“Okay, be right there!” I pulled myself up from my semi-prone position like an eighty-year-old woman facing the firing squad.
Please don’t let them actually decide to have a sex chat with me over dinner. And if that was the plan, I prayed God would take pity on me and send a lightning bolt my way. Before the salad course would be nice.
As I trudged downstairs, I decided that they’d probably be even more embarrassed than I was about the entire topic, and wouldn’t bring it up. Plus, they had to know there was nothing to worry about, anyway.
Feeling marginally better, as I walked into our large eat-in kitchen I called out, “Do you need any help, Mom?”
“No thanks, honey. We’re in here.”
In here? In where? It sounded like Mom’s voice came from the dining room, only we never ate in there. Well, except for holidays when my Aunt Karen and Uncle Matt came to visit with their kids.
I crossed to the old-fashioned French doors that led to the formal dining room. As they swung open, I understood the formality.
Because seated at the table was my mother, an empty chair next to her. Across the table sat my father, who looked meticulous as usual in his button-down dress shirt, even with the top button undone. And seated to Dad’s right, looking utterly cute in a loose, white polo shirt, was Eli.
What was he doing here? I immediately moved my hand to my hair, remembering what I must look like after my little nap. Then a horrible feeling rushed through me. Wait…oh no. Let this please just be a casual, impromptu dinner.
The feeling of dread refused to go away. I’d learned to trust my instincts when it came to my parents and their ability to publically humiliate me.
“Honey, sit. Here, there’s a seat right next to me.” Mom motioned me toward the empty chair at the table.
Finally drawing the courage to look directly at Eli for the first time since I entered the room, I tried to read his expression.
He offered me a small, bewildered smile, along with his What the heck’s going on face.
I smiled back half-heartedly and hesitantly slipped into the empty seat.
Just as I took a sip of water from the glass next to my plate, my mother cleared her throat, as though preparing for a speaking engagement.
After a dainty tip of her head toward each of us in turn, she announced, “I thought it may be fitting to bring the four of us together.”
I choked on my water. Oh dear Lord in heaven. No. Please no.
Eli now looked completely bewildered. I’m sure he was wondering what the heck he’d been invited to.
“Now, Rob and I just want you both to know that we love you both very much.” Mom motioned toward Eli and me with that one.
Eli shot me the what the heck look again. Twice in two minutes didn’t bode well.
There were no words. I shook my head before fixating on the empty white dinner plate with the gold leaf etchings resting on the table in front of me.
Mom talked on, although her voice sounded a little forced, like she was trying too hard to be diplomatic. I guess there was some difficulty in trying to play the counselor when you also happened to be the parent.
“As you are both getting to be of a certain age, you’ll be curious about some things. You may even feel as though you want to experience different things.”
She sounded like she was giving some formal speech. I pressed my eyes closed so tightly for several seconds that I saw little white squiggles.
She took a breath, but then Dad jumped in with, “Now, we understand that these feelings and urges are completely normal at your age.” Like Mom, he sounded so professional, even though his neck was slightly purple under his collar.
Oh. My. God. This was really happening. They were seriously doing it, having a sex talk with me and Eli, together. I wouldn’t have been able to look at him if you paid me a million dollars. My cheeks had to be the color of ripe, summer tomatoes.
Mom must have started back up while I zoned out praying this was some type of lucid dream, because when I finally started listening again, she was mid-roll in full guidance counselor mode.
“…just want to make sure you are familiar with the terms STDs, condoms, and unplanned pregnancy.”
Okay, that was enough. I couldn’t sit here and listen to a Sex-Ed talk given by my parents while Eli sat across the table from me. Why couldn’t I have normal parents who didn’t even want to say the “S” word in front of their kids?
I stood up, face on fire, and spun away from the table. I fought to keep my tears at bay. “I’m done. This is too much, even for you two.”
