A Saturday of Paint..
I was enjoying my time with them.
After a long time, I was enjoying painting again after college. For the first time, I felt like I could truly enjoy painting. The joy of feeling paint on my fingers and creating new things—I could feel that again.
But I didn't want to go down that path again.
I got up and asked Rahul to tell Shruti to take a break. Then I stepped out of the art room and headed toward the restroom.
I washed my hands. Oil paint is a pain in the ass when it comes to cleaning it off your fingers. It always gives me trouble. I washed my hands twice… then three times with hand wash. After that, I walked out with my hands still wet and went back toward the art room.
"Oh! Teacher, you don't have a handkerchief? Let me give you mine. My hands are dirty, so can you take it out? It's in my pocket—help yourself."
Rahul came closer to me.
"Don't worry about it," I said, and wiped my wet hands on Rahul's shirt.
"Teacher! What are you? An elementary student?" Rahul shouted.
"What a pain, being all grown up. I don't even wipe my hands on someone else's clothes," I said, completely drying my hands on his shirt.
"Even if you're not grown up, it's bad manners to wipe your hands on someone's shirt," Rahul said, clearly irritated.
"I asked you to tell Shruti to take a break. Why is she still painting?" I asked him.
"I'll do that after I wash my hands," Rahul said, looking down at his palms.
"Tell her now," I shouted.
He panicked and hurried off to tell Shruti to take a break. Both of them went to wash their hands. Seeing them leave, I decided to order food online for us.
I took out my smartphone and placed an order for veg food with fruitkhand as dessert from my favorite restaurant. The app said it would take 30–45 minutes.
Sometimes, a teacher's attitude is just like a kid's. I mean—she wiped her hands on my shirt.
I tried to forget that and went to wash my hands again in the restroom. When I came back to the art room, I saw Shruti gulping down water like a camel. She finished an entire bottle in seconds.
I sat beside her.
"Are you thirsty? You're drinking a lot of water," I signed.
"Yeah, I haven't drunk anything since morning," Shruti signed, scratching her cheek in embarrassment.
I felt an instant glare directed at me. I looked toward the Teacher—maybe she realized Shruti had been thirsty all this time. I mean, the way she drank the water made it pretty obvious.
"I'm sorry. I should have noticed," I signed to Shruti.
"No, no! It's not your fault at all! You don't need to apologize," Shruti signed quickly.
"Thanks," I said.
Shruti didn't understand that word, but at that exact moment, my stomach made a loud noise.
"It's my stomach! It's my stomach!" I said, standing up and holding my stomach.
Shruti tilted her head in confusion, while the Teacher burst out laughing.
"It's my stomach! It's my stomach!" the Teacher repeated mockingly.
"I didn't bring lunch, and I only ate breakfast this morning, so I'm going to eat outside. If you're free, you can come with us," I said, signing to Shruti to go eat lunch together.
Shruti stood up, but just as we were about to leave, the Teacher said—
"Shruti is not coming with you. You should go alone."
I noticed the Teacher had grabbed Shruti's hand.
"Can I ask why?" I asked, turning back.
"I ordered food earlier for us. If you don't want to eat it, you can go—but Shruti is not coming with you," the Teacher said, pulling Shruti back and forcing her to sit down.
"Why didn't you tell me earlier? And why didn't you ask what we wanted?" I asked.
"Because I don't want to. I'm the one paying, so I decide what we eat," the Teacher said, clearly enjoying it.
"Whatever. When is it coming?" I asked.
"Within fifteen minutes," she replied.
"Then let's discuss how we can finish Shruti's artwork on time in a group chat," I said, creating a WhatsApp group.
We started discussing ideas together, including Shruti, on how she could improve her artwork.
After twenty minutes, the food arrived at the college gate. I went to collect it—the bill was already paid by the Teacher—then hurried back to the art room.
The Teacher and Shruti were sitting on the floor with water bottles beside them. I placed the food between them, and the Teacher opened it and distributed it.
After eating, we got back to work on the artwork.
And that's how Saturday came to an end.
I