Emma didn’t even want to think about it never being a possibility. She still held on to the hope that she would see him someday and maybe even steal a touch or two. “So are you going to tell me what all this is about?” Gram questioned.
“I was just wondering.” Emma sighed.
Gram’s words about flesh and blood being better than empty air, continued to ring in Emma’s head. If she never got to see or feel Micah, would there still be enough to tie her to him?
Emma didn't see it coming. They'd been discussing her day, and why Calculus was so complicated, when Micah dropped the bomb.
“It’s almost time for prom, isn't it?”
“What?” Emma said, blank confusion filling her tone. “I don't know, I haven’t really thought about it.”
"Why not?" Micah mused.
“It’s just a stupid dance. I don’t really like dancing, and anyway, I don’t have a date.” Didn’t he realize he was the only boy that held her attention anymore?
“Someone wants to ask you Emma,” Micah said in a serious voice, "and I think it’s important that you go."
“What are you talking about?” Emma asked, not understanding why this subject had even come up. “Prom is next weekend. I’m pretty sure everyone already has their date. It’s a pretty big deal for most of the kids around here.”
Emma was insulted that he'd brought it up. She hadn't expected to be asked, but she felt self-conscious now that he was making it so obvious that no one had even considered her as an acceptable date. He should know her well enough by now to know that she had no desire to go, at least not with any of the boys from school.
“That new boy, Destry McQuade, wants to ask you, but you’re not making it easy for him. You’re distracted a lot, and he hasn’t gotten a chance.”
Destry McQuade? The mention of that name made her stomach twist inside of her and she began to feel sick. There was no way that Destry McQuade wanted to take her to the prom; he couldn't even find it in himself to speak to her.
“I don't even know him Micah, and I'm not sure I want to. Besides, I don't think he even knows who I am,” Emma protested angrily, she'd done her best to push Destry McQuade out of her mind and this was a reminder she didn't want.
“Don’t you think you owe him the opportunity to get to know you?” Micah sounded like a practical father figure. What was he up to? He was supposed to be on her side.
“I don’t think I owe him anything,” Emma said honestly, “especially since he hasn’t even asked me anything!” She folded her arms stubbornly. She was getting angrier the longer the subject went on.
“How do you know he wants to ask me anyway? Have you been reading his mind or something?” She was thoroughly annoyed with the direction this conversation had gone. This wasn’t an issue that needed addressing and she didn't want to waste anymore of her time with Micah discussing it.
“No. I haven’t been reading his mind," he said calmly, "I just pay attention Emma. You should try it once in a while. You’ve been missing a lot lately. Your mind seems to be in the clouds...no pun intended. I’m not supposed to interfere with your life, remember? I think maybe we've been spending too much time together. You don’t seem to be living in your world anymore.”
That sounded a lot like a threat.
“You are not interfering!” Emma demanded, raising her voice. “I was like this long before you ever started talking to me. School's never held my attention and I’ve always been more comfortable keeping to myself. I’m sure you already know that, if you’ve been around as long as you say you have!”
Emma's words came out in a rush but she couldn’t make herself stop. She was afraid that if Micah thought they were spending too much time together, he would take it upon himself to remedy that.
“Emma, you need to calm down," Micah said softly, " I just thought you should be prepared for when he asks you, that's all. I don’t want you to hesitate because of some false sense of loyalty you feel toward me. I’m just letting my feelings be known,” he said, his voice steady and low.
“What do you mean 'letting your feelings be known'?” Emma could hear the panic in her own voice. What was that supposed to mean; 'false sense of loyalty'? There was nothing false about the feelings she had towards him.
“I want you to go with him.” He said each word slowly, deliberately.
“You want me to go out on a date?” Emma barely got the words out. She felt like she'd just gotten the air knocked out of her.
“I want you to have fun. I want you to do things that the rest of the kids your age are doing. I want you to go to the prom, like you would have done if I wasn’t here.”
“You’re beginning to sound like my mother! You don’t know that I would have gone. I’m not exactly fond of crowds, or doing what's expected of a normal teenager,” Emma almost hissed.
She was beyond angry, she was almost livid. Why was he doing this to her—to them? Couldn’t he see how happy she was? She didn’t want anything to mess this up. Especially not some dumb boy, or stupid prom!
“I will not honor my end of the deal if you aren’t going to honor your end.”
“But Micah, I…,”
“We agreed that you were going to keep being a normal teenager. If you can’t do that with me talking to you, then we will have to end our conversations,” he said firmly.
“I am being a normal teenager,” Emma grumbled. “I go to school every day, I do my homework, cook dinner, and fulfill all of my responsibilities. What else do you want me to do?”
“I want you to live your life Emma. Be normal, go out with boys, spend some time with a few friends, be impulsive, make choices,” he said slowly.
“I do make choices. I make them every day, but they don’t seem to be the ones you want me to make.” The fight had all but gone out of her. She would do anything to keep him talking to her, to keep him in her life.
