asked, plucking a daisies from the floor. I couldn't answer him, he knew why and I didn't want to spell it out to him again, "I'm sorry I told you off earlier, It's just... I am a teacher and I do have to tell you off for cursing-"

"You only heard me swear?" I asked, cutting him off and suddenly looking up at him. He looked up too whilst threading a daisy through the stalk of another to make a small daisy chain.

"Yeah you can't go around cursing like that in this school, other teachers will give you worse punishment-"

"But you didn't hear what else I said?" I asked, cutting into him again. His brow furrowed and he shook his head in a dumbfounded manner. A wave of relief washed over me and I slumped back against the building wall, sighing out, "well sorry I cursed then," I then said, he chuckled.

"Do it again and we'll be washing your mouth out with soap." he laughed, "Let's get you in, you have things to catch up on and I need to go and get some coffee to get me through the next hour," he smiled, standing up. After brushing down the back pockets of his trousers he held out his hand to help me up also.

His hand was warm but had callous patches on them. His finger nails were bitten down haphazardly, his fingers thick and pale. As I reached my balance he held my hand still, retrieving the daisy chain he had made before and untidily wrapping it around my wrist.

"You may as well have it," he smiled, tying the lose stems into a knot. I shook my wrist a little and swallowed heavily, feeling giddy and taken aback. He let go of my wrist and it swung back to my side limply.

"Thanks," I stuttered out, my voice dry. He smiled before running a hand through his hair, "I'm going to go back in then," I said, avoiding eye contact.

"Great, see you in there," he said, clearing his throat a little.

I fell into my seat next to Marnie who was busily drawing away, humming under her breath as she did so. She glanced at me quickly but I deliberately searched around in my bag for anything and nothing. Luckily she didn't raise any questions about my flushed face and shaky hands. I wanted to try hard this lesson, show Mr. Way I had potential. I stared at my blank sheet of paper but all that replayed in my vision was his fingers on my skin, deftly tying knots in the stems of my daisies. I drew grapes, aquatic life, chairs, people, books but everything I thought of quickly reminded me how childish I felt.

"Stop drawing so much, I've done one thing!" Marnie whimpered, staring at my page.

"I can't think of anything good enough to draw," I muttered pathetically more to myself than in reply to Marnie.

"You've done like... so many things! They're all great!" Marnie continued to whine staring at my sheet of paper with dismay. Mr. Way sauntered past, I noticed his eyes drop to my page quickly and then back to his destination. I sighed out, weirdly upset he'd not complimented my work. I drew throughout the lesson, trying to ignore Marnie's constant chatter. My skin prickled and my muscles became tense whenever Mr. Way walked past to check on our work. The end of the lesson came faster than I expected and although I tried to get his attention he hurried us all out of the classroom. Marnie and I waited patiently in the parking lot for Alex. She gave me a lift back to my house although she was insistent that I come back to hers with the other girls.

"I really can't, another time though I promise, I'm just so tired right now," I said to her as I clambered out of her car. She pouted dramatically before flipping her lightly curled hair over her shoulder.

"Fine." She said, taking both her hands off the wheel and shrugging, "How about you come meet us for a coffee in a couple hours? I don't want you to miss out!"

"Okay, I'll come meet you for a coffee, where?" I sighed, giving in. Alex told me the address and name of the coffee place before she quickly blew me a kiss. I wiggled my fingers at her hopelessly before walking sluggishly up my drive.

"Hello!" I yelled, slightly hoping Deb or dad would appear. I let my bag slip off my shoulder before running upstairs and throwing myself on my bed. I leant down and wrapped my fingers around my laptop, dragging it up onto my lap before flipping the lid of it. My mom had e-mailed me, a quick message that said she hoped I was settling in and I could come to stay with her when I had some time off.

After eating and having a shower I dressed myself quickly. The nights were getting colder so I slipped on a cropped knitted jumper and some high waisted jeans, throwing my hair up into a messy bun, the curly tendrils of my hair hanging lose around my face. I had to get the bus into town to meet Alex at the coffee bar she had wanted to meet at. I got there five minutes early so I ordered myself a hot chocolate and went and sat in the middle of the cafe. It wasn't like a regular cafe, it was dark and brooding with dark wood flooring and mustard yellow walls. There were obscure paintings of flowers on the walls and the front wall was decorated with different types of antique clocks.

After ten minutes I checked my phone, texting Alex before looking over my shoulder at the front door. Outside I could see it had began to rain and droplets of water ran down the window pain dismally. I wondered if I had the right cafe and after realising I did I began to call Alex's mobile worriedly.

"Hey this is Alex! Leave a message after the beep... unless I don't like you then please stop calling me!"

Her cheery voice rang in my ears and I didn't bother to leave her a message. I had nearly finished my drink, the dark pool of un-dissolved chocolate mix tasting bitter in my mouth. I swallowed it anyway, wincing as I did so. All of a sudden I felt a tap on my shoulder and I whirled around expecting to see Alex's face looking back at me, instead it was a familiar dark haired character wearing a black velvet jacket.

Notes

so happy to see everyone's comments, any suggestions or corrections feel free to let me know!