Page 7 of Kiln Me Softly

By Friday, Aiden had become almost as excellent at ignoring Juniper as he was at throwing.

Sort of. Her jabs had been replaced with the silent treatment, which was just fine with him, or so he told himself.

Besides, he didn’t need a familiar face from back home.

All of the faces that greeted him as he walked into the workshop that morning were friendly.

He cast Amir and Timmy – or was it Tommy? – a wave, which turned into fist bumps, on his way to his seat, stifling a groan when Amir said, ‘Morning, Whittaker.’

Everybody now knew his last name, and he’d already received a few questions about his dad.

As much as he wanted to believe these people wanted to be his friend, it wouldn’t be the first time he’d been used for the sake of his connections.

Most of the students he’d befriended at Elmington had been shallow, difficult to talk to unless it was about the industry and his father’s career.

But what did it matter? Luc was genuine enough, and a few of the girls had enjoyed a bit of flirting here and there.

He was just glad to be on the course, glad to be out of the cage his dad had created for him – even if it felt like he’d just hopped from one set of bars to another sometimes.

He clearly enjoyed torturing himself, because the sight of Juniper’s empty stool pressed into his periphery even when he tried to focus on the conversation happening in front of him.

‘Are you going to Tom’s party tomorrow night?’ Luc shuddered as though the thought alone was enough to break their spirit. Okay, so it was neither Timmy nor Tommy.

‘Well, it would be good to get to know everyone a bit better.’ Aiden had been contemplating it only because his other option was to sit in his flat alone and wonder who he was without anything to do.

It was a light week as far as work went, so reading wouldn’t keep him busy for long.

Besides, he and Tom lived on the same street, and he couldn’t think of anything sadder than sitting in, listening to people have fun from a few doors down.

‘Why? Not a party person?’ he couldn’t help but tease when he saw Luc’s withering look.

‘Not in this country. Drunk British people are terrifying. And most of your alcoholic beverages taste like urine. But I don’t want to be the odd one out.’

‘Well, you don’t have to drink. And we don’t have to stop for long, if you don’t want.

’ Aiden wasn’t sure he’d enjoy it much, anyway.

Tom was a little too into the fresher’s week spirit, coming to class hungover and smelling like a whisky factory most mornings.

Aiden got it. He’d been the same when he’d gotten his first taste of freedom at Elmington, but partying had swiftly snowballed into an escape, a remedy for his deteriorating wellbeing, when studying had started.

‘Right, gang,’ Chris said by way of greeting as he strutted into the classroom. ‘Shush up.’

It had become his way of saying hello, now. Aiden had warmed to him, day by day, even with his harsh remarks and constant deadpan attitude. He liked feeling challenged, like he really had to work to impress someone.

Maybe that was why he’d been hooked on Juni, too.

In the past.

As though summoned, she burst through the door behind Chris, her curls poking in all directions and sweat beading on her brow. ‘Sorry we’re late!’

The we was for Tilly, who stumbled in behind Juniper, equally as flustered.

‘ Again .’ Chris folded his arms over his chest, rumpling his tweed blazer. ‘What was it this time? Another goose blocking the path?’

‘No.’ Juniper’s glare swooped over to the front of the classroom, where Amir chewed the lid of his pen. ‘ Somebody set fire to the microwave last night. We were up until three while the inspectors sorted it.’

‘Nobody told me that Pot Noodles are flammable!’ Amir defended, mischief dancing in his eyes.

‘Anything is flammable if you cook it for several hours,’ Tilly said.

Amir made a pfft . ‘I’ll make up for it. Promise.’ And then he winked at Juniper. ‘I’m very good at apologising, y’know.’

Without invitation, Aiden’s fist bunched on his thighs, clenching tighter still when Amir winked and Juniper’s lips curled in a half smirk. Was he flirting with her?

Of course he was. Amir flirted with everyone. Nomi had already warned him to back off or else face the wrath of her boyfriend. And yet it didn’t quell the tightness in his stomach, because she had smiled back. At Amir . She’d never smiled at Aiden like that.

‘Glad to know that some of our best future ceramicists are absolutely useless as human beings.’ Chris glanced at his watch to emphasise his dismay. ‘With your permission, may I start teaching?’

The room fell silent, but a steady thrum settled in Aiden when Juniper took her seat behind him.

This was the worst part. When they sat in the workshop and she was there .

He couldn’t see her, but she could see him.

Her presence was like winter fog thickening the air with ice, and he felt it all over him.

