Undesirable Lady

New Game and Paintings

The pair opened the door to the school roof. Both of them were panting in after climbing up three flights of stairs. After a few seconds to catch her breath, Lianne began to fix the few stray strands of her hair from running. She was always the more athletic one of the pair for having participated in numerous physical activities such as badminton ballet, and competitive running. Beside her, Aria leaned against the nearby light colored walls of the building while panting heavily. Lianne grabbed a bottle of water from her lunch bag and gave it to Aria as she let out a sigh. The other girl then grabbed the bottle of water graciously and took a little more time to calm down her racing heart. She drank from the bottle of water then let out a breath of relief.

"Aria, you should probably take more time to exercise. No offense but you always end up breathing like a exhausted and dehydrated dog after running. I'm just worried," Lianne expressed her concerns as she took a seat on their usual spot near the metal fences on the roof.

"It's probably just my genetics at this point," Aria replied and took a seat next to Lianne.

"Is it really though?" inquired Lianne as she grabbed the lunch that she had prepared in her lunch bag.

"Not all of us are excel at every single category," Aria. replied.

"Says the most artistic person that I know in this school. I am very much honored to sneak a glance at your marvelous works," Lianne teased back as she let out a small giggle.

"I'm not that good at that Lianne. Also, I pretty much stopped painting ages ago," Aria told her with a sad smile as she reached out for the bread she bought the previous day on the way to the school dorms.

The truth is Aria just lost all her motivation to strive in her endeavors, especially when it comes to painting. Back then, teachers would commend her skills in both academics and arts. Many from her past school would refer to her as "the best artist" of their year. She would often participate and win in different art contests during her early years, which contributed to her high reputation with people in her year. Despite winning in various art competitions in her early years, her parents did not recognize her talents and efforts in the field of artistry. They would often ignore her and prefer to keep to themselves and their own work. At awarding ceremonies, her parents were nowhere to be seen in the designated venue, which led to her own teachers accompanying her on the way to the center stage where she would be given different medals for her great achievements. There was once a time when teachers would contact her parents to attend their daughter's awarding ceremonies. However, they soon stopped after a while because of their invitations and encouragements being declined continuously by her parents, who would often say that they were "busy" or "unavailable" during those hours.

As they were eating in silence, Aria suddenly remembered her previous art teacher from her last school, Miss Ophelia Delancey. Her previous teacher had been the closest mother figure that she could get aside from her own mother. She would often give Aria loving smiles and proud eyes whenever she had finished a new artwork. Miss Ophelia would often accompany Aria to different school events for companionship and moral support. Out of all her teachers, she was the only one who never gave up until the very end. Aria could still remember her teacher's petite figure and easily recognizable red hair reflecting the sunlight as she gazes through the school windows. She found the color of her teacher's hair fitting with its owner's personality. It resembled an undying bright red fire that had warmed her the most in her whole life. Aria had always possessed a strong connection with Miss Ophelia until the day that she learned that her mother had enrolled her to another school after her father left abroad.

FLASHBACK (Two Years Ago)

Heavy footsteps could be heard in the halls of Solis Flare Academy. Aria had stormed into an empty art room in the late afternoon with tears flowing down her face. At this time around, only a few people stayed around the school, as it was the last day of school. Most of the students were out with their friends at malls. No soul was able to see her on the verge of fully breaking down in the hallways. The door slammed behind her as she fell down to her knees while slightly shaking. The girl could still be seen wearing her all white school uniform consisting of a long sleeved, sailor collared blouse and pleated skirt. Words from the previous conversation that she had with her mother echoed through her mind repeatedly, as she began to subconsciously cover her ears and grab fistfuls of her jet black her harshly. Her small, petite frame lay pathetically near the thin wooden door of her previous school's art room.

"You're transferring schools next academic year."

"We're putting you in a dorm near the school. We can't come home as often anymore."

"Just throw these paintings away."

"Why do you keep painting? You're only producing trash around here."

"Don't you dare talk back!"

"Getting married to your father was the biggest mistake of my life."

"You're walking away from me now too?"

"I'm throwing everything away before you can come back!"

"You're such a headache."

