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.

"Aren't you coming?" She asked tapping her back to reality.

"Not yet, I'll stay here for a while longer." Tahti replied taking April's former position on the bench.

"Suit yourself." April said as she trotted off

Tahti sighed again once after April had left. It's been a solid month since she'd broken up with her boyfriend. Their two-year relationship which looked like a perfect one hit the rocks shortly after she'd found out he'd been seeing one of his juniors.

At first, she hadn't believed the rumors until she had seen for herself, her boyfriend necking his junior in his studio.

Disgusted, she'd called him out on a date and broken up with him and had gone drinking right after. That was when she met him, the handsome guy with the partly coloured hair.

TWO WEEKS AGO.

She clicked her tongue as she poured herself a glass of alcohol, that night. She had heard drinking after a break-up helped to reduce the heartache.

"You're here early." The voice called out

Her head whipped round to see him as he slid into the seat next to hers. He turned to look at the drink she was having before he slanted his eyes to her.

"I thought the plan included no drinks." He said with a firm look

"Who are you?" A confused and mentally stressed Tahti asked the stranger.

He frowned. "Aren't you Sophie?"

"No, I'm Tahti." She replied turning back to her drink

"Tahti?" There was an unreadable expression on his face as he asked. "Are you Korean?" He caught her attention with the question.

"Half Korean." She replied and she saw something similar to embarrassment flood his cheeks for a minute and it disappeared before she could confirm what she'd seen.

"I'm sorry. I must have mistaken you for a friend of mine." He said and rose up before he turned to leave, taking along with him the heartache that had been weighing down on her since a while ago.

Why was she feeling like that? Tahti wondered as she downed her cup and poured another.

He soon returned to her surprise and slid into the seat beside hers.

"Are you with someone?" He asked.

"No." She replied needing another filled cup, she wanted to get knocked out. The alcohol was already making her see things but it wasn't enough.

"Can I sit here then?" He asked and she leaned towards her left arm.

"You're already sitting there..."Her voice trailed off as she really looked at the stranger for the first time. She threw her face back to her empty cup, maybe she had had enough she thought to herself, she didn't like the thoughts in her head concerning this stranger.

Was this the definition of being sinfully handsome, she thought to herself then turned back at him.

"Aren't you here to see someone? You said you mistook her for me." She tried to talk smart but the alcohol had started it's work so her words came out slurred

"I was, but not anymore." He replied, looking and sounding angelically cool and calculated in contrast to her who was battling with stuttering.

"Then?" Tahti asked and he turned to the waiter.

"Can I grab a lemonade?" He asked.

"Sure." The waiter replied and turned back to her.

"I called her to cancel..." he answered her looking at the waiter go for his order

She frowned. It couldn't be because...He wouldn't do that right?

"Why?" She asked

"I just felt there was no need to meet her anymore." He replied nonchalantly

"I see." She replied now wanting another cup.

He leaned forward. "What's the occasion anyway? You hardly see a girl in a bar drinking all by herself."

A smile crossed her lips as she poured another cup. "Really? Well...I had to severe ties with my boyfriend today."

"I see...It must have been so bad, for you to be drinking over it."

"Kinda...feels like I was the dumb one for sticking with him for this long." Tahti replied.

"Do you believe it? That drinking is the way to get rid of heartaches?" He asked and she turned towards him, fully interested in what he had to say.

"You have a better idea?"

He folded his arms and leaned back, a smile playing on his lips.

"If I do, what's in for me?" He said retaining the smile.

"Well I don't know, what do you want?" Tahti asked out of curiosity

"Loser has to grant the winner a wish."

The dart hit the bull's eye and she turned to look at him, surprise written all over my face.

"I do this whenever I am stressed." He said and threw another dart, hitting the virtual board at a ten. "So, you broke up with your boyfriend today?"

"Yeah...It's actually good riddance. Now nothing holds me back from leaving the country."

He threw another dart and turned to her. "For travel?"

"Exchange student...I want to go to Paris." She replied and he threw her a smile.

"That's cool."

"But I don't think it will happen anytime soon." She said and he walked over to the board to get the darts before he walked back to hand them to her. "Your turn." He smiled and she picked up the darts, though she wasn't really good at playing. The first dart did not touch the board but dropped to the floor.