As I started to walk away, a noise came from across the wide cherry wood table. A rumbling sound that within seconds burst into full-scale roaring laughter.
When I turned to look back, Eli held his hands over his mouth, as if he could shove the laugh back in. Our eyes caught, and I finally lost it as well. Mad giggles poured out of me, and then turned into flat out hiccups from trying to gulp down the hysteria. Tears rolled down my cheeks.
My parents both sat back in their seats, two sets of eyes moving from me to Eli and back again, clearly not understanding what was so funny.
Eli stood as well. “I’m going to be heading home, but thanks so much for the …” He couldn’t finish the sentence, so he instead chose to wave his goodbyes as he continued fighting back a grin. As he passed me, he reached out and squeezed my hand.
I smiled, appreciating the gesture.
Unreal. I shook my head after the front door closed and headed toward the stairs to escape to my room. After that show, I didn’t really have an appetite anymore.
Once again, Eli had saved the day. He’d turned my complete mortification into something I could actually smile about.
After my shower, as I stood in a robe combing out my damp hair in front of the bathroom mirror, I shook my head and grinned.
He really was something. No doubt about it.
And more than ever, I wanted that “something” to become “boyfriend.”
Chapter Twelve
Emma
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Sarah shoveled a mass of limp green lettuce leaves into her mouth, and chewed furiously. Her dark glasses bounced slightly on the bridge of her nose with each chew.
“I wish I were.” As I absently moved the day’s cafeteria mystery meat around my plate with a plastic fork, I shook my head.
Bess and Shaina sat with us at the school lunch table, too engrossed as they giggled over muted racy YouTube videos on Shaina’s phone to pay much attention to our conversation going on across the table. Shaina pointed to the phone’s screen and covered her mouth, blushing.
Sarah glanced their way and rolled her eyes. “It’s like we’re back in middle school, I swear.”
“Seriously, you have to help me.” I grimaced. “I hid in the bathroom between any classes where I knew I’d see him today. I feel like an idiot, and have no idea what I’m supposed to say to him after my parents pulled that stunt last night.”
Sarah moved on from what the cafeteria menu generously described as a “fresh garden salad” to slightly safer territory, canned fruit cocktail. Who said school lunch programs were sub-par?
She shrugged as she stirred the squared fruit in the tiny speckled cup. “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. I mean, you said he was cool with the whole thing. That he laughed it off.”
I finally gave up on any attempts to consume the congealed brown mess in front of me, and pushed the tray away before I nervously twisted a stray curl around my finger.
“Well yeah, but what else was he gonna do?” I drummed my fingernails on the table. “And besides, now he has to think there’s a reason my parents would even say something like that. What if he thinks I told my parents I like him?” I shook my head in frustration. “This could ruin everything.”
“Uh, no. This could help everything. I’m sorry, but I seriously think your little catfish scheme is going to blow up in your face if you don’t stop it now.”
“Anyway”—I rolled my eyes—“I think I’m going to—”
A quick kick to my shin under the table made me break off sharing my latest plan. “Ow! What the heck?”
Sarah jerked her chin to the right, eyes widened in unspoken warning.
“Please tell me he isn’t coming this way,” I whispered as I watched Sarah’s eyes follow someone behind me.
“Hey! How’s it going?” Sarah asked with a staged expression of surprise.
Crap. I forced a smile and willed the flush creeping above my white tailored collar to disappear. I slowly turned to face the person I’d been trying so hard to avoid all morning.
Eli walked the remaining few steps to where I sat on the long bench. His well-worn jeans were low-slung on his hips, and showed off his strong thigh muscles to perfection. The black fitted T-shirt he wore managed to be casual-preppy and sexy all at once. There was no sign of the dimple I loved so much, given the perplexed frown on his face.
He stopped directly in front of me, so I found myself eye-level with his well-defined abs. Normally not a view to complain about, I couldn’t help but avert my gaze as I remembered the topic of last night’s humiliation.
