by EmMz
“You’re sorry, but…”
“Emma, stop it. Neither of us can change the facts. So he didn’t like me, big deal. Okay, so it is a big deal, but I’m gonna get over it. You definitely don’t have to cry about it. Sheez! I mean, honestly, you have to admit it was weird that he started to like me in the first place. Hello? The senior class president falls for well—uh, me. It doesn’t add up.”
“Yes it does!” Now I was getting mad. “Elton Bloomfield is a jerk—seriously. If he can’t see you for who you are, then I’m glad we got rid of him when we did. The moron.”
“But Emma, think about it. Honestly, of course he would have fallen for you. He has probably always been crushing on you. You’re Emmalee Bradford for crying out loud. It was probably like some junior high fantasy come to life when you actually started to include him in stuff. Don’t knock Elton, just cuz he saw you before he saw me.”
“But he was totally flirting with you!”
“Yeah, but to him it might’ve not meant anything more than getting on your good side by being nice to me.” She took a unsteady breath while I absorbed what she said. “Look, I’m gonna go now, okay? I’ve got a headache and I’m starting to feel a little queasy again.”
“Okay.”
“But, I promise, I’m not mad at you, all right?”
I breathed a sigh of relief. “Really? Okay.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ll get over him eventually.”
“You really are an awesome friend. And we’re gonna find you the most perfect guy, I promise!”
She chuckled. “Well, not right now, please. I need a little bit to get over this one, first. Then we can begin guy hunting again.”
“Hannah?”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for understanding.”
“I’ll call you tomorrow, okay?”
“Okay.” I hung up the phone and then walked over to my bed and collapsed. Here I thought all along I was helping Hannah. But then after seeing her amazing kindness and friendship toward me, I realized that she was really helping me. If every girl had a friend like Hannah, the world would be a brighter place.
“So have you chosen which puppy you want yet?”
I turned at the sound of Chase’s voice behind me. Georgia was up off the grass and running to him. “Chase! Chase!” she squealed while a mountain of little fluff balls happily yapped and chased her.
“Whoa!” Chase stepped back and picked Georgia up—to save the puppies from her eager feet—before gingerly walking to my side. The miniature Pomeranians leapt and bounded wildly about his legs. So much so, there was no way he was going to be able to sit down on the grass without smashing one of them. “Uh, I think I’m gonna need some help.” he sky-blue eyes twinkled down into mine.
I laughed out loud and tried to collect as many of the little guys as I could. Except they were all excited to see Chase, and would quickly spring out of my lap as soon as I leaned over to grab another one. “The little rascals love you too much. It’s impossible!” I giggled as another ball of fluff escaped and bounced over to Chase again.
“Yeah, Chase,” laughedGeorgia near his ear, “them lil’ rapskulls keep gettin’ away!”
I finally gave up. I stood and brushed my jeans off, while in search of a chair. There’s one.
“Hey!” Chase called, as I jogged over to the Anderson’s porch. “You can’t leave me like this!”
I smiled and collected the lightweight garden chair and brought it over to him. “See, I’m nicer than you thought.”
“You’re an angel!” He laughed.
I placed the chair away from the excited puppies and Chase cautiously made his way over to it and slowly lowered his tall frame.
“Just don’t forget, the next time I make you mad, I’m an angel.” I grinned as I sat down on the grass near his chair
“Oh, darn. I said that out loud, didn’t I?”
Georgia squirmed off Chase’s lap. “Wait till you see the one Emma wants.”
We both watched her pursue my favorite puppy, who found the flower garden much more exciting than Chase’s shoe, like the other three pups.
“So you picked one, did ya?” he asked.
I looked up at him. His eyes were focused on Georgia. “Yeah, I chose Clementine.”
“Clementine?” That got his attention. He looked down at me and smirked. “Who in their right mind chooses a puppy and names it Clementine?”
“Your mom.” I chuckled at his shocked face.
“What? You’re kidding! When?”
“Just this morning.” I giggled.
“Are you gonna keep the name?”
I shrugged. “I don’t know, I might.”
