“When you fully focus your mind, you make others attracted to you.” ― Toba Beta


Lucy's POV


Wednesday


My hands grew clammy, and my breathing became erratic as more students piled into the classroom, sitting in front of their canvases. Harry dropped me off an hour early so I had enough time to rearrange the chairs and set up the materials, but it was hard to focus on anything else when my mind was such a dysfunctional mess.


How the bloody hell am I going to teach these Cambridge students something they don't already know?


I asked myself as I powered my Mac Book Pro and attached the USB cord to the projector. I created a mini-PowerPoint presentation to start off today's class on contrast and hue. It only contained a few slides of some of my favorite artists, each one known for their unconventional painting skills. Once the computer fully loaded, I typed in my password and opened the presentation. By then all the students were seated and facing me. I had their undivided attention, or so I thought.

“Alright, guys. Great to see you this morning. In case you didn't know, Mr. Rivera won't be here today and–”

“Wait a second. I have a question. If the teacher is not here, why should I be?” One of the students interrupted me to ask.

“I was getting to that,” I sighed. “Even though Mr. Rivera won't be present, he asked me if I could teach a mini-lesson on contrast and hue, so that's exactly what I'm gonna do,” I replied, pointing to the first slide.

It literally said: 'Mr. Rivera won't be here today, but we are going to learn about contrast and hue.'

I waited a few seconds before saying, “Anymore questions? No? I didn't think so. Can someone tell me who is this man on the screen?” I asked the crowd whilst changing the slide.

The portrait of Michelangelo took up most of the frame, so there was only a little bit of room for his biography. Listed beside his picture were the titles of some of his most famous works of art: Sistine Chapel ceiling, The Last Judgement, and The Entombment along with a blank space left for his name.

“C'mon, people. This is an easy one,” I huffed, crossing my arms.

Either everyone here was really uneducated on art history or too lazy to answer. I refused to believe the first option. Just when I was about to reveal the answer myself, a brave soul slowly raised his hand into the air.

“Is that Michelangelo?” The voice sounded unsure, but his gray eyes showed no doubt. A small smile tugged at the corner of my lips.

“You're right.” I flicked to the next slide which revealed the artist's name. "But that one was too easy. Who knows the name of this painter?"

I pressed the spacebar and a picture of Vincent Van Gogh appeared. His most famous works were the following: The Starry Night, Irises, and The Potato Eaters. Connor raised his hand again, wearing a smug grin.

“That's Vincent Van Gogh,” He said without a drop of uncertainty.

“Darn. I knew The Starry Night would give me away,” I pretended to pout while changing the slide.

“I think the bandage on his ear did that for you,” Connor pointed to the picture, and everyone started laughing, including me.

It was an amateur mistake on my part.

“Okay settle down guys. As you know, your art project is due in the first week of September, and August is coming to an end. Today we're gonna do a little workshop that may help some of you with said project.” I glanced around the room and saw students nodding along to my words, giving me the confidence I needed to continue. “I want you all to pick something in this room to paint. Choose anything you can make stand out with saturated colors. I know it's easier said than done, but I have faith you guys will come up with excellent paintings,” I told them before removing the USB cord and turning off the projector.

“And what happens if we–uh decide not to do this little activity of yours?” A red-headed girl in the front row asked me before giggling along with her friend.

“Well, let's be clear about one thing. This is a productivity assignment and, if you don't do it, that's an F for participation,” I warned them harshly. “Productivity is worth 30% of your final grade, and I'd hate to see you girls go from Bs to Cs, so do it. You have the rest of class to finish.” The mixed reactions to my response were voiced in quiet murmurs, but I tried to pay them no mind as I shut down my laptop and carried it back to Mr. Rivera's desk where I sat comfortably for most of the period.

---

Harry: When should I pick you up? sent at 10:47 am

To Harry: I can just take the bus Harry, you don't have to come and get me. sent at 10:49 am

Harry: I know, but don't you want me to? sent at 10:51 am


His reply withdrew a sigh from my mouth.


