by Lee, S. G.
“Can we leave for the park after I eat?”
“Now that I’m home, Emma, you don’t have to stay. I’m sure you have better stuff to do on a Saturday.”
Lucy’s lower lip curled into a pout and she looked up at Emma as if her heart was breaking.
“For your information, I promised your parents I would stay here until they got home. I also promised Lucy that I would take her to the park. If it’s all the same to you, I don’t plan on breaking either of those promises. Lucy, as soon as I finish cleaning up in here, we’ll go to the park.”
Thinking on his feet, Evan asked her not to run the water for about ten minutes. Before she could object, he ran upstairs. Showered and dressed, Evan worked on a plan to invite himself along. When the girls left, he was going to be ready.
Emma was still drying the skillet when he approached the kitchen doorway. He could hear Lucy telling her about the kids at school. The sudden change in her tone made Evan linger in the hallway to listen. After a little prodding from Emma, Lucy admitted that some of the kids at school were being mean and making her feel unwanted.
“You shouldn’t let anyone tell you that you don’t belong or make you feel like you’re not good enough, Lucy. If you let enough people say it, you might start to believe them.”
Evan detected a trace of sadness in Emma’s voice and wondered if that was why she had difficulty making friends. He paused, timing his entrance perfectly. Emma was just asking Lucy if she was ready when Evan crossed the threshold.
“I didn’t see your car out there, Emma. If you don’t want to walk, we could ride our bikes to the park.”
“We?” Both girls looked at Evan; Emma was seething inside but Lucy was overjoyed.
Evan pedaled ahead, taking the lead and smiling at his luck. Emma kept pace with Lucy while staring daggers into the back of Evan’s head. By the time they reached the park, Emma’s fury was ready to bubble over. Squealing with excitement, Lucy dashed off toward the swings while Emma locked up their bikes.
“You are unbelievable. Your parents seem to think I’m capable of taking care of Lucy. Why don’t you?”
As she stalked off, Evan stood there questioning how she could be so smart and yet completely stupid at the same time. He wondered if she deliberately misconstrued every gesture he made or if her brain was on a completely different wavelength. He desperately wanted to set the record straight, but if he got into an argument with Emma it would upset his sister. Because Lucy was having a great time, Evan kept his mouth closed. He held his tongue at the park and followed silently as Emma led them to an old-fashioned ice cream parlor. She picked a corner booth and handed Lucy a menu.
“When I was little, my mom used to take us to a corner shop that kind of looked like this.” A melancholy smile tugged at her lips as she passed out the menus. “Matt and I found this place when we first moved in. Everything is good, so get whatever you want, Lucy.”
Evan gasped when he saw the exorbitant prices and wondered how the shop stayed in business. The owner, an elderly man, came to the table and welcomed them. After introducing himself, he chatted with his customers before asking if they were ready to order. Lucy timidly pointed to a picture on the menu and asked if she was allowed to have it. Simultaneously, Emma and Evan responded with opposite answers. Evan’s “Absolutely not!” was countered with Emma’s “Of course.”
“I said you could have anything you wanted.” Emma’s eyes sparkled, challenging Evan to contract her.
“Lucy, I said no.”
Patiently waiting for their order, the kind old man smiled at them. It was not the first time he’d seen a dispute over a child’s order. Lucy stared at the floor, unsure what to do. Emma placed the order for Lucy and, just for spite, ordered the same for herself.
“Shall we make it three, Evan?”
“Evan likes banana splits,” Lucy whispered.
Before Evan could protest, Emma ordered his sundae and the owner scurried off to start their order before someone changed their mind. Moments later he returned with huge dishes of ice cream dripping with thick sauces. Lucy could barely see over the fluffy peaks of whipped cream but she dug in jubilantly. Emma feared Lucy would end up with brain freeze until Evan interrupted.
“Slow down before you get sick! You shouldn’t have ordered that anyway. It’s wasteful. You’ll never be able to finish that monstrosity.”
Buzzing with a sugar overload, Lucy informed him, “Daddy said Emma was in charge and she said it was okay.”
Lucy resisted the urge to stick her tongue out by shoveling more ice cream in her mouth. The table was silent as they enjoyed their sweet, creamy treats.
“With these prices, you’re going to spend more than you’re making. You’d better charge my parents double, Em.”
“She’s not getting paid,” Lucy tattled. Through a mouthful of ice cream, Lucy repeated everything she’d overheard about Emma being grounded and not getting paid to babysit.
Horrified, Emma gasped, “Lucy! It’s rude to eavesdrop but it’s even worse to repeat it.”
Lucy’s big blue eyes brimmed with tears as she whispered an apology.
“Oh, Lucy, please don’t cry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I’m really sorry. Shh, everything’s okay.”
