Suicide, Skittles and Skates [✓]

Chapter 25

CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

"So what did he say?" Alex asked in concern from his position on the bed as he watched his girlfriend pacing around the room, wringing her hands together anxiously.

They were at her house, working on the very last painting of the two of them at Lacey's party when the phone had rang. Her mum had popped her head in the door to tell them their art teacher, Mr Jamison, was on the phone and wanted to talk to Kalila. Alex had stopped painting the fireworks the minute he heard that and couldn't seem to calm down as he waited in anticipation. Teachers never rang home unless it was urgent and with their art project due in two days, the pressure to perfect it was higher than ever.

Kalila had come back in almost a daze and was pacing around her room so hard, Alex was certain she'd cause permanent imprints of her feet in the carpet.

"Oh my God," was all she managed to say before squealing and jumping on him, causing the paintbrushes on the bed to bounce up and hit the floor.

He laughed as he hugged her back, assuming it wasn't anything too bad from the nervous smile on her face. She pulled herself out of his grip and clapped her hands excitedly, the news bursting out so fast, he needed a minute to process it. "The vice chancellor is coming!"

"Wait, what, who?" he asked, having no idea what she was talking about.

Kalila rolled her eyes and opened a website on her laptop to show him. "The vice-chancellor of Central Saint Martins! He's gonna come to our school to watch our class present our work! Mr Jamison called to let me know because he knows going there has literally been my dream since we started high school all the way back in year seven. Oh my God... they're gonna see our work and we're not even done yet! Oh my God! Shit!" she exclaimed, the nervousness of the situation making her voice rise considerably.

Alex took a moment to absorb the information before grinning in pride at his girlfriend. He knew that despite her insecurities and fear of not getting in, she surpassed the talent they were looking for. They would offer her a place; they'd be stupid not to. "Well c'mon then," he told Kalila, pulling her by the arm back towards the A3 canvas. "We should get it done then."

They worked in a steady silence, each deep in thought as the painting began to come alive in an array of brush strokes and glowing colours. Just as Alex was slowly dotting the stars in white against the night sky, he remembered something they had overlooked. "Lila, we still need to think of what we're gonna say when we're presenting."

Kalila paused, deep in thought with her paintbrush hovering over the blurry faces of her friends that she was adding detail to. She thought for a minute before remembering that it they still had tomorrow to finalize their speech. "How about during fourth period tomorrow?" she asked, knowing that they both had a free lesson as Alex nodded in conformation.

Before long, the look of relief on Kalila's face was evident as they were nearing the end of painting the final picture. "What if we call it new beginnings?" she asked as they were deciding what to label it as. Alex didn't need to think about it very much; it was the perfect title to end their project on.

When they had first been partnered up together, Kalila had been determined she could convince him of the numerous reasons for him to live despite them barely knowing each other. At the time he had almost scoffed, thinking how much of a stupid idea it was and hadn't planned on being alive much longer than a few days at most. But somehow she had succeeded and everything had finally fallen into place.

New beginnings, indeed.

---

"So how about a movie night later on since you finished your art thing?" Tyler whispered the following morning, trying not to alert the teacher. He was half asleep with his head on the desk, eagerly waiting until the end of the History lesson they were in. Alex nodded in confirmation, too absorbed in answering the last question on the quiz he was doing to respond.