Chase shook his head and chuckled. “Women. You do know that’s a cow’s name, don’t you?”
I threw back my head and laughed. “Chase Anderson! You’re horrible.”
He grinned and picked up Little Lion as he tried to scrabble up his pant leg. “Come here, you.” He brought the puppy right up to his face. “Come save me from silly girls.” The puppy excitedly yipped and wiggled his tail in agreement. Chase brought the little guy closer and gently rubbed his jaw over its head, before he asked, “Have you talked to Hannah, yet?”
I looked away and watched Georgia laugh and run from a couple of puppies trying to catch her. “Yeah, I called her this morning.”
“Good.”
I glanced up to meet Chase’s gaze briefly before lowering mine. I could feel his eyes on the top of my head as I examined my colorful shoes.
“How is she?” he asked.
I shrugged and fiddled with a couple of blades of grass. “Not good. Not bad, but not good.”
“Did she cry?”
I half-chuckled. “No, but I did.”
“You, Emma?” I felt his hand softly glide through my hair. Tingles raced up and down my spine in response. “I can’t imagine you ever crying over anything. You’re one tough girl.”
“Am I?”
“Yep, that’s what I like about you.”
“Except for when I’m near the lake.” I laughed quietly.
His fingers drifted through my hair a second time and I tried to cover the shiver. It didn’t work. “Hey, are you cold?” Chase removed his hand.
“No.” Just over sensitized.
“Are you sure? We can move back in if you want?”
“I’m fine, really.” I decided to change the subject. “Hey, while you were gone, you missed the news at the party last night.”
“What news? I thought the only thing exciting was Elton’s news.”
“Oh please!” I rolled my eyes and looked up at him. “This news is way better than Elton.”
“So what’s up?”
“Carson Franklin was saying his little brother Ethan is coming home from NMSU for Thanksgiving.”
“Really? And this is exciting—why?”
“Um, hello? Ethan Franklin. The Ethan Franklin. I’ve only wanted to be introduced to the guy for the past two years.”
Chase looked over at Georgia. “So uh, you really like this guy, huh?”
I laughed. “What’s not to like? He’s supposedly hot. He’s nice. He’s funny. Everyone says we’d be perfect together. And to top it all off, he’s the reigning four-wheeling champion at the moment.”
“Really? A four-wheeling buff?” Chase glanced back down and scanned over my glowing smile. “So, you’re planning to hang with him then?”
I laughed. “I don’t know. We’ll see. First, I have to see if he likes me.”
“Oh he’ll like you,” Chase’s eyes glittered into mine a moment.
“Really? You think so?” I glowed.
He nodded and shrugged and then looked back towards Georgia, before muttering, “What’s not to like?”
Chapter 11
“Hey, is it just me, or are we destined to be married?”
The following Monday at school, Elton treated me like I had the plague. He refused to look at me when we met in the hall
and purposefully walked to the other side. Which was fine, honestly, I definitely didn’t want to be anywhere near him. Oh! And his black eye had to have been downright nasty. He had special permission from his doctor to wear sunglasses throughout the day. –Some random excuse about the ultraviolet lights from the classrooms hurting his eyes. Yeah right, he probably bribed the doctor to say that! The dork!
Okay, so I admit it. I totally thought the way he was acting was completely hilarious. That is, until I walked into History and overheard him mocking Hannah. Even I didn’t think Elton Bloomfield was that harsh. And then to realize that the rest of the class was egging him on was mortifying. One look at Hannah’s face and I nearly decked the guy again. But, I knew she would kill me if I did. So instead, I took a deep breath and pasted on my Bradford smile. Everyone paused in their laughter and stared at me. That smile really was a killer smile. That’s right. And don’t you forget who really owns this school. If you want to be popular, you stay on my good side.
“Oh! There you are Hannah! I just got your text.” It was no trouble at all to walk past my usual seat and sit up front in the empty one next to her. In fact, it felt liberating. With that one small act, no one would dare insult her again. Somewhat mollified—I would’ve rather blackened Elton’s other eye—I smiled down into Hannah’s relieved face. I knew she would never mention it and I vowed right then to pretend I had no idea what had just happened.