These words from her mother fueled the girl's racing heart and inability to breath. As the time passed with her hyperventilating on the floor, she began to feel dizzy and her body was starting to be drenched in sweat. On the corner of her eye, she saw one of her previous artworks from a school event. It was of a woman cradling a small baby in her arms surrounded by nature's beauty. The painting's name was The Youthful Madonna. Its bright color palette reflected on the sunlight streaming from the open window of the room. Despite its ethereal appearance, Aria glared at the piece with disdain. In her mind, it was now a reality that would never happen. The painting only served to mock her further in her self-pity and rage towards everything that remotely reminded her of a feeling that she can never have.

After she managed to slightly calm down from her panic attack, Aria stumbled upon getting up and walked towards the painting slowly as if she was stuck in a daze. She stared at her recent work, The Youthful Madonna, and glared at it with contempt and frustration. Before tears started to well up on her eyes again, she grabbed a small bucket of black poster above the wooden cabinets beside her recent paintings near the window. She shook and let out a loud shriek before splashing the small bucket of black paint on The Youthful Madonna. After the said painting had been covered with the black paint, she let out a slightly manic laughter with tears running down her dark colored eyes. Her previously white colored uniform were tainted with a few blotches of the black poster paint. Aria kicked down the painting from its stand making a loud noise slightly echoing throughout the art room. She gazed upon her other paintings and raised her arm carrying another small bucket of black paint. Just as she was about to splash the ink black paint, a hand stopped her from doing further damage to her own works.

"Aria, come here. Tell me what's wrong," a gentle voice stopped her from her current musings.

"Mi-miss Ophelia?" Aria inquired hesitantly and dropped the bucket of paint on the floor.

"Yes dear. I'm here. It's just me," consoled Miss Ophelia as she began to slightly loosen her grip from the young teen's arm and rub circles on her student's back in an attempt to calm her down.

Aria turned around and placed her head on her teacher's chest, as she cried silently. Miss Ophelia led her student to the nearest set of chairs in the art room and whispered comforting words at her. She placed her thick black drawing book on her lap after taking a seat on the wooden chairs. The pair sat in the art room for what felt like hours, until Aria had calmed enough to tell her teacher of the events that had led to her breakdown in the school's art room.

"You'll always have me, my child," Miss Ophelia muttered.

"I finally have my closure now at least. My father practically disregards our existence. My mom is the only one who have really given me attention between them. Although, she did call my artworks trash," Aria stated as she buried her head onto her teacher's shoulders.

"Those aren't how parents are supposed to be honey," the teacher said.

"Well, my parents obviously don't follow that "standard." Were my artworks really that bad though? They said a person's artworks reflects who they are," Aria paused for a bit and let out a painful smile, "she practically just called me trash," she continued and let out a mournful chuckle.

"They are blinded. In my eyes, you're always a treasure. You are a very bright child, Aria. Never forget that," Miss Ophelia said earnestly. Her eyes held nothing but fierce protectiveness over the teen.

The pair stayed in the art room, until the sky turned slightly dark. Miss Ophelia turned to look at the clock and gasped. It was already 6:00 PM. It could be dangerous, if they were both to stay inside for a longer time. The teacher opened the drawing book from her lap and grabbed a pen inside the pocket of her long grey skirt. Aria straightened up her posture, as her teacher started to write something.

"Where would you be studying next?" Miss Ophelia questioned the child.

"Saint Joseph High. It's in another city." Aria replied while watching her teacher tear a small piece of paper from her drawing book.

"Call me when you need something. I would try my best to help. Don't misplace it, okay?" Miss Ophelia said as she opened the palm of Aria's right hand and placed the piece of paper containing her number.

"Thank you, Miss Ophelia," Aria smiled happily with a few tears coming out from her eyes.

"It's getting late. Could I walk you at your street at least?" the teacher inquired and stretched her slightly sore muscles from sitting for quite some time.

"Okay," Aria took up her teacher's offer and gazed on her paintings for possibly the last time.

The pair stood up at the same time and made their journey towards Aria's neighborhood. On their way, they saw a few people from Solis Flare Academy, who greeted them. The walk was an uneventful affair. They both shared the comfortable silence surrounding them. As they began to walk near their destination, a scent of something burning filled the air. The pair stopped walking a few houses away from Aria's house.