“It’s your life Emma; they are your choices to make. I just want you to be smart about this. I don’t want you to avoid trying new things because of me. Don’t you think you deserve to experience everything life has to offer?”
“Fine!” she snapped back at him, “I'll be prepared. And if he asks—which I'm not convinced he will— I will go to the prom with him. But I don’t think you realize that you are influencing my choices Micah,” Emma said accusingly. “You're an important part of my life now and I don't want that to end. I’ll go and experience life if this is what it takes to convince you, but I'm only doing it for you, because I think my life is already perfect the way it is.”
Emma was yielding, but she wanted Micah to know that it wasn't because she agreed with his perspective on her lack of mortal life experiences.
She was doing it for him; to appease him, and to make him stay. She was only willing to compromise to a point though. He couldn’t make her forget about him, and he couldn’t make her not have feelings for him.
“I’m doing this for you,” Micah said calmly. “You just don’t realize it yet.”
“I just don’t think it’s really necessary,” she said in defeat.
“I think you might discover that a date can actually be fun Emma, whether it's necessary or not. Not every detail of your life has to have a purpose. These little individual experiences make you who you are.”
“I already know who I am. I don’t need to go out on a date for that,” Emma said glumly.
“Maybe you’ll surprise yourself and find out something new,” he said softly.
“Sure,” was the only comeback she had left.
She felt like this was just something to keep her busy. Micah didn't want her getting any more attached to him or their time together. But what he didn’t know was that it was too late. She would not give him up that easily.
One of the biggest complaints Emma had about living in Eden was that everyone seemed to know everything about everybody else. Some even knew things that hadn’t happened yet.
This theo
ry proved correct the next day at school when Emma was quite literally attacked by Marci Johnston.
“You’ll never guess who wants to ask you to the prom!" She squealed as she ran up to Emma and started jumping up and down after 2nd period. “Seriously, you will never guess,” she emphasized each word.
Emma was betting, unfortunately, that she could guess.
The unenthusiastic look Emma gave her didn’t seem to put a crimp in Marci's excitement. She smiled broadly and continued to jump up and down in front of Emma, giggling annoyingly as she shook her by the shoulders trying to rouse some kind of reaction.
What was up with this chic anyway? They weren’t friends; in fact they were barely even acquaintances. Emma could count on one hand the number of times that Marci Johnston had spoken to her in the four years she'd lived in Eden.
Marci was the typical cheerleader type: bleach blonde hair, bright blue eyes, perfect smile and sickeningly bubbly personality. She was up for prom queen—of course—not that she needed the crown to make it official. She was already queen of the school.
“It’s Destry McQuade,” she squealed again after Emma failed to give her any kind of a response. “I can’t believe it, can you?"
Emma wasn't surprised that Marci couldn't believe it. Marci had been one of the girls hanging all over Destry since his arrival. Emma could understand how it would be too much for Marci's little blonde brain to comprehend that Destry could have possibly wanted to ask her to the prom.
“Unbelievable,” Emma muttered.
"The only reason I know," Marci went on ignoring Emma's sour face, "is because Destry told Brandon, and of course, Brandon told me—we're going to prom together you know? He asked me like a month ago," Marci was twirling her hair around her finger. "Oh shoot! I hope it wasn't supposed to be a secret, Destry wanting to ask you I mean." Marci put her hand up to her mouth in mock horror of having possibly ruined the surprise.
Emma knew better.
Marci was methodical and evil in everything she did. She was meaner than sin and probably angry that Destry hadn't asked her and offended that she'd had to hear about it from someone else. So she'd found a way to involve herself, because she couldn't stand not being the center of attention.
"Don't worry about it, I'll be sure to act surprised," Emma said, playing along and then turned towards her next class, leaving Marci standing in the middle of the hall with a stunned look on her face.
In reality, it was still a little hard for Emma to comprehend too. If Micah hadn’t already clued her in with his "all-knowingness" Emma would have thought that it was some sick joke being played at her expense.
She still held on to her theory that Micah had been reading minds again to come up with this. How else could he have known unless he was eavesdropping on every kid in school?
Chapter 8: INVITATION
Micah turned out to be right about the McQuade boy and the prom. Emma should have assumed that angels were never wrong, but she was still surprised when that Friday, there was a single rose delivered to her by a different guy during each class period, with the last one containing the simple, hand written note that read:
Emma,
I would be truly honored if you would be so sweet
as to accompany me to prom next Saturday.
Destry McQuade
The boy that delivered the last rose to Emma with the note—Brandon, she thought his name was (Marci's date)—was kneeling on one knee next to her desk, awaiting a response to deliver back to Destry she assumed.
Emma gnawed on the end of her pencil nervously. She was so embarrassed. The whole class was staring at her. The teacher tapped her toe impatiently at the interruption. All she could do was nod her head stupidly in the affirmative.
Destry waited impatiently in the hallway while Brandon Evans delivered the last rose and the note to Emma. He had been pacing back and forth with his fist against the brick wall and now his knuckles were raw. It was stupid that he was nervous. It’s not like this was a life or death situation. He didn’t even really know this girl. He'd never actually spoken to her before, though he’d tried numerous times.
