by EmMz
“Are you kidding me?”
“Nope. When I was little and she came to visit, I was always dressing up in my mom’s clothes. So Granny—not sure what to do with her old things—willed them to me. They came with specific instructions that said I wasn’t supposed to sell them or hide them away. I was supposed to “dress up” and show them off. Just like I did when I was younger. If it wasn’t for Granny, I don’t think I would’ve been able to convince my mom to let me throw this party to begin with.”
“Cass, Mom needs you,” interrupted her sister, Claire. “She’s in the family room trying to decide how many teams there will be. So can you go and tell her how many people are here? Oh! You made the punch. Good. I like that punch. Ooh! Emmalee, your dress is so—don’t you think her dress is pretty, Cass? Cass? Oh duh, she’s heading over to help my mom. I totally forgot. Have you tried any cookies? Cass made them. They’re really—here you have to try them—Cassidy is the best baker ever. They’re her very own recipe.”
“Thank you.” I took the offered cookies and looked around for an escape. But Claire was quicker than I was,
“When did you get here? You’re so nice for coming—we didn’t think you would. You have no idea how surprised we were when Cass came back from your house saying that you were coming. But even then, my mom said she’d be shocked if you really showed up. I told her how nice you were and how you were so fun at your party—I liked the pizza at your party. Was that Little Caesar’s Pizza? I can’t remember—it was good though! My mom said that she would have to wait and see how you acted here—if you came—before she would make her opinion of how you really were. Even though I assured her, she still made me promise not to—Oh! I wasn’t supposed to tell you that! Well, you won’t tell my mom will you? Of course you won’t. You’re too nice remember—Oh! Look. There’s my friend Justin. I hope you don’t mind if I leave you to go talk to him, I’ve been waiting for him to show up this whole time. Justin. Justin....”
Whew! Saved by Justin. Dazed, I shook my head and followed Claire’s beeline toward the poor guy. Just then, I heard a familiar chuckle behind me.
I grinned and closed my eyes a moment before turning around. “Chase, it is not nice to laugh at me.”
“Who says I was laughing at you?” His blue eyes sparkled playfully into my own. “I was thinking of the poor guy she’s just herded into that corner.”
His eyes were way too pretty. It seriously wasn’t fair. I smirked, and then tired of discussing Claire I asked, “So how are you holding up? Talk about awkward. I mean, this is a high school party. Could there be more measly little teenagers in one place? Honestly? You’ve got to be the oldest guy here, so—”
The rest of what I was about to say was smothered by Chase’s finger over my mouth. Before I could even react he propelled me through a small doorway next to the kitchen—down a step—into the laundry room. What in the--? Chase? He shut the door. We were all alone.
“Will you stop?”
I was stunned by the anger I heard in his voice. What? “What are you talking about? What do you mean?”
Chase took a couple of swift steps toward the large washing machine and turned around. Roughly he ran his hand over his face and took a deep breath.
“Stop what, Chase? What did I say?” I was beginning to get worried.
“Look, you don’t always have to be a Prom Queen, okay?”
Prom Queen? What in the--?
“Sometimes it’s okay to go somewhere and just enjoy a place for what it is. You know, relax. Have fun. Not always expect everything to be this super great entertainment.”
Where in the world did this come from?
“To answer your question. Yes! I’m having a fabulous time, all right?”
“O-kay?”
“And yes, I may be the oldest guy here, but so far I’ve met some pretty cool people.” He pushed himself away from the machine and approached me. “Many of them, believe it or not, I already know, because they work for my dad. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going back to the party, which is ten times more fun than being in here with you.”
“Chase?” But I spoke to thin air. He had already opened the door and shut it behind him. Baffled, and more hurt than I was willing to admit. I slowly made my way over to the washing machine he had just left. Absentmindedly, I let my fingers trail over the crevice of the lid.
Why am I even here, anyway? I knew coming to this party would be a big mistake. I even dressed up in a costume for crying out loud! I never wear costumes. Was I really the only one who felt uncomfortable with the idea of playing dress up? I thought of Hannah and Cassidy, both of them happy with the large crowd of people out there in the house. If I was honest with myself, I hardly knew anyone at the party. And for the first time in my life I felt utterly alone. It wasn’t a feeling I was comfortable with.
