Starbird

Chapter 20

Three weeks.

That is how long it had been since the last time I was on set or seen anyone from set.

The Advanced Placement exams were first and foremost priorities and it was making me sad how I hadn’t seen anyone since the beginning of May or been to set since the end of April. Three weeks of pure solitude other than Jace, Rowan, my teachers, mom and occasionally James. He’d even been spending a lot of his time over at Liam’s house or on dates with Ava. Being finally fed up with being cooped up in the house for so long, I packed my sketchbook, Monster, tools, and snacks into my bag and set off for the park. It was roughly a forty-five minute walk away, but it was the park I liked the best that was within a reasonable distance. The walk was pleasant enough, a bit chilly for May, but I simply pulled my jacket a little tighter. Besides, the overcast skies proved to be useful in pictures. No funky shadows and no awful glare. I snapped pictures the entire way down, excited to see how they’d turn out so I could post them or print them off.

Once I reached the park, I wandered for a bit, snapping pictures and finding nice areas where I could do a loose sketch of a pond or a bird. I could always go over it and make it better, but for now I just wanted it to look like something. Eventually, I found a nice bench situated in the middle of the park, facing plenty of trees, another pond, and people meandering about, whether it was a kid chasing a squirrel, the old couple feeding pigeons, or a group of teens playing soccer. It was a perfect spot to capture some shots with my Monster and then I pulled out my sketchbook and started on my piece for the day.

My drawing was turning out nicely. It always worked best in partly cloudy weather and you didn’t have a lot of shading to work with. Not to mention the old couple on the bench hadn’t moved for the past hour and a half, with the exception of feeding some pigeons every now and then. Suddenly I felt something wet drop on my head. Looking up, the sky had darkened and rain drops were falling. No! It was supposed to stay sunny all day! I folded up my sketchbook as quickly as I could, stuffing it into my bag, hastening to put all my colored pencils away. Mentally cursing myself for not bringing a jacket or umbrella, I heaved my bag onto my shoulder and began to speed walk home.

I hated rain. I don’t care that I spent fourteen years of my life in Oregon, rain was terrible. All it did was make you cold and miserable and wet. Attempting to protect my bag and its contents, I was sacrificing my hair which meant it would end up looking so messed up very soon.

“Cam! Camille!” My head whipped around until I spotted a sleek, black sports car with Liam’s head sticking out the window.

“Liam?”

“Are you trying to drown yourself? Get in here!” Liam gestured for me to come in the car, but I stood there confused. He didn’t actually want me to get in the car.

“Huh?” I smartly replied, rain picking up speed and drenching my clothing and hair.

“Get in the car! You’re getting soaked.” My feet decided to move and the next thing I knew, I was sitting in the passenger seat of Liam’s car.

“I’m sorry for dripping all over your car,” I said, looking at the small puddle of water gathering at my feet.

“It’s alright. Why were you outside in the rain anyway?” I pushed my hair off my face and huffed. 

“It was sunny earlier and I wanted to draw. There’s not a lot to do on a free day at home.”

“You are in London. You could go anywhere,” Liam stated.

“Yeah, but I don’t know the city very well and getting lost in a giant city doesn’t sound exactly appealing.”

“How did you even find that park?”