LOVE CAN BE COMPLEX

It was her favourite period of the year.

Petals dropped by as she passed by that morning, headed for the sculpture studio. Juniors greeted her as she passed, with some stopping to ask questions related to assignments.

Most of her classmates were working on their various pieces by the time she arrived.

"You're here?" Sol asked with her eyes fixed on her piece.

"Mmm." Tahti affirmed

"Where did you go? I was looking all over for you." April joined in the conversation.

"I went out to get a textbook." Tahti replied.

"Lucky you, I'm stuck to this piece...Fuck,I'm craving a smoke. Who wants to go with me?" April asked and everyone turned to their pieces, pretending to ignore her.

"Hey, Jennie." She poked

"Sorry, I just got back from having one." Jennie replied

"Sol?" She tried again

"Not interested." Sol replied.

April turned to Tahti with a pout.

"What do I do?...What if something happens to me when I'm smoking? My mom will forever blame herself for..."

Tahti slapped her hand on the table with a sigh.

"Fine, I'll go with you." She replied.

"You're a darling." April said, rising to her feet as coy smile playing on her face as they turned to head to the rooftop, a place where they had the right to do anything they wanted. It was the only place the professors would not go to.

April slipped out a cigarette and slid it into her mouth as they walked up the stairs looking down at her phone she kept swiping left- rejecting-different guys.

"Looking up for a guy to get hooked up with again?" Tahti asked.

"Of course." April replied nonchalantly

"What happened to the guy of last week?" Tahti asked a question she really didn't need an answer to.

April raised her head and took out the cigarette from her mouth.

"Last week's guy was last week's guy. You don't expect me to keep seeing him in a new week, do you?" She remarked and slid the stick back into her mouth.

"I just can't seem to understand you sometimes." Tahti said giving up.

Some guys were having a chat on the rooftop by the time they arrived, April chose to sit down on the bench while Tahti leaned on the stair wall.

"Darn, I hate guys who dye parts of their hair. I mean, they can just dye the whole thing instead of leaving out some parts. Gosh, they are so freaking ugly." Tahti commented looking at one of the guys they met at the rooftop.

"Not all of them are ugly." April blurted making her friend slowly turn before she dropped her eyes on her.

"Where" Tahti asked disgusted "Where did you see a good-looking guy with coloured hair?" She added.

"Just somewhere." April replied zoning off thinking of him

Tahti narrowed her eyes. "I don't believe you." She said and turned back to her phone before she squealed and sat up startled.

"What's it?" April asked concerned

"I just swiped left on a really hot guy." She swept her hair back as Tahti returned to where she had found comfort resting on the wall.

"And here I was, thinking it was something serious." Tahti said.

"What an ill luck...I'm craving alcohol today. Wanna come?" April asked taking her eyes off her phone for a quick glance at her friend.

"Thanks, but no thanks." Tahti replied, with eyes glued to the blue sky.

"Hey, there's a really good-looking junior who's been wanting to drink with you." April said, eyes now fixed on Tahti. "You can use this opportunity to get hooked up with...."

"I just got out of a relationship, April." Tahti popped in cutting the nonsense spilling out of April's mouth adding a death stare as a topping.

"Hey, I didn't mean that...I mean, we all know each other, so I just wanted to introduce you two." April defended hands up in mock surrender

Tahti clicked her tongue as she turned to look away. "My answer still remains a no." she said returning her gaze to the boring cloudless and bird-less sky view

"God, you're so boring. You're acting unlike yourself today." April frowned and drew in a short breath as she examined her.

"Why did you say that?" Tahti asked curious, she was not about to let anyone read her mood so openly. She needed to know what she was doing different from normal.

"I mean, you got rid of that jerk so you should move on. Don't you think?" April asked in a gentler more concerned voice.

Tahti didn't reply, instead she found great interest in a pair of birds that just appeared.

"Seriously? Ugh... you're a complete bore. My craving for a smoke has disappeared. I'm going down." April added as she turned to walk a couple of steps before she turned back to the spaced out Tahti.