I don't think there are any girls who could resist the charm of Harry Styles and, if there are, I'm certainly not one of them.


I bit my lip to hide a growing smile before texting him back.


To Harry: 11:30 am and don't be late ;) sent at 10:53 am

Harry: I'm never late. See you soon, love. Xx sent at 10:54 am

There was no stopping the grin from spreading to each corner of my mouth. Words couldn't describe how happy Harry has made me these past few days. When I spent time with him, all my worries seemed to fade away as I engulfed myself into his world of photography. I finally got to see some of those pictures he talked about showing me the time we went to Belleclaires. He let me see the photograph of him with Elton John, and the memory made my cheeks flush; it was the second time that day he gave me a hickey. I could've spent hours thinking about that man but, of course, there had to be interruptions.

“Ehem.” The sound of a man coughing into the bend of his arm led me to look up and meet a pair of gray eyes staring down at me. “Can I talk to you for a sec? It's important,” Connor's voice turned into a whisper at the end of his sentence.

“Sure. Do you need help with your painting or something?” I questioned, putting my phone away in my pocket.

“No–uh, actually I wanted to talk to you about Friday. You guys left without eating your food, and I wanted to know what happened to you,” He told me while pulling up a chair and sitting across from me.

“Well, you do have my number. So you could've just texted or called. Or are you gonna tell me those were the wrong digits too?” The tone of my voice had gained a slight edge to it but only because I wasn't ready to have this conversation right now.

“Is this your way of telling me you're upset that I didn't call you?” He furrowed his eyebrows, grinning at me widely.

“Pfft. No,” I scoffed. I wasn't mad about that, was I? “If you really must know what happened, I'll tell you. My friends and I got into an argument and, before things got ugly, we left. It's as simple as that.”

“Why do I get the feeling that there's more to the story?” he asked.

“Well, I’m telling you there isn’t.” I rolled my eyes. “Anyway, did you finish your painting?”

“Nope,” He said, popping the ‘p.’

“Then I suggest you go back to your seat and get to work,” I told him while opening my sketchbook. Connor sighed, but nonetheless complied to my request.

In his absence I found that I was finally able to focus on finishing the sketch of a lily I had started drawing on my way home from work yesterday.



(A/N: credit goes to the person with the signature at the bottom left hand corner)

An alarm that I set to go off at 11:20 am vibrated violently in the back pocket of my blue jeans, signaling class was over. I closed my sketchbook and took out my phone to dismiss the alarm before walking to the center of the room again.

“Okay guys. Class is over which means you need to set your paintings on the rack assigned to you for it to dry and put away the materials you used. I’m really excited to see the work you all have done. Have a nice afternoon.” I smiled as I went back to my desk. I packed up my own things and waited for the rest of the students to clear out of the room, so I could check to make sure everything was left the way I found it.

I was in the process of locking the door to room 503 when I felt my phone buzz in my back pocket. After withdrawing the key from the hole, I pulled my phone out and inspected the device closely as a text message opened up on my screen.

Unknown Number: You make yourself look even more attractive when you focus your mind on a completing a drawing. sent at 11:27 am

There wasn't enough time in the world to process the words displayed across my screen because almost immediately after I received the text message, I had an incoming call from Harry. I clicked the ‘answer the call’ button and brought the phone up to my ear before letting my curly haired guy know I was on my way.

I guess the IM would have to wait.

Notes

So I was gonna wait until Friday to update, but Kaleigh's comment convinced me to do it today. This one's for you girl, I hope you enjoy.

Please comment your thoughts below! I love reading your comments, and it's nice to know people actually respond to my author's notes.

Vote & Subscribe only if you want to (please don't vote on this story if you are going to give me a bad rating and not tell me why).

Love
-M

Can anyone guess why this chapter was called Attraction?