Embarrassment zoomed into her cheeks and she made a side glance at him, to get an unreadable expression.

She aimed for the bull's eye and when she was sure her hand was well-positioned, she threw the dart again but was disappointed when they went to the floor.

"I've been conned." Tahti said and a smile crossed his lips.

"Not necessarily. It's because you haven't been doing it for long." He replied and he took her hand in his left hand, causing a cold shiver to run down her system.

"It doesn't matter where it hits. Just try to get it near the red dot." He was saying as he slid his other hand on her right shoulder and she focused her eyes on the dartboard.

Taking a deep breath, she gave it a shot and was surprised when the dart hit a number seven. She turned to him, with a smile as she gave him a high five.

"That's a surprise."

"What?!"

"You look pretty when you smile." He said and she lowered her face for a minute resisting the urge to blush before she straightened her face.

"You said loser grants winner a wish. What's your wish?"

"You seem rather happy for a loser." He said and she smiled.

"Well, it was fun."

"It's fun being with you, Tahti." He said.

"What's your wish?" She repeated and he locked eyes with her as he walked up to her.

"Aren't you scared? For some reason, I could be a kidnapper or a drug addict...yet, you look at me like we are sort of friends."

He was right there but she had to look undaunted. "You look like a nice guy."

"Nice ones are the dangerous ones." He said and she bit her lip. That was another point.

He chuckled and she raised her eyes to him.

"I was only kidding..." He said and she heaved a sigh of relief.

"My wish is" there was a short dramatic pause that added a bit of suspense to the situation "...have your arm for a couple of minutes tonight." He landed with a grin knowing he had her surprised.

"My arm?" She asked the shock evident in her voice and face.

In a few minutes, they were seated back at the bar a couple of minutes later, and he was drawing on her arm. Tahti kept swallowing, trying to not to allow her eyes linger on him. He was a stranger for crying out loud.

She almost finished when he looked up at her. "Are you okay?" He asked.

"Huh?" She asked trying to gather her dazed self.

"You're breathing..."

"I'm okay. I'm just nervous." She replied and he smiled as he was resumed drawing, like he was enjoying himself.

"Can I ask something?" He asked with his concentration still in the drawing.

You can ask anything, she wanted to say. "Sure."

"Why were you named after a star?" He asked.

"So my life could shine bright. My mom and aunt named me." She replied and he raised his head to lock eyes with her before they burst out laughing.

"I'm kidding." She said as he dropped his head to resume drawing when the laughter died down. "Do you know David Nicholas?" She asked and waited for a reply, but all she got was an affirmative nod. "He's my aunt's favorite author. He had a line in his book that said...God's promises are like the stars; the darker the night, the brighter they shine."

He raised his head and she shrugged. "That's it. There no special story behind it."

"No. I love it."

He was done a couple of minutes later and she lifted her arm to take a closer look. It was a moon and star.

"It's cute...This is your wish? It's rather simple." She said, still finding it difficult to believe that was all. There had to be something else he wanted or maybe it was she who had hoped for something else.

"Then... should I make another wish?" He asked as he dropped the water based marker and slowly started to close in on her.

Her heart supposed to beat faster in expectation of what was to come. She knew it was wrong but it would not hurt to be naughty for a night, would it? She wondered as she closed her eyes.

Still, this was wrong.

She slowly pulled back and she heard a soft chuckle before she slowly opened her eyes as he patted her hair.

"You're cute." He smiled and she gave a soft and embarrassingly chuckle before she tucked her hair behind her ear.

"This is silly." She muttered.

"What do you mean?" He asked, finding comfort

"Nothing"She said with a forced chuckle "I just need to make a visit to the restroom." She said as she perched down from her stool and headed for the restroom. He was messing around with her brain and she needed some air from him.

The restroom was empty and she turned on the faucet to wash her hands before she looked at her reflection. Her eyes trailed down to the drawing on her arm and she trailed a finger over it again. She wasn't a fan of tattoos, but the one on her arm was gorgeous. "Get it together, Tahti." She said as she slapped her face. "He's not the only handsome guy you've ever seen. So...stop stuttering in front of him and just be cool, okay?"

No longer feeling stuffy,she walked out.

