"Where are you guys?" I nearly shouted into the phone. The art show is tonight and my friends should have been here by now.
"Calm down," Emmett said. "We're pulling in now. I let out a big breath of air and hung up the phone.
"What took you so long?" I asked walking up to them. They all look very nice tonight. Ben is wearing a white dress shirt with black dress pants, Sara is sporting a long, black, strapless dress. Mel is wearing a cute little floral print dress, she brought Asher along with her. He is wearing a blue dress shirt and black pants, and as always, Emmett is wearing a green Polo shirt, tan khaki's and tan Sperry's.
"I got hungry." Ben said shrugging. I punched him in the arm. I swear, food is always the first thing on that boy's mind! Last year he was late for Emmett's golf tournament because they were having an all you can eat buffet at the Chinese restaurant in town.
"You were more worried about stuffing your face than getting to the show on time?" I asked crossing my arms over my chest.
"I'm sorry but I'm a big boy!" He defended. "I was tempted to eat Mel. Her dress makes her look like a garden salad." Everyone but Mel laughed at his comment.
"Do I really look like a garden salad?" She whispered to Asher quietly.
"No babe," He said pecking her lips. "You look like a sexy fruit salad." She giggled and twirled her fingers in his hair. I rolled my eyes at them. There are paintings that students have done on display all over the museum. We walked around looking at various pieces. Many of them are gorgeous, some I still cant figure out.
"I want to see your painting." Mel said getting excited. "Where is it?" She asked looking around. I turned and at the place where my painting sat. There were people crowded all around it, at least thirty. There were more people surrounding my painting than there were others.
"It's in front of that mob of people." I mumbled. Everyone smiled and rushed over. Mr. Wilkes popped up out of no where and scared me.
"There you are," He said grabbing my arm. "There are a lot of people here who would like to hear the story behind your painting." I froze up. I can't tell these strangers that the woman in the picture is me and the man is the love of my life who is to soon make an appearance from the dead.
"Its kind of personal, Mr. Wilkes." I said before we got to the group. He stopped and looked at me deep in my eye. Mr. Wilkes has always been that cool teacher, you know how most students go to their coaches or counselors for advice? Well everyone comes to him.
He's sweet, kind, generous and thoughtful. Every year for Christmas he buys all of his students a gift. He doesn't go out and buy little bags of candy and a little Merry Christmas note. This guys buys real gifts; camera's, jewelry, clothes. At the beginning of the year he makes his Christmas list.
"You can lie," He said shrugging. "Nobody is going to force anything out of you." I nodded and walked over to the people. "Excuse me," He said. The people in front of us stopped chatting about the painting and turned to us. "This is Shawnee Blackfoot, she is the proud owner of this painting." He looked at me and gave me an easy smile. "Are you up for a few questions?" He asked quietly.
"I guess so." I whispered. I'm not much of a group speaker, but I do my best. All of my friends are giving me inspirational smiles. I smiled back weakly and prepared to answer my first question.
"Who is the woman in the picture?" A woman in the back of the crowd asked. I hesitated a bit but covered myself.
"I'm not sure," I lied. "She's just a woman from my dream."
"Who is the man?" A guy asked. I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't know. I just dreamed of them."
"Does the dream mean anything to you?" One person asked.
"Actually, yes." I said. "It means a lot to me. As you can see the two people in the picture are Natives, my parents are Caucasian with blond hair and blue eyes." Some people looked at each other with confused faces.
"Why do you look like a Native American then?" Someone else asked. "Are you adopted?"
"No!" I gasped feeling slightly insulted. "The gene stayed recessive for generations and then it hit me full-blown. My parents are my parents." After the questions, I started getting offers to sell. One man offered me ten thousand dollars for it! He had the cash with him already! I turned it down. No amount of money will ever be enough.
The show actually went pretty well. After we left we all went out to dinner. We went to a small café in town. Its nice and comfortable. It's a family place but that doesn't keep the teenagers from going there and having fun. "I'm so hungry." Ben said as he sat down and wrapped his arm around Sara's tiny frame.
I wish I had someone to hold me like that. I long to feel Cheveyo's arms wrapped around me. I wonder how much longer I have to wait for him. Its been twelve years and it gets harder and harder every day. It's not as hard now since my dream has changed. I'm a lot more hopeful and anxious. It may be for nothing but I can't help it. I looked over at Mel and Asher, she is leaning against him with her head tucked under his chin.
He's got an arm wrapped around her and he is tracing designs with his finger on her arm. She sighed and closed her eyes, enjoying the feeling of his touch. Everyone around me is happy and in love. Well everyone except Emm. He shouldn't have any problems getting girls, but he does. He'll keep a girlfriend for two, maybe three weeks, then they dump him. He never goes into detail about it and he doesn't like it when people mention it.
"You're always hungry." Emmett said with a laugh. "Its been what? Three hours since you ate?" Ben chuckled lightly and shrugged.
"What can I say?" He asked. "I like food." Our waitress is a tall brown-haired girl who goes to our school. She has really pretty blue eyes and a really nice body. I think her name is Alison or something like that. I looked at her name tag for clarification. Dang, Adrian. Well I knew it started with an A. She doesn't do much talking so people don't really hang around her much. When she walked up, Emmett perked up.
"What can I get you?" She asked gloomily.
