Tell Me You Love Me

Painting(Onety-Forty-Four)

Emily's POV (check previous chapter for ages)

I'm really excited for today. I love to paint and I'm finally getting an actual lesson from Rachel Elizabeth Dare herself, the Oracle. 

I've met her a few times because she spends most summers in her cave at Camp Half-Blood, but she typically lives in an apartment in New York. But I guess my mom let slip that I love to paint, so Rachel invited Denali and I over to her cave to paint for the day. 

Denali was less enthusiastic because she claims she's terrible at art, but I don't believe her. You can't be terrible at art, it's just all in your perception of what's beautiful. As E.A. Bucchianeri said, 'Art is in the eye of the beholder, and everyone will have their own interpretation.'

So it was mid-morning when Denali and I started our trek up to Rachel's Oracle cave, swinging our entwined hands between us.

When we reached the cave, I pulled aside the beaded curtains and called out a 'hello.' 

"Come on in!" Rachel responded, coming out of a side room with a few canvases in hand. She looked about the same as I remembered, her wild red hair tied back with a bandanna, freckles covering her face and arms. Her clothes, too, were covered in paint. 

When I was little, I used to think of Rachel Elizabeth Dare as the crazy cave lady, but seeing inside her summer home, it wasn't like that at all. It was warm and candle lit with paintings covering the wall (one wall was painted on top of a splotchy white coat of paint). There were beanbags and blankets and pillows everywhere and it seemed so cozy. 

"Here, help me set up these easels, will you?" Rachel asked and Denali and I went over to set them up. Rachel set a canvas on each and then brought over little desk tables to set our paint on.

"So what do you ladies want to paint today?" Rachel asked once we'd gotten all set up.

Denali and I shared a look and shrugged. 

"Well, I usually just paint my visions, but I can teach you how to paint something specific if you'd like."

After some discussion, we decided that Rachel would teach us how to paint a sunset over the strawberry fields. She walked us through it step by step. Of course, her's was the best, but I was pretty proud of my own, too. 

Denali's painting looked more abstract, but I thought it was still really good, even though Denali didn't really think so. 

There really was a sunset over the strawberry fields when we walked back to camp later that day, holding our canvases. "That was really fun," I told Denali excitedly. 

Denali nodded along. "Yeah I didn't think I would enjoy it as much as I did. Thanks for bringing me along."

"Anything for you," I said with a cheesy grin.

She kissed me and then held up her painting to compare it to the real deal and shrugged. "It's not that bad, actually."

"Almost as beautiful as you."