"Thanks for the food," Ember smiled.
"It was literally half a sandwich," Neel rolled his eyes as he helped Ember down the stairs.
"Hey, it's the thought that counts. You don't have to follow me by the way,"
"It's just respectful to drop a guest to the door,"

"Ember!" He heard his name and looked ahead. It was Loraine and Maple. They stood near his car. Neel stared at Loraine awkwardly. Loraine glared into Ember's icy eyes.
"The doctors told you not to climb stairs, why don't you listen?" Loraine looked worried more than angry, "We are going back, right now,"

"Leave me alone," Ember pushed Loraine away and sat into the car. Neel looked at Ember. Ember looked angry and kind of sad. Neel moved towards him but Loraine held his hand. He turned back and looked at him. Loraine looked back at him, "You can leave now,"

Maple sat in the front seat of the car. Neel looked into Loraine's eyes as he left his hand "You've made mistakes. You don't want to repeat them, right?"
"You can't dictate my friendship," Neel green eyes glared at him.
Loraine grinned as his condescending green looked down at him, "Well too bad, because that's exactly what I'm doing. Now piss off,"
He sat beside Ember. Neel looked at them from outside until the car left and disappeared.

He stood at the empty road. As always, Ember left.

Rhea came back home after a long day. She parked her bicycle in the parking which was lit by the light of sunset. She was walking towards the stairs when she suddenly turned back and looked at her bicycle. It was glowing in the light. She ran upstairs and dashed inside her room. He took out her drawing book and pencil and left with her drawing file. 

She walked down to the parking and started making the sketch of the bicycle. Till the time she finished, the sunlight was gone. Not in her eyes though, the sunlight was still falling before her.
"Use perspective," Neel stood behind her and she turned back, "You scared me!"
He leaned towards her, "The back wheel will be smaller, it's further away," He made incisions with his nails on the paper. 
"Is that what perspective is?"
"It's just an illusion of creating a three-dimensional effect on a two-dimensional canvas,"

"What? How do I do that?"
"Give it here," He snatched her pencil and sat beside her, explaining the technique. And this was just the beginning, Neel seemed to know more than he showed. His father had enrolled him at an art academy since a very young age, so naturally, he knew a lot of different styles and ways of painting. They sat in her room, over a chart,

"Have you ever heard of the contemporary colour theory?" He asked.
"What?" She asked.
"There's this technique of divisionism, where you apply contrasting dots of colour side by side so that, when you see them from a distance, these dots would blend,"
"Wow! What the hell! I never thought something like this can happen!"

Jessica occasionally came to watch them work, working on a different painting every time. It was winter vacation, and both Rhea and Neel were free. And every one of them mesmerised her. The room was soon running out of space for canvas boards. The boards started taking up space on the walls, the walls on one side of the room were almost full. Rhea would click a picture of every painting she made and send it to Ember. 

He would cheer her from the other side.
"You should come too," She'd ask him.
"Nah, you guys enjoy. I have work," He'd always reject her offer.
"Oh, I wish you were here :("
"Haha, I will be, soon,"

As the paintings increased, so did her time spent on her hobby which slowly turned into a passion and soon, books on Art theories covered her shelves, art magazines, local art events, online commissions got her enough money to buy her own supply. "Ember, look, my first income!"

"Good job,"
"I wish you were, I want to celebrate with you,"
He laughed, "I will, once all this work is done,"

Everything seemed to go smoothly, until one day,

"You and Neel are spending a lot of time together these days," Mrs Laghari stood at Rhea's room.
"Yeah, he's teaching me some techniques," Rhea said as she continued painting.
"Your dad doesn't like it,"
"Why?" Rhea looked at her.

"Boys are not good. They use girls,"
"Mom, I don't like Neel, and neither does he. And anyway, he's not like that,"
"Everyone is the same. Some people are good actors, that's all. Ask him not to come from tomorrow,"
Rhea looked into her mother's eyes
"I won't,"

"Rhea! Your dad will be mad!"
"Oh?" Rhea kept her paintbrush aside and walked into her father's study, "Dad, if you want to talk to me, I am here, you don't have to send mom there,"
He got up, "I thought doing it the easier way,"
"Why? Why do you always have a problem with things I love doing?"

"Because these are not productive things you are doing. You should be studying, you have your exams in February,"
"But I want to focus on painting,"
"Don't be an idiot, Rhea. Painting is not going to give you a stable job! We have invested a lot on you, we don't want you to end up like a failure like your grandfather! What will the relatives say?"

"I don't care what they say! I want a job where I look forward to waking up the next day! Not like you, who keeps on complaining about how shit your job is and how much you hate it!"
"Oh yeah, and painting will get you that? Nobosy cares about painters, Rhea. You could've taken science and given your medical entrances-"
"I DON'T WANT TO BECOME A DOCTOR!"

"Even if you did, you can't anymore. You took humanities even when I kept telling you not to, now just study and apply for a government job when you graduate your high school,"
"But I don't want to government job,"
"THEN, WHAT DO YOU WANT? BECOME A PAINTER?!"

"No, an artist,"
"You are crazy! How much are artists paid?! Not more than thirty thousand a month!"
"And it's not about the money, I do it because it makes me happy. Besides, it depends on what firm you work for and what is your level of skills,"

 "And you think you are so good you'll get a top-notch artist job?"
"No, but I can improve and become a top-notch artist, and that's what I'm trying to do if you let me,"

"You think practising will make you become the best? Your grandpa thought the same and ended our entire family in debt. I had to get a job and pay back all that rent,"
"Things were different in his time! Now, you can easily sell art online and earn!"
"And you think you are so good people will buy your paintings for thousands?"
"Dad-"

"Okay, fine. That competition will be your only chance to prove yourself. It's a small competition, you should be able to win if you think you're so good. If you don't win it, you will start focusing on your studies and stop painting forever,"

"But I love painting!"
"It's pointless if you're not the best at it! That's the option I give you,"
She felt angry. Her father never supported her hobby, and she didn't mind it, but now he was trying to take it away from her,
"FINE! I'LL WIN AND SHUT YOU UP AT ONCE!" She stomped out of his room.
"Arorhea! That's not how you talk to your father! ARORHEA!"

She went into her room and slammed the door, she grabbed her hair and slowly fell down, crouching against the wall, 

. . .

"I have to win it,"
"But you're not so good," Neel said and Ember looked at her as they sat in a park, "Doesn't mean she can't get better at it,"
"But we don't have that kind of time, we only have three months to go,"
"Then, I have to be my best in the time I have. I just have to win it, guys. Or I'll have to give up on painting again, and I don't want to."

Ember looked at her,

"It's just starting to get fun,"

He smiled, "Well, in that case, half of the work is already done,"
"What do you mean?" Neel looked at him and Ember wrapped his hand around his shoulder, "We'll help you get through it, won't we?" He looked into Neel's eyes.

Neel scrunched his nose,
"Man, you guys such a pain in the ass,"

-To be continued

Can't I Touch Your Heart?
Teach Me The Art of Living