vetitum amoris

chapter five

Monday morning came, and Pearl was dreading the day. Her alarm had gone off at 7:30am, but Pearl had been awake hours before. She hadn't slept well since Friday, since that moment with Harvey. A million different thoughts ran through her mind, and she imagined every scenario possible. She didn't know what was going to happen on Monday when she saw him. Would be act as if nothing had happened between them, or would he talk to her about it? Pearl was tempted to pretend to be ill, so she could avoid facing life, but she forced herself to go in.

Pearl's mum and dad had already both left for work when Pearl was finally ready. She got out of bed, a little hesitant, and brushed her teeth and washed her face. She noticed she'd got a few new spots on her forehead, and knew they were down to stress. She fed Toffee, then went back upstairs and got changed into her school uniform. She left her hair to its natural state, and put on her makeup. She decided she'd act normal around Harvey. Her game face was strong as she left the house.

***

Pearl walked to school with Pez and Tessa, who both spoke about their boyfriends on the way. They asked Pearl how her weekend was, and she shrugged and said it had been a quiet one, completely uneventful.

The school bell rang, and Pez and Pearl walked off to their form room, Tessa walking off to her own classroom. Tessa had gone to the school's headmaster and had asked whether she could be moved into the same form as her two best friends, but the school hadn't allowed it. Tessa had sulked for a few hours, but soon got over it. "See you later!" Tessa waved as she headed towards the back of the school. The other two waved back, and made their way to the art room.

Pez was still talking about Luke, and Pearl tried to pay attention, but she couldn't help but feel nervous now the room was getting closer. She took a deep breath as Pez opened the door and she followed behind him.

Harvey was sat behind his desk, and most of the class were already seated. The classroom was full of chatter, the odd student doing homework that was due in next lesson. Pearl and Pez took their seats and smiled at their friends in the class. A secondary bell rang, signaling the beginning of morning registration. Harvey looked up and his eyes instantly fell to Pearl.

He called the register, and told everyone to wait quietly for the bell. He stayed sat at his desk, and was focusing hard on marking some year eight art books.

"Whatever happened to that guy you met? You know the one from Rockets?" Pez asked. Pearl felt her heart freeze in her chest. Pez had a habit of shouting when he spoke - he never meant to, it was just something he did. Unfortunately for Pearl, Pez's loudmouth caused Harvey to look over - and hear what Pez had said.

Pearl didn't dare look at Harvey, so she kept her eyes on the table in front of her. She tried to stay calm, and she hoped she didn't look too embarrassed. "Nothing," Pearl said, quieter than her friend. "What?" Pez frowned. "Nothing? You didn't hear from him, or meet up or -?"

"No," Pearl said shortly. "No, I never heard from him."

"Oh, that's a shame," Pez said sweetly. "I got the impression you liked the guy."

"No," Pearl lied. "I wasn't bothered anyway."

The school bell rang, finally, and Pearl's eyes met Harvey's without meaning to. His face was unreadable, and he studied her closely as she stood up and left the room with her friend.

The day went really quick, and soon enough there was only an hour left of the school day. Pearl's last lesson was GSCE Art, the class Harvey was teaching. She was dreading this lesson more than any of her others, purely because of the teacher. She had managed fine all day, she reminded herself. Surely one more hour wouldn't hurt...