Was she watching him, or was his tingling body just paranoid?

All right, maybe he wasn’t that excellent at ignoring her. But he was excellent at pretending, so he did that now, bracing his elbows against the desk to focus on the whiteboard. Chris set up a presentation that was titled: Term 1 Coursework.

A chorus of groans filled the room.

Chris put a hand on his chest. ‘I know, I know. It’s terrible that we expect you to actually do some work at this university.

Thoughts and prayers are with you all.’ He clicked the next slide with an abrupt jab of his finger on the keyboard.

‘In my opinion, the best way to improve your pottery is to understand what it means in every context. The way to start that is by looking around the room. Talking to each other. A foreign concept for you Zoomers, I know. So, this term’s coursework will make up thirty-five percent of this year’s final grade, and because I really enjoy being mean, it’s going to be a collaborative experience. ’

Aiden didn’t like where this was going. He might have enjoyed socialising, but collaborating was a different story. It never ended up fair. His work could be dragged down by a less adept student, or worse, he could have someone like overly eager Diane badgering him night and day.

A few other people must have felt the same, because the room grew considerably gloomier, and so did the groans. He was tempted to look over his shoulder just to see Juniper’s reaction. She gave him the impression that she wasn’t all that good at working with other people, either.

‘Since we have a nice even fourteen of you this year, you’ll be divided into groups of two to bring this project to life,’ Chris continued.

‘It’ll cover everything from an initial research paper to a final exhibition, where you’ll be expected to present your work to the rest of us over in the gallery. ’

Aiden could only hope that they were allowed to choose their partners. It was Luc or no one.

‘What I’m hoping is that you can marry’ – Aiden didn’t like the smashing together of hands Chris did to convey the word marry – ‘two individual ideas to create something that reveals who you are, together and apart.’

He went on to show them some examples, none of which Aiden really got.

Previous students had combined football-themed pottery with Ancient Rome.

The Wild West with Halloween. Animals whose body parts had been mismatched so that there was a horse with a fish head, a shark with a tabby cat’s orange legs. Was he missing something?

‘You’ll be expected to use a decent range of techniques and materials for this, and most of this work will be done outside of teaching hours, so if you’re a slacker, I’m certain I’ll be able to tell.’ Chris gave a few pointed looks to the lads at the front of the room.

‘Do we get to decide who we work with?’ Tom asked. Next to him, Amir was crossing his fingers, much like Aiden wanted to. Suddenly, this course felt like it was going to be a lot harder than expected.

‘Ha!’ Chris erupted. ‘Absolutely not, you sweet, naive boy. No.’ – He grabbed a terracotta bowl from his desk and began to shake it, revealing half a dozen white slips of paper inside – ‘we’ll let the Bowl of Doom decide your fates. Take your pick, Timmy.’

Shit .

The bowl was offered to Tom, who reached in with trepidation to pick out a name. When he opened it, he asked, ‘Who’s Laura?’

‘I assume that would be me.’ At the back of the class, Lauren lifted her hand. In her thirties, she was one of the quieter ones, with fine blonde hair and sparkling eyes.

‘There we go. Our first pair! Congratulations. Next.’ The bowl was passed to Amir, who unfortunately got Luc. There went that hope, then. As the bowl got closer, Aiden’s knee began to bounce up and down. Juniper hadn’t been picked yet, but there was no way—

‘Alex. Your turn,’ Chris said, shaking the bowl in front of his face.

Aiden wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans and reached in. There were only three people who hadn’t been matched yet: Tilly, Owen, the sandy-haired guy who sat behind her, and Juniper.

Please be Owen, he prayed, but his pounding heart must have known before the rest of him, because when he unfolded the paper to read the smudged ink, his worst fears were confirmed.

‘Jupiter.’

‘No. You’re messing with me!’ Juniper rushed around the table to snatch the paper from Aiden’s hands, and her proximity made him bristle with tension.

Her nostrils flared when she read the name. Her name. Well, almost. She looked up at Chris, ignoring Aiden entirely. ‘Well, this doesn’t count because Jupiter is not my name.’

‘Nice try, but there’s a reason we call it the Bowl of Doom.’ Chris tore said bowl away, motioning between Tilly and Owen. ‘That means Tammy and Olly are our final pair. Congratulations. I hope you will all be very happy together.’

Aiden finally mustered the courage to look at Juniper. If she was icy before, she was an arctic blizzard now.

‘Somehow,’ he mumbled, ‘I doubt that very much.