Double Life: Families

Nichole stayed in the art building; for half of the morning she painted a new picture. She grabbed her drawing pencils from the stand and started drawing a line that quickly became a shape that became a silhouette and then it became a boy laying on the edge of a fountain, his hand covering his forehead. Nichole draw a grin in his face, it was the boy she´d seen in her nightmare. She didn´t apply any color, it was only the dark lines of different pencils and the white background of the paper. When she finished, she stepped back and stared at it for a moment, she was still shocked at her dream, she´d been so tormented when she thought he´d been dead by her hands and when she saw him she´d been so relieved that she´d forgotten her usual behavior and she didn´t know what to do or what to be.

“What am I going to be admiring today, Nichole?” A man entering the classroom asked.

 “Hey, Mike! Just drawing a little” she answered

“Aren´t you supposed to be in classes?” the art teacher asked. She almost rolled her eyes.

“Family Day”

“Your other paintings are being displayed there; you should go and see them”

“I don´t need to see them, I know them, already”

“Be careful, Nichole, you are still talking to a teacher”

“I´m sorry” she lowered her head slightly.

“Can I show this new one?”  The teacher asked permission. She knitted her eyebrows “It´s really good” he complimented.

“No, don´t show it Mike” she said, the teacher tried to convince her but it was in vain.

“I really wish you´d let me show this one” the man surrendered. He was a very sensitive man, since she had joined the club he´d let her paint or draw at any time she wanted even if she was skipping classes, he thought she had talent and that´s something you don´t learn, he´d told her. After he´d taught her the basics she’d started to get in the classroom when it was empty to draw or paint alone and the next time she got in again to continue he´d left post-it notes with suggestions or comments on the work in progress, they didn´t really talk much they only communicated through art.

“You should go so that the parents can see who the author of these art is, it gets praises every year” he smiled

“Right, like when it got accidentally thrown to the ground and accidentally stepped on” she made air quotation marks at the word accidentally. Her teacher shook his head.

“Art makes people react… And you know the guilty ones got punished”

“And now I´m the one that make them react”

“Nichole” he said in a warning voice. She sighed

“Ok, sorry. I´ll calm down now”

“Just think about it, I know you´d like to hear the praises your work gets” he smiled and she frowned, he shook his head again and left the room with the paintings.

On her way out of the art building Nichole´s stomach grumbled. She didn´t want to go to the cafeteria but it was unavoidable, being Family Day everybody was more aware of the students specially the missing ones. She glanced towards the trees in the direction that she usually took to go out. She could´ve gone out to town for lunch but she was sure that someone must had already called to the dorm asking for her.

When she entered the cafeteria there was already a line with parents and their children. Nichole had gotten a pass from the school´s nurse. She´d gone and had told the lady she felt bad, she´d been asked if she´d eaten.  Nichole had answered that she hadn´t eaten since lunch of the prior day due to a fake –word that she said only to herself- stomachache that hadn´t allow her to go to class that morning.

“You should´ve come here earlier” the woman said “have you felt any other thing?”

“No, I think breakfast made me sick… ”

“And kept you awake” the nurse asked pointing the dark rings under Nichole´s eyes.

“Yeah” the girl said looking away.

“Just go eat something light” The nurse said writing a note to her homeroom teacher to excuse her from going to classes for the whole day, then she handed her a few pills in case the stomachache persisted.

Seeing the line in the cafeteria and all the people around, she was tempted to go back to her room but it was no tempting to only eat a cookie or some candy bar, so against her own desires she went to the end of the line, behind some woman, her hands in her pockets.

“Can you let me pass, please” someone said behind her after a while. She sighed. “Please. Mom” the girl called and the woman in front of Nichole turned around.

“Michi, come here, you took a long time” she said in a disapproving tone

“I´m going to pass” the girl said sounding bashful for her mother´s words.

Nichole moved to a side and when Michelle saw her all the bashfulness and prior politeness changed into a snide smirk.

“Mom, this is Nichole, a classmate –she passed next to Nichole- I won´t be introducing you to her parents since they never come” she finished with a fake polite tone.  Nichole smiled a little to Michelle´s mother who only glanced at her.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Basagoitia”

“You too” the woman said as she prompted her smirking daughter to come next to her, they both turned around.

A few other people got behind her, the voices chatted happily everywhere. Was it real? Nichole wondered. For a moment she felt tempted to imagine how it would be to have a family to come to see what she did and where she did it, someone to go to the art exhibition where her paintings were displayed year after year, where she´d stopped going a few years ago. But she stopped herself; it would be bad to start longing things that she knew she would never have. She was guilty of that so maybe, she thought, no, most certainly I deserve not having anyone. Nichole sighed quietly as the line advanced. A moment later Nic heard familiar voices behind her and she winced inwardly.

“Nic!” a boy and his mirror said; each voice had a different sentiment.

“Aaron, Josh” Nic nodded noticing the two adults behind the twins; they were the ones that had gotten there alone, with no kids up to that moment where their children had appear. Nichole felt like sighing again.

“Nic, these are Maggie and Alexander, our parents” Aaron smiled.

“Nice to meet you, Mrs. And Mr. Arlington” she noticed the boys were very similar to their father but their eyes and nose were from their mother, the same forest-green eyes.

“Mom, Dad, she´s Nichole” One of the twins said. Nichole smiled, clenching her fists inside the pockets of her sweater; she was still wearing it since she left her room very early in the morning.

“Hello Nichole” said Maggie smiling.

“Nice to meet you” Alexander said with a pleasant voice. Nichole noticed the boy´s voice was a younger version of their father´s voice.

Michelle turned her head a little and then turned around completely.

“Aaron, Josh. Hi!” she said happily “Mom –she called- these are my friends Josh and Aaron. This is my mom, Miranda”

“Nice to meet you, boys” Miranda said.

“You too –said the twins- these are our parents Maggie and Alexander”

Michelle´s mom greeted them first quickly, it was her turn to order her food, then Michelle was introduced.

“Josh, Aaron, let´s eat together” Michelle said when her mom was paying and Nichole was ordering her food. Both boys immediately looked at Nichole, she noticed it but she kept ordering her food.

“Let´s all eat together” Michelle´s mother prompted as she stepped away with her daughter to let Nichole pay.

“You´re sitting with us, right” Aaron asked Nichole, Josh´s eyes focused on her. She wanted nothing more than to be away from Michelle but she knew she had no choice, it´d be rude to say no, if it was only the twins she´d probably just walk away but there were the parents too, so she smiled her studied smile.

“Sure” she said as she waited a few steps away from Michelle.