EmmaLi, standing in the golden glow of the late afternoon sun, looked dazzling. Her long, golden-brown hair hung loose and wavy in the light breeze. Her ruffled, white summer dress drifted around her gracefully. In the bottom corner of her dress there were pale pink cherry blossoms which matched the tiny flower-shaped shell earings hanging delicately from her ears. She was tall and thin and perfect. Her lips moved and she said something, smiling happily.

  “W-What?” Artemis asked, feeling weak in the knees, a sensation he couldn’t recall feeling before.

  “I said, ‘Hello’!” EmmaLi laughed. “Come on in!”

  The house behind her was a large stone bungalow with a curved, brown-tiled roof. The windows were large and circular. A garden filled with pale pink, yellow and orange lillies grew underneath the windows on either side of the front door, which EmmaLi was  pulling Artemis through by the hand. Inside, the delicious smell of home cooking greeted them, along with a smiling Dianne and smirking Marcus.

  “Hey, kid,” Marcus waved vaguely. Dianne glared at her partner. He straightened up. ”Uh, I mean welcome. Come in.”

  Artemis met the housekeeper, Janine, who set out dinner in the cozy dining room. After a hearty meal, Janine cleared away the dishes and set a slice of spongecake in front of everyone.

  “Before we start, Emma, why don’t you show Artemis some of your artwork?” Dianne asked. EmmaLi stared at her cake and blushed. “Oh, it’s not that great…Just some sketches and stuff…” she mumbled.

  Marcus rolled his eyes. “Please.You wouldn’t have graduated if you ‘weren’t that great’.”

  “Fine.” EmmaLi stood up and shuffled out of the room. Moments later, she returned lugging a large portfolio obviously packed with artwork. EmmaLi sifted through the folder before revealing a beautiful oil painting.

  “Here, this one’s one of my favourites,” she said, handing the canvas. It was a painting of a woman, dressed in a loose silk kimono. She had long black hair spilling down her back. She was sitting in a window seat, gazing longingly out the window, fingers pressed against the glass. Cherry blossom petals lay scattered at her feet. It was all very beautiful, but sad at the same time. The woman’s kimono was falling slightly off her right shoulder, and her raven hair was a bit disheveled.

  Artemis looked up. “This is very good,” he told EmmaLi, unable to keep the surprise from his voice. EmmaLi clapped her hands happily. 

  “You really think so? I have more!” After showing him five more paintings, mostly portraits, EmmaLi dragged Artemis from the dining room down the hall to a small room filled with canvases, paint, paint brushes,  pencils, and other art supplies. “This is my studio,” she smiled peacefully. She walked over to her desk, which sat in front of a round window facing the street. “It helps me think…It inspires me.”

   As Artemis looked on, EmmaLi produced from a desk drawer a very different kind of artwork. It was a drawing of a girl with large, bright eyes and black, corckscrew hair.

  “It’s manga,” Artemis said, recognizing the form of Japanese comic book art.

  EmmaLi clapped her hands again. “You know what it is!” She exclaimed. “No one around here seems to.”

  “So you like drawing manga as well?”

  “I love it. It’s my dream to enroll in the Manga University in Japan.”   

  “Now that’s interesting,” Artemis pointed out. “A girl who thinks of things OTHER than clothes and makeup.”

  EmmaLi smiled, delighted. “Come on. I’ll show you my favourite spot in the house.”