by EmMz
“Chase! Are you going to go down with us too?” Claire was off again. “You are so nice--”
Ugh. So much for thinking this party was going to be amazing. I think I have a headache.
Chapter 9
“Was you father an alien?
Because there's nothing else like you on earth!”
The last of the guests were leaving. The movie was over, but no one had really been able to watch it thanks to Claire’s incessant commentary during the whole thing. Man, that girl drives me nuts.
I did try to talk to Cassidy earlier during the party, but the only words I could get out of her were, ‘yes,’ or ‘no,’ or ‘thank you.’ Talk about walking zombie. It was so annoying. The worst part was I seemed to be the only one completely miffed by the situation.
There was one good thing that came out of it and one good thing, only. Carson and Madison—two guests who had come in a little later than everyone else—announced that Carson’s younger brother Ethan, was coming home from New Mexico State University for Thanksgiving week and would be in town. Since Thanksgiving was less than a month away I found that very promising.
Ethan Franklin was one guy I had always been a little bit curious to meet. He had graduated a couple of years earlier and even though I could vaguely remember him, he wasn’t someone I had ever got to know. The funny thing was, everyone I knew, who knew him said that we would be the perfect couple. I, of course, took that as a major compliment, since the guy was known to be pretty cool. Not to mention somewhat of a celebrity since he was Farmington’s reigning four-wheeling champion.
Yet the news that Ethan Franklin was coming dimmed in comparison to what a disaster the party had been. Even Chase—probably bored out of his mind—left early due to a cell phone call that saved him from answering another question from Claire.
I picked up a pillow and tossed it on the couch. Elton was thoughtfully picking up the candy bowls from around the room.
“Thanks for staying and helping.” I smiled up at him.
“Hey, no problem. I figured you’d want me to stay anyway.”
You did? “Um, yeah… it’s nice.” Maybe he wants to talk about Hannah.
“I’m going to run these bowls upstairs. They go in the kitchen, right?”
I nodded as I reached down and picked up two more pillows. “Just set them in the sink, I’ll wash them later.”
He had already taken the pizza boxes up. Apart from a quick vacuum, I had to say the room cleaned up pretty fast. I picked up the last pillow and arranged it nicely on the couch, before plunking down with a sigh. I closed my eyes briefly and allowed myself to relax from the wasted evening.
A couple of seconds later I felt the cushion beside me give way as Elton sat next to me. I could tell it was him by the way his cologne attacked my senses. Ugh! How close is the guy, anyway? I opened my eyes and nearly jumped.
Elton’s face was just above mine.
“Hello, beautiful,” he whispered, and grinned. “Is it hot in here, or is it just you?”
“Are you kidding me?” I gasped and backed away from him.
Elton followed. “I know you’ve had a thing for me for a while now.”
What? “Excuse me?” My back hit up against armrest.
It’s okay; you don’t have worry anymore, cuz I like you too.”
Oh no. Oh no. Oh no. This can’t be happening. I sat up, forcing him to move back. “Elton! Hello? I’m Emmalee Bradford, remember?”
“Oh, I remember!” One long lean arm slid behind my seat on the couch. Before I could even shriek a protest I was up on his lap, my legs were on the cushion where I had been. I didn’t even know Elton was that strong. He definitely didn’t look that strong. “How could I ever forget you?” he whispered in my ear. His other long arm slithered around my waste capturing me quite neatly within his grasp.
“Elton, are you drunk?” I pushed against his chest to try and free myself.
“Drunk?” He chuckled at my attempt to escape.
Does he think this is cute, or something? I swear I will kill the guy if he tries anything. I don’t even care how much Hannah will miss him. There is only so much a girl will put up with. I decided to reason with him again. “Elton, I’m not Hannah. Save your breath for her.”
“Hannah? Hannah!” Surprised he let out another chuckle, “Who wants to think of Hannah when Emma’s on their lap? Mmm, this is better than Christmas. Come on, baby, give me a kiss. I’ve been waiting all night to taste those juicy lips.”
