Monday morning had come and Emma was getting ready to leave for school. Her father and Emmett were already gone.
After getting dressed, Emma decided to look through old photo albums to find one specific picture that she wanted to frame.
She found the picture of herself and Jay that was taken on Halloween when they were in third grade. She was dressed as a chocolate pudding cup and he a wasp.
Before leaving the Summers house last night, Jay revealed to her his new tattoo on his right index finger. It was a small tattoo of a wasp. It was a way for her to tell him apart from Ray but also a reminder of third grade Halloween, a milestone event of their life long friendship.
Emma removed the photo of herself in 8th grade from its frame and replaced it with the photo of her and Jay. She smiled in satisfaction at it.
She grabbed her school bag and made her way to the front door.
Her eyebrows came together in confusion when she noticed Marcus's truck parked upfront.
Marcus got out of the car and stood there.
"Hey...What are you doing here?" Emma asked as she walked towards him.
"So, how would you like to accompany me to FeatherHill?" He asked.
"Uhhm, we have school." Emma stated. "And we are going to be late if we don't leave now."
"Come on. It's just one day, we won't miss a lot." Marcus said. "Please?"
Emma narrowed her eyes at him. She did not have enough details to agree to this spur of the moment trip.
"Are you for real? That town is like hours away!
What is so important that you are skipping school on a Monday?"
"You will find out if you agree to come with me." Marcus answered.
The response made Emma even more curious and willing but the idea was crazy and quite suspicious.
"Nope." She said and started walking to her car. "I'm going to school."
"Are you seriously gonna make me beg?" Marcus asked. "Just trust me on this? We are friends right?"
Emma stopped at her car door. Her budding friendship with Marcus was going great and she did not want him to think she didn't trust him.
She groaned.
"Fiiiine... but this better be worth it."
"It will be. I promise." Marcus assured.
*
Featherhill was the next town after McCollumford. The drive between the two towns was about one hour thirty minutes.
Featherhill was more of racially diverse town compared to Summerville. As a matter of fact, 70% of the town consisted of people of color. Like McCollumford, people actually voted for their leaders. Summerville was the only town that followed the founders clause.
This was Emma's first time in Featherhill. It was named that because one of the hills surrounding the town was in the shape of a feather from bird's eye view. It was a pretty neat town, houses that were situated in the same neighborhood were more or less similar in color.
Marcus pulled up in front of small brick building. It was on a busy street because people were walking by going in different directions. There were also some shops and businesses on that same street.
"I should probably tell you why we are here." Marcus said as he turned the car off.
"You should." Emma stated as a matter of factly.
Marcus chuckled.
"So my friend Ava is a fashion designer and she called me this morning to tell me that the models she hired for today could not make it so..." He said with a little bit of hesitation.
"So?" Emma asked, her mind running a blank.
"I volunteered for us to be models." Marcus said quickly.
"Wait what?" Emma exclaimed. "You are kidding right? Please tell me you are!"
Marcus shook his head.
"Marcus! What is wrong with you?! I never even modeled before."
"I'm sorry! I didn't know who to ask besides you..." Marcus tried explaining. He was quiet for a few seconds as Emma fumed.
"And if it makes you feel any better, I'm no model either."
Emma scoffed.
"So you thought it would be a good idea to set us both up for failure huh?" She scolded slightly annoyed because she knew nothing about fashion or modeling. Emma always stuck to skinny jeans and knitted crop top sweaters or normal sweaters because they felt safe and never outdated. She never jumped on the latest trends.
"Look, I'm genuinely sorry okay... we can drive back home if you want to." Marcus offered.
Emma let out a deep breath. The idea of modeling put a pit in her stomach but she also did not want to disappoint Marcus or his designer friend.
"We are already here so we might as well just do it and this might be important to your friend so bailing would be awful."
"Are you sure about this?" Marcus asked.
Emma nodded with a smile.
"Besides, it would be great to see you in something else other than hoodies and sweatpants."
"Hey! Respect the sweats and hoodies okay." Marcus joked.
He and Emma laughed then left the car and walked towards the entrance of the building.
Marcus slid open the large steel door and the pit in Emma's stomach only grew deeper when she saw what awaited them.
There were cameras and lights, a white background, racks of clothing and some people.
"Markie!" A girl exclaimed. She was tall and slender with golden braids on her head.
"I can't believe you made it!"
"Ava, hey..." Marcus said as he hugged the girl. "And I told you to stop calling me that."
The hug broke and the girl looked at Emma, who smiled awkwardly.
At first, Emma thought the girl in front of her was Caucasian but as she stared longer, she realized the girl had albinism.
"This must be Emma and wow you were not lying when you said she was beautiful." Ava stated.
Emma's eyes grew wide and looked at Marcus, who looked away.
"Oh my gosh. Thank you." She said as she blushed.
"I love your outfit."
Ava smiled and looked down at her black Hem Belted Jacket 2-Piece Pant Suit combo with black heels.
