I'm Open, He's Closed

6

"The civilisation of Mesopotamia were one of the first to adopt the printmaking techniques and nowadays we have access to lithography, intaglio printing and screen printing, all of which you may choose to develop as a form in your projects, during the many weeks to come.." The lecturers voice droned on as I hurriedly scribbled notes.

I hadn't yet considered printmaking mainly because I wasnt too familiar with it as a concept. We hadn't yet studied it in depth either. On the flip side, it could be a really great way to impress our teachers if we attempted to execute it.

I made a mental note to bring that up with Luke. I had emailed him earlier today, asking if he was free this evening and I was still waiting for a reply. At this point, I think I knew him enough to infer that his silence either meant he was coming, or that had seen the email and was thinking about coming.

Either way, the ball was in his court.

"Louise."

I jumped in my seat. I turned to see the person next to me staring. I raised my eyebrows expectantly at the girl with rosy cheeks. How did she even know my name?

"Yes?" I whispered back.

"Can I see your notes? I didn't understand a thing just then."

"Oh." I nodded, turning round the laptop screen to give her a better view.

She took a couple minutes, before smiling at me in gratitude. The rest of the lecture went by and soon it was 12pm.

"Remember," the lecturer called out as herds of students began packing away and filing out, "you have until the end of February to submit the research paper, that's 5 weeks away for those of you who cannot do the maths. Printmaking is only one of the areas you may wish to study up on. If you need help, don't hesitate to ask!"

I packed away my things, wondering if it whether it would be a good idea to jump into something new - like print making - or to choose something I was more comfortable with and deliver it to the best of my abilities.

Well. Our abilities.

"Are you interested in print making?" I looked up at the girl who had sat next to me, as she put away her things, "I'm Rosy by the way."

"Nice to meet you Rosy. I-um, I'm not too sure yet. The way he was describing it just then, made it seem like the hardest thing in the world."

She chuckled, the curls on her head bouncing up and down. She had quite cartoonist features that reminded me of a small child. It was cute.

"I couldn't tell whether he was encouraging us to try it, or warning us off it."

I smiled, "Either way, I think I'll stick to what I know best."

"Which is? If you don't mind me asking." She implored.

"I'm really into painting. Water, oil and sketching too. It's a good stress reliever at times." The best stress reliever there was. And Lord knows how much stress I'd been under recently.

"That's so cool! I don't paint as much as I'd like to. I prefer-

"Could I talk to my partner?" My eyes snapped to the blunt voice that belonged to none other than Luke. He stood across from us, arms folded tight. I couldn't help but notice there was something different about him today.

I couldn't put my finger on it yet.

Rosy flashed me with a sheepish smile, before retreating down the steps of the lecture hall, "I'll see you around."

I waved goodbye awkwardly.

We were the only two left in the room.

"I'm guessing you got my email?" My voice reverberated round the walls in a way that creeped me out.