When I didn’t meet his eyes, he swung a leg over the bench and straddled it. “Where were you this morning? I kept looking for you, but it seemed like you were avoiding me.”
Sarah jumped up. “Well, I need to go to the library to get something. I’ll see you guys later.” She grabbed her lunch tray as she stood before walking away with a little wave.
“Gee, that was subtle,” I muttered.
Eli sat still, waiting.
Not sure what to say, I resumed playing with the mystery meat on my plate, head down. Hair spilled over my shoulders, half covering my face, as I studiously tried to avoid his questioning look.
He reached out and tentatively touched a loose curl. “I really like your hair down, You should wear it this way more often.”
I sat frozen, the hand holding my fork halted mid-pattern in the gelatinous brown sauce. Like the game freeze tag we played as kids, I couldn’t move after he touched me.
I self-consciously cleared my throat. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I guess I was sort of avoiding you.”
He uncharacteristically ran his hand down through my hair until it rested on the top of my shoulder. “Why?” His voice was quiet.
I jerked my head up to face him. “Why? Because my parents acted like crazy people last night.”
Laugh lines crinkled around his eyes as he smiled. “So? Everybody’s parents make an art form of embarrassing their kids at one point or another.” He shifted a little closer to me. “And after all, it’s not like we haven’t bra shopped together,” he teased.
I gave in, and laughed. “Oh, you wish!”
He tilted his head a little to the side, his teeth grabbing his full lower lip. “You think?”
My cheeks burned under his intense scrutiny. I cleared my throat again.
A slow smile spread across his face, his expression one of satisfaction mixed with curiosity.
The warning bell rang, a signal that students had only two minutes to finish their lunches and return all trays before heading to their lockers.
Spell broken, I inched away from him and stood. He reached out for my tray as I began to lift it off the table.
“Allow me.”
Before I could utter a word in protest, he stood next to me, and grabbed my tray to deposit in one of the giant plastic bins filling the counters against the cafeteria wall.
As he walked away, tray in hand, he turned his head and winked directly at me, mouthing the words, “We’ll talk later.”
Oh boy.
Mr. Jones decided to throw a pop quiz our way in Science. I usually aced his class, but my mind kept wandering to how Eli acted at lunch. It once again seemed like he’d almost been flirting, which made no sense.
I tapped the eraser of my pencil on my overturned paper as I waited for the teacher to call time on the quiz so we could correct them.
Eli had winked at me. And played with my hair. I imagined him leaning in, breath warm on my face as he leaned in closer, closer…
A sharp poke in the center of my back shook me from the delicious daydream. Warmth filled my cheeks as I realized Mr. Jones was staring directly at me. Apparently, it wasn’t the first time he’d called my name.
“Emma, what is the answer for the second question?” His look was stern.
I flipped my paper over, embarrassed to be caught not paying attention. “Umm…os… osmosis.”
“Correct. Daniel, question three?”
I sighed, and sank down slightly in my chair.
“Loser.” The whispered hiss came from the seat next to me. Carissa smirked, obviously thrilled that I’d landed on the teacher’s radar.
She really needed to come up with a new insult. I turned my head to face forward again, but she wasn’t used to being ignored. She whispered, “I saw you talking to Eli earlier.” I shot her a quick glance. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked me up and down pointedly.
My jaw set. What the hell did she care who I talked to?
“Don’t you think it’s kind of pathetic how you keep following him around like a puppy dog? Seriously, like he’d ever go for someone like you.”
I clenched my teeth, refusing to allow her to see how much the words stung.
“Okay, class. Please pass your papers forward. Be sure to write the number of correct answers at the top of your page, and circle the number.” Mr. Jones walked to the first row to begin collecting our quizzes.
Perfect. I hadn’t been paying attention thanks to Carissa, and had missed more than half of the ten answers. When I received the stack of quizzes, I tried to hurry and check the answers of the students from behind me against my own.
