Black N Blue (CURRENTLY EDITING)

Chapter 6

Eddie's studio had a silohouetted camera light above a canvas bench and a white sheet. A painting frame and paint laid a few feet from it. With cat looking statues on either side of the bench I suppose I was supposed to be innocently sprawled across. The last time I saw that sheet is when it covered my breasts and hard freezing nipples cause of the cool fan he had set up to give it that "couture" look. "Edward?" I called out, dropping my coat, on the chair. He appeared from another doorway, wearing his white flannel painters jacket. It was already marked with paint. "You can go undress in the bathroom and then come out in the robe. I'll tell you what to do from there." He explained. This already sounded sketchy. I turned my head at him, "You said I wasnt going to be naked." I mutter, my hand going back to pick up my jacket. "I'm not painting your naked body Ellie. Dont worry. I'm semi-professional, I know what I'm doing." Well that was reassuring. I walked past him and into the bathroom, stripping from my clothes and gathering them into a small pile. I put on the white linen robe which smelt fresh out the dryer. I wonder who else was in this robe for him. It had red stains marked over the chest area. Probably sexually marking a female with his lover "paint". Pig. I pick up my clothes and walk back out, to find him sitting in his chair, across from the couch. "You can put your clothes by your jacket, afterwards go sit down." I follow his instructions, walking around him as if we havent been friends since 8th grade. "Now take off your robe, and cover yourself with the sheet, life your left arm over the hump of the couch, make sure your legs are extended but slightly bent, slightly on top of each other. Make your hair across your face." I blink trying to consume his orders. Finally getting into the awkward position, he begins dabbing the smallest brush into the paint, a color I cant see. "Tilt your head as if youre glancing over your left arm, follow the direction of your fingers." Eddie was the most immature guy I have met. But when he paints, he's a different person, he's serious, and he's so swift and gentle. His eyes show determination and he never hesitates. "So what look are you going for this time?" I ask holding my pose. "Egyptian - Cleopatra era. Egyptian times were so obscure and brutal if you really research. I want to show the innocent and gentle side. Especially of one of the most famous rulers. Cleopatra herself," There were times where he could be so educated. "So you picked a scrawny girl to potray the ultimate female badass?" I reply, chuckling. "A sexy scrawney girl," He points out. Then there were times where he could be a total pig. Eddie switched brushes, and glanced between me and the canvas he was painting on. "Well, thanks. Can I ask you a question?" he nods. "Anything."

"Do you know anything unusual about Jeremy?" I mean out of all people to know anything about the latest undercover drama would be Eddie. Brittany just knows about the latest gossip that everyone knows. "Your ex Jeremy Liam?" He asks, I hear the hint of curiousity in his voice. I nod. "Only that he hangs out with a group of reckless ass people. Older people that are scary as hell," Well that was something good to know. "Do they do anything bad? Like crimes?" My neck is already starting to ache. "Just small misdemeanors, I dont think any big felonies. Why?" He asks. "Just heard him say some strange stuff today. Do you know anyone named Vince?"

"That was Jeremy's stepbrother, when his mom remarried, he had 6 step siblings. The oldest was Vince, and nobody knew of him until recently." How did Eddie know all of this? "Why until recently?" Not liking the sound of this. Eddie just shrugs. "I should have known that Jeremy was bad from the start. I usually have a good judge of character." I reply, pressing my eyes together. "That's not quite true. After all of the shit I did, people feared me. But you didnt. You knew how I was."

"No, I knew how you acted, but I knew that wasnt how you really were. You were set up to do those things." Eddie wasnt a bad guy in middle school and most of high school, he just tried to be, that was beyond him. "Half of the things were a set up, and I knew it."

"You were scared. And being scared doesnt make you bad," I feel the crink in my neck as I try to say lively things to him. "You always saw the good in me, when no one else did. You saved my life on more than one occasion. I'm forever in your debt."