The Girl With The Crimson Hair

Hey guys! the first semester of my second year at uni is over for the christmas holidays which means everything is handed in! This is a creative piece of writing i did for one of my classes Genre and Form. I really enjoyed writing this so i'd love it if you'd give it a read! xo

The early morning light pushed its way through the curtains as Eva woke from her peaceful slumber. Her eyelids fluttered open and she rolled over to check the time displayed on the watch that was on the cabinet beside her. It was 8:30am. Fuck, I was meant to be awake half an hour ago. Cade will be waiting for me. Goddamn Eva! Eva threw back her duvet and sprung to her feet, dashing into the bathroom where she carelessly shovelled a toothpaste-covered brush into her mouth, while simultaneously pulling off her pyjamas and pulling the shower cord on. I am going to be so late. Minutes later she re-appeared in a towel, hair dripping wet and pulling things out of her wardrobe trying to decide what to wear. Cade always likes it when I wear green. She picked out a dark green corduroy skirt and matched it with a black knit sweater. Easy but still stylish. Eva smiled and put on her chosen outfit in a hastily fashion. What am I going to do with my hair? I can’t leave it wet but I only have 20 minutes to meet him was what was currently circling around Eva’s brain. She settled with half drying it and shoving half up into a messy bun. She then quickly put on some mascara and a touch of lipstick, grabbed her bag, which she was literally throwing her essentials in to, zipped up her boots and slammed the door behind her.

She arrived at her and Cade’s arranged meeting spot, a small and quaint café in the heart of Brighton’s town centre, at 9:25am. Cade was sitting outside, sipping on his usual, and by the looks of it, his second medium cappuccino. He glanced upwards as Eva approached. “Hi Eva.” He said, giving her a smile and then a kiss on the cheek as she leaned in for a hug. “Hi hun, I’m so sorry I’m late. I must have been in a deep sleep and didn’t hear my alarm go off.” Eva meekly said. Why isn’t he more annoyed? This kind of thing always gets him riled up. He would usually tell me if something I’ve done has bothered him. “How’re you doing?” Cade took another sip of his coffee, and gazed gently at Eva. “I’m fine.. you?” she hesitantly asked back. Why is he being so strange? This is not like him at all. “Yeah, good.” Then after a short pause, he continued with “Well, no, actually. We need to talk.” Oh god, what does he want to talk about? Maybe he wants to break up, or he’s met somebody else, oh god oh god no. I hope I’m wrong. Cade cut off Eva’s panicked stream of thought and came straight out with “To cut a long story short.. I’ve met somebody. I’m so sorry Eva. I’d never intentionally want to hurt you, you know that, right? Right, Eva?” His voice started to quiver as he finished speaking, but he coughed quietly as to regain his composure. Eva stared blankly at his face, barely even blinking. Fuck. I wonder who she is. Tears began steadily falling from her eyelashes and caressing her cheeks, before dropping from her chin. They both sat there in silence for a while. “Eva, please say something.” Cade nervously asked. I can’t believe this is happening. This can’t be happening. “I don’t think there’s anything else to say, Cade. This is it. You’ve met someone else and there’s nothing I can do about that. I think I should go.” The strength in Eva’s words surprised her, although the very apparent tears were still streaming down her face as she got up from her chair. “Please don’t go like this Eva. Maybe we should talk about it. It isn’t anybody you know and it all happened so quickly, I...” Cade’s words trailed off as Eva started walking away and running her hands through her hair, trying to hold back the sob that was stuck in her throat. Cade got up too and quickened his pace in order to grab her arm. He lifted up her chin and tried to look her direct in the eyes, which was seemingly hard as she was trying her best to avoid him, squinting her eyes shut and biting down on her lip in order to suppress the sob, which was now almost at the point of escaping. Eventually, she wiped her eyes with her free hand and turned her head sideways to look at Cade. He begun “Eva, listen. I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry. I love you, I do, really, but I can’t deny that I have feelings for somebody else. I have to let you go, it’s the only fair thing to do. You’ll always be that girl that I met in the quiet section of the library, you know. When you accidentally knocked over a trolley full of books and everyone turned to look at you. I’ll always remember. You’ll always be that girl with the Crimson hair. My girl.” He told her. Lies. All lies. Eva gave a small laugh, but her facial expression quickly turned back into a frown and she pulled his hand away from her face, pushing him back slightly in the process. Cade looked hurt. I can’t believe he’s feeding me this bullshit. And why does he suddenly look so hurt? He isn’t the one who now has to go back to an empty flat and sit there in self-pity and go through every tiny detail in his mind to work out what it was that he did wrong. “Bye, Cade.” Were Eva’s final words and before Cade had a chance to reply, she began walking back home, her pacing irregular as she was stopping every now and then to catch her breath from the sobs that had now taken over.

