Chapter 21: Fundraisers Are So Much Fun!
Emily followed Carolyn into the Rosewood Community Centre, or RCC for short. The only times that Emily had ever been here were during Ali's favorite time of the school year, the Rosewood Day Fashion Show.
Carolyn looked especially excited as she led Emily in. Emily wondered who Carolyn's secret crush was. In the RCC, there were many tables and chairs set up. People were running all over the place, placing trays of stuff that Emily could not make out on tables.
A middle aged lady with dark brown hair walked over to Emily and Carolyn. A badge pinned on her shirt read 'Kelly'. Kelly smiled at them. "Hi, are you here to help out for the fundraiser?"
Carolyn nodded. "I'm Carolyn Fields, and I've brought a helper, Emily Fields," she replied politely. Kelly looked at her clipboard for a while before looking up again. "Ah, I've got a Carolyn Fields here. Do follow me."
Emily and Carolyn followed Kelly to a small table at the back of the room. Kelly gestured over to a pretty girl around Emily's age. "This is Sienna, one of our best volunteers. I see that you, Carolyn, will be doing the selling, would Emily be able to pack the brownies?"
Emily shrugged. "Sure." Kelly smiled. "Great, I'll leave you with Sienna then. Carolyn, I'll bring you to the selling area." With that, the two of them walked off. Emily turned to Sienna. Sienna had honey blonde hair, big blue eyes, and a slim build.
"Hi, I'm Emily," Emily stuck out her hand. Sienna's shook it. "I'm Sienna. I suppose you'll be helping with the packing?" she smiled sweetly at Emily. Emily nodded. "Great!" Sienna exclaimed. "I'll show you what you need to do."
Soon, Sienna got into an explanation on packing the brownies. Emily made a mental note on each step. Somehow, she felt the need to not disappoint Sienna. When Sienna got to the part of sticking the label on the bags, Emily stopped her.
"Do you stick it on the back or front of the bag?" Emily blurted stupidly. What? Obviously the front, she scolded herself. Instead of rolling her eyes, Sienna let out a small, genuine sounding laugh.
"The front, of course," Sienna replied. Emily laughed dumbly. "Oh right, sorry, I guess I'm kinda nervous about getting it wrong." Sienna reached out and touched Emily's hand. "Don't worry about that, I'll be right beside you the whole time." And for some reason, Sienna's touch made Emily feel all tingly.
A fresh tray of brownies arrived at the table. Sienna grabbed a small knife and started squaring the brownies. "You want to cut them around this size, so there will be approximately 20 squares per tray," she instructed.
Emily nodded, but looking at the back of Sienna's head somehow distracted her. Emily shook her head and continued listening. Sienna had now slipped on a pair of disposable gloves and was using a fork to pull out the brownies one by one and placing them on a plate. "You have to remove them all first before packing them."
Another tray of brownies arrived at the table. Sienna turned to Emily. "Why don't you give it a try?" She urged. Emily stepped forward and held the knife. She could feel Sienna's warm touch on her arm, guiding her hand to an area on the brownies.
"Just cut down here, and from there, try to make about 5 more cuts that are about the same size," Sienna instructed. Emily felt a warm sensation burning in her cheeks as Sienna let go. What was happening to her?
As Emily made the cuts down, she could hear Sienna's mumbles of approval. "That's right." Emily had never felt so nervous in front of a girl before. The only girls that Emily had minor heart attacks on were teachers when she forgot to do assignments, her mother when she was angry, and Ali.
As Emily finished the cutting, she dropped the knife and let out a sigh. Sienna giggled. "You felt a lot of pressure in cutting the brownies, huh?" Emily nodded shyly, though she knew that the reason was not that. It was something else that she could not wrap her head around.
"Maybe I'll handle the cutting, and you do the packing?" Sienna suggested. Emily nodded again. God she was embarrassing herself. But Sienna didn't seem to take any notice. While she cut and Emily packed, Sienna cracked jokes here and there, and told Emily little tidbits about herself. Emily found out that Sienna went to Rosewood Public, had an obnoxious older brother, and loved shopping.
Emily in turn had told Sienna things too. Like her love for swimming, band music, and even a little something about Ali. Sienna nodded intently as Emily spoke. "So this Alison ditched you and your friends? Gosh, that's not nice," she mumbled. Emily shrugged. "That's Ali to you."
Emily couldn't explain it, but somehow, she felt like she could tell Sienna anything. Emily just felt so warm around her, like she had known Sienna for years. She had even told Sienna almost everything about Ali, leaving out the part about how Emily had had a crush on her, and their kiss in the tree house.
Emily spotted Carolyn walking over to them. "Hey, Em," Carolyn called. "How's it going over here?" Carolyn shot Sienna a small smile, before turning back to Emily. Emily grinned. "It's actually a lot of fun."
"Well, I didn't think that packing brownies would be that interesting!" Carolyn joked. Emily could see Sienna smile a little and felt a small shiver. Sienna had such a pretty smile.
Then, Emily remembered something. She smirked and leaned in closer to Carolyn. "So, who's the mystery guy that got us both here anyway?" Carolyn blushed and looked away. "You know..."
"I don't know, Carolyn, that's why I'm asking you!" Emily poked. "Is he a jock? Athlete? Tall or short? Blonde or brunette?" she trailed on. "Or maybe he's an older guy? Omigod Carolyn, who is he?"
Carolyn remained silent for a while. Then, suddenly, she nudged Emily. "There he is," she squealed. Emily turned to the direction that Carolyn was looking at. A blonde guy with soft eyes strided though the door. He was carrying a box on his well built shoulders, and when he smiled that familiar winning smile, streaks of fear and shock shot through Emily.
It was Ian Thomas.
