by Amanda Abram
That was no way to spend a beautiful, sunny, hot summer day.
“I’d love to,” I said, stuffing the phone back into my pocket. “We could go to Funland Park. Have you been there yet?”
She threw her head back and laughed. “Not since I got up here, no, but I did go there a few times as a kid. Do they still have that sketchy metal roller coaster that feels like it’s going to collapse every time you ride it?”
I nodded. “Not only do they still have it, but they’ve never upgraded it, so it feels even sketchier than it did when we were kids. You should hear the sounds it makes. I swear, one time I was standing near it, a screw came out of nowhere and landed right in front of me. It had to have come from the ride. Screws don’t just fall out of the sky like that from nowhere.”
Riley giggled and hit my arm. “You’re making that up!”
“I’m not,” I said with a grin.
“Yeah, right.” When her giggling subsided, she said, “Well, I can’t wait to ride it. I like a good thrill.”
My grin faltered as the connotation of what she’d said was not lost on me.
Don’t do this, Logan. Tell Riley you don’t want to hang out after all. Go to Emma instead. Knock down her front door if you have to. Barge into her house and demand she listen to you. Apologize for every terrible thing you’ve ever done to her. Tell her you love her. Kiss her. Kiss every last bit of breath out of her. Hold her close and never let her go again…
I pushed all those thoughts away. Emma didn’t want me. She hated me. No amount of apologizing or groveling would change that. Even if she did forgive me, we were never going to be anything more than just neighbors. Acquaintances.
After one last glance at Emma’s house, I turned back to Riley.
“I like a good thrill, too,” I said, my lips forming into a smirk as I motioned toward the car. “Hop in.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
EMMA
“Emma? Honey? Is everything alright?”
At the sound of my mother’s muffled voice through my bedroom door, I quickly wiped away the tears from my eyes as I sat up on my bed. “Yeah, Mom, everything’s fine.”
By the time I’d stormed into the house, my dad had already left for work, and my mom was just getting ready to leave. When she saw me rushing up the stairs, she’d called after me, asking if I was okay, but I didn’t answer her. I just ran straight up to my room and slammed the door shut.
Being the concerned mother she was, there was no way she was going to leave for work when she knew something was wrong with her daughter. And even though I really didn’t want to talk about what happened, I also didn’t want to make her late for work. She would stay outside my room all day to find out what was going on if I let her.
“Can I come in?” she asked softly.
“Yeah, sure,” I replied, smoothing out my hair.
The bedroom door slowly opened, and my mom poked her head in. “Emma, what’s wrong? Did something happen on your jog?”
Yes, something happened. Somebody tore my heart out of my chest and broke it in two.
But I didn’t tell her that. Instead, I just sniffled and lowered my head, staring blankly at my hands resting on my lap.
“Sweetie.” Mom sat down next to me and put an arm around my shoulders. “What’s going on?”
When I didn’t answer, she continued.
“Does this have something to do with Logan?”
I blinked at her in surprise. “How did you know?”
Mom smiled. “Mother’s intuition. Plus, I thought I heard the two of you talking on the porch.” She sighed. “What has he done now?”
“I’ll show you,” I said, grabbing my phone. I brought up the video, hit play, and handed it to her.
I observed her face intently as she watched the video. I wanted to see the precise moment where finally, after eighteen years, my mom realized that Logan Reynolds was a good-for-nothing jerk.
The corners of her mouth twitched downward. “What is this?” she demanded.
“It’s a video that Logan’s ex-girlfriend took at a party yesterday. She posted it online this morning for everyone to see.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Mom’s voice hardened as her eyes narrowed in concern. “Honey, are you being bullied?”
I blinked and said, “What? No.” But then I paused and thought about it for a second. I guess in a way, I sort of was.
Mom stood up. “What’s Logan’s ex-girlfriend’s name? I’m going to call her mother right now—”
“No, Mom.” I grabbed her arm and forced her back onto the bed next to me. “I don’t need you to call Grace’s mom, okay? That’ll only make things worse. Besides,” I said, glancing down at my lap, “the video being posted online is not really what I’m upset about right now.”
“Did Logan have something to do with this video being uploaded?” Mom asked, her voice tight. I think she was afraid of what my answer might be.
“No,” I said quietly. “At least, he’s claiming he had nothing to do with it. He said he didn’t know Grace was filming. And I guess I believe him. I wouldn’t put it past Grace to do this to get back at him for their breakup, but…none of that excuses what he said about me.”
Mom placed a hand on my knee. “Sweetie, is it at all possible that this video was taken out of context?”
I stared at her blankly. “What?”
“I just…” She took my phone back and began to play it again. “I just don’t get the impression he means a word of what he’s saying here.”
“Mom,” I scolded her. “Why would you say that?”
“Because...” She sighed heavily as she finished watching the video for the second time. “For starters, he doesn’t sound like he’s believing a word he’s saying. And then the video ends abruptly, like maybe there was more to his conversation with Matt, but Grace didn’t want you to see that part.” She pursed her lips together. “I definitely think something is amiss here.”