Eva arrived back at her flat, dumped her bag on the floor and flopped onto her bed. My heart is breaking and he’s got himself some new woman. How is this fair??? She rolled over and checked the time on her phone; it was almost 10am. So I’ve got to get through the whole day feeling like this. Great. In an attempt to not have an emotional breakdown, Eva made herself a large mug of tea and decided to play a record while she kept herself busy doing the mundane and very boring chores around the flat. Is this really what my life has amounted to? Crying silently to myself while I do the housework? This is all like something from a movie; not my actual life. Ha. Eva gave out a small, melancholy laugh and continued to sort, tidy, hoover, clean and tidy some more until every task possible, was done.

A couple of hours had passed by now and Eva made the decision to head out. She was thinking of going to her favourite bookshop that has a bar situated right at the back, perfect for her to sit and wallow in her self-misery while she had a good book in one hand and a glass of wine in the other. It’s definitely not too early to start drinking, is it? Eva wondered. I mean, it’s a Friday and heck, I deserve this after the way Cade has treated me. Eva’s facial expression immediately turned into something that looked positively sour and unimpressed, as if the word ‘Cade’ had left an acid-like taste in her mouth. She slowly moved her hand upwards to touch her lips, shut her eyes and shook her head. I will not let this ruin me. I guess he isn’t who I thought he was, but that’s no reflection on you Eva. Remember that – and don’t let him think he has control over your emotions. He doesn’t. Not anymore.

Eva got her things together for a second time that day and made her way to the bookshop that was in one of Brighton’s Lanes. Once inside, she ordered herself a large glass of white wine and found herself a hefty copy of Alice in Wonderland to read. She found a little booth to herself, took a large sip of her Pino and got herself comfortable. This is exactly what I need. Ca- she begun, but quickly adjusted her words – that tosser isn’t worth my thoughts, let alone my tears. Just enjoy yourself Eva. And hey, you might end up meeting somebody else too.