What did it matter if she said Yes or No? It wasn’t like he couldn’t get a different date if he wanted to.
But Destry didn’t want another date. If Emma wouldn’t go with him then he wasn’t going either. prom was just a stupid dance anyway, and he didn’t even like dancing.
Brandon stepped out the door of the classroom, spying Destry across the hall he headed toward him.
“Well?” Destry said anxiously, looking at Brandon.
“She said yes!” Brandon reported happily.
“Is that all she said?” Destry inquired with irritation at having to ask.
“Well...she actually didn’t say anything,” Brandon said quietly, sensing Destry’s irritation.
“What do you mean she didn’t say anything?” Destry was having trouble keeping his voice steady. “How do you know she said yes if she didn’t say anything?”
“She nodded,” Brandon said firmly. He wasn’t going to get yelled at for volunteering to help out a friend.
“Oh,” was all Destry could say.
A nod didn’t give him much of an idea as to what she was thinking.
Did she not want to go with him, but didn’t want to be rude? Or was she excited and didn’t know what to say? It would have been easier if she had said something, but then again, nothing ever seemed easy when it came to Emma. He should be used to that by now.
“So, can I go back to class now?” Brandon asked, begging to be released from Destry’s interrogation.
“Yeah sure, thanks for your help,” Destry said, barely noticing Brandon still standing next to him.
Brandon took off down the hall and Destry was left alone, mulling over a nod.
At least this first part was over, he was locked into seeing her now, and talking to her. There was no backing out. He’d forced his hand in an attempt to get to the bottom of this whole Emma Baker mystery, and he was going to see it through.
He knew that he’d better start working up his nerve. When the time came, he wanted to be able to make words come out of his mouth.
He’d have to practice this coming week. He made it up in his mind to do something each day to bring himself in contact with Emma—nothing big, a hello or a smile would ease him into it he figured.
Destry knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Something about this girl had him all tongue tied and tangled up in knots.
Emma was finally able to breathe again when she hit the parking lot and left school behind her. She was so happy to be able to escape all of the furtive glances, and whispers of her school mates who were even more surprised than she was by her invitation from Destry. Not that it made any sense to her either. Why, out of all the girls in this school, would someone like him want to ask someone like her?
Who did he think he was anyway? How was it that he could treat her like a pariah the first time he laid eyes on her, then follow that up by not speaking to her for the next seven weeks—not that she was keeping track— and then ask her out to prom and figure that made up for it all? There was no way he was getting off that easy. He was going to suffer.
Emma should have known Micah wouldn’t be very understanding of her humiliation. He seemed a lot more pleased than she was over the upcoming event. He couldn’t understand why Emma wasn’t excited.
Emma had never told Micah about her one and only experience with Destry McQuade. It had been too horrible to share in the beginning and after that she'd tried her best to put it behind her and forget about it completely.
She wondered if knowing how Destry had treated her that day in the lunch room would change Micah's opinion of him. As it was, he focused most of their conversations over the next week in the direction of prom; showing too much interest in dancing, and music, and the color of the perfect dress to go with her skin tone, and how Emma would wear her hair.
She assumed he was trying to pump her up, convince her to be happy about the impending doomsday she called prom. He really had no idea the horror she felt at the whole prospect of spending an entire evening with Destry.
With each conversation, Emma was growing more and more annoyed. Micah was acting like a superficial girlfriend, or an over-helpful parent, rather than how Emma wanted him to act. He didn’t seem jealous at all.
She would have been extremely jealous if the roles were reversed, and he was preparing for a heavenly date. It was becoming achingly apparent that he didn’t see her at all the way that she saw him.
The week before prom passed too quickly for Emma. Everything ended up all blurred together. She had run into Destry all week at school, which was odd because she’d barely seen him at all over the past couple of months. Maybe he’d been avoiding her like she’d been avoiding him. She couldn’t see any reason for him to avoid her though; she hadn’t done anything to him. Besides, if he had actually been avoiding her these past few months, why would he have asked her to prom? She must have misread him that first day.
She was probably just conjuring things up in her head. He seemed nice enough when she’d passed him in the hall this week, which was often. He seemed to appear out of thin air now, always heading the same way she was, or coming around the corner and running into her. He was good to always say hello or at least nod and give her a stunning smile.
He seemed to have a hard time talking to her. That small fact was going to make prom night that much more awkward.
Emma had so many things to do that week that she didn’t get as much alone time with Micah as she'd been used to. She wondered if this was all part of some plan he’d come up with to distance himself from her.
She wanted so badly to talk to him about it. But it wasn’t wise to push him. Things had already been set into motion and Emma knew there was no backing out now.
Of course, her mother was ecstatic that she was going to prom. Catherine was totally into the dresses, the hair, and the shoes. Emma felt like she was a rag doll being drug along to the stores, and the salons. She let her mom have her fun. Someone should get some joy out of all this, because she certainly wasn’t.
Eternal (Eternal series) Page 7