I stared blankly at the other door that led to the Hart’s carport as I tried to assess my feelings. When two crummy tears started to make their way toward my heavily lined lashes, I knew this whole party was a waste. In a flash I opened the side door and walked outside onto the Hart’s gravel-covered carport. I prayed my heels would last as I gingerly picked my way down the drive toward my car. There were so many people at the party; it wasn’t like I’d be missed. Besides, there’s no reason to stay anyway.
Three weeks later and Hannah still hadn’t forgiven me for bolting from the party like I did. Good grief! Like I knew she would actually miss me that much. It was gratifying in some ways to be missed. Even though I had tried to block that night out as much as I could. It’s not pretty reliving messy eyeliner streaks and stupid costumes that refuse to come off fast enough, when all you want is out of them!
So I cried. Big deal. I’m all grown up and besides, I must’ve been just highly overemotional that day, or something. Usually, I am much more relaxed and calm in situations like that. Anyway, as I’m sure you can see, I tried to block it from my memory as much as possible. And I probably would’ve done a pretty good job of it too, had Hannah stopped bringing it up every couple of hours or so.
“I’ll never forgive you—ever—for leaving that party,” she announced as we walked through the grocery store with my mom’s last minute Thanksgiving shopping list.
“So you’ve said. A thousand times, I might add.” I stopped and pulled down two cans of black olives and one jar of green ones. I set them in the cart and crossed them off the list.
“Yes, but it’s true. I can’t forgive you.”
I inwardly sighed and tapped my toe while I searched through the list again. Crackers and cheese. I headed for the cracker aisle. Hannah followed.
“Really. I don’t think you realize what I fool I looked like searching for you. I mean, my goodness, I thought you had got locked in one of the Hart’s bathrooms or something. How was I supposed to know you had just up and decided to leave like that? Didn’t you even think how rude you might look to people?”
I slowed the cart as we rounded into the cracker aisle and scanned for my mom’s favorite crackers. “No, Hannah. I didn’t think about coming off as rude. Honestly, I didn’t leave hoping to ruin the party for you, okay?”
“Well why did you leave then?”
There it was. The question I didn’t even want Hannah to know the answer to. The whole reason why she was still mad at me. But how could I tell her I left because Chase didn’t want to be around me? Or that Mrs. Hart was just waiting for me to say or do something rude to prove I wasn’t nice. Or even worse, that I left because Chase made me cry. See? It was hopeless. It was something I wasn’t even willing to admit to anyone right then, not even myself. So why in the world would I think of plaguing Hannah with it? It didn’t matter anyway, because in the end Chase was right. I did think I was better than everyone there. I wasn’t at the party to feel impressed and to enjoy myself; I was there to meet Ethan Franklin, plain and simple.
It’s just that had I been given half a chance I might’ve actually enjoyed myself. I mean, I was warming up
and I was pretty curious about the games they were planning. Ugh! But who was I kidding, anyway? I was just as welcome to be there as I felt I was. No one wanted me to be there really, no one expected me to show up in the—
“Hey, Emma!” A voice interrupted my thoughts.
I looked over into the excited face of Carson Franklin. “Oh, hi! I didn’t see you there.” I smiled and then glanced over at the guy by his side. He was really cute and staring straight at me.
“Imagine running into you at Safeway of all places.” Carson chuckled and nudged the guy next to him in the arm. “Hey, Ethan, that’s Emmalee Bradford, the girl I’ve been telling you about.”
Chapter 14
“Well, here I am. What were your other two wishes?”
Eeh! Ethan Franklin! My heart skipped a beat as I returned his lazy smile. “Hello.”
All at once Ethan’s grin grew to dangerously enchanting proportions. I was struck by the wicked gleam I caught in his hazel eyes. He took a step towards my cart and then another to the side of it. With a short tug he pulled the cart and me along with it right up to him. His grin near enough caused me to swoon when he whispered, “Hey, yourself.”