An hour or so had passed and Eva was now on to her second glass of wine. People had been coming in and out of the bookshop all the while she was there, but there was one guy who had been sat at the other side of the room and every now and then she would catch him looking in her direction. I wonder what this guy is peering at. Is he looking at me? Is he trying to look for someone he’s meeting here? Eva couldn’t quite work it out. After another fifteen minutes had gone by of this mysterious man looking in her direction, Eva put her book down, stood up and walked towards the ladies bathroom; she wanted to see if he followed her so she’d have a little more indication as to what, or who exactly he was looking at this entire time. After five minutes had passed and she had fixed her hair and touched up her lipstick, she steadily opened the door and glazed her eyes across the room. She couldn’t see him anywhere. Maybe I’m just imagining things and he’s still sat in his seat. Maybe I’m just going crazy after what happened earlier today. She made her way back to her booth where to her complete and utter surprise, was the guy, casually just sat in her spot, with his book and a cup of coffee. Eva spoke, but her words weren’t coherent in the slightest. “Erm.. what.. what are you...”
“The name’s Theo. I noticed you kept looking over at my table, at me and my dashing looks, no doubt. Oh, don’t worry, I’m flattered. Really.” Theo spoke at her while not lifting his gaze from the book he had clasped in his hands. He nudged his glasses further up onto the bridge of his nose, and after a couple of seconds, gave Eva the satisfaction of his eye contact. Who IS this guy? Me looking at him? Is he seeing things? And now he’s sat at my table? Eva was completely speechless and her face didn’t move, not even an inch, as if it had been set in stone. This must have caught Theo’s attention because his face now became slightly worried-looking and he quickly spoke again “Hey, I’m only kidding. Are you alright? Truthfully, I saw you and thought you seemed… interesting. I can leave if you want...” Eva found her voice and piped up with “No, no it’s ok. Sorry, I’ve had a rough day. Stay. I guess some company would be nice.” Eva gestured for him to budge over and made herself comfortable again. “One thing though. You said I seemed interesting. Interesting how?” This time before he spoke, Theo bookmarked his page and placed it in his lap in order to give Eva his full attention. “Well” he begun “I saw you come in, you’ve got such fiery hair, I kinda couldn’t not notice that.” He gave her a smirk, then continued “and then I saw that you were reading Alice in Wonderland. Like I said, interesting.” Eva found herself not actually listening to what he was saying but watching the way that his lips were moving, examining his jawline, tracing with her eyes what his broad shoulders would look like without his shirt on. She snapped back into reality and felt an inner burn in her stomach and her face started to flush. She looked up at Theo, his eyes were twinkling and he gave her a Cheshire cat grin. “Getting lost in our thoughts, were we?”

That Girl Lola - the beginning.

Hey guys, long time no posts! I've been so negligent with my blog since uni started again but i have just finished and perfected the first chapter of the novel i have started writing called That Girl Lola. I've got such a long way to go and ultimately would love to work with a team of editors and publishers to get my work out there, but i am really happy with what i have written thus far. This is the style of writing i really enjoy and have a passion for, so i would love it if you could read it and give me feedback!  





Lola Kingston

Alec Montgomery

That Girl Lola

I was sat at the bar in Employees Only, sipping on a dry martini with extra olives. I gazed around to a group of drunken guys a few feet from me who were laughing and swiping shots from the black marble counter, they were definitely having a better time than I was, I thought to myself. I'd just had a huge fight with this guy Jay that i had been dating, had stormed off, come into the nearest bar and decided that it was absolutely not too early to start drinking myself. I let out a small sigh and waved in the direction of the barman, signalling that I wanted another of the same.

After a few more martinis and a shot of sambuca, I stumbled off my bar stool after getting one of my heels caught and in the process, dropped my purse and watched everything in it scatter across the floor. In a fluster i gathered everything up, and headed briskly for the doors. It was strangely humid outside, a November evening but instead felt like a summer’s night, and this made me feel not only queasy but I was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol I had just consumed. I suddenly began feeling somewhat dizzy and the cars that I could hear whizzing past, the blur of neon colours that I presumed were the traffic-lights and the smell of strong liquor struck me with so much force that I could feel myself about to faint, until someone's hand gripped my arm and pulled me back to the safety of the sidewalk. “Uh.. what? Who are you?” Was all I managed without feeling like i was going to hurl into this stranger's face.

“I'm Alec. We go to college together. I study Architecture. And you’re welcome, you really should be more careful next to these busy roads. You want me to get you a cab? You look like you need one, how much have you been drinking, huh?” I stared blankly at him for a few seconds, wondering if I really did look that wasted and wracking my brain trying to think how he knew me and I didn't know him. I settled with “don't worry about a cab, thanks, i’ll be fine.” I grinned at him, out-reached my arms and attempted to walk in a straight line back down the street, not so subtly trying to prove to him that I was sober enough to manage myself. Before I had even walked three meters I felt a pair of hands steering me to face the other way, it was Alec, he looked concerned but his mouth was twitching with another smile. “I think you should just let me get you a cab, you look really drunk.” He said and before I could answer him he was hailing one of the many yellow vehicles that were zooming past and was opening the door when one pulled up at the curb. I got in nervously laughing, not sure what else to say to him. I looked up at him standing next to the cab door, in his jet black jeans and navy marl sweater, his curly hair twitching gently in the slight breeze, and i remember noticing the way that his jaw looked, so prominent and dreamy. Also how different, he looked. The sort of different that draws you in even if there is no immediate attraction there, there’s just that something. And that something was enough for me. All thoughts of previous lover, and by this point certain i'd never go back there again Jay, had floated from my mind and i was happy about that. I shut the door and wound down the window so I could say what I had finally decided was an appropriate response to all of this. “Thanks. I'm Lola.” I gazed at him for a few seconds before we sped off down the highway, leaving him standing there on 510 Hudson St.

