275 JEmily - Not Just a Pretty Girl or a Flirty Boy
Jae wandered around the museum, waiting for the females to finish their discussion. The second floor didn't give him much to do. His eyes flickered to the private room. He figured they would take some time. Now, he needed to figure out how to occupy himself.
Why? To not obsess over one girl by just waiting and doing nothing.
He checked out the signs for any fun activity.
When he reached a large archway, he figured he might have found it. The answer came to him in a large display sight that read, 'Kids Section.' Since children had short attention spans, Jae hoped that the museum prepared something to catch their interest.
He gave himself a mental pat on the back.
He had discovered a gold mine.
Gadgets covered the space. He spotted giant screens, colorful equipment and aesthetic boards with informative text. Despite how cool the place looked, it didn't have many visitors. He frowned at that.
Yet, a part of him felt glad.
At least, he wouldn't have competition.
One display caught his eye. Images of snowy mountains covered a wall. A flatscreen was perched in the middle. To its right, railings stood on either side of a snowboard. The same setup had been added to its left.
Jae checked out the information board. It seemed the display explained 'Precision'. He didn't understand most of it since he merely skimmed it over. He just looked for instructions on how to use the snowboards.
"Hey, mister!" A voice called out from his left.
A 12-yr old kid skipped over to one of the snowboards. The single step turned on the game. He raised his arms, asking, "Are you playing or not? My sister doesn't want to, so I was waiting for someone to join me."
"Sure, kid," Jae agreed instantly. He hopped over to the second snowboard and waited.
A countdown appeared on the screen. Two figures stood at the inner corners. Both wore the proper gear while they stood on their snowboards. The horizon loomed before the mountain. Small trees covered the landscape below. Their characters hung over the edge, ready to slide down.
The buzzer sounded and signalled the start of the game.
Jae tilted the snowboard forward.
His character fell off the edge.
More trees appeared at the side of the mountain. His eyes widened at the sight. The forest pushed him to move quickly and in narrow turns. Now he knew why it was under the concept of precision. Each action had to be well calculated. The slightest mistake would topple off his character.
Gritting his teeth, Jae narrowed his gaze. He kept his eyes alert on sudden blockers. His feet added the slightest pressure just to move the snowboard. He sneaked a peek at the kid. It seemed that the latter kept up easily.
Still, he didn't want to lose.
It was still a game and it had a scoreboard.
A wicked grin spread across his face, studying the game and how to get more points.
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"Ohmygods! Thank you so much for talking to me! I feel so much better now!" Emily gushed. She gathered the stack of papers off the table. They showed off replicas of her designs. She found it easier to explain them by redrawing them.
"I don't think I even did much." Luna laughed as she stood up from the chair. "You pretty much had everything figured out. All the designs have a purpose to them."
She was amazed by the girl's mastery of her own work. Not once did the latter pull out a photo reference while she sketched them out. She had them perfectly memorized. And she even presented them in an organized manner.
It was a fascinating sight.
"I like that about them," Luna added, referring to the thought behind the work, "There should be more of that instead of just following the trend."
Emily rose to her feet. Looking at the papers, she folded them. She only had a small bag so they'd have to cram inside. "I love trends but for this, nah, I have to go beyond it."
Trends in a pageant? It would be the obvious choice. She knew it. Also, if she wanted to go with her plan, trends would not be the way to go. They'd consider her as a copycat even if that wasn't really the case.
She wanted to avoid any possible reason for them to talk.
Both of them walked towards the door. Luna's dark brown hair swayed behind her. Her legs moved limitedly because of her pencil skirt. Emily kept up with the designer's pace. It would be rude to get ahead.
Luna had one hand on the door knob when a thought came to her.
"You know what?" She began to say. Her obsidian eyes flickered towards the teenager. "Someday, after you graduate from fashion school, if you still need some help, I'll recommend you in any company you want. It would be a good start for when you start your own someday."
If Emily thought she wouldn't get another shock from today, she was proven wrong by those words. A recommendation from Luna Athon was almost like a seal of approval. She was barely 16! While Luna was a famous luxury designer.
To hear these words was an honor.
"Thank you, Ms. Athon," Emily managed to breathe out despite her shock. Her cobalt blue eyes shined with admiration. "This means so much coming from you."
Luna bit her inner cheek. She initially planned for them to part ways at this point. But, another idea struck her at the last second. She wanted to know something.