He was on a phone call when she was returning and her ears pricked up to overhear his conversation, as she was a few metres from him and he was practically shouting into the phone over the loud music.

"Are you asleep?...Why? Thinking of me?...I know, right?...I miss you..."

Her heart dropped. So he had a girlfriend. What in the world had she been thinking? There was no way someone like him would be single. She had just made a huge fool out of herself.

Her embarrassment had reached a hundred percent, as she turned to walk out of the bar.

The cool breeze carrying a strongly scented masculine cologne slapped her hair, jerking her back to reality. She raised her hand to look at the time before she decided it was time to go back to the studio. Bringing her hand down, someone familiar caught her eyes as she rose, someone she had hoped not to cross paths with again.

The guy from the bar.

"I must be seeing things..." She sighed as she looked down to roll up her sleeve. The drawing of the crescent moon with star was still there, though showing some signs of fading. She had been careful not to let water touch it.

"I must be crazy." She said to herself. There was no way he would be at the school. What was she even thinking? She would never see him again after all.

Her phone rang and she slid it out of her pocket.

It was Andre, Professor's teaching assistant.

"Yeah?"

"You have a package."

"I do?" She asked, surprised.

"Yeah, I forgot to tell you about it yesterday."

"Okay, I'll come over right now."

Everyone had abandoned their pieces by the time she hurried down. April was particularly surprised to see her headed out again.

"Going out again?"

"Yup." She replied.

"Where to?" April asked.

"The professor's office." She said as she plugged in her ear pods and played around the stairs headed for the professor's office, which was a couple of blocks from the studio. Her aunt was probably the one who sent the package. Her mother would have informed her if she was going to send anything.

Sol was filling out some documents and Andre was putting the secretary through something by the time she walked in.

"Tahti is here." Andre smiled and she bowed slightly. He was their senior who had gotten retained back at school.

"Good afternoon."

"I almost forgot about your package. Michelle was the one who reminded me about it." He said as he fumbled through the draws.

"I see." She thinned her lips.

Andre took out her package and handed it to her.

"I guess the sender had something special for you."

"It'll probably be my aunt. She loves sending me stuffs out of the blue."

"I see. I wish I had an aunt like that." Michelle said and Andre peered up to look at her arm. "What's that?" He asked and she looked down at it for a minute.

"It's nothing. Someone drew it."

"It looks like love to me." He smiled.

"It's not." She replied.

"What then? Lust?" He asked and she gave it a thought. She wouldn't really consider what happened that night as lust.

"It was more like...fun." She said as she ran a finger over the drawing.

Sol cleared her throat and they turned towards her. "I have a meeting with the professor."

"Right. Tahti, you should go in with her." Michelle said and Andre slowly turned to her.

"Together?" The girls asked and Michelle nodded.

"Sol can have the meeting first. She was here before me, after all."

"It'll be a waste of time. It's about the exchange student program, right?" She asked and Sol nodded. "The professor's nagging will get longer if the meeting is one on one."

"Alright." They replied and slowly turned to walk in.

"You're really clueless, aren't you?" Andre asked as the girls walked in.

"What do you mean?" She asked, looking over some documents.

"Tahti was feeling uncomfortable since she didn't want to be compared to Sol."

"Is that so?"

The professor lifted her eyes from the files, she was going through when they walked in.

"Good afternoon, professor." They greeted and she dropped the files and took off her glasses.

"What brings you girls by?...The student exchange program?" She asked and both girls looked away as she walked over to pull out a chair before she sat down.

"Have a seat." She said and they slowly pulled out the chairs and sat down before the professor turned to Tahti, who passed a compiled list of universities to her and the professor glanced through with a sigh.

"You only picked hard places to get in. Tahti, it'll be difficult to get accepted to any of these schools. You know that, right?"

"Yes."

"I'm not saying you're bad. You're doing well, but there are only a limited number of spots. You have to raise your GPA...Work harder, okay?"

Tahti nodded slowly. "Yes ma'am."

"And going abroad isn't always the best answer. Staying in America could be a better option. Domestic graduate schools are pretty good too. There's no place like home, don't you think?" The professor asked. "Let's talk again next time, then." She said and turned to Sol.

"What about you, Sol? You didn't submit your list?"

Sol shook her head. "No,not yet."

"You could start next semester. What are you waiting for? Is there something going on?"