I jerked when I felt his arms tighten and begin to pull me toward him. All right. That’s it. Elton Bloomfield has seriously just messed with the wrong girl. With a strong left hook my fist connected with his eye.
“Ahhh—Oww!” Instantly, I was shoved ungraciously off his lap and landed with a thud on my family’s imported Turkish rug. Elton was up and pacing the room as his hand covered his eye before I could even get to my feet. By the time I did he crudely turned and flung a whole slew of profanity right at me.
Livid, I stood my ground in front of the stairs. Good. I’m glad he’s mad. My hand blazed. It will most likely be bruised, but nothing compared to what Elton’s going to see in the morning. He’s lucky it was my left. My right was way tighter, but it had been preoccupied keeping me off the loser. I smiled so he could see I wasn’t affected by his boorish manners.
“Why’d ya do that, huh?” he spat at me while he glared with his one good eye and moved a step forward.
With about two feet between us, I clenched my right fist ready to use it if I had to. When I didn’t answer he nearly lost it,
“Who do you think you are anyway?” His lone eye pierced me as saliva flew from his furious mouth. “You think you’re some sort of, of—princess?” he nearly choked on the word. “You’ve been leading me on for weeks now. Weeks. And then as soon as I start playing your game and give you what you want, you hit me. What is that? I think you need to be taught a lesson.” Rage filled his eyes as he menacingly raised his arm. Intently I gauged the exact moment to counteract his strike and give him the uppercut he deserved. Forget my hand. This boy was going down.
“That’s enough.” The deep voice behind me startled Elton.
It was just the leverage I needed. With a quick jolt I locked my fist and aimed it directly for Elton’s jaw, right underneath his chin.
“Em! No!”
My right arm was seized and jerked back a whiskers breath away from knocking the loser senseless. Dang it, Chase! “Let me go!”
His voice was in my ear as I watched a stunned Elton stumble backwards and away from me. “You really didn’t want to do that, Em.”
“Yes, I did!” I tried to free my arm. “I had him. He totally deserved it.”
“There’s no doubt in my mind that he deserved it. But think about it. You really want to break your hand over the guy? Doesn’t the other one hurt enough already?”
“Ugh, Chase. You’ve gotta ruin everything, don’t you?” I sulked, not willing to give in to his superior intellect.
He chuckled and slowly wrapped his arms over mine around my waist and then rested his chin on the top of my head. For a moment I was lost in the feeling of my knight surrounding me. I allowed my head to rest lightly on his chest and relished the deep voice as it vibrated above me,
“Mr. Bloomfield. You’ve got approximately ten seconds to gather your things and get out of this house, or I won’t hold Emma back. And then when she’s through with you, I’ll really let you have it.”
“W-when did you get back? I-I thought y-you were gone?” sputtered Elton.
“Eight seconds,” answered Chase.
“But-but—!”
“Seven… six… five…”
“All right! I’m going! Give me a second!”
“You have three.”
“Ahh!” Elton grabbed his keys and bolted past us for the stairs.
“One.” Chase laughed above me as the front door slammed shut and echoed all the way to the basement. “So are you g
onna tell me what that was all about?”
“No!” I pulled out of Chase’s arms and turned around to see him. “What are you doing here? When did you get back? How come nobody tells me anything around here anymore?”
Chase tried to smother a grin. “Didn’t I tell you I’d be back?”
“No, you didn’t.” I folded my arms.
“Well, aren’t you glad I came?” He chuckled at my expression. “Okay, so obviously you’re not, but..” He sighed and shook his head as he took a step closer. “Look, it’s understandable that you wanted to deck the guy—believe me I wanted a piece of him too—but, what am I going to do with you, huh?”
My hands went to my hips as I stood my ground. “You don’t have to do anything with me. I’m a big girl now. Good grief! You treat me like I’m your little sister!”
Chase took another step forward his blue eyes glittered wearily into mine. “Do I? I’m sorry, I don’t mean to.”
“Y-you should be sorry.” I was having a hard time remembering to be mad when he was this close. “I-I already have an older brother.”