Letting go of the door knob, she spun on her heel and leaned against the door. A new glint gleamed in her gaze. It even showed in her smile, lighting up her whole face with mischief.
'This should be interesting,' she thought.
"Alright, now that's done. Let's move on something more important," Luna said as she fluttered her lashes.
Emily suppressed a gasp. Her eyes had widened but she pulled them back to normal in time. She stepped back and cleared her throat, wondering what this could be about.
"What would that be, Ms. Athon?"
"Jae," Luna grinned. She changed her position and leaned on the door with her shoulder instead. Her arms crossed over her chest as she studied the teenager's face. "What do you think of him?"
"He's an arrogant guy who likes to get on my nerves," Emily answered without hesitation. She winced after she realized what she just said. It probably wasn't good to say that.
"Well, what about now?" Luna asked, unfazed by her outburst. She titled her head to one side. "What do you think of him now after meeting me?"
She watched as the teenager thought about it. From what she understood, Emily hadn't considered how this meeting was made possible because of him. It was a thoughtful gesture if Luna had anything to say about it.
"That he's a crafty guy."
"Did you get on the wrong foot?" She chuckled. It had to be the reason why Emily found it hard to see him differently. The teenager seemed always suspicious of the guy.
"I guess…" Emily dragged to a pause. Her eyes misted as she recalled their early meetings. "When I met him, he was a random guy, who showed up out of nowhere, and decided to just flirt with me."
She was minding her own business that day—spying in Woodlands Academy to catch a glimpse of Logan—when Jae interrupted her and offered his help. That arrogance struck deep. She found it quite annoying, especially when he acted that way a lot.
But, they also had decent conversations.
It was just hard to remember when the other memories outweighed it.
"Well, you are pretty," Luna pointed out.
"I know. But it still wasn't the best first impression because it's not like he was the first one to do that," Emily sighed. Her eyes dropped to the floor. More than irritated, it was sad how she never found a real genuine guy. Although she was only 15, it still wavered her hope on her love life.
"Were they that bad?"
"They were that annoying," she scoffed with an eye roll. Then, her voice became small once again. "I know how I look and I like being admired by it but… there's like more to me than that. I'm not just some rich girl who likes to spend money on clothes."
She couldn't explain it, even to herself. The closest she could describe it was how every guy seemed to have the same script or the same assumption when talking to her. She heard it so many times that it became artificial to her ears.
Luna's gaze changed. The mischief melted away and became sympathy.
"Clothes are part of your passion."
"Yeah!" Emily exclaimed, meeting the designer's eyes. "I didn't just buy them. I had several reasons why I picked it out. From the shape, to the color, to the fit, to the fabric… it's not just because I want to spend a lot of money or show off. I am not materialistic as they perceive me to be."
They didn't get it. It may be harsh to think that way but she couldn��t help it. Elena and Charlotte would say that she never gave those guys a fair chance. But did that make her wrong? Was it hard to see how she loved shopping because she appreciated the clothes?
"I understand," Luna replied. She pushed herself off the door and held the teenager's shoulders. Her head leaned in, offering comfort in her gaze. "Their impression of you is based on the impressions they made on others."
"Exactly," Emily shook her head but kept eye contact. "They see me as the same."
The designer nodded in understanding and pulled back. A small smile teased the corner of her lips. Her hand grabbed the door knob and turned it, opening the door. "Well, you're not alone in that. I know someone else is experiencing the same."
Emily blinked in surprise. "Yeah?"
"Yeah." Luna winked.
"Who?"
'Was it her?' Emily thought, 'Was this common among designers?'
"Who else but Jae?" Luna cackled, clutching her stomach. The irony amused her but it played right into where she wanted it to head. "Didn't you just tell me that he wasn't the first guy to flirt with you the way he did? And because of that, you are unable to see him as he is."
Emily froze. The conversation replayed in her mind. Did she sound like a hypocrite just now? What had Jae done for her compared to the other guys? Her eyes landed on the designer before her.
Ah… she got it now. She now saw why Luna asked her a second time. She hadn't been able to appreciate the reason behind this moment. Those simple statements immediately shattered her image of Jae. Only to create a new blank slate.
Somehow, she wasn't mad at it.
"I see…" she mumbled, taking a deep breath. She smiled at the designer and said, "Thank you again, Ms. Athon. I'll be looking for him now."
"No problem," Luna smiled. She opened the door fully and let her out. "Also, you might want to check the kids' section. I think it would be the place he'd go to."
