Emma

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟑𝟏

“You should organize the library, Emma,” James said out of the blue. Emma looked up at him, surprised.

“What?” she asked as she set her pencil down on the library table. Andrew looked up from his computer for a second before turning back to his research.

“I think you should work on the library. It took you so long to find the information we needed last time for the hunt, and I think that if there was some kind of system for the books here it would be easier for you to find stuff.” It took her a moment to respond; she wasn't sure whether to be insulted that he was mentioning her research speed or thankful for the suggestion.

“James, you know I can’t do that. I have other things I need to be doing.” Emma gestured to her sketchbook, which was propped up on her knees at the moment. He scoffed a little and took a long drink of his beer. After setting the bottle back on the table, he looked over at his best friend.
“Come on, Andy. What do you think?” Andrew looked up from his work again and gave James a bored look.

“Emma can do what she wants. Yeah, she probably should make a system, but she doesn’t have to.” Emma pointed at Andrew as he turned back to the research for the hunt.

“See? Andrew knows what he’s talking about. Besides, you know that all of this is important.” Tapping the sketchbook, she picked up her pencil again with her free hand. James started to say something but she turned him out, focusing once again on the half-finished art in front of her.

She glanced up at James and watched as he flipped through the pages in an old book. Her hand swooped over the page, leaving a dark line to match his jaw. Soon enough the sketch was finished and she slid her pencil behind her ear so it was out of the way.

Emma bit her lip and analyzed her work. It wasn’t perfect, but it was better than her previous ones. Peeking up at James, she compared her sketch with the real thing. James looked up as she stared, causing her to blush. He smirked.

“Why are you staring at me?” he asked, holding back a laugh as the blood rushed to your cheeks. He had caught her, and God knows he’d be holding it against her.
“I need to make sure my sketch matches the real thing,” she managed to choke out. He raised an eyebrow at her response, but simply shook his head and went back to the research in front of him.

The silence was worse than him making more comments. Emma got up from her seat and flipped the cover over the sketchbook. “I’ll be in my room if you need me.” Andrew nodded at her with a smile, but James didn’t even glance up. Her heart sank a little why, she didn’t know. Giving Andrew a weak smile in return, she walked to her bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind her.

In the safety of her room she relaxed, allowing herself to breathe out the air she had been holding in ever since James had caught her staring. James leaned against the door and sighed.

“I need new things to sketch,” she mumbled when the thought of James' face when he caught her flitted through her mind. Finally hoisting herself up from that position and flopping down on her bed, she let the sketchbook drop to the floor beside her.

Emma's eyes drifted closed and she allowed her mind to wander between the thoughts crowding her brain. After a while she got up and grabbed her guitar from its case. She positioned it in her lap and began to strum, and soon enough she was playing through all the songs she knew.

Music came naturally for her. It was cathartic. Every stress of the hunting life seemed to melt away whenever she played, and even though James didn’t understand it, it was something she needed to do.

Emma sang along with the chords she played and let a smile slip onto her face and her heart swelled the happiness music brought her.

“I gotta ask Emma a question. I’ll be back, Andy.” James slid his chair back from the table and stood, feeling the muscles that had been left unused stretch out for the first time in hours.