"How about your number?" Emmett said with a cocky voice. I looked over at him and he is smiling harder than I've ever seen him smile. It's not that usual smile he gives girls when he's trying to get a girls attention, He really wants to get to know her, which is odd.
"Excuse me?" She asked trying to hide her rosy cheeks. She tucked a few loose strands of hair behind her ear and didn't look Emm in the eye. I looked at around the table and saw everyone staring at Emmett with their mouths standing wide open.
He stood up and grabbed her hand. He brought it to his lips and kissed it. "I would really love it if you gave me your number." He said smiling hopefully. She pulled her hand away shyly.
"Why do you want my number?" She asked curiously. "You've never paid attention to me before."
"I've paid very close attention to you for a while." He said. "I just didn't know how to make my move."
"I've seen you with your girlfriends," She said rolling her eyes. "Do I look like the type to fall for that?" He shrugged his shoulder.
"Ask my friends," He said. "No, ask Shawn, she wont lie." She turned and looked at me nervously. I didn't even give her time to ask me anything. I am going to give her the low down and dirty on Emmett.
"He's amazing," I started. "He may not look like much but he's the most protective and loving person you will ever run into." She glanced at him and smiled a little. "Even though you've seen him with a couple of girls, he's not a player. In fact he's never broken up with a girl. He can be an amazing lover and an even better best friend. You have nothing to worry about." I said finishing. Yea, there isn't really much dirty about Emmett.
"See." Emmett said smiling at her. When she looked away, he mouthed thank you in my direction.
"Don't torture the man," I laughed. "Just give him your number, you wont regret it." She thought about it for a few moments then pulled a pen from her shirt pocket. She tore off one of the order slips and jotted her name and number down.
"You better be the guy she says you are," She said. "I don't have time for games." Everyone knows she's serious. I don't know if anybody else can see that she's been hurt before, but I can. When she first came to the table she looked like she'd rather be dead, now she looks much brighter and happier.
"I promise." He said placing his hands over his heart. She giggled and took our orders.
"Emmett is finally gonna get laid!" Ben blurted out when she went to the back. Sara punched him in the arm and glared at him.
"Shut up," She said. "I think it was sweet." She smiled.
"Shawn helped you out there." Mel said. "She described you perfectly." Emm grabbed me and hugged me so tight I couldn'tbreath.
"Thank you so much Shawn!" He said happily. "I've wanted to talk to her for years, I just didn't know how!" I pulled away from him.
"You talk to every other girl with no problem," I said with a raised brow. "What makes her so different?" He sat there for a moment thinking.
"I don't know." He said sounding distant. "I've always felt some attraction towards her. Its weird, its like something is pulling me towards her."
"Is that why you other relationships didn't work out?" Mel asked hesitantly. He nodded his head.
"I couldn't stop thinking about her," He said. "That's why the girls broke up with me. I wasn't into them enough. I'm only into her and I hope she gives me a chance." It seems like the way he feels for her is the way I feel about Cheveyo. He can't find himself being with another woman just like I can't be with anyone but him.
"Shawn, why are you crying?" Sara asked. I touched my face and felt wet tears. I didn't even realize I was crying until she said something. I grabbed a napkin and wiped my face quickly.
"Its nothing." I said. They sat there looking at me with concern. "I'm fine guys, Emmett just brought out my emotional side." I said nudging him a bit. I smiled brightly and everyone seemed to look relieved. A few minutes later, Adrian came back with our food.
"Thank you beautiful." Emmett whispered to her. She blushed and rushed away from the table. He looked a little worried when she rushed off.
"She's just shy." Asher said. "I've talked to her a few times, she's really sweet." He nodded a little but still looked a little sad. "Call her tonight." Ash suggested.
"What if she doesn't answer." He said sounding doubtful. "What if she gave me a fake number?" I rolled my eyes and looked around for Adrian. She is standing in the corner making coffee. I pulled out my phone and picked the number up off of the table and dialed it. It started to ring.
I looked back to see her reaching in her pocket for her phone. I smiled as she answered.
"Hello?" She said trying to hide the fact that she was talking on the phone while working.
"Hey Adrian, this is Shawn." She looked over at our table confused. "Emmett is worried that you may have given him a fake number. I just wanted to show him that you wouldn't do that." She smiled in our direction. Emmett tried to hide himself. He is cheeks look like strawberries.
"Tell him to call me later." She said giggling and hanging up the phone.
"Why did you do that?!" He whisper yelled. He isn't mad, but I can tell he's upset. I rolled my eyes at him.
"To prove a point," I said smacking him in the back of the head. "She said call her tonight." His eyes got big and he smiled excitedly. Then he looked nervous again.
"OK dude, your being such a chick right now." Ben said. "Stop worrying and be yourself. Obviously we like you enough to bearound you for six years, she'll love you."
"Yea!" Everyone said in agreement.
"It will be fine." Mel said. "At first I thought Ash was just a emo kid who wouldn't have anything to do with a nerd like me, then I found out that he has liked me for a very long time. Its kind of like You and Adrian." Ash nodded his head.
"I've liked her since fourth grade," He admitted. "That's a long time to hide you're feelings." I wanted to say 'Try being in love with a person for twelve years and not know if he exists.' but I didn't. I didn't feel like talking after this so I just sat back and picked at my food until it was time to go. I'm so happy for all of my friends but I pity myself. I don't know if I'll ever have what they have.