CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN
"You'll be okay!" Emma whispered.
Alex was wringing his fingers in anticipation, absolutely terrified of what was going to occur. He was in the main hall in school, along with the rest of the Art students, waiting to present. As it was a major part of their grades, all the art teachers were there along with a couple of university representatives. But he was only focused on the man who had introduced himself as Gary Newman, Vice Chancellor of Central Saint Martins.
All the other representatives were relatively young with easy grins and rather messy hair and weren't wearing anything fancier than shirts and trousers. It was just his luck that the only one he needed to impress looked stern with neatly combed grey hair and a matching grey suit. Alex gulped. He'd never been too good at public speaking but this was worse, he hadn't even gotten around to writing the damn speech! He and Kalila had been planning on getting it written during their fourth period the previous day but with his wonderful girlfriend being rushed to hospital, it had completely flown out of his mind.
'Just gotta wing it,' he thought, trying to concentrate on the pair currently presenting. They'd decided on using purely pencil and had sketched scenes of famous landmarks from all around the world. As they were droning on about the Taj Mahal, Alex mentally tried to compose a bulleted list of everything he needed to mention but it was no use â his mind was completely blank.
Before long, it was his turn and he still hadn't thought of anything decent to say. With a suppressed gulp, he stood up next to the canvases they had painted as Mr Jamison introduced him to the visitors.
"Um, hello. Myâ um, my partner Kalila isn't able to be here today so I guess it's just me. As you, um, as you can see, we used a mixture of photography and acrylic paints throughout our project," he started saying, trying to appear confident but it wasn't working. He snuck a look at the Newman guy from Central Saint Martins who didn't look at all impressed with his pathetic beginning.
He had half a mind to give up but then he bowed his head a little and caught sight of his wrist. Nestled along the edge of his sleeve was the wire bracelet Kalila had picked for him when they went Brighton together. It was so small that he'd forgotten he was even wearing it but as the silver letters glinted in the light, it gave him confidence he didn't know he possessed.
Alex stood up straighter with determination as his fingertip traced the 'Live Life' words on the bracelet. With a smile, he continued, his voice growing louder and more in control.
"The day I first met Kalila was the day we were assigned this project and ours is a lot more personal than everyone else here: it documents our friendship as it developed with experiences. As you can see in this first painting, there's a great deal of distance between us and although we're smiling, it's a little forced. That's because we barely knew each other but as time progressed and we learnt about each other, we became closer. The painting of us in the snow is one of my favourites as it symbolizes a change between us. The park that the picture was taken in held bad memories for my partner and if you look carefully, the background of it shows this. The trees around the picture are sort of curving in towards us in the middle, in an almost predatory way and beneath the snow you can see Kalila used an incredibly chilling blue, a colour associated with lifelessness."
From the corner of his eye he saw a thumbs up from Emma and a proud smile on his teachers face. He could do this, he would do this. For Kalila.
"After the two of us opened up and began trusting each other, our friendship strengthened and all the pictures after this become somewhat brighter. Just like everyone else, our title was the beauty of life and well, to me there is nothing more beautiful than the power of friendship."
---
"Fantastic!" a slightly dazed looking woman with lavender hair said to him, clasping his hand and shaking it tightly. "Absolutely fantastic! The imagery is brilliant and the development of your relationship, wow! I'm Anna, a rep from Cardiff Metropolitan University and I'd love to offer you both a conditional offer if you're interested?"
Alex gaped as she beamed at him â he hadn't even thought about what he'd do if any other universities were interested. "Um wow, thank you! I'll have to get back to you on that," he said after a moment of thought. "I'm not so sure if I want to move so far, Wales is like five hours away! But I'll think about it."
The woman grinned lazily and showered him with some more compliments before leaving the hall. She wasn't the only one though: Alex was approached by three more representatives all eager to offer them a place. But Gary Newman from Central Saint Martin's barely glanced his way before carefully picking up a briefcase and beginning to leave; smoothing out the non-existent creases in his suit as he walked.
The hall was almost empty now with all the students making their way back to their classrooms. Alex ignored his teacher gesturing to him to hurry up and sped in the other direction, towards Mr Newman.
"Um, excuse me," he said, one hand clutching his chest as he panted slightly. "I was um, well, wondering what you thought of my presentation, sir? Central Saint Martins is my partners first choice you see andâ"
Gary had his lips pursed â evidently not happy with being stopped â and he cut in.
"Your work is good but it has no meaning in it. At Central Saint Martin's we have a high level of expectation of our students, primarily a passion for the arts which you have the potential to have but it isn't quite there yet. I'm sorry Mr Bates but I don't believe you want this enough and I thoroughly believe in first impressions," he said not sounding very sorry at all. Picking up his black briefcase that matched his perfectly polished shoes, Gary Newman continued walking out of the hall.
"So do I and the first day I met Kalila Woods, she saved my life."
Alex wasn't expecting anything to happen when he said that, it was just his last attempt; a shot in the dark. Just as he was about to give up and admit to himself that he'd failed Kalila, however, Gary Newman slowly turned around. Without moving a single facial muscle other than raising his left eyebrow a little, he spoke. "Go on," he said. Although his voice was still flat and almost robotic, there was a slight underlying of urge in it that somehow made Alex decide to tell him the whole story.