“I hope you don’t mind if I sit here.”
“Mind?” She rolled her eyes. “Why haven’t you earlier?”
I stared at her baffled. And then it dawned on me why I hadn’t. I had stayed next to Elton to hear all of the flattering remarks he had made about her. I couldn’t tell her that. “Uh…”
“Miss Bradford, are you and Hannah through with your discussion?” asked Ms. Ingle clearly miffed. She had her arms folded and was tapping a high heeled toe against the carpet.
“Uh, yeah, sorry.” I smiled again.
Ms. Ingle took two purposeful strides up to my desk and asked, “So, Emmalee, are you planning on making the front row a permanent spot?”
My smile grew. “Well, yeah, actually. That is, if you don’t mind?” I could feel the whole classroom staring at the back of my head. I sat up a little straighter and announced loudly, “Hannah and I have been working together on our reports and stuff. It would make it a lot easier and way more fun if we were together.”
“Would it?” Ms. Ingle raised an eyebrow and contemplated what I had told her. She glanced slightly in Hannah’s direction and then to the back of the room where Elton was sitting, before flicking her gaze around to the rest of the students. She smirked and her eyes sparkled when they came to rest on me again.
She knows what I am doing!
“Hmm… Yes, I can see why it would be much more entertaining to be up front here with Hannah Smith.” Ms. Ingle gave me a short quick grin and glanced around the room again before adding, “You are more than welcome to stay here.”
“Thank you!” I gushed.
Ms. Ingle’s eyes snapped back toward mine, as if to say—‘Don’t overdo it.’
Of course not. I smiled. Maybe Ms. Ingle is more human than I thought?
After Monday, Hannah didn’t seem to have any more problems from Elton. And as far as school went it just basically whizzed by in a sort of blur. There was a short uncomfortable moment for me—about two weeks later--when everyone I knew was invited to Cassidy Hart’s themed Halloween party and I wasn’t. Not that I would’ve gone had they thought to invite me, I just found it odd that they didn’t.
It wasn’t even that big of deal when I went with Hannah to find the perfect costume. I guess this year they were doing a Mafia theme. And Hannah wanted to find a stunning forties type dress and hat. Okay, so how lame are Halloween parties anyway? Especially ones where you dress up? Can we say grade school anyone? Except, that’s what I don’t get. Why do I care? Why is it totally wiggin’ on me that I haven’t been invited? I abhor dressing up in costumes. That is, at least I think I do.
“Hey! Emma! You’ve gotta check out this one!”
I looked across the shabby thrift store to where Hannah had insisted that we shop in first. She was holding up a dark purple satiny dress. “Wow. That would work. It’s even got shoulder pads.”
“I know! And check out the pencil skirt on this dress! It’s like perfect!” She brought the dress in front of her and beamed down at it, before asking, “Oh, so have you found any great costume jewelry that’ll work yet?”
“Hmm…” I glanced back at the glass-topped cabinet and eyed the sparkly multi-colored faux gems all around. “There’s a few things that could work.” And then I saw it. “Wait! There’s an awesome—like really cool—purple and turquoise butterfly pin thingy.”
“Really? A brooch?” she called back.
“Yeah!” I waved my hand, beckoning her over to the case. “Come here and look! Seriously, bring the dress too.”
She was over quicker than I realized.
“Miss?” I asked the clerk at the adjoining counter as Hannah leaned over my arm to get a better view. “Can we see this brooch? The butterfly one?”
“Sure.” The cashier smiled and walked over to unlock the cabinet.
“Ooh!” Hannah gasped. It looked even prettier out from under the grubby glass.
“It’s perfect, isn’t it?”
Hannah took it from the woman and quickly set it against her dress. “Look! Right here, on the hip. That would be amazing wouldn’t it?”
“Yeah!” I smiled at how well it looked above the soft ruffles that flirted out below it. “Look at how well it matches the dress. It looks like it was made for it.”