“Hmm… That’s right you do.” He took another step closer and this time reached up to touch the sleeve of my shirt. He brought his gaze back to mine. “Well, how about a friend then?”
“A-a friend?” I was lost. His fingers twirled the soft fabric in between them.
“Do you need a friend?”
“Um…” I licked my lips. “I was pretty good with the knight thing, really.”
Chase laughed and stepped back, releasing me from the fragile hold he had on my senses. “Well, in that case, I guess you’re happy I rescued you, then.”
“Yeah—no. Ugh.” I walked over to the basement closet and pulled out the vacuum. “For your information everything was fine before you came. And everything would’ve been fine had you never come at all.”
He didn’t say anything as he collected the cord and plugged it into the socket for me. After a few more seconds of silence I started the vacuum and irritably attacked the rug. Chase waited patiently while I finished my haphazard pattern, before gently taking the machine away from me. He turned it off and asked, “Better?”
Ugh. “A little.”
“So are you gonna be straight with me or what?”
“Or what.”
Chase grinned. “Touché.”
I chuckled and shook my head. “What do you want to know?” I finally asked.
He shrugged and walked over to the wall and unplugged the cord. I watched him head back to the vacuum and slowly wrap it neatly up before he answered. “You were hoping Elton would go for Hannah, weren’t you?”
I didn’t answer while I watched him load the vacuum back in the closet and shut the door. He turned around and I almost gasped at how blue his eyes were. It’s so unfair the Andersons’ have such pretty eyes. “By your silence, I’m gonna take that answer to be a yes,” Chase grinned as he walked back over to me.
“So what if I did want Elton and Hannah to get together, why should it bother you?”
“A lot of reasons. Emma, you really couldn’t see that he liked you more than her?” He leaned up against the back of the couch and crossed his ankles. “Even I could see he liked you more than her, and I was only around you guys once.”
I turned away from Chase. My fingers ran absentmindedly around the cover of a light switch. I finally I gave up and sighed. “What am I going to do?” With my back to Chase I leaned my head up against the wall and still fiddling with the switch willed myself not to cry. “She’s my best friend—no matter what you think about it—she is. She doesn’t deserve to have her heart broken like this. It’s not fair.” I stood up. “Ooh! Elton Bloomfield is such a jerk!” I spun around to face Chase. For a moment I was caught by the unexpected sympathy in his eyes. “I-I…” I blinked and looked away. “I can’t believe I—for one minute—thought he deserved Hannah.”
Chase cleared his throat and then added, “It’s true. Hannah is a much better person than he his. I only wish…” his voice trailed off. The awkwardness of the silence hit home. To his credit Chase didn’t say I told you so, but I could tell it took effort.
I decided to give the offered olive branch. “H-how is Martin? Have you seen him?”
Chase took a deep breath and stood up. “Yeah, I’ve seen him. He’s not doing so great.”
“Really? I hope Hannah didn’t hurt him when she told him no.”
Chase shook his head and looked down at the floor. “I don’t think anyone could be more upset than Martin is. He uh, really loved her. It’ll take a while to get over it.”
“Oh.” I felt awful. “I’m sorry.”
Chase looked up then. “Me too.”
“Here.” I opened my arms wide. “Hug me, and we’ll call a truce, okay?”
He softly chuckled and after a slight hesitation, walked into my arms. His strong limbs wrapped around my waist and I smiled when I felt his nose press into the side of my cheek. Maybe having another older brother isn’t that bad after all.
Chapter 10
“If I followed you home, would you keep me?”
The next morning seemed awfully bleak, especially once the memory of the past night came back full force. Despairingly I sat up in my bed and contemplated just how I was going to break the news to my sick friend. No girl should ever have to deal with this sort of anxiety first thing in the morning. It really is awful.
Not one to be too indecisive, I was determined to get on with my day by jumping out of bed and taking a shower. After the shower I felt better—at least well enough to make the phone call. Dressed and sitting on my stuffed chair in my room, I took a deep steadying breath and punched Hannah’s number.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Hannah, it’s Emma.”
