Summer Falls in Love

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

Summer pushed up her glasses and looked at the canvas in front of her. Propped up by an easel, the half-painted canvas stood by Summer’s window. She had strategically placed the easel, with the canvas on it, next to her floor-to-ceiling windows so the natural sun light could shine upon it.

Armed with a palette of oil paints on one hand and her favorite brush in the other, she started to paint her mind again. She had spent her whole morning doing this and now…it was a little past the afternoon. But it was okay; it was a Saturday. She spent most of her Saturday’s drawing and painting anyway. So it was more like a routine now.

The painting was of a boy and a girl again. It was similar to the sketch she drew in her book a little while ago; the one where a boy and girl were sat on a bench on the beach, sitting closely together, faces unseen. Except this time, the boy and the girl were standing face-to-face on the beach, holdings hands and staring at each other lovingly as the sun set behind them.

Once again, Summer didn’t know how she even got the inspiration to draw these things. One thing she realized about most of her drawings was the subjects of most of them were a couple; a boy and a girl. She guessed she liked love. Or well, at least, lovey-dovey gestures. 

Jake suddenly flickered into her mind at the thought of love. She scrunched her eyebrows. Why is he appearing in her mind? They were nothing but friends…weren’t they?

Lately, Summer had been confused of her feelings for Jake. She knows that she only likes him as a best friend. But her heart begs to differ. So what was this feeling she got whenever Jake was around? It was unexplainable. 

Suddenly her eyes flickered to the clock hanging on the wall. But then she did a double take. What? It was already 4 in the afternoon!? She quickly put her palette down and ran to toilet to wash her brushes, rinsing and soaking them in thinner. Then, she dashed to her room to get ready.

She had a dinner date with Jake again, to uphold their public couple status. So far, the public and everyone else had bought their story and they were already making front page news on magazines everywhere. Safe to say, it’s a success.

~*~

At 4:30pm, the doorbell rang and Summer nearly jumped out of her skin. Jake wasn’t due to arrive in another 15 minutes. She was still dressed in her robe and still doing her hair. She hurried to the door and opened it.

  “You’re early,” Summer said as Jake entered her apartment. She quickly closed the door behind him and rushed back to her room.

  “Thought I might drop by earlier,” Jake said, casually walking around her apartment.

  “Well just make yourself at home,” Summer hollered back, “I’ll be done in 10.”

Jake looked around Summer’s apartment. It had been exactly the same as it had been the last time he came, except this time, well…a little messier. Jake hated to admit it though.

But as he glanced around, he noticed something that hadn’t been there the last time he came. Other than Summer’s messy stuff lying around the place, there was an easel placed by the window. It stood out because of the eye-catching painting that was on it.

Jake took long strides towards the painting, slowly examining it. His breath caught in his throat when he saw the whole image. It was by far the most beautiful painting he had ever seen!

The first thing he noticed about the painting was the extremely well-blended and shaded sunset background, which was mixed with all sorts of oranges, yellows and reds. It seemed so real, as though he was really looking at the sky. The next thing was the darkish blue sea, which had bits of orange and yellow hastily painted on it to show the sun reflecting off of it. 

But the last thing was what awed Jake the most; the subject of the picture; the girl and the boy, holding hands and staring lovingly at each other. Jake examined it even more closely. He could see that the girl held almost the same features as Summer did, especially the brown wavy hair, which was the most obvious resemblance. 

Because of the stunning setting sun, most of the objects in the picture have been toned down in colour to contrast the beautiful background. You could make out the features of the couple but it was hard and they looked like silhouettes. But still, Summer had painted it so realistically you could almost feel the love radiating from the two of them.

At first, Jake thought Summer had painted this in remembrance of her ex and her. A little bubble of emotion arose on Jake’s heart. Was that jealousy? How could he be feeling jealous?

But then he noticed the little golden tints on the boy’s hair. It looked so similar to his hair; short but not too short; ruffled by the wind. Then he noticed the little blue orbs of eyes that held striking similarity of his. No way. Did…Did Summer just paint a picture of two of them?

Frankly Jake wouldn’t have minded. But the fact that they were holding hands and gazing lovingly at each other poked him in the side of the face. The little uneasy feeling on his heart disappeared completely and was replaced by a more melt-like feeling that made him go soft inside.

Did Summer really have feelings for him? Really, truly, honestly? He didn’t want to get happy and then get rejected by her. What if it was all a mere coincidence? After all, this had been the very first time he’d seen Summer paint. And truth be told, he was utterly shocked and left speechless by her art skills. So he decided to keep this little discovery of his a secret for the time being and not let himself be too overwhelmed.

What more could this girl do? First she cooks like a 5-star chef, now she paints like Picasso, what next? This girl was full of surprises. And Jake found it somewhat interesting. He has never found a girl so fascinating like Summer before.

  “Jake?” Summer’s smooth voice echoed throughout the apartment, shaking Jake out of his thoughts. He blinked his eyes a few times, registering what she said.

  “Right here!” He hollered back at her, quickly dashing away from the painting. Knowing Summer, he knew she wouldn’t have wanted him to know about her personal works. He found Summer by the door of her apartment, putting on some strappy heels and looking gorgeous with a one-strapped purple dress. “Are you ready?”

  “Ready as I’ll ever be,” Summer said confidently and flashing him a smile.

Seeing that adorable smile of hers, Jake decided to keep it low for now. He wasn’t going to ask her about the painting yet. 

For all you know, Summer could have been really painting her and Jake after all.

~*~

Hey guys!

sorry, I feel like this was more a filler chapter to develop Summer's character and her feelings :) vote, comment and fan!

Julia :)