I held on to the cart for dear life and willed my knees not to buckle underneath me. I could tell Ethan knew exactly the sort of effect he had on me. His playful eyes left no secrets. Distracted, my gaze settled on the cleft in his chin and I felt a small flush grow when he chuckled at my confusion. The scoundrel. Carson saved me.
“Hannah, I don’t think you’ve met my little brother either.”
I watched Ethan use his charm on Hannah for a moment as he answered her greeting. “Hi. You’re Emma’s friend, right?” His profile showed hints of a five o’clock shadow. I tried hard not to stare at his firm jaw that was, even now, wrapped in a smile for Hannah. Our eyes collided again, and before I could look away Ethan had the audacity to wink.
He is way too flirtatious for his own good. Guys like that should not be allowed out in public. I decided to give him a run for his money. Obviously, this guy thinks I will fall at his feet. I picked a couple of boxes of crackers at random and tossed them lightly in the cart. “Well, it was nice meeting you—uh—what was your name, again? Ian?”
“Ethan.” That devilish grin grew to a full out smirk. His perfect teeth flawless against his tan skin.
“Ethan, that’s right. Sorry. It was really nice to meet you. I hope you enjoy Thanksgiving in a couple of days.” I turned to Carson and beamed my Bradford smile right at him. Neither of the Franklin boys were immune. I caught Ethan stepping back in shock through my peripheral vision and Carson’s jaw dropped right in front of me. “Excuse us.” And then as a parting shot, I added as I walked past, “Don’t forget to have Madison call me, Carson. I would love to get together with her and do something. Bye.”
“She knows Madison too?” I heard Ethan utter as I turned the corner toward the dairy aisle. Hannah was clearly baffled.
“Why did you leave?” she asked jogging up to the cart. “Ethan was totally hitting on you. I thought you’ve wanted to meet him for forever? And now you just leave? I don’t get it.”
I laughed and shook my head. “Hannah, he’ll be back, I promise.”
He was back a lot sooner than I thought. The next day—Wednesday—afterschool Ethan and Carson showed up at my house with Madison in tow.
“Hey, we were wondering if you wanted to hit the trails for a bit before dinner?” Carson asked.
“Hit the trails?” I was lost.
Ethan dangled his keys in front of me and answered, “Yeah, you know, four wheelin’?”
Wow! “Are you for real?”
Madison laughed. “Sure why not? There’s room for four in Ethan’s Jeep.”
I had to think fast. “Um, sure, yeah. Hang on. Let me run and tell my mom. You guys are welcome to come on in for a bit.” I opened the door wider but they all protested. “Give me a minute and I’ll be back.” I left the door slightly ajar and walked into the kitchen where I had been helping my mom cook for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving dinner. “Hey, mom?”
“Yeah?”
“Carson and Ethan Franklin are at the door with Madison Coolidge. They were wondering if I could go four wheeling with them for a bit before dinner.”
“Is Chase going too?”
Uh? I still didn’t have the heart to tell my mom I hadn’t heard from Chase since the Halloween party. “No, I don’t think so.”
“Well, why don’t you invite him?”
What? “But, Mom, I’m sure there are a hundred other things Chase would rather be doing than hanging out with me and my friends.”
Mom set the bowl down she was beating into and walked over to the counter. “Emma, theFranklin brothers are older than you.”
“So?”
“So, I would feel better about it if you invited Chase along too.”
Holy cow. Are you kidding me? How humiliating. “But Mom, there’s not room for Chase anyway. Besides, this is Ethan Franklin we’re talking about. The best four wheel driver in all of New Mexico. I’m perfectly safe with him.”
“She’s right, ma’am.” I was caught off guard by Ethan’s deep voice behind me. I whipped my head around. He was alone and standing in the doorway. “I would never do anything to put your daughter’s life at risk. Believe me. When she’s with me, she’ll always be perfectly safe.”
I turned around to see if Ethan’s charm had worked on my mom. I could tell she was appeased, but not willing to give up the fight. Ethan walked up next to me ready to offer more help if I needed it. Mom looked from Ethan to me and then back again, before she burst out, “Were you there in Moab, last summer, when Kylie Russell had her accident that now has her in a wheelchair?”