Emma gently brushed Lucy’s tears away and escorted her to the restroom. When the girls returned, their table had been cleared and Evan was gone. Great, Emma thought, now he really hates me. Sighing, she went to the register to pay. The owner informed her that the polite young man had already taken care of the bill. Evan was standing outside leaning against the window and waiting when Emma marched over to him and held out a twenty-dollar bill.
“Don’t be ridiculous, Emma, put that away. It’s bad enough you’re not getting paid. There’s no reason to end up in the hole.”
“Would you stop being difficult? I told Lucy it was my treat,”
“You’re the one being difficult. Most people would just say ‘thank you.’ Now come on, we’d better get going. It looks like rain.”
“Thank you,” Emma mumbled the words as she stared at her feet.
Evan flashed a toothy grin at her. “You’re welcome.”
Halfway home it started to rain and by the time they reached the house everyone was soaked. Lucy giggled and squealed as she splashed through every puddle. Emma shook her head and sighed. Worst babysitter ever … First I made her cry, now she’ll catch pneumonia. I’ll be grounded ‘til I’m thirty.
As she unlocked the door, Emma told Lucy to go straight upstairs for a warm bath and dry clothes. When Lucy whined that she didn’t want to take a bath, Evan couldn’t resist reminding her.
“Dad said Emma was in charge.”
As she climbed the stairs, Lucy stuck her tongue out at him. Emma filled Lucy’s bath with warm water and lots of bubbles. Moments later, Evan appeared in the doorway wearing dry clothes and rubbing his wet hair with a towel.
“Emma, I put out some dry clothes for you in my room. You’d better go change before you get sick.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“Ok, how about you go change before you soak every floor in the house?” Evan’s words dripped with sarcasm. Since a tiny puddle had already formed on the floor beneath her, Emma sighed and shuffled off to Evan’s room.
“You know, for such an expansive vocabulary you’re surprisingly unfamiliar with thank you,” he called after her.
Evan had left a towel, a t-shirt, a pair of sweatpants, and socks for her folded on his bed. While changing, Emma noticed a book on the desk. The cover looked familiar; it was the book he’d been reading in the cafeteria. Curious, she took a closer look. Journal of the Undead: A Survivor’s Guide by Dr. G.E. Mitchell. Emma laughed in disbelief. Unbelievable! He’s always acting so intellectually superior but this is what he reads. Ten to one he’s one of those sci-fi geeks with a closet full of costumes.
There was a soft tap at the door. Evan’s voice called out, asking if everything was okay. Emma tossed the book on his
desk, grabbed her wet clothes, and opened the door. She followed Evan to the laundry room and put her clothes in the dryer.
With a wink, Evan told her, “Don’t worry, it’ll be our secret.” Her puzzled look spurred him to continue, “I won’t tell anyone you got in my pants.” Chuckling, he dodged Emma’s slap.
Following dinner, all three played board games as the clock ticked closer to Lucy’s bedtime. Emma had expected a battle when 8:30 came around but Lucy went to her room without a fuss.
After she tucked Lucy in and had changed back into her own clothes, she found Evan waiting for her in the living room.
“Can I ask you something?”
“I’d say you just did.” Her glib reply was met with eye-rolling.
“Don’t you watch TV? Every time Lucy suggested watching TV, you came up with something else to do. Are you one of those ‘TV rots your mind’ types?”
Emma giggled. “No, I love watching TV. It’s just that I’m still grounded, so no TV, no computer. Jillian even took my iPod. Don’t get me wrong, Lucy is a great kid, but she tends to repeat things she shouldn’t. If she let it slip that I was watching television, I’d get in even more trouble. If I just make it through Thursday, I’m free!”
“Well, Lucy’s asleep. Do you want to watch TV? It’ll be our secret.”
“Like your pants?”
They watched television until Frank and Kate returned. Despite Emma’s objections, Major Stone insisted on driving her home. He refused to allow a young girl to ride a bicycle home at night. Disturbing reports on the nightly news only confirmed the major’s stance. On their way home, he and Kate had heard on the radio about an attack in nearby Collegeville. The same report played again as he drove Emma home. Frank took one more opportunity to offer Emma money for babysitting and, again, she refused.
***
Emma was convinced that her last week of confinement would never end. By the end of school on Thursday it felt like an entire year had passed. Matt and Evan met Emma at her locker. The three of them walked out to the parking lot while Matt filled them in on the latest dirt. Football practice had been cancelled because the faculty was in a mandatory staff meeting. Matt explained that he’d heard some of the teachers were engaging in “extra-curricular” activities.
“Rumor has it that Mr. Raybach and Ms. Collins were caught doing it in that little storage room behind biology lab.”
“Eww, that’s a mental picture I could have done without.” Emma made fake gagging sounds. “Besides, I doubt it’s true. I mean, really, they’re adults. Why would they have to use the storage room? They could go anywhere they wanted to, well … you know.”