It was about eleven o'clock when i decided to head out; it was my birthday and me and my friends Nick and Toby had been into a few different bars before heading to Employees Only, which was our last chosen venue for the night. Nick ordered us all some shots and after about five each and a few final drinks, i noticed the time had crept on and it was now 3am. I decided that I had had enough for one evening, i was feeling pretty inebriated and didn’t want to over-do it like i had the previous year. I hugged and waved my friends bye but just as I was about to leave, I noticed Lola, a girl from my college, a girl that i had always had a huge and quite embarrassing crush on. She was 5”9 or so with long auburn hair, was wearing a black leather dress and was trying to remove herself from one of the bar stools in quite a humorous and not-very-successful fashion. Despite this, she still looked as amazing as ever.

Lola always looked good, though and she didn’t even have to try;it was so effortless. I never thought it possible to be in love with someone this much who didn’t even know who i was. Someone like me, or 'Brooklyn Boy' as I used to get called in school, could never be a worthy match for someone like Lola. She was a high-society, cocktail-drinking, gala-attending beautiful bombshell, living in one of the most wealthy parts of the West Side. Well me, on the other hand, not so much a socialite but quite the opposite, a verbal-diarrhea awkward guy whose favourite things to do on a weekend were listen to Jeff Buckley, go to art galleries or the movies to watch some black and white 1950’s film. What sort of chance would i ever get with a girl like Lola? Nevertheless, i hadn’t given up after 20 years to get her attention so why should i begin now?

After getting her boot heel caught on the bar stool and dropping her purse with all it’s contents on the floor, Lola managed to get up with near succession, looked around as she stumbled a little, and walked quite promptly out. I followed her out the doors when I saw her legs starting to give in as she was stood at the curb, presumably waiting for a cab. I ran a little and gripped her arm and pulled her back to the sidewalk, she looked dizzy and confused and a little bit flustered, but before I could say anything she came out with “uh.. what? who are you?” I instinctively felt a little offended but of course she didn’t know who i was. I was Alec and she was, well, her. "I'm Alec. We go to college together. I study Architecture. And you’re welcome, you really should be more careful next to these busy roads. You want me to get you a cab? You look like you need one, how much have you been drinking, huh?”

She stared at me with a dazed look on her face, I couldn't quite work out what she was thinking or if maybe she was just trying to concentrate on not being sick. After a couple of seconds though, she replied with “don't worry about a cab, thanks, i’ll be fine.” gave me an unexpected blinding smile, stretched her arms out and headed off down the sidewalk, turning her head backward, as if to convince me that she was totally okay to get herself safely home. Only, I noticed the size of the heels she was wearing, the way she was slightly swaying (though trying very obviously not to) and the fact she had come out completely by herself - I decided it would be totally discourteous and unacceptable of me to not help her get home in one piece. I walked over to her, steered her to face me and instructed that i’d get her a cab as she looked too drunk to get home without either hurting herself or perhaps falling into the wrong sort of company. I couldn’t help but smile as I was hailing her a car and without really giving her a chance to say anything, i had opened the door and was gesturing for her to climb in. She began nervously laughing, but got in and once she had shut the door, she wound down the window, sat there and just looked at me for a little while; i had real trouble trying to decipher what she was thinking. Damn, this girl is a mystery, i thought to myself. “Thanks. I’m Lola” was what i finally got in response. Before either of us could say anything else, the cab left seconds later. I stood in the same spot for a while, half watching the traffic whiz by, but mostly just thinking about how wonderful it had been to even get the chance to talk to this girl. That girl. I shut my eyes and smiled to myself. Oh Lola.

