From Afar

Chapter 6

The next morning, the sun's rays spread all over the carpeted floor of Andi's ocean blue room. She rubbed her eyes and stretched her arms.

She saw Ashley on her laptop, typing. She walked over to her, "Mornin', isn't to early for you to be talking to Kyle?" she inquired.

Ashley didn't bother facing her, "Oh no. I'm uploading some photos from last night" she replied.

Andi nodded and went to put on some music, In Your Arms by Kina Granis.

"Your mom's making chocolate chip pancake and some bacon for breakfast, we should go down once you're done taking a bath" Ashley said.

Someone knocked on door, as Andi sat down on the edge of her kingsized bed. "Come in," she called. The door opened, and Shane peeked in.

"Hi, sis. How was the party?" he inquired.

"What you can't wait until breakfast?" she said, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

Shane ignored her and inspected the photos Ashley was viewing. "Nice pictures. Seems like you had tons of fun" he commented.

The printer turned on and pictures started coming out. Shane grabbed one, "Who's this?" pointing to the guy sitting beside Andi in the pizza place.

"It's Sky Williams," Ashley answered.

"Intresting. Did you invite him over next weekend?" Shane asked, this time obliging Andi to reply.

She stood up, grabbed her goodie ponytail, "Yeah, I did", she replied before going inside the bathroom. Inside, she can still hear Shane talking to Ashley.

She came out wearing a blue pullover and jean shorts. She brushed her hair and and tied it up. When she's done, the three of them went down to the kitchen.

Mrs. James was setting up the table when Mr. James came in from his morning run. He kissed his wife and went to drink some water. Andi helped her mom in setting up, while Ashley sat down on her chair. Shane was reaching for a strip of bacon when Mr. James spoke, "Shane. Wait until we're all seated" he reminded.

Mrs. James and Andi sat down, "Ashley. No phones, you know the rules" Mrs. James said.

Ashley kept her phone; Mr. James said grace and they all started breakfast. "How was the party?" Mr. James asked.

Andi picked her food, "It was fine. I'm still the school's very own criminal" she replied without even looking up.

"Oh, Andi. Those kids are mean, you shouldn't let them get to you" Mrs. James sympathized.

Andi mumbled a yeah and they continued on with breakfast with other topics to talk about. After breakfast, she placed her plate in the sink, Mrs. James wiped her hands and pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thanks, mom" Andi said. She grabbed her car keys in the kitchen counter and called Ashley. Ashley said goodbye and thanked the James' for the breakfast.

Andi drove her home and went to the OTH to get some frapp before heading home. She relayed her order when a noise caught her attention. It was coming from the first couch beside the window, she stepped forward to look, it was Sky with a little girl. She waited for her order and went over to say hi.

She waited until she was in front of the table before saying anything, "Hi" she greeted.

Sky steadied the girl in her seat, trying to wipe off the stain on her mouth, "Oh," he looked up and smiled at Andi, "Hi! I didn't think I'd see you here."

Andi laughed, "My family owns this, of course you'll see me here" she replied.

"Oh right" Sky said softly, feeling a little stupid for his last statement, "Would you like to sit down?" he offered nervously. Even though he's talked to Andi a few times now, he still gets all surprised and flushed when they are in a conversation.

Andi smiled sweetly and took the empty seat across him.

"This is  Emily," he said, referring to the little girl whose hair is cut perfectly in a bob with chocolate stain spread on her face.

"Hi Emily," she greeted.

Emily offered a wide smile, even if she has missing front teeth, she's adorable.

"Settle down, Em. We'll go home in a while okay?" Sky reprimanded.

Andi noticed the open sketchpad and a pencil case, with a pencil poking out of it, on the table. "Is that yours?"pointing to the sketchpad.

Sky nodded and continued on with cleaning Emily's face.

"Can I see?" she asked.

Sky put down the napkin and removed the pencil and eraser resting above the pad before handing it over to Andi.

Andi flipped among pages, studying the sketches. "This is amazing" she complimented, "Did you want to be a painter?"

Sky smiled, and focused on Andi, "Not really. It's just for fun, just like photography. I actually want to be an Architect, I think sketching and painting is a stepping stone to becoming a great architect" he explained.

Andi smiled and returned the sketchpad. She drank her frapp and stared outside the glass window at an old couple across the street. Sky's phone rang, he excused himself and stood near the entrance door. When he got back, he started putting his things away inside his bag.

"I'm sorry, we need to go. My mom's back," he apologized.

Emily gladly hopped down the leather couch and stood behind her brother playing with her plastic bracelet.

"Oh, no, it's okay. Sorry for keeping you" she said.

"Not at all a problem" he replied slinging his bag on his right shoulder. "I'll see you tomorrow in school?"

"Yeah. By the way, let's discuss the project after school. Is that okay?" she asked.

Sky nodded and left with his sister. Andi watched them leave through the window and waved goodbye to little Emily when she blew her a kiss.

She finished her drink, went out and drove to the soccer arena. When she came, a few kids were training. A young boy stood behind her, "Are you the coach's assistant?" The kid can't be over seven years old, his uniform was still mud-free.

"No. I just came by to watch the game" she said. There was an upcoming junior league in an hour, she decided to watch since she has nothing better to do on a Sunday anyway.

The boy ran away, towards the other junior leagues. The coach blew her whistle and drills started. Andi sat down on the bleachers, third row, fourth seat from the center; it used to be Clement's favorite seat. He always sat there whenever he came to watch her game, he said it has the best view among the other seats.

Andi watched the kids, a few people started coming in and taking their seats on whichever bleacher they desired.