"Thank you! Not my design but I thought this was cute and a must have."
"Ava, we are ready when you are." A guy said. He was holding a camera.
"In a minute." Ava responded. "So you guys are going to be my models for today. I have a portfolio due and I have to showcase some of my best designs on actual people. I have everything set up, cameras, outfits, hair and make up. I really hope this is not too much to ask."
"Not at all." Marcus answered.
Emma smiled. "Yeah. We are happy to help."
She was lying a little about being happy to help.
"Okay great! Markie, you are over there!" Ava said pointing to a small room. "And Emma, you come with me."
Emma was taken to the make up area where two girls were waiting for her. Her anxiety and nerves were less intense. Something about Ava felt very welcoming.
"So how do you and Marcus know each other?"
Ava was by a rack sorting out some clothes.
"We were in the same church choir. I lived in Summerville for a while until my dad moved us here."
"Marcus was in the choir?" Emma asked shocked.
Before Ava could respond, Marcus walked out of his dressing room. He was dressed in a loose fit white shirt and matching shorts. Both pieces of clothing had the letters DBA all over them.
"DBA?" Emma asked.
"Designs by Ava." Marcus and Ava said in unison.
"Also, these are some short shorts." Marcus added. The shorts were mid thigh above his knees.
"Oh come on. Look at those legs!" Ava exclaimed. "Doesn't he look hot?"
Emma looked at Marcus. The outfit was very summer themed and fitting to Marcus and his muscular physique. He looked like he was going to vacation on an island somewhere. He did look hot, Emma thought.
"Ava tells me you were in the choir." She said, dodging the question she was asked.
Marcus looked at Ava with a frown.
"Really? You had to tell her?"
"Voice of an angel I tell you." Ava commented.
Emma giggled.
"Aww, I would love to see a young Marcus singing in church."
"Stop." Marcus warned.
"Just ask his grandma, I'm sure she has some videos of the choir." Ava stated. "How is she by the way?"
Emma looked at Marcus who became tense all of a sudden, his jaw was clenched.
"Uhm... she is great." He said looking at Emma. His eyes held no emotion.
"Okay good." Ava smiled. "Okay, we are going to do a few solo shots of you and then Emma will join you." She grabbed Marcus's arm and walked him to the photo shoot area.
Emma felt bad that Marcus was lying to people about what happened to his grandmother. She didn't understand why he could not just tell the truth.
The girls finished doing Emma's make up and hair and then the clothes were brought out.
Emma started off with a white short cold shoulder summer dress and joined Marcus for the shoot.
As the day went on, the outfits changed. It was everything from professional business wear to casual.
The last item they had to shoot for was wedding themed. Emma wore a long sleeved open back lace wedding gown with a tiara on her head and the vail, her shoulder length brunette hair was straightened to perfection. She chuckled as she took one last look in the mirror. It was like a glance into the future of her wedding and hopefully the guy waiting at the alter would be Liam.
"Are you ready?" Ava asked.
"Yeah. This is a beautiful dress by the way." Emma commented appreciating the long white laced gown.
"Thank you, seriously. For agreeing to this." Ava thanked. "You guys really saved my ass."
Emma and Ava walked out of the dressing room and to the photo shoot area. Marcus stood there in a slim fit tuxedo accompanied by a black bow tie. The low fade cut on his head was brushed, creating perfect waves.
"Woah." He said as his eyes landed on Emma.
"You like?" She asked with a playful smirk.
Marcus nodded.
"So since this is a wedding shoot, can you guys pretend to be a couple?" Ava asked as she handed both Emma and Marcus fake wedding bands.
"I'm sure we can pull it off." Emma said confidently. She found the activity fun.
"Yeah." Marcus supported.
Emma walked over to Marcus and stood in front of him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he was frozen in place, staring at her.
"You have to place your hands on my waist." She whispered.
Marcus looked like he snapped out of a little trance.
"Fuck, yeah yeah yeah." He said quickly. He placed his hands on her waist and the camera's started flashing.
Emma studied every feature on Marcus's face because this was the first she was this close to him. He had beautiful long lashes and perfectly shaped eyebrows. His dark brown eyes complemented those features.
Her eyes darted from his eyes, to nose, to lips. They were full and pink, the chapstick over line on them as clear as day. Emma wondered what it would be like to kiss them.
"Switch up the style." Ava stated.
Emma and Marcus kept their eyes connected, neither of them looking away from the other.
Marcus's left hand left Emma's waist and he held it up, as if swearing an oath in court.
Emma's eyes followed her right hand as it dropped from Marcus's neck and placed it into his left hand. Her soft palm landed in his hard and slightly calloused one.
The touch made Emma's heart skip a beat, but instead of pulling away, she entwined their fingers.
Her eyes darted back to Marcus's ones.
"You really do look amazing." He said in a low tone.
Emma felt her cheeks warming up, she smiled genuinely and placed the side of her head on his chest, swaying to the slow song that played in the background.