5 things I want to do this summer!

Hi guys, so as I've finished university for the summer i was thinking about all the spare time i'll have here in Falmouth and decided to write a post on 5 things i want to do this summer before i go back into second year! I hope you enjoy reading!

• Go skinny dipping. Yes, skinny dipping. I've never done it before and it just seems like a 'rights of passage' type thing. I live by lots of beaches and although the water is still pretty freezing, it seems like it would be a lot of fun and i think would also help me have more confidence about my body, it seems so liberating!

• House Shopping. I'm moving into my new house for the next year with four friends on July 1st, and so i want to really personalise it which gives me the perfect excuse to go shopping for fairy lights and cute cushions! 

• Start writing my novel. So i really want to write a novel and i've started brainstorming ideas over the past couple of months but i really want to crack on with it this summer. 

• Beach BBQ. it's crazy that i live right next to the beach and still haven't had a beach bbq! I definitely want to have at least one over the summer,i couldn't think of anything more perfect that me and my friends snuggled in blankets with music on and eating s'mores

• Walks. I usually am not a massive fan of walking, but Falmouth is such a beautiful place to live and there are so many different places to walk to and explore that i really want to explore some new places over the summer.

Ciao! xo

1st year of uni continued

Hi guys, following on from yesterday's post i thought i would share a couple more pieces of work i've done for uni over the past year. The creative writing aspect of this degree has been my favourite, writing short stories and creative/critical pieces of work. Again, it would be appreciated if you would have a read of them :) As i am in the beginnings of working on novel ideas, this style of writing, including my last blog post has been really helpful. Ciao!

|| The early morning sun pushed its way through the curtains as I woke up. Everything was hazy. My head was pounding and my jaw hurt. As I sat myself up, I could feel the veins under my eyes pulsing and I moved my fingers down to my mouth where I felt my new fangs. I couldn’t believe this was happening; but the most bizarre part of all this was the fact that I was craving it. I was craving blood. I glanced down to see the day ring that Claire had made me on my finger. It was a beautiful ring, an Amber antique with silver framing, I’d had it for years and it had been passed down from generations of the women in my family, only now when wearing it I was protecting myself from the sunlight. Freaky, I thought to myself. I didn’t want to admit it but it was true. I was a vampire. I got myself up and went in search of some sustenance in the form of a blood bag. Even the mere task of walking through my house felt different, everything felt different, I was different. Everything was heightened, I felt angry and confused and overwhelmed all at the same time but also happy and grateful that I had Simon to help me through it all. I walked into the basement and opened up the cooler where there was a stash of blood bags, picked one of the newest and headed back to the lounge. Simon was there waiting for me, he gave me a half smile and asked me how I was feeling. I told him I didn’t know, I didn’t want to be this way, living for eternity was not something I had ever thought about; I wanted to be able to make the normal life choices a girl my age does, I always wanted children, I wanted to live my life and die. But this wasn’t the case anymore. I sighed and sat on the edge of the leather chair I had woken from, Simon came over to me and kissed my forehead and told me everything was going to be ok. Weirdly, I believed him. ||

|| The empty showroom echoed as Stefan walked across the stage. “this is it, today’s the day” he murmured, his gaze in complete awe, his eyes twinkling as he scanned his environment. In just a few hours, his 24 piece collection of men and women’s Haute Couture clothes would be modelled down the notorious runway that had seen many a great designers in the past such as Ellie Saab, Zuhair Murad and Vera Wang and would be soon exhibited in front of hundreds of people he’d never met before. He felt as though he was baring his soul, he had worked so tirelessly for this very day and in such a short space of time so many mental opinions would have been made and even maybe a few said to his face. He could feel a lump begin to set in his throat and his palms became damp with sweat. He’d never experienced nerves like this, not when he had his first crush and didn’t have the courage to ask the girl out, not when he travelled all the way to Ireland from America by himself, not even when he sat in the library in his third year of university with a million and one things to do, falling asleep into his constantly refilled  coffee cup, with the knowledge that everything in that moment would mean one of two things; he’d come out with a first class degree, or everything he’d worked so earnestly for would have been for nothing. But this was something else. It wasn’t just nerves that were riling up inside him; he had a sense of pride and accomplishment – which somehow was so overwhelming. And at the mere age of twenty-four, he’d finally achieved his first of many life goals, creating something to express how he felt towards the world, towards culture, something that hopefully would stamp his mark on the universe in some, maybe mediocre or maybe miraculous way, but in a way nevertheless.