“I know! I love it!” Hannah giggled. “Holy cow, I’m going to be a total knockout at the party!”
“Yeah, you’re gonna look amazing.”
“Too bad you aren’t coming. You’ve got to see the other dress I found over there. I think it would look marvelous on you.”
“What? Are you kidding?”
“No. Come on, I’ll show you.”
I followed Hannah back to the tall circular rack that held the vintage—mostly 1980’s-90’s gowns. Yuck!
“Here it is!”
In shock I stared at the shimmering pale gold gown that she pulled out. It was total forties, but elegant lounge singer type forties. It was awesome. “Wow! That is pretty.”
“Yeah, I thought it would go perfect with your blonde hair.”
Dang! It probably would. “Oh.” Okay, so now I really wish I had been invited. What’s the deal anyway? I invited them to my movie-thingy. Sheez! Even though, I would probably say no, they could’ve at least been nice. I touched the smooth satin of the dress with my index finger. Maybe dressing up wouldn’t be that bad after all.
A couple of days later I regretted even more not getting invited when Chase came over to ask what something on his invitation meant. Good grief! He got invited too?
“So do you have any idea what this is about?” He grinned boyishly at me across the countertop while a stirred up Mom’s to die for chocolate chip cookies. “I mean, I don’t have to dress up do I?”
“You? Worried about dressing up?” I smirked as I gave the wooden spoon a final churn around the bowl. “I thought you liked costumes.”
Chase rolled his eyes. “Only if they’re armor.”
I laughed and shook my head, before I ducked down to pull out a couple of my mother’s stoneware cookie sheets.
“No honestly, do I have to wear some nineteen forties mafia outfit?” Chase asked.
“Yeah, I think so. That’s what Hannah’s doing.”
“Wait, where’s your invite? What does it say? Maybe yours clarifies a bit more.”
I stood up and placed the heavy stones on the counter. Not ready to answer him, I walked over to the silverware drawer and pulled out two spoons. When I came back I handed one to Chase. “Here, make yourself useful.”
“You sure?” he grinned. “I’m not th
e best cook, you know? I mean, I’ve been known to have a whole batch of cookies disappear right in front of me—even before they make it into the oven.”
“Disappear? What are you—?”
Chase’s spoon—fully loaded—plopped into his mouth. “Hmm… Your mom always did have the best recipes.”
I put my hands on my hips. “Chase Anderson, you are not going to devour all of that cookie dough!”
“Okay.” He mischievously smiled as he dipped his spoon in for another chunk. “I promise I won’t eat it all.”
“Eww! That’s totally double dipping!” Ugh! I could hear Chase chuckling to himself as I stomped over to the cabinet and pulled down a small dessert plate. “Here.” I hurried back and removed the contaminated portion with my spoon and set it on the plate. “This is yours, okay? Sheez! Can you promise to behave yourself now?”
Chase grinned and nodded, pretending to act humble, while he dug into his plate for another bite. “Thanks.”
“Guys! Are you all like this?” I asked as I put dough on the first stone. “Because if you are, I don’t think I want a boyfriend after all.”
Chase shrugged while fishing for a chocolate chip on his plate. “Yeah, as far as I know, all guys are like this.” He plopped the tiny chocolate piece in his mouth and grinned again.
Exasperated, I sighed and went to work loading up as much of the dough as I could, before Chase finished his off.
He watched me for a minute and then asked, “So what does your invite say?”
For crying out loud, are we back to that again?
I worked intently on finishing up the row as I answered matter of factly, “I didn’t get one.”
He stopped. I know he did because I heard the spoon clatter on the countertop. “What do you mean?” he cautiously asked.
I shrugged and continued to focus on dropping small spoonfuls of dough onto the sheet. “That I didn’t get invited.”
“Yeah, but why?” he persisted.
Inwardly I took a deep breath and waited until I had finished the whole stone. I looked up as I switched the empty stone in front of me and answered, “I don’t know. Maybe Cassidy knew I would tell her no, so she didn’t bother inviting me.”