“Hi! How did the party go? I’m so sorry I missed it! I felt horrible not going. It’s just I kept getting sick and having to run to the bathroom and I would forget to call you! Please, please, please say you forgive me. I hope you know I definitely wanted to come. I still feel horrible or I would’ve been over to your house already apologizing.”
That’s ironic. “Yeah, Elton told me. Actually, about Elt--”
“Oh good! I’m so glad he told you! It was so embarrassing too! I had got sick so fast that I didn’t have time to call him. I couldn’t believe it when he showed up at my door. I was so mortified! Thank goodness my mom screened him for me. There was no way I was going to let him see me like that.”
“I don’t blame you. I wouldn’t want to—”
“So what did he look like?”
“Uh, Elton?”
“Duh! What was he wearing? Did he look totally hot? Did he ask about me? Was he worried or grossed out or something?”
“G-grossed out?”
“I mean, was he mad that I hadn’t called him first?”
“Oh, uh, no. He didn’t seem mad.”
Hannah sighed. “Oh good! I was so worried.”
Oh my gosh! The sick feeling was back. This is going to be so much harder than I thought. I debated with the idea of putting it off a couple more days until Hannah felt better, but then quickly scratched that. You never know what gossip will be said about it. It’s better that she hears it from me first. I was positive Chase wouldn’t say anything, but I couldn’t guarantee that Elton wouldn’t. And he had a lot of friends.
I took a deep breath and plunged right in. “Listen, Hannah, I need to tell you something.”
She was silent a moment. “O-oh, okay. Is it bad?”
I guess my tone of voice prepared her more than I realized. “Actually, yeah. It is bad. And you’re not going to be happy with me when I say it.”
She chuckled and then groaned into the phone. “Don’t make me laugh, it hurts my tummy.”
I nervously smiled. “I’ll try not to. But seriously, you-you’re n-not going to like me much once I tell you my news.”
She grew still and my heart sank further. “Emma, what is it?”
I took a sha
ky breath and started, “Well, it’s uh..., well, it’s about—um…”
“Egad! Will you just tell me already. You have no idea how tight my hand is holding onto this phone.”
I chuckle-gasped in surprise and then tried again. “It’s about El-Elton.”
“What about him?” Her monotone voice caused me to grip my phone tighter.
“Well—he, well, he-he—”
“He what?”
I opened my mouth and then hesitated. I really, really, didn’t want to tell her. Why did Elton Bloomfield have to be such a loser? Such an idiotic, brainless loser?
“Emma? Is it that bad? Why won’t you tell me?”
“Y-yes, it’s bad. And I-I don’t w-want to tell you, because I don’t want to hurt you.”
“Oh my gosh! He’s in love with someone else, isn’t he?”
I gasped at Hannah’s intuitiveness. She must’ve heard.
“I’m right, aren’t I? He has girlfriend, doesn’t he?”
“No!” I nearly yelled into the phone. “He doesn’t have a girlfriend. He can dream, but he’s not ever getting the girl he wants.”
“Emma?” Her voice cracked into the receiver as Hannah whispered, “Who is she?”
I clamped a shaky hand over my mouth to muffle the dry sobs that were desperate to come out. Two large tears worked their way to the corners of my eyes and I blinked them rapidly to stop them from falling.
“Emma? Who is it? Tell me please.”
One small heart-wrenching sob escaped and both tears fell as I answered my friend—guaranteed to make her hate me forever. “It-it’s me.” I gasped before lowering the phone and stifling a few more sobs. When I had better control over myself, I brought the phone back up to my mouth and pleaded my case. “I-I’m so sorry, Hannah. I’m so sorry. I had no idea. None. If I did, I would’ve never, ever thought to—I would’ve never made him think that—made you think that—”
“Emma, Emma, it’s okay.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Hey, I know you are.” Hannah took a deep breath and I paused taking hope from her calm voice. “Look, I’m sorry you had to be the one to tell me. It’s not fair, is it?”