“Stefan!” a shriek resonated in the quaintness of the room. It was Anna. Ex-girlfriend Anna. The Anna who broke up with Stefan days before his flight back to America six months ago and who decided the relationship wasn’t working because he was too career focused and was not paying attention to the other important things in his life, i.e, her.
“What are you doing here Anna” he quizzed her, and looked at her seriously for a few moments before turning and walking in the opposite direction. “You know, you really should have called if you were going to show up here, unannounced. That was very interrupting of you. Can’t you see I’m all very busy here?” He called back sarcastically as he continued striding through the rows of chairs, hand brushing across the tops of them delicately.
“Look, Stefan, I know but I really need to talk to you.”
“Well Anna now isn’t a good time, the show starts in a few hours, MY show and as you are aware I didn’t invite you here – not that it matters. Clearly.” He twisted his head to face the other side of the room, locking eye contact with her.

She wondered how he did it. How did he always manage to make her heart race and cause the back of her neck to burn so red, so quickly? No matter what he would say, somehow she would always see a glimpse of a stupid grin hidden behind his very mysterious and concerned looking expression. It was knowing of this grin – this other side to him that built up the excitement in her. Stefan always was exciting. Almost somewhat like Mr. Christian Gray. Calculating, reserved, but a very put together man. “I know I can make it up to you. I always could. Aren’t I right, Stef?” Anna said tentatively. Running a few feet towards him she continued “I’ve done some shitty things okay fine I get it but so has everyone, that doesn’t mean we’re shitty people. You’re sure as hell acting like it though.”

“You’re right, you always could make it up to me, and I always could do this.”
He marched towards her with such a certainty and without even thinking picked her up, hoisted up her legs around his muscular waist, and kissed her so passionately that it made him slightly dizzy. Not letting that affect him, they stumbled to a back room where he gently lowered her down and turned her so her back was against a wall. He gripped his hand at the nape of her neck and began kissing along her so perfectly defined collar bones, using his other hand to tug at her bra strap. ||

1st year of uni!

So i've just finished my first year at University and although not getting what i would have hoped in all my modules, i am happy with the 2:1 and 2:2 i got, and overall i think i have still passed - silver linings, i guess. This was one of the pieces i wrote for the module Creative Writing Strategies, a short story about a girl called Aly - based on the theme of colour and light in relation to the book Light by Eva Figes. It would be awesome if you could read it and tell me you think! I'm personally really happy with it, this is the sort of writing i really enjoy. :)

|| The sun rose against the raindrop smeared window panes of Aly’s room. The light was a mere yellow at this point, like the colour of lemon sherbet. It had been raining all night, Aly couldn’t sleep so had stayed awake, hunched over her laptop researching the best art universities in the country. She rubbed her eyes and peered at the alarm on her 1950’s-style dresser. It was 6:15am. Time for another cup of coffee, she thought to herself. She closed her laptop screen and made her way in to the kitchen, clicking the switch on the kettle for what must have been the 5^th time that morning. She stared wistfully out of the window while she waited for the water to boil. The colour of the sky had changed now and was becoming a cornflower blue with hints of lilac still fading as the sun rose. The clouds were a pure white and were dotted about as if an artist had flicked their water-coloured paintbrush on to a canvas. Art was the only thing that made sense to Aly, colour and shape and light; art was her escapism. The kettle had finished boiling and made a beeping sound making Aly jump a little where she stood, she’d been in her own bubble looking out at the morning’s sky. Aly poured the steaming water in to her favourite coffee cup and swirled it around with the tip of a teaspoon. Even something as mundane as the froth contrasting with the almond colour of her hot beverage sparked something magical in Aly’s mind; colour seemed to jump out at her – even if sometimes there wasn’t really any there.