"I lied in my presentation. The first day I met Kalila was a week before on a rooftop. I was two seconds away from jumping in front of a train, Mr Newman. Sheâ she saved me. She threw a pack of skittles at me to distract me, to make me curious and delay my carefully constructed suicide plan to ask her what she was up to. Our coursework, this project, the entire thing was all her idea. It wasn't really about friendship, it was about living. Without me knowing, she was documenting all the reasons why I should live; all the reasons I shouldn't die. And if that doesn't show the beauty of life, well, then I honestly dunno what does."
Mr Newman didn't say anything but as he wasn't ignoring Alex and walking off, he thought maybe he should ask again. "Please. Iâ I don't care about me. But she deserves this, Kalila honestly deserves this. Please justâ just give her a chance."
Looking down at Alex, Gary Newman pursed his lips. "In thirty years of this profession, I've never been wrong with first impressions Mr Bates but I have a feeling this just may be the first time. The fact that you're trying this hard is perhaps enough to show how much you want this and like I said, passion is the most important aspect," he said as he took out a business card, causing Alex's eyebrows to jump up in surpise. "Very well, I'll offer her an interview and if she â and her portfolio â surpasses the panel of judges, she'll be offered a place."
Alex opened and closed his mouth awkwardly in shock, looking rather like a goldfish, before he managed to talk. "Thank you! Thank you so much sir!"
Thanks to his blurting out the truth of the foundations of his and Kalila's friendship, he'd managed to make her dreams come true. He hadn't really expected it to work but it had.
He'd done it!
Gary Newman looked at the boy in front of him sporting a giant smile on his face and couldn't help but smile a little himself. There was something so raw about the way he spoke about the girl, so full of emotion, that he couldn't help giving her a chance. But more than that, there was something about Alex that reminded him of the person he was at that age.
"And take another one," he said, carefully pulling out another business card from his pocket.
Alex blinked a couple of times without knowing what to say. "Sorry, what?" he asked, a little confused. He'd already taken a card for Kalila and so didn't see what he was going to do with the other one.
"For you," Gary answered. "I'd like to offer you a place as well."
---
Kalila squealed and pulled him towards her. "Whoa. Careful there, woman!" Alex teased, wincing as his chest hit the metal frame of her bed. Although she had been released from the hospital earlier that afternoon, she was under strict orders to rest and so had been lying in bed bored to death. That was, until Alex burst through the door the minute his classes were over and jumped up and down like a hyperactive Easter bunny as he told her the news.
"Shut up," she mumbled, nuzzling her head against his shoulders as she hugged him. He smelt like a combination of rain and coffee; of familiarity and comfort. "You did it!" she exclaimed.
He chuckled before pulling away from her before someone walked in. Regardless of how much Kalila's dad liked Alex, the fact that he was his daughter's first 'real' boyfriend was enough to make him threaten him if he broke her heart. Not that he was planning on it though, Kalila was different than any other girl that Alex had dated. She was first and foremost his friend and perhaps that's what he needed all along.
"We," Alex corrected. "We did it. Together!" He still couldn't believe he'd been given an interview as well. Kalila's artistic talent would be evident to a blind person but he wasn't expecting his to be anything special â especially as he was far better in photography than art. But Mr Newman had given him a choice as well before advising him to consider applying for a double major in photography and fine arts.
He wasn't so sure he could do it but when he'd voiced him concern to Kalila, she smacked him over the head with a magazine. Alex may have been completely oblivious talent that he possessed but nobody else was. In a way, she was slightly jealous of her boyfriend. She had spent countless years perfecting her skills to a way she was happy with but he was a complete natural at it. He may not have known all the technical aspects of photography or the history like she knew about art but his work was so emotion-provoking that it was enough for now. Everything else could be learnt but natural talent couldn't and she knew that he sure as hell had that!
While she was deep in thought, Alex was watching her intently. There was something so fascinating about her that he couldn't seem to get enough of. Even the way her forehead wrinkled at the top when she was concentrating seemed cute to him. Before he could think about what he was saying and how much of a dumb idea it was, he blurted out something.
"I think I love you."
Kalila jumped up, causing her pillow to fly of the bed with force and stared at her boyfriend. Alex almost slapped himself; he hadn't meant to just announce it like that. His left foot shook a little â a sure sign that he was nervous. He didn't know what her silence meant and he wasn't brave enough to ask so he just waited.
"You love me?" she finally asked after a couple of minutes or so although it felt like hours to him. He probably would never have admitted it to anyone but he was scared of her reaction. Alex had always known of her wary views of relationships and her fear of commitment. Just because she was happy being his girlfriend, doesn't mean she was okay with love confessions popping up out of nowhere.
She wasn't running away screaming like he'd expected when he had realised what he'd told her. Surely that was a good sign, right?
"I didn't mean to say it like that, I'm sorry. But well, yeah, I... I love you," he answered, almost wincing as he braced himself for her aversion.
Kalila was freaking out internally, nothing could have planned her for this. 'Oh my God, Shit, shit, shit,' she thought, still shocked at the turn of events. Although people in school tossed around 'I love you' like it was nothing she knew that just like her, he wasn't like that. He really meant it.
She had half a mind to run away from him in fear and never look back but something was stopping her. This was Alex. She knew him inside out, what was there to be scared of?
"Okay," she eventually said.
Alex smiled; her reply not have been much but he knew to Kalila it was a lot. That one word symbolised her acceptance of their relationship, of his feelings. She would say it back when she was ready. And she would mean it.
"Okay."