Chuck, the tall kid who sat in front of me, rolled his eyes impatiently as I marked my quiz in record time. “Sorry. Here.” I handed him the stack after I’d finished. I’d gotten five wrong. My grades were definitely starting to drop over the past week or so. Too much time spent worrying about the whole Eli/Kelli thing.
School was important to me, always had been, but lately I’d been distracted. I’d always made fun of girls like that, ones who put boys ahead of anything else. I wasn’t proud that I was turning into one.
When class ended, I stood up to head to my locker. As I walked through the door, Carissa shoved by to bounce over to where Chase, her flavor of the week boy toy, waited across the hall.
She stood on tiptoe to offer him a kiss. He willingly obliged, then slung his big, beefy arm around her tiny shoulders. She giggled and ran her hand across his chest. Chase stared down at her like she was a princess in some story.
I shuffled past them, feeling sick. Why was it so easy for some girls? They always seemed to know just what to say, how to act, how to get a guy’s attention. The thought of Carissa resorting to something as pathetic as creating a fake profile to get a guy to notice her was ludicrous. Most girls I knew seemed to have some inherent ability to flirt; I didn’t possess that gene.
Despite Eli’s promise at lunch that we would talk later, I hadn’t seen him the rest of the day. I wanted to text him, but I’d forgotten to charge my phone last night, and the battery had died fifth period.
I sighed as I closed my locker. Happy couples surrounded me—they laughed and stole kisses as they walked down the hall to head out, fingers laced together. I turned and walked out of school alone.
Chapter Thirteen
Eli
I scanned the student parking area for Emma after the last bell. I’d tried to text her twice, asking if I could give her a ride home, but she’d never answered. I had no idea what was up, or why she was ignoring me.
At lunch today, there’d been some real chemistry between us. The look I’d seen in her eyes…I could
n’t have imagined it. I banged my head back against the headrest. To think all these years I’d been such a freaking idiot.
Hopefully I’d be able to catch her, and we could talk. I leaned forward and turned the radio on, needing the music.
“Yo, Perry! Paintball this weekend, you coming?” Corey Roberts made trigger motions with his hand as he climbed in his truck parked a few spaces over.
“Sure. Who all’s gonna be there?”
“So far we’ve got you, me, Raider, Tony, Doug, and a few others.” He slammed his door. “I’m gonna kick your ass!” He laughed.
“Keep dreaming.” I waved as he pulled out, and then scanned the lot again. I couldn’t see her bus, so I must have missed her, or she caught a ride with Sarah. Shit.
Long brown curls over by the bus landing caught my attention. Gorgeous, familiar curls. I quickly started the car.
A crew of cheerleaders briefly blocked her from my view as I pulled up to the curb. I rolled my eyes as Carissa offered a flirty wave. I couldn’t believe I’d once had a thing for her. Light years ago. Then again, back then she wasn’t such a bitch.
I honked the horn, hoping to attract Emma’s attention, but she didn’t look over, so I rolled down the passenger side window and called out, “Em! Hey, Emma!”
Her head popped up, and when our eyes met her eyes brightened. The sight of her did weird things to my gut, things I wasn’t used to, but in a really good way. A grin took over my face as I waved. When she walked towards me, I leaned over to open the door. As she stepped in the car, I couldn’t stop my eyes from following the path of her legs. I swallowed hard, and told myself to stop being such a dog.
I looked up to see if she’d caught me, but she was smiling, no idea I’d been imagining all kinds of things that I had no right to imagine involving her legs being wrapped around me. I smiled back, hoping it came across normal, not lecherous. I sucked. I was officially turning into Kevin.
“Thanks.” She looked for space to set her stuff.
“Oh, sorry.” I grabbed a fast food bag and a couple of empty water bottles from the front seat and shoved them in the back. I cleared my throat a little self-consciously before gunning the motor and pulling out.
The Girlfriend Request Page 7