“Amiss? Mom, face it. This is what Logan thinks of me. It’s what he’s always thought of me. And what’s worse, this video was taken yesterday. Just a few hours before we…” I clamped my mouth shut before I could finish the sentence.
My mom titled her head to the side. “Before you what?”
I played nervously with the hem of my shirt. “Before we kissed.”
Mom’s jaw dropped, and her eyes widened in surprise. “You kissed?”
I nodded. “It started out as just practicing, but then…I don’t know, it seemed to become something more.” I lowered my gaze. “At least, to me it did.”
“Oh, Emma,” she breathed. She brushed a strand of hair away from my face. “Do you like Logan?”
My vision blurred as a fresh wave of tears threatened to spill over. “I don’t know. Maybe I do, but it doesn’t matter. You heard what he said on the video.”
“Well, did you confront him about it?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And what was his explanation?”
I opened my mouth to respond, but then realized I couldn’t. Because he hadn’t given me an explanation.
Because I hadn’t given him the opportunity to.
With a groan, I leaned forward and buried my face in my hands. What if my mom was right? What if there was a perfectly good explanation as to why he said what he did? What if his words were taken out of context? He had tried to talk to me about it, but I was so upset, I just kept interrupting him.
“I didn’t let him explain,” I admitted, letting my hands drop back onto my lap.
“Then maybe you should,” Mom said softly. “Honey, I know Logan has done and said a lot to you over the years that has upset you, but I don’t think this is like all the other times. I could be wrong, and if I am, I’m sorry and I will join you in hating his guts. But for now, talk to him. Let him explain himself.”
I nodded solemnly and brushed away the tears from my eyes. “Okay, I will.”
Mom smiled. “Good.” She leaned forward and planted a kiss
on the top of my head. “I wish we could talk more, but I have to get to work. But we can finish this conversation later, after you talk to Logan again.” She stood up. “And who knows? Maybe we’ll have something to celebrate.”
“Mom,” I said, rolling my eyes. I smiled back and told her to have a good day at work as she left my bedroom.
I was already feeling better. My mother’s “intuition” usually didn’t steer her wrong, so if she truly felt there was more to that video than met the eye, then maybe that was the case. And since she’d helped me calm down, maybe now I could let Logan tell me his side of the story without rudely interrupting him.
For a few minutes, I did nothing but stare at the blank screen of my phone, willing my thumb to hit the button to light it up, swipe the screen to unlock, and dial Logan’s number. But something was preventing me from doing so. Maybe it was that horrible comment I’d made about his mother being disappointed in him. I was so ashamed of myself for saying that, especially because I didn’t actually think it was true, but I was hurt, and the words just came out before my brain had a chance to approve of them.
It was very possible he didn’t want to talk to me right now.
With a sigh, I stood from the bed and walked over to the window that faced Logan’s house. Just as I approached, I saw his Mustang pull into his driveway. He must have gone somewhere after our fight.
I watched for a minute while he remained inside the car. He appeared to be talking on the phone and I couldn’t help but be curious as to who he was talking to.
All I knew was that it wasn’t me.
A short while later, he exited the vehicle, shut the door and leaned against it…and almost immediately glanced up at my window.
I quickly took a step back, far enough away that I could still see him, but he wouldn’t be able to see me. Holding up his phone, it looked like he was starting to dial a number, and my heart fluttered in my chest. Was he trying to call me?
I got my answer when my own phone rang in my hands. Excitedly, I swiped to answer it. “Hello?”
“Hey. Is this Emma?”
The voice on the other end was a male’s voice, but it didn’t belong to Logan. Confused, I glanced back out the window and saw Logan was now talking into his phone…but not to me.
I narrowed my eyes. If this wasn’t Logan, who was it?
“Yes, this is Emma,” I replied cautiously. “Who is this?”
“This is Justin,” the voice said.
My mind drew a blank. “Justin?”
He chuckled softly. “Yeah, Justin. Justin Daniels? You’ve been to a couple of my parties this summer?”
Ah, that Justin. Why was that Justin calling me?
“Oh, hey, Justin,” I said, trying my best not to sound as disappointed as I felt. “How did you get my number?”
“I have connections,” he said. “I know a guy who knew a guy.”
Well, this was weird. “Okay…um…so, what’s up?”
“I just wanted to say, I saw that video that Grace posted online this morning and I was appalled. I can’t believe she would do something like that. And I can’t believe Logan would say those things about you.”
I returned my attention to the window and watched as Logan ended his phone call.
“Yeah, I couldn’t believe it, either,” I said distractedly.
“None of what Logan said was true, you know,” he continued. “You’re not a loser, or a nerd. From what I can tell, you seem pretty cool.”
The corners of my mouth turned down as I saw Logan glance over towards Matt’s house…and saw that Riley was making her way over to him.
“Thank you,” I said to Justin, watching as Logan greeted Riley.
“No problem,” he said. “Hey, I was wondering if maybe you’d like to go out with me sometime? Like, on a date?”
That drew my attention away from the window. “I’m sorry, what did you just say?” I couldn’t possibly have heard correctly. There was no way Justin Daniels had just asked me out.
“I’m asking you on a date,” he said, his voice laced with amusement.