"Would you be alright here?" questioned Miss Ophelia.

"Yes ma'am. It's not too far from my house," Aria replied.

"Alright, stay safe dear. I'm going to try and catch the next train. Cover your nose if the smell bothers you," said Miss Ophelia, which sounded like a doting mother to Aria's ears.

"Thank you teacher," Aria smiled gratefully and hugged her teacher.

They bid their farewells, before going their separate ways. As Aria reached the front gate to her house, a sense of dread crept up to her. She hesitantly opened the gates and the next thing she saw made her let out a shocked gasp. Her paintings could be seen burning in a small pile near the garbage bins in their front yard. The black haired girl quickly made her way into to the burning pile and let out a painful cry. The image of the fire burned its way into her memory forever. From that day forward, the light in Aria's eyes became jaded by her memories.

END FLASHBACK

"Aria! Aria! You still there? Aria!"

A loud voice startled Aria out of her reverie. She did not mean to get carried away by the memories of her past. She blinked slowly while forcefully pulling herself out of her trance to pay attention to what her friend was telling her. Lianne huffed in annoyance when she saw Aria blinking owlishly.

"You really are hopeless when it comes to conversations sometimes," Lianne sighed.

"Sorry... What were you saying again?" Aria looked down apologetically after needlessly ignoring her friend for possibly the past fifteen minutes.

"Oh god, I would have to explain it all over again," Lianne muttered to herself. Her words did not went unnoticed by Aria, who was sitting beside her.

"Sorry for that," mumbled Aria.

"It's fine. Anyways, I wanted to show you a new game!" Lianne reached out for her phone inside her skirt pocket. "It's a dating simulator," she continued.

"Not interested," the words bluntly came out of Aria's mouth before Lianne could even unlock her phone.

"Aria! It's really, really good. I promise. You're going to love it!" Lianne exclaimed while finding the application in her phone.

"You do remember that I'm not very into romance, right?" Aria raised an eyebrow at her friend, wondering if the girl beside her had somehow hit her head somewhere.

"Yep," replied Lianne.

"Then why would you even recommend it?" Aria could only look bewildered at Lianne's strange game recommendation.

"It's not just romance! There are other themes that I think suits your taste. I think you're going to love the story," defended Lianne.

"Fine... I'll try it for a bit but I won't hesitate to delete that game if it's bad," Aria finally relented with a sigh at her friend's strange antics.

"Yes! The game is called Lover Threads. Open your phone. I'm sending the link," demanded Lianne.

Aria's phone let out a soft pop, which indicated that Lianne had already sent the link to the game. She unlocked her phone and clicked the link which had immediately redirected her to a download page. The game seemed new but strange. She have never heard of this game in her life until now. The girl decided to do a quick search of Lover Threads before installing it.

"This does not look slightly sketchy at all," remarked Aria. There were very little information about the game, aside from the website containing the download page.

"Hush, I already played it and nothing bad happened," reassured Lianne.

"If you say so..." Aria sighed and finally relented to her friend's demands of installing the game.

"Install it here right now. I need to make sure." Lianne pressured her further to install the game.

"Okay, okay. I'm already installing it. Sheesh." Aria tapped the download option on her phone. A sense of foreboding filled her to which she just ignored.

"See, that wasn't so bad," remarked Lianne.

"I literally just installed it," stated Aria.

"It will be fine. I want you to experience what I have in that game. Now eat! I made a little bit too much food today. You always eat some kind of bread that you see on your way to the dorms." Lianne reassured Aria for the last time with a smile.

"Thanks," Aria accepted the offer with a smile and reached out for the food inside Lianne's lunch bag. There were several food options, which include a container of different kinds of sushi, biscuits, and pickled vegetables.

"Seriously, what would you do without me? You're eating habits are so bad." Lianne huffed.

The pair continued to eat in silence on the school roof. After lunch, the day continued on as usual. The same whispers from faceless students would always follow her. Aside from those, there were no significant affair that happened throughout the remaining time at school.