vetitum amoris

chapter four

On Monday morning, Pearl entered the classroom for morning registration with Pez, and Harvey greeted them with a smile. Pearl smiled back at him, unsure of what he would do, but he decided to be civil and said good morning. The day went on, and Pez talked about Luke and Tessa spoke about Brock. Pearl listened to both of them and smiled - she was happy that her two best friends were both so happy.

"We need to get you a boyfriend," Pez said in afternoon registration. Harvey had heard him, and Pearl dared to look. Their eyes met and Pearl felt her heart freeze. He had a weird look on his face, and Pearl had to look away. Pez nudged her for a reply. "Oh, yeah, maybe..."

The bell rang, and Pearl stayed in her seat. She had GSCE Art for the remaining two hours of the day. Pez had GSCE PE, so he went off to the gym. They had agreed to meet up later on that evening for a movie night. A few other students from Pearl's form also had GSCE Art, so they sat and waited for the rest of the class. When they arrived - Tessa along with them - they all took their seats and began the lesson. For this lesson, the class had to choose something they loved, and sketch it. Tessa chose to do the New York City skyline, and Pearl chose to draw Toffee, her cat. Everyone began their work, but Pearl didn't have the right colour pencil. Toffee was ginger, and the orange coloured pencil she needed had been used up. She knew the stock cupboard always had a back up of any art supplies. Their old art teacher, Mr Raston, never minded students going and helping themselves, as long as they returned the materials once they had finished with them.

Pearl stood up and walked into the store cupboard. She looked around until she saw the unsealed box of coloured pencils, and she reached on her tiptoes to get the box down from the shelf. When she turned round, she saw Harvey standing before her. She jumped and put her hand on her chest, holding the pencils. "You scared me."

"What are you doing in here?" he asked. Pearl held the box up for him to see.

"I needed a specific colour. I'm drawing my cat, Toffee, and I knew there were some colours in here, so I -"

"Ask next time," he said. "Don't just help yourself." Pearl frowned at him but nodded.

"Okay. Mr Raston didn't mind us, but sure..."

It was quiet between them for a few moments, and Pearl gulped. She stepped forwards and tried to get past Harvey, but a tall shelf next to them made it difficult. She had to take a step closer to Harvey to avoid knocking the shelf, and as she did so she felt her body brush past his. He kept his cool, said nothing; didn't look at her. She managed to get past him without incident, and she returned to the classroom and sat down with Tessa. She sketched Toffee - from memory - and coloured her drawing in when she had done. When the class had finished, Harvey collected the sketches and dismissed his class.

Tessa and Pearl normally walked home together, with Pez of course. Today, however, Tessa's mum was taking her to visit her grandparents straight from school. Her grandparents lived a good few hours away, and her mum wanted to leave as soon as possible in order to get there - and back again - quickly. Tessa hugged Pearl goodbye and rushed out of the classroom before anybody else.

Pearl checked her phone, with it being the end of the day now, and saw that Pez had text her. Pez also wouldn't be walking home tonight - he was going home with Luke, whose dad was picking them up. It wasn't a big deal, Pearl quite liked walking alone anyway. The rest of the class filed out, and Pearl didn't realise she was still there. "Don't you have a home to go to?" Harvey's voice made her look up. Pearl bit her lip and pulled a face.

"Yes, I'm going," she replied. "Bye..."

"Have a nice evening, Pearl."

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