Hell Mary

Chapter Fourteen

The walk towards the lab area from their class, was long, even longer because they didn't exchange words on their way. A part of Kelvin feared Ashley. He wanted to say something about the purple petals that lined up behind the Junior class or comment on her thick black long hair, but each time he would swallow a lump when his eyes met her firm face. When they neared the lab block, she broke into humming a song he knew very well but he dared not speak.

"We'll use this computer, It's very close to the router. Please pass me my note," she said, crouching to fix in a detached cable when they finally reached the lab. A few others from different classes paired up to use the available computers. He hadn't moved when she asked him to and when she looked up, she saw him staring towards the old shelf half eaten by termites at the back. It leaned sideways like it would fall, but it never did. She stood up, holding the cable on one hand and only then did she see clearly. His eyes were fixated on the near distant image of Mary and Martins at the back with another classmate of theirs, using a computer.

He was infuriated, clenching his teeth so tightly to prevent the hurt that would blast out as mean words if he spoke. Ashley sighed and tapped his shoulder causing his full view to meet her eyes. Her vibrant oblong eyes.
"I wouldn't think too much about that if I were you. We have an assignment," she said.

"How do you do that?" He asked, busying himself with the thick note jotter Ashley owned, as his hands ran across the edges idly. He sat on a seat, dragging it slightly to near the one Ashley hovered over and intended sitting on.

"Do what?" She asked. Her eyes widened as her lips locked in, stretching into a thin line.

"Don't let what Martins does to you make you angry," he said.

"Oh I do get angry, I just know how to channel it right. Somehow, my pains develop into an engulfing hunger for reading. I read a lot when I broke up with him and every time he hurts me, I just read more. For all it's worth, they are just doing their assignment and so are we."

"OK I'll be lying if I said that isn't weird," he said and she laughed. Her eyes crinkled with excitement when she did as little as smiled. All her teeth would glare open and reveal their perfect symmetry. She never laughed loudly, she just allowed forced air escape through the spaces between her teeth as her shoulders shook lightly. It was unethical to laugh loudly, the school taught.

The sunset was beautiful- a tint shade of golden yellow enveloping the sky and the warm hue settling on the earth. The earth was splattered with blue and orange and if you looked closely, a thin line of silver. Ashley paused to stretch and her condensed skin relaxed its aching muscles, releasing a crack sound on her back. They had been browsing for hours and Kelvin felt numbness as he sank on the wooden chair, afraid his buttocks would hurt if he stood. He couldn't stop the enthusiasm she radiated whenever it came to academic affairs. She never stopped talking and he always seemed to agree with every point raised. The edge of one of his palms on his chin, and a racing hand on his note, scribbling helplessly. "What do you think is the major cause of conflict in the world?"

"Let's browse it," he said and immediately felt dumb for uttering those words.

"You can't browse something like that in this context, the internet would only provide a stereotypical answer. I think we'll leave the question for when we'll meet as a group. It's important we rub minds," she said. Her fingers working on the keyboard while her eyes darted the screen. "We must also add countries at war for references. It's very important," she added. She said 'very important' to every idea. They had used up ten pages already, filling up 'very important' notes.

Then it dawned on them that the lab had been void of students. Ashley hurried to the burglary that guarded the room and observed the entrance door was locked.