Chapter 2: Meeting a New Friend

Emily walked down the hallway. She glanced every now and then at the numbers painted on the doors and then back down at her schedule.

She had arrived in New York about a month ago. She had come early so she could get a good feel for the campus and get used to living without her family. She did have a roommate, which was probably the only friend that Emily had in New York. Margaret Thompson was her name, Margie for short.

Emily took another deep breath, then looked at the door closest to her. "Art room 204…yep, this is it." She thought. She looked at the clock, which was hanging in the hallway. "7:52…I've still got ten minutes until class starts. I may as well go inside and take a look around." She thought as she opened the door to the somewhat noisy classroom.

Once inside, she saw what must have seemed like a dream. Art supplies of every form was scattered about the room. There were paintings and drawings covering the walls. Easels sat brand new and unused in the far back corner. Emily walked around the room taking it all in. She couldn't hear the other people around her or any other noise or distraction for that matter. She was in her own little world.

A painting caught her eye. She started to make her way to it, not even realizing that there was a desk in her way as well as a small group of people. She bumped into the desk and started to fall to the ground. But all of a sudden arms grabbed her, supporting her. When she looked up at the person who had saved her from falling, she was somewhat surprised. Before her stood a young man about her age. He had dark brown hair and brown eyes. His smile seemed to gleam at her.

"Careful there. You ok?" he said with a slight grin on his face.

"Oh I'm fine. I guess I'm off in my own little world. But thank you for helping me."

"Oh you're welcome. Do have this class?"

"I sure do. I can't believe I'm actually here. I mean, I've dreamt of being able to do something like this all my life and now, here I am, here at this school. There's just so much to take in."

"Oh I know. So you like art?"

"More than anything."

"Yeah me too. Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name's John."

"Nice to meet you John. My name's Emily, Emily Dawson." She said as they shook hands politely.

"The pleasure's all mine." Emily smiled and blushed a little. John continued, "Well any ways, I've enjoyed art for as long as I can remember. Ever since I was a little kid, I would always tell my father just how much I wanted to be an artist. He HATED the idea! He was always against me liking art. Who knows why he hates artists? I've always loved it though. He resented the idea of sending me here, but eventually I convinced him. What about you? How'd you wind up here?"

"Oh, I've always loved art. My parents are really fond of it. You see my father's an illustrator for a series of children's books and my mother has always loved art. I was a little surprised at how supportive they were when I told them that this is where I wanted to go. But then again, they're usually always supportive of me."

John opened his mouth to say something but the bell wrung and everyone rushed to a seat. Emily took a seat on the far right hand side of the classroom next to a girl about her age and John sat with a group of friends on the opposite side.

The first day of art class was mainly to describe the course and explain a little bit about what the school is about. Emily tried to listen to the lecture, but her thoughts kept going back to John. She didn't know why, but she couldn't help thinking about him. All throughout class, she and John exchanged glances, barely listening to the instructor.

When the break bell wrung and everyone left in a hurry to leave, Emily stayed behind to look at the art on the walls. John walked over to her, noticing she was going to stay for the 15-minute break.

"Sounds great doesn't it?"

Emily was a little startled at first, since her thoughts were focused on a painting of ship pulling into New York Harbor. "What? Oh, the class! Yes, it's sounds absolutely amazing. I'm afraid I didn't get your last name?"

"Oh, I'm sorry. It's Hockley, Jonathan Hockley."



Chapter 3
Story Index

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