Archie is in a far much better mood when we make it to the Street of Art and I don’t think he will complain for a while now. I have just a few more stops after this and for the last one I don’t need him to come with me so it’s fine. In fact, I just need Archie to come to other two more places with me after this, so he’ll be free soon enough. After that I’ll have to start preparing all the letters so I can deliver them tomorrow.

I can’t believe I’m so close to meet her and as we keep walking towards the Street of Art I feel more and more nervous. I’m doing all this but what happens if something doesn’t work out? Or if she thinks all this is unnecessary and goes back home instead of completing the scavenger hunt? I’ve already involved so many people and I would have to apologise to all of them and repay them somehow for the bother. I’m almost done convincing them but so many other things can go wrong. That without even considering that Maca might decide the trouble is not worth it and that I’m just an annoying drama queen.

As I get closer to her, I also get more scared.

I don’t want to disappoint her, although maybe she has no expectations whatsoever. But I’m more scared that maybe once we meet we won’t have a single thing to talk about. What if I retract and forget all the things I want to know? There’s so much I want to ask her, so many things I’m curious and need confirmation of, but I might get so nervous that I won’t be able to utter my thoughts. What then?

That’s another reason why I’m doing this for her, because I’m trying to have something to talk about. If it turns out we’re not compatible outside the post-its, then we can talk about all the things she did. I can ask her what was her favourite stop and keep a conversation around that.

I just hope things will work out.

We finally make it to the Street of Art and I smile when I start inspecting the walls. It looks so different from the last time I came here, and I love that. I love that this place is never the same, that’s constantly evolving and growing.

Archie keeps walking, right to a wall and takes a marker he’s carrying, God knows why. I walk up to him to see what he’s doing, what he’s adding this time. Archie likes to doodle and normally does this cool and crazy comics. When we used to be in uni my notebooks were always filled with his doodles. On our last year he decided he would do a whole story on my notebook so he draw on one page a character then continued drawing him on every page, doing different things. When we graduated we went over all the doodles having a laugh at the silly things we used to do.

Fine, we still do.

So I see him doodling me, I think. It looks like me at least, with my hair falling lose, curls at the tips, the coat and scarf hanging from my neck. Pretty much how I’m dressed today. In the doodle my hands try to reach something that’s not there yet. Then he starts drawing a kind of wall in front of me, a wall of falling post-its that don’t let me see beyond. I tilt my head, seeing how he keeps adding details to his comic. It looks cool so far because even if it’s drawn with black marker the background has so many colours of a previous and larger works. Then Archie starts drawing something else in front of the wall of post-its, a girl. Her hair falls loose too, but the wind keeps moving it and I can’t see her face, even if she’s looking up. What is she looking at? Then Archie starts drawing a bench next to her and then a big tree. He does all the details and it looks so cool, and the last detail is a letter hanging from the tree, and that’s what she’s looking at.

“Wow,” I say clapping at the finished cartoon. “That’s pretty cool. That’s Maca, right?” I question and he turns to look at me with a big smile.

“Yeah. This is how I see you two. Kind of. I guess you just have to cross the post-its wall and you’re working on it. You just can’t cross it like a normal human being.”

“Nope,” I agree, containing my laughter. “I have to do it with fireworks and dancers and a whole parade or it doesn’t work.”

Archie laughs and shakes his head, but what I’m saying is not that far from reality. I’m practically organising a parade for her, a parade that doesn’t move but kind of. I don’t know, in my mind it makes sense.

I grab Archie’s marker and I start to doodle, too.

“Is that a racoon?” he asks as I keep drawing. “Gargoyle?” At this point I stop and turn to glare at him with an are-you-kidding-me look.

“It’s a werewolf,” someone else adds and just then I notice the blonde girl watching us, completely amused.

“It’s a cat!” I protest, looking at my doodle, clearly seeing the cat… if I close an eye, then the other and turn around. But it’s a cat!

“Oh…” both say at the same time and I just sigh, giving up. I’ll never be an artist of this sort.

I turn around and give Archie the marker back, then I focus on the girl. “Hello, Coni. Did you just arrive?” I question and she nods.

I texted her yesterday asking her if she had plans for today and she said she had the afternoon free so I asked her to meet me here today. I found this place one day when I was wandering and I saw some people completely covered in paint. Curious, I followed them until they led me here. I watched for hours, amazed at what was happening. I came the next day and the next day and saw it changing little by little every time. A few weeks later I met Coni When I saw her using an already existing work to create something bigger and brighter. More than painting myself—because I accept it, I suck at it—I like watching her creating something.

“You wanted me to see your werewolf?” she questions and I pout but she only laughs. “If you want input, then add some fangs and it’ll look more like a werewolf,” she adds and then looks at Archie with her palm exposed. He gives her the marker. “I’m Coni, nice to meet you.”

“Archie,” my mate replies because this is the first time they meet.

Then she steps forward and starts working on my cat, using my poor lines to mutate the drawing until this actually becomes a werewolf. I just look at her impressed.

“It’s still a cat,” I say when she finishes even if we all know it’s really a werewolf. I just like fighting for my pride.