Okay, so I had heard him correctly. Still, this made no sense. “Um…”
I didn’t know how to respond to that. I barely knew Justin. I knew of him, and what I knew was not great. He had a terrible reputation when it came to girls. I’d heard all the stories. All the rumors. He was bad news. Logan had made sure I knew that.
It was a little more than suspicious that Justin would randomly call me after seeing that video and tell me he wanted to date me. So, I opened my mouth to reject his offer, but my words were halted by what I was witnessing outside my bedroom window.
Logan and Riley were talking now. Smiling and laughing. She was touching his arm. I would have given anything to know what they were talking about…what was putting that smile on his face, even though he’d seemed miserable just a short while ago when I’d slammed the front door in his face.
“Emma? You there?”
I blinked at the sound of Justin’s voice. I’d forgotten for a second that I was still on the phone with him.
“Yeah, sorry,” I mumbled.
“So, would you like to go out with me sometime?”
I stared at Logan and Riley. Watched as he said something to her and motioned to his car. Watched as she climbed in. Watched as he did the same, right after one more quick glance in my direction. Watched as the car pulled out of the driveway and disappeared down the street.
My heart sank in my chest. Of course, he and Riley would go off somewhere together. Why wouldn’t they? They’d been flirting all summer. They’d gone to that party together the other night. He liked her. He thought she was fun and sexy. She was everything he was trying to get me to be…so that he could get his best friend to like me.
Logan didn’t like me. He’d made that very clear in that video. Perhaps this was the one time in my mom’s life that her intuition was wrong. There was no context. No misinterpretation.
He didn’t like me. He liked Riley.
But why should I care? I didn’t like him either. The feeling was mutual.
“Emma?” Justin’s slightly annoyed voice broke through my thoughts.
“Sorry,” I said, closing my eyes tightly and shaking my head. “Sorry, Justin, I was just a bit distracted.”
“That’s okay,” he said. “Look, if you need some time to think about it—”
“Yes,” I said, reopening my eyes and staring out at Logan’s empty driveway. “I mean, yes, I’ll go out with you.”
What? Emma, what are you doing?
“Great!” he said. “How about tomorrow night? We can catch a movie or something.”
“Sounds great,” I said through clenched teeth. No, it doesn’t! Take it back! Tell him you were just kidding!
“How about I pick you up around seven?”
“Perfect,” I said, forcing a smile.
“Awesome. Just text me your address and I’ll see you then.”
“Will do.” I ended the call and took a deep breath, holding it in until I began to see stars.
When I finally let it out, I began to panic. I had just agreed to go on a date with Justin Daniels, the school’s biggest player. The guy who obviously had some sort of ulterior motive for asking me out. What was wrong with me?
The answer was simple. Logan thought I was a loser. He didn’t want me, and he had successfully talked Matt into not wanting me either. Perhaps Justin couldn’t be trusted, but he was the only guy who maybe did want me, despite everything that was said in that video.
It wasn’t the best decision I’d ever made, but I didn’t care. Besides, if Logan found out I was going on a date with Justin, he would probably freak the hell out.
That was reason enough for me.
Chapter Thirty
LOGAN
“Well, that was fun!” Riley said as I pulled the Mustang into my driveway.
“It was,” I agreed with a smile as I turned off the car.
I’d spent the enti
re afternoon with Riley. It was the first time since she’d arrived here that we’d gotten to spend some quality time together. It was the first time we’d had a chance to hang out alone somewhere other than a party, and it was nice. Like she said, it was fun. I got to know her a little better. She was witty. She was interesting. I found out we had a lot in common.
But it didn’t matter. None of that was enough to distract me from what had happened earlier with Emma. In fact, being at Funland Park did nothing but remind me of her. Remind me of the Ferris wheel fiasco, or how she’d embarrassed me by beating my ass at the ring toss game.
I couldn’t get her out of my head, no matter how hard I tried.
“You want to come in for a bit?” Riley asked, motioning towards Matt’s house.
I took my phone out of my pocket and lit up the screen. No voicemail from Emma. No text. Nothing.
“Yeah, sure,” I replied glumly, even though I really just wanted to go inside my own house and sulk.
“Cool.” Riley grinned as we got out of the car and started across the street. There were no vehicles in the driveway, meaning neither Matt, nor his or Riley’s parents had made it home yet.
When we walked through the front door, Riley yelled upstairs, “Hey, Jade, I’m back!”
We were greeted with silence.
“Hmm,” Riley said. “Either she’s not here, or she’s got her headphones on.”
We headed for the kitchen and when we got there, we both immediately noticed a note stuck to the refrigerator, signed by Jade.
Riley took it down. “Gone to Kara’s. I’ll be back for dinner,” she read aloud. With a smirk, she said, “I think Kara is their leader.”
I snorted. “You don’t actually think Jade’s a member of a satanic cult, do you?”
“Satanic? No. I’m leaning more towards Wiccan.”
I laughed. “Man, I remember when she used to only wear pink and never went anywhere without her Barbie dolls.”
“Sadly, those days are gone,” Riley said with a sigh. She glanced around the kitchen. “I guess this means we’re all alone, huh?”