She wandered back in to her room cupping her mug of coffee like it was her baby. Sitting on her windowsill and carefully placing her drink down next to her, she got out her diary and started writing todays date. Most of what Aly wrote in her diary wasn’t the typical thing you’d expect, she would take it with her everywhere and scribble down anything and everything. She’d write about her favourite artists and what their work made her feel, or she’d pretend she was an art critic and write her own reviews. Her previous entry had been about some work of Claude Monet’s. She thought to herself, just like her diary which had mad scribblings and random words here and there, she always had to write the date without fail. Monet’s work which was beautifully blended and wasn’t the most structured of paintings, still had form and the compositions were always attentively thought out. That was what Aly loved about his work, it had suggestion of painting free and without too much study but at the same time had SO much of it that it made his work speak to her in a way that caught her attention more than when people were actually speaking to her.

Without realising she had been sat writing for nearly two hours, it was now 8:30am and Aly was rushing trying to find everything she needed for college, arms flailing about with paintbrushes in both hands, her phone between her teeth and one shoe still not properly on her foot. She shouted bye to her mum and sprinted to catch the bus which should have already set off four minutes ago, luckily it was still there. The bus driver sighed as she smiled meekly at him and swiped her bus pass across the scanner and sat down, still panting for breath. She gathered herself and started tying up her patent purple doc marten that she had failed to do up as she dashed from her front door. Being an art student, it was rare that anything Aly owned didn’t have a splodge of paint on here and there, even when wearing an apron she managed to get oils in places she didn’t think was even possible. There was a slick of yellow acrylic still slightly sticky on her shoe laces from yesterday, she noticed, as she did them up in a bow. Everyone always thought that Aly was a little wacky, dress-sense and personality, but Aly’s mentality was that if there wasn’t colour in the world then there would simply be no beauty. Hence why she always wore colourful clothes and dyed her hair twice a month, she insisted that this way of living helped her with her work, “how can we find the light in someone’s art if they live in black and white?” she would always say, it was basically her mantra.

The bus pulled up at college and Aly jumped off, speed-walking inside. It was 8;59am and Aly only just made it up the stairs to her art class. She shoved her stuff in the back computer room and pulled her ‘personalised’ apron out, as Aly liked to call it, though she was probably in need of a new one as the amount of paint on it made it almost a piece of art in itself. She got herself set up with an Easel and the canvas she had been working on, a piece inspired by Monet. He was her idol, her role model; she basically thought he was an angel. Since she had discovered that art was her forte and life passion, Monet had been her favourite artist. His work mesmerised her, it was pure beauty and had something so subtle and ‘light’ about it that no other artist could achieve. The pieces she was focusing on were the ones of water lilies and Monet’s own garden landscapes. She sat at her desk, which was by the room’s windows, eyes focused on the canvas in front of her. It was appearing to be a lovely sunny day and the light glared straight on to her work, making the soft and mellow colours pop. The creamy mint greens, muted violet, shell pink and the bright but not too bright turquoise surrounded by a dark and dirty looking olive shade, blended together, created such a luminosity that it made Aly start smiling absentmindedly. After a couple of minutes of admiring what she had started, she took out her paint kit and got to work.

She studied the picture that was clipped up on her easel and started swirling together the colours in her palette. There was a range of brushes on her lap, opting for a very fine one she proceeded to gently stroke the canvas’s surface. A bit of blue, a slight of yellow, a tinge of pink – every stroke mattered. Aly was seated next to her favourite spot in the room for two hours as she painted, painted and painted. Blinking, she swivelled her head around to see that everyone else in the class had already left while she was still sat there, although now with an almost finished piece of work. ||