She laughs and closes the marker before returning it to its owner. She smiles brightly, shoving her hands on her pockets. “How have you been, Reid? It’s been a long time.”

“Yeah, I’ve been busy. We’re rehearsing a lot and this is the first weekend off we have in two months,” I tell her and she nods, following. She knows I’m an actor and I know she’s a translator.

“And what made you text me on your first weekend off in two months?” she inquires next and I smile, knowing what I have to do next.

“I have a favour to ask you, in fact.” She only arches her eyebrows in an inquisitive manner, inviting me to develop more. “Well, do you see what Archie draw there next to my cat?” I ask and she chuckles before turning to look at Archie’s cartoon. “I’ve been leaving post-its for a while now, and there’s this girl who replies: Maca. We’ve been exchanging post-its for five months already and this Sunday we’re finally meeting, so I’m planning a whole event for her.”

“What kind of event? I’m pretty sure it’s not your average date,” she says with an amused smile.

“Eh, nope. It’s a scavenger hunt in which she collects the letters of my name until she finally gets to where I’ll be waiting for her. I’ll lead her from one place to another with letters and I’ve been talking to people to help me on this.”

“And you want me to be one of these people. You want me to have one of the letters.” It’s not a question so I smile widely. Coni always grabs the concept pretty fast.

“Precisely. I want her to see this place,” I continue and her expression changes to curious again. “I think it’s a really cool place and I don’t think she knows of it. Plus, this place is like what I’m doing with her, you know? Painting on her, changing her with new experiences.”

“You and your representations,” she laughs because I’ve told her before how I think this street is a representation of life and how we’re always changing. How we’re born like blank canvas and that experiences and other people are the ones who paint on us. “Sure. So I have to be here on Sunday to hand her the next letter.”

“Yeah, but I was hoping you could do something else. Paint with her, will you? You’re the most creative person I know and I think you’re perfect to guide her here.”

“Just painting or do you want something special?” I really like Coni and how clever she is to know I just don’t want Maca to do ordinary things.

“I was thinking of balloon painting. Remember we did that once?” she nods with a big smile. We decided to throw water balloons with paint instead of water to a wall until something came up and it was loads of fun, so I want the same for Maca. “I’ll help you fill all the balloons,” I hurry to promise and she chuckles.

“Sure, Reid. It’ll be fun, I always wanted to try that again so this works great for me, too.” I smile happy that I’m not bothering her that much with this.

“Amazing. So I’ll call you to organise when we can gather to fill the balloons. I think Sunday morning works best, right? Maca will come here in the afternoon, like at this time,” I explain and she nods. “She’ll be carrying a Polaroid and at the end can you take a picture with her?”

“Sure. That’ll help me to recognise her so I won’t be approaching every girl that shows up.”

“Thank you, Coni. Really,” I say with all my heart because she’s so chill. She was the easiest to convince and I glare at Archie so he can know he should’ve agreed as easily as Coni did. “Shame on you,” I mouth for him and he just sticks his tongue out at me. “Thank you for transforming my cat into a terrifying werewolf, too.”

“I knew that was what you were aiming to in your heart,” she says with an amused smile and cue to her words I touch my heart.

“You read me like an open book.”

At my cheesy line Archie throws the marker at me and Coni laughs out loud, but then she picks up the marker again and goes to Archie’s drawing. She makes a square around it and then another next, and two more below. Vignettes, I recognise. Then she starts drawing, using the same style as Archie. On one vignette she draws the same girl with her hair hiding her face, grabbing the letter from the tree. On the one at the bottom there’s me, breaking throw the walls of post-its and in the final vignette we’re together, sitting one next to the other but you can only see our backs and the wind blows not only her hair but mine as well, and they tangle together as post-its fall from the sky like rain.

Coni turns to look at us, handing back the marker but Archie refuses to accept it. Maybe he feels unworthy of it after Coni has used it. I can’t wipe out the smile from my lips. “Your ability never ceases to amaze me,” I say and look at Archie who’s as captivated by what she’s done as I am.

“Thank you. And I assume you have more people to meet, I mean, your name has ten letters after all.”

“Yes! So I guess we’ll get going. Thank you again, Coni. Especially for not asking why I haven’t told her my name.”

“I assume you have your reasons,” is her response and I hear Archie gasping, which only makes me laugh.

“Exactly. See you around, Coni,” I wave at her as I start walking away, Archie next to me doing the same.

“She’s really cool,” Archie says and I nod in agreement. “So, whom are we meeting with now?”

I smile at him as we keep walking, away from the Street of Art and Coni, who’ll probably stay drawing some more. After all she has the marker and I’m sure she’ll do great things with it. I look at my friend, nervous but so excited. We’re almost done.

“We’re meeting with Lee Won now. I’ll lead Maca to music now.”

-:-:-

We're getting closer and closer! And with 500 votes you get the next chapter.

By the way, because I see I'm not the only one who loves Archie and Steph, I'llbe writing a one shot for them and post it as bonus content. Probably by the end of the book or when I feel like I can't hold my feels any longer, hehee. So wait for that, patiently.

Happy new year!
Bel, xx