In My Art

Chapter 9- A Sheriff

Song- Look Away by Deep Vally & Jennylee

…/…

I push the door open and luckily for me, it budges after the third trial. For a second there, I thought I came on the wrong day again. The building looks really different from my last view of it. It had sections now and a lot more materials.

The number of calm people and hyper people in the space makes me want to turn back to take a walk instead. I scan the area with my eyes, searching for the one person that’ll put me through without me having to talk to a stranger to ask for directions but I don’t see him.

I’m about to head out when I hear a voice say, “Hey, Can I help you with something?” I turn around to see the finest dark-skinned man alive. His skin is so smooth I could just yell ‘butter’ on the spot. There was also something about his eyes that just drew me in, I couldn’t breathe.

Why are they so brown? The light brown color borders on gold, if I were to draw this piece of art I just might spend eternity. His height isn’t his greatest suit, even though he’s taller than I am.

I’m a 5’7 survivor, and I struggled hard for it. I blink twice reminding myself that he asked a question, hoping my analysis didn’t take up to a minute, because after a minute, everyone would be able to tell that I’m openly drooling.

I smile, knowing it’s one of my best suits but before I could reply to the handsome meal, I hear someone from behind me say, “She’s with me”. I would recognize that voice anywhere, especially because I had just heard it a few days ago. It's another dark-skinned man that I have grown to like over the weeks.

“Yeah, hi…” I dragged out, remembering that I still didn’t know his name. “Come on,” he says, dragging me from the presence of that fine snack. Maybe if I didn’t have feelings for Bryan, I would’ve smiled and waved flirtatiously or introduced myself at all costs.

“I see it didn’t take you that long to find me,” he says when we enter a small office. “I came to paint and clear my head, don’t get ahead of yourself”. “Why does Freshman need her head cleared?” I don’t respond because I don’t know how to tell him everything.

“It’s about that boy from that night, isn’t it?” “You don’t have to be so smart, no one is here except me, or are you trying to impress me?”

“Don’t change the subject”. I sighed and said, “Yeah”. He grabs an easel, places it in front of me, and gestures for me to help myself with the materials laid out on the table. I didn’t know I had been itching to draw something till I started and then, I decided to explain everything to him as I sketched.

“This Dan guy, I’d love to meet him, sounds like a fellow man of wisdom”. I roll my eyes when he says that. “I agree with him too, you and Bryan need to talk. Do you feel calm enough to speak sensibly now?”

“Yes, plus I’m almost done with this sketch”. He stretches to see my sketch. I don’t even try to hide it from him. “Tobi? You drew Tobi? You couldn’t draw me, it just had to be him”. “Hmm, sounds deep, you jealous?”

“No, why would I be jealous of my friend?” “Good, he shall never hear of this then”. He stands to return some materials of his and I use the opportunity to see his work. “Damn!” is the only thing I can say. He did a complete painting of a boy and a girl upside down on the only tree in a meadow.

“She’s impressed”. “How did you finish this so fast?” “It was unfinished work. I‘m trying to decide whether I want this shown in the competition this year or something else”. “This is really good and it looks pretty deep. Maybe you could add the wind effect to the girl’s gown and her hair or something but not too much effect”.

I’m still looking at the drawing for a while but I turn to see him looking at me and smiling. “What?” I asked. “Nothing, that’s a really good idea, thanks…” he dragged out. I smile and then say, “Charlotte”.

“Charlotte, huh? Nice name, too bad it’s stuck with someone like you”. I’m so taken aback that I hit him across his chest. “I don’t like you at all,” I declared. “One, that’s a lie, and two, that’s a lie”.

Something on his drawing catches my attention, his signature. “Sheriff? That’s your name? Really?”

He doesn’t reply to me. “You certainly do not look like a Sheriff”. He smiles and says, “I see what you did there”. His signature is ‘A Sheriff’. “Sorry to burst your bubble, Freshman but that’s not my name, it’s just a signature”

“I give up! Plus I just told you my name, you just enjoy teasing me, don’t you?” “Yup!” I put my bag strap on my shoulder, a common sign that a person is about to leave. “Oh, I’m going to go talk with Bryan now, plus this sketch is going to my room wall so I’d stare at it before I fall asleep and hopefully, it would be the first thing I see when I wake up”.

“Whatever rocks your boat, Freshman”. I followed Mystery Guy down the stairs and then it randomly occurred to me how easily he could’ve kidn*pped me seeing as I had never been to that side of the building before. Tobi sees me heading out and says, “Hey, bye,” smiling. His smile is to die for, plus he just told me bye. I waved back, just in time to see Mystery Guy roll his eyes.

“Thank you for this evening,” I say to him when we’re just outside the building. “You’ve really got to stop thanking me, Freshman”. “Right! I’ll see you around”. “You definitely will. Say hi to Breanna for me”. “Who’s Breanna?” “Your crush, keep up”.

I shake my head, smiling and then he says, “Bye, Lottie”. “I will take that”. “Don’t make me change my mind”. I hurry off when he says that.

…/…

“Oh hey, I’m so sorry I couldn’t call you after my meeting today, I really wanted to and when I got to the room, I slept off,” Bryan says, in a bit of a rush as he opens the door to his room. “It’s no problem, I actually came here cause I wanted to talk to you about something, sorry for not calling before coming”.

“It’s no problem, really. Come in. Meet my roommate, Duke”. I wave to the only boy in the room and he waves back. I couldn’t help but look around, everything looked in order and in place, so neat and tidy. “Your room’s beautiful and clean. Why is it so clean?”

Bryan laughs in response because of how amazed I am. “Were you guys expecting someone or...”

“Nah, Bryan here is a clean freak,” Duke says. “Oh, that makes sense now,” I say, remembering the way he always arranged manuals in the hall and his love for well-organized events.

Bryan gestures for me to sit on the bed but with the way it’s well-laid, I can’t help but sit at the edge of the bed instead, not wanting to ruin the sheets. ”It is okay, Char, you can sit properly”. It’s not until he reassures me that I sit properly.

“So, I have some important questions to ask you, and that’s why I came all the way here”. “I’ll just leave you two now,” Duke says, as he leaves the room. “Thank you,” Bryan replied.

“So, you were saying?” “Uhm yeah, with what happened yesterday and this morning…”. “Gosh, I knew it would be a problem,” he cuts in. “Wait, let me finish,” I say. I can’t help but think Mystery Guy would be proud of me for standing my ground.

“Is this a friendship thing? Is that what we’re doing here?” I asked, going straight to the point because there was no use beating about the bush. Bryan sighs, then says, “It’s only been a few weeks Char and I’m still getting to know you and stuff but no, it’s not a friendship thing. I like you more than I would like a friend but I’m still trying to navigate my way through it all”.

My mind is trying to figure out if that’s the answer we wanted to hear but in doing so, I hear myself say, “Yeah, okay. I get that”. “Okay then,” he says. “Wait, is this why you came all the way to my dorm?”

“Uhm yeah, I don’t know why I thought it’d be a long discussion”. “Have you had dinner?” he asked. “Nah, but I think I’m good”. “Are you sure though? We don’t have to get a full meal, it could just be snacks”. “Hmm, the offer is really tempting”. He stands there watching me as I pretend to think. “Okay,” I finally said.

.../…

It’s 1 am and I’m still awake replaying events of the previous day in my head. I pick up my phone, open the notes app, and type, “You see, it’s when he does stuff like this that I can’t help but think he actually has feelings for me”.