Ethan visibly flinched. I watched a shadow play over his features as he lowered his eyes and muttered, “Yes.”
“Were you in charge then? Were you around when she broke her neck and nearly died?!” my mother spat.
Oh my gosh! I had never seen my mom so freaked out before.
“I—” He glanced at my mom and then over at me. I watched his eyes cloud with emotion as he stared right into mine and answered, “Yes. I was in charge.” He looked over at my mother and firmly answered, “Believe me, it will never happen again.”
My Mom searched Ethan’s proud face a moment, before stating decisively, “No. It won’t. Emma, you’re not going.”
“What?!”
“You can stay here and help me with tomorrow’s dinner.”
“But I—” Mom’s look stopped me. She was serious. Dead serious. And I was mortified. Can I just shrivel up and die, please? Really, any time now is good. Why are mothers so embarrassing?
To Ethan’s credit he handled it better than I thought he would—better than I’m sure, my mom thought he would. In fact all he did was clear his throat a bit and nod twice before saying,
“O-kay. That settles that. I guess I’ll be off then. I’ll let you know if we plan things that are less dangerous. It was nice meeting you, Mrs. Bradford.”
“I’ll walk you to the door,” I offered. When we were out of earshot I added, “Thanks for thinking of me, really. I would’ve liked to have gone. Sorry my mom was so—well, protective.”
“Hey, no worries. Just be grateful she loves you as much as she does.”
I let out a short bark of laughter and rolled my eyes. “Yeah, a little too much! I’m the baby of the family. I get babied a lot.”
Ethan looked at me surprised for a moment then said, “Well, Carson won’t be too happy. He was looking forward to us all hitting the hills. I guess that’s what we get for planning stuff so last minute…” Ethan trailed off as we approached the door.
“So are we all ready to go?” Carson’s smile beamed right at me.
“I…” I looked over toward Ethan.
He quickly covered for me. “Emma can’t make it. She’s promised her mom she’d help cook Thanksgiving dinner.”
Madison and Carson both looked disappoin
ted. “Really? You can’t get out of it?”
I smiled weakly. “I tried.” I watched a look of ‘I’ll tell you later’ pass between the brothers and wished I hadn’t. “Well, thanks for coming by. Maybe we can do something another time? Do you need my cell number?”
“Ethan, why don’t you put Emma’s digits in your phone?” Carson asked, and then added, “Hey! I just met a real cool guy and his girlfriend. He’s a senior this year at Farmington High, but his girlfriend goes to Pedra Vista, maybe you know him. Does the name Elton Bloomfield ring a bell?”
Elton Bloomfield? He has a girlfriend? What in the world is Hannah going to think? “Yeah, I know him.”
“Cool! I was thinking we might all head to the movies one night—like a whole group of us, while Ethan’s in town. What do ya say?”
“With Elton?” No way. “Sure. Ethan can text or call me when ya’ll come up with definite plans.” Hopefully they’ll forget all about it.
After a couple more minutes of dithering with Ethan’s cell phone, they finally left and I was able to shut the door in peace.
The peace only lasted a few minutes before Hannah pounded on the door.
“Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my GOSH!” Hannah panicked and paced in the foyer before zooming into the front room.
Dang. She knows about Elton. “What? What is it? Did you hear?”
She sighed and sat down for a moment before bolting out of her chair again and walking over to the fireplace.
“Hannah? Did something happen?”
Her hands nervously picked at the porcelain figurine resting on the mantel. She turned toward me and gasped. “I saw him!”
“E-Elton?”
“Elton?” Hannah looked completely baffled. “No, not Elton. I saw Martin. Just now!”
“Oh?” O-oh! Dang it. “Where were you? Was he rude or something?”
She fidgeted with her hands and then ran her fingers through her hair before she walked up to the couch I was next to. “No, no. He wasn’t rude. Not at all! That’s what I don’t get. I know he hates me. Why doesn’t he just treat me like dirt and get on with it?” She slumped down on the sofa and put her head in her hands.