Elements

Chapter 29

As I walked around the school searching for Ben, a new determination filled my mind. We were friends. Just because of one stupid sentence, that had to change? No. This wouldn't be awkward, it'd just be two friends hanging out despite extreme weirdness because one likes the other and the other has mixed feelings and may like the first one back.

Okay, so it'd be awkward. What was the worst that could happen?

When I finally found him, he was walking down the hallway near the art room. He looked surprised to see me and said, "Ella! I wasn't expecting to see you today..." he trailed off, leaving the unspoken question: why are you here?

"I figured, just because of what you said doesn't mean we can't be friends and there's no reason for this to be awkward, right? Right." I rambled. Why couldn't I stop talking?

I finally found a way to shut my mouth, Ben was looking at me with an amused face. "How can I help you Ells?" He chuckled. I glared at him for a moment, then moved on to my purpose.

"I was wondering if you could describe the tree house to me. I want to know what it looks like." I said. He grinned

"I can do you one better," He replied. "follow me." He began walking briskly toward the art room.

"I've been hanging out with Anita in here while you're doing your training thing with Ms. Wren. She's been teaching me some art techniques. I've always been able to sketch decently, but she taught me how to paint." He lead me into the art room. Inside, the walls were lined with brown wooden cabinets containing tons of art supplies, topped with black countertops. There were chairs at some of the counters so students could use the surfaces to draw on. The room was mostly taken up by rows and rows of easels across the middle of the room. The floor was white tile, flecked with paint, though whether it was from sloppy students or done artfully, I couldn't tell.

Ben lead me to a small canvas in the corner of the room. There, painted with watercolors, was a tree house. It appeared to be in the corner of a walled off back yard. A tall, sturdy mulberry tree houses a charming wooden tree house. It was about a foot taller than I was, I guessed from the painting, and looked like it had been made by someone who knew what they were doing. The windows were cut proportionally, with wood awnings in case it rained. Wooden slats stuck out of the tree, making a reliable ladder, leading up to a small, open hatch in the floor.

"I used water colors because I thought it would work well with the setting of the painting. Plus it was kind of the only thing Anita's taught me," Ben laughed, bringing me out of my analysis of the painting.

"This... This is really good Ben!" Was all I could say. It was as if I could see the real treehouse- like I was there myself.

"Thanks Ells. I made it so I could help you remember." He leaned back, using his elbows to prop himself up on the counter. "Feeling any sudden memories coming on?" He asked with a hopeful smile on his face. When I shook my head, his face fell. "Oh well. It was worth a try."

I put my hand on his arm, and he jumped as if he had been electrocuted. Ignoring it, I said,"I doubt it's because of the painting. You said something about triggers, right? Well maybe we just need to wait for the trigger. Your painting really is amazing." He smiled at me again.

An idea struck me. I could use the painting. "Hey, mind if I borrow this for a bit?" He gave me a confused look. "Please, it's really important."

He sighed, then nodded. I let out a happy squeal, then gave him a hug. That's right people, I squealed like the typical teenage girl. And you know how much I hate it. That's how excited I was.

I grabbed the small canvas and rushed out of the room, only to bump into Anita. She looked at me, confused, then saw the canvas in my hand. "You're a genius!" She exclaimed, understanding what I was holding.

She led me to a table where a short, blonde man sat looking incredibly bored. "Alright, what do you want" Annoyance in his voice.

Rolling my eyes, I responded, " a snow globe, with this treehouse," I gestured to the canvas, "inside. Can you do it?"

He laughed without humor and set a snow globe on the table. "This'll work for ya?" I examined the snow globe. It was perfect. It was a tad small for a snow globe, which was fine. The base was dark, mossy green. Inside the glass dome, small white flakes swirled around a tree with a wooden structure- the same tree and treehouse from the painting. I looked again at the base.

"It's perfect" I smiled. "Thank you" He simply rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone. Rude.

I walked a few steps down the hall from the table where Anita stood waiting for me. I pulled out the snow globe for her to see. "You're brilliant. He's going to love it!" I hugged her.

"Easy lesbos. No PDA." A cold voice said behind me, followed by an airy laugh. I turned to find, yup, you guessed it, May and Addison. Addy was laughing at May's comment, and I rolled my eyes.

"It's called friendship May, look it up." She glared at me as Anita and I walked away.

And then suddenly the canvas was ripped from my hands and floating in the air. May's hand was out, keeping it suspended there.

"Not bad, freak. But I have to know, what inspired you to draw a moldy potato?" Now I glared at her. Anyone could tell it was a tree house.

I snatched the canvas out of the air. May let out a little hm and turned to walk away. And promptly tripped on a random root that had popped out of the ground.

Now I let out a little hm and walked away, this time without disruption.

She was going to have to try harder that that to beat me.

🌜🌕🌖🌗🌘🌑🌒🌓🌔🌕🌛

Hey guys!

Yay this chapter didn't suck!

Like last one!

Okay I'm good. I'm getting my toes done as I write this and while I know the lady knows what she's doing, I can't help but feel nervous. I don't like people touching my feet, okay?

Today's random fact is...

Ms. Wren was in love once. She was engaged to be married to a man she'd been seeing for four years, until her sister... stole him away. Devastated, she called off the wedding and went to he cousin, Clair Wren, for support. Now, she is single and over him, but not looking for love. Clair now works as a gym teacher at the Haven.

I don't watch soap operas, I swear!

Okay, thanks for reading guys! Please vote, comment and share to your friends!

This chapter is dedicated to CrazyEbony and FlameBird12. Thanks for all your support!

Emily