Page 23 of If Everything Was Easy

“So where are you taking me?” I smirked as he opened my door and I climbed in.

“You’ll see.” He winked.

I watched as he jogged around to his side and climbed in. Other than smiling at me, we rode in silence. It was evening and the sun was just about to sink below the horizon, putting us in darkness.

It didn’t take too long until we pulled up to a small house. “Sit tight,” he requested as he climbed out. I saw him punch a few things in his phone before coming around to open my door. “This way.” He took my hand and led me over to the house. Just as we reached the steps to the porch, an outside light came on.

“Is this someone’s house?” I was confused and a bit scared. I trusted him, but all of this was starting to come together like one of those Lifetime movies where the guy takes the unsuspecting girl out into the middle of nowhere.

“It used to be. Now it’s a friend’s art studio.” He smiled. “I thought we could make something.” The door opened and a small petite blonde was standing there barefoot with an apron covering her clothes. There was paint and other smudgescovering the front. Her hair was pulled up in a messy knot on her head, and her hand and chin had more smudges on them.

“Hey, Carter. I’ve got everything set up.” She stepped back to let us pass.

“This is Ava.” He introduced us. “Ava, this is Margo. She’s a friend from high school.”

“Nice to meet you. So what are we doing here?” I glanced around. There were canvases of all sizes propped up in different stages of completion all around the room. Shelves of pottery adorned one wall, and a potter’s wheel was in the back.

“I just finished a piece. The place is yours.” She smiled.

“Thanks.” Carter grabbed two aprons off a peg on the wall, and handed me one. “We’re going to make some pottery.” He said it like it was the easiest thing in the world.

“We’re going to what?” I gasped as I stared at him as if he grew two heads.

He started laughing. “I’ll help you. It’ll be fun. Besides, when have you ever backed down from a challenge?” He tipped his head to the side and gave me a look as if he really knew me already.

“Ok fine, but no laughing,” I warned. I tied the apron around my waist, and let him lead me over to the stool I was to sit on.

“I’ll just be in the other room. Yell if you need help.” Margo waved as she padded off.

“We’ll start small.” Carter plopped a chunk of clay on the wheel. “You need to wet your hands.” He pointed to a small basin off to the side with muddy water in it. “Like this.” He dipped his hands in, and then flipped a switch that brought the wheel to life. Itslowly spun, and I watched with rapt attention as he molded the clay with his hands. They slid over it, slowly forming what might turn into a bowl of sort, but he stopped. “Your turn.” He stepped back.

“I can’t do this,” I squeaked.

“Sure you can. There’s no wrong way.” He laughed. “I’ll help you.”

I dipped my hands into the water, and then tentatively touched the clay. It felt slimy in my hands, and started to warp into this lopsided shape. “I’m wrecking it.” I pulled back, but Carter moved behind me. He urged me to put my hands back, and then he helped hold them steady.

“It takes practice, but our piece will be unique. No one else will have it.” His mouth was right next to my ear and as he spoke, his breath tickled the hairs by my ear.

“How did you get into this?” I whispered.

“I took a ceramics class in high school. That’s where I met Margo. She went to school for art, and we’ve kept in touch. I come here to blow off steam sometimes.”

The longer he talked, the more I didn’t want him to stop. It was like being in a trance of sorts. The soft light of the studio and the hum of the potter’s wheel set up a romantic setting. “I think we got it.” We moved our hands and the wheel came to a stop. It was kinda crooked, but it didn’t look that bad.

“Pretty good for your first try. Do you want to glaze it?” Margo peeked around the corner.

“Of course.” Carter helped me up as Margo slipped a wire under our pot to release it from the wheel. She carried it over to a counter, and pointed to a plethora of bottles.

“Take your pick.” She motioned.

“What color should we use?” I glanced at the choices. I’d never been to Carter’s place so I had no idea what he had in his apartment.

“You seem to have a blue theme going on, so something with that.” He shrugged.

“Me?” I pointed to my chest.

“Yeah, this is for you.” He grinned. “I like this one.” He lifted a bottle of teal glaze.

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