"No. I'll make my decision soon, ma'am."

"Alright. I'd prefer if you made it quick. It's a waste of time. You might think it won't be any different, but there are things you can learn from the world out there. This is a great list." The professor said and Tahti made to receive her list when the professor passed it to Sol. "Look at this...and make your decision.

An awkward Sol turned to her before she received the list. "Yes ma'am."

Prof sighed as she leaned against her seat. "Why do you too look so gloomy? You should be shinning at that age...Don't stay holed up in the studio. You should make your life eventful to get inspiration for your work. Got that?"

"Yes."

Tahti tried not to wear her disappointment on her face when the girls rose to walk out of the office and Sol turned to give her the list.

"Here."

"Just take it. I was about to give you the file if you needed it anyway." She said and Sol smiled.

"Thanks...It'll be helpful."

Tahti threw her head back and groaned. "It was so embarrassing, though."

"What was?"

"I listed up all the great universities without thinking about my grades." She said and turned to her as they walked down the hallway. "I'm jealous, Sol. You can go pretty much, anywhere."

Sol raised the list to look at it again. "It might not be the best idea to go abroad. Honestly...it kind of feel like I'm just trying to run away."

"Were you thinking that too?" Sol asked eyes wide.

"Sol." A voice which both girls recognized as Jennie had them whirling to the back to see Jennie running Sol.

"Oh, you were with Tahti. What did the professor say? Why did she call you two?" Jennie said when she noticed Tahti.

"It was about the exchange..." Tahti was saying when Sol cut her short.

"Assignment ideas." Sol said cutting Tahti off and Tahti turned to her.

"Assignment ideas? You two?" Jennie asked and folded her arms. "It's not fair. She's playing favoritism." She whined.

"See you later, Tahti." Sol said as she turned to walk her bestie away.

"You too." Tahti replied and turned to head back for the studio as they went their way.

"Why are you dressed so nicely?" Sol asked as Jennie locked arms with her.

"Do I look nice? That's a relief." Jennie replied beaming.

"Is it because of tonight's gathering?" Sol asked. Jennie had informed her, a couple of days back that their friends from high school had a gathering that night.

"Well...my blind date was supposed to be tomorrow, but he said something urgent came up and asked if we could meet today. Otherwise, it'll be a while later..." Jennie pouted as Sol turned to her. "You know how you shouldn't out off a blind date for too long. So I just agreed to meet him today."

Sol was surprised. "What? Then what about our gathering?"

"Tell the others for me." Jennie said, no sign of remorse written on her face.

"Hey, I didn't want to go. You're the one who made a fuss." Sol protested. She hated attending gatherings and if not for Jennie's persuasions, she wouldn't have considered going for this particular hangout.

"I know, I'm really sorry. But if you don't go, everyone will curse me to death. Please Sol, please." She gave her the puppy eye as she raised her hands to her.

"Gosh. Alright." She hated how she couldn't say No to Jennie.

Jennie threw her arms around her. "I love you. If things go well with my date, I'll set you up with someone too." She beamed.

"There's no need." Sol replied faster than she meant to.

Tahti's sudden crave for alcohol surprised her as she headed back and she guessed it was because the day wasn't going too well for her, so she decided to grab a drink with her friends later that night.

April wasn't in the studio when she arrives a couple of minutes later.

"Where's April?" She asked Derek who seemed like the least busy person around.

"She left early." Derek replied as she walked over to her table to dial April.

She answered on the third ring.

"Yeah?" April replied bored

"Where's the location for tonight's drinking?" Tahti whispered into the phone, not that she cared about what anyone would have said but she wasn't in the mood to answer questions as to why she wanted to drink.

"Why? Wanna come?" April's bored voice was now a curious one

"Yeah, I think." Tahti replied almost unsure of that's the answer April expected.

"Well, we'll be drinking at Dream Orchids tonight. The one not far from the campus." She replied, her voice devoid of emotions.

"Alright. I'll see you guys then." Tahti said ending the call.

Her eyes went to her piece as she dropped her phone. She had gotten stuck on it times without number and that had delayed the progress of her work. She was out of ideas now, too.

Sighing, she pillowed her arms before she lowered her head to her table, hoping to take a rest for a couple of minutes.