Evan and Matt laughed at Emma’s obvious discomfort. Hoping to make her blush, Matt interjected a few crude comments as he turned into their driveway.
Emma dashed inside, anxious to finish her last list and ready to work, but Jillian was waiting to pounce. She planned to make the most of Emma’s last day as a free laborer so the chore list was twice as long as usual. With just the right amount of pressure, Jillian plotted, Emma’s temper will boil over. History has already proven she can’t hold her tongue. Jillian was ready to push hard enough to get a few more weeks out of her.
Not expecting the ‘wicked stepmother’ to be home, Matt hoped Evan’s presence would keep Jillian from her worst.
Jillian waited until the boys were out of earshot before baiting Emma but eventually their shouting could be heard throughout the house. Worried, Evan decided to intervene.
“I hate to interrupt but may I borrow Emma for a minute? I have a question about our Trig homework.”
“Oh!” Jillian exclaimed. She was visibly startled and frustrated that her plan hadn’t come to fruition. “Of course, Evan.”
As Emma crossed the room, Jillian whispered something that set Emma’s teeth on edge. Before she could utter a word, Evan clamped his hand over her mouth and hauled her out of the room.
“Just what do you think you’re doing?”
“Saving you from yourself. But hey, if you want to stay grounded, that’s fine. By all means, go ahead. Open your big mouth and kiss your freedom goodbye. And quit rolling your eyes at me!”
“So, you needed help with Trig?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. I don’t need your help; you needed mine. Try to remember, if you can manage to keep your trap shut tonight, you just might be able to go out tomorrow. So, be a good little girl and try to behave yourself.” He patted Emma on the head like a small child. His smug smile lingered as he strode through the door.
In spite of Jillian’s plotting, Emma managed to keep quiet and on Friday night she was ready for fun. Matt had convinced her to go with him to the retro theater in town to see an encore showing of Dawn of the Dead. Zombie movies weren’t her favorite but Emma was too excited to care. As an added bonus, the usual herd of uniforms opted for a chick flick over at the multiplex instead. Freedom from Jillian and the giggle-squad had Emma grinning as she entered the theater.
“Congratulations,” Evan teased. “I guess you managed to keep your mouth shut after all.”
“Too bad you can’t do the same. I’m going to get popcorn. Want some, Matt?”
Not even Evan’s sarcasm was going to dampen her spirits. As she waited in line, Matt’s teammate, Tyler, struck up a conversation. Totally out of character, Emma didn’t give him the usual brush-off. Her newfound freedom had greatly improved her mood. Feeling optimistic, Tyler reached over and paid for Emma’s popcorn, despite her protests.
“This movie is kinda scary but don’t worry, Emma. I’ll protect you,” Tyler offered.
Matt and Evan rolled their eyes while stifling their laughter. Emma decided not to let a silly jock ruin her evening and brushed off the annoyance she felt. As they filed into the theater, Emma sat next to Matt. To her chagrin, Tyler sat on her other side which forced Evan to take a seat at the opposite end.
All during the previews, Evan could see Tyler whispering to Emma and tried to pretend it didn’t bother him. Whenever he heard laughing throughout the movie, he wondered if it was Emma.
Nah, can’t be. Tyler isn’t that witty, he told himself. Still, the thought nagged at him and Evan wasted most of the movie convincing himself that he didn’t care anyway. When the credits rolled, he realized that he’d missed one of his favorite horror films.
Clusters of zombie imitators shuffled and moaned their way out to the lobby bringing a wan smile to Evan’s face. Sulking, Tyler escorted Emma to the door.
“Geez Emma, you must be the bravest girl I know. I thought you’d need me to hold your hand or cover your eyes. I sure didn’t expect you to laugh through the whole movie.”
“Oh please! Zombies are not scary.” Emma tilted her head listlessly to the side, held out her arms and groaned. “You can’t really think that is scary. I mean, seriously, that’s what the whole school looks like on Monday morning.” With a laugh she added, “Besides, I’m pretty sure I could outrun them.”
“Yeah, you could run away but they’d follow you. Eventually, you’d have to sleep. They don’t,” Evan insisted, “Plus, with their sheer numbers, if you ran away from one, you’d probably run right into twenty.”
“That’s no big deal. You just shuffle and moan right along with them. Just like in Shaun of the Dead, which incidentally was a much better movie.”
“Forget it,” Matt sighed, shaking his head, “She’s hopeless.”
Eager to gain Emma’s approval, Tyler and his buddies started their own zombie impersonations. Not a far stretch, thought Emma.
***
On Monday morning, she found it impossible to suppress her laughter as she watched drones of semiconscious classmates shuffle to homeroom. Word spread like wildfire through the cheerleaders that Emma had sabotaged them by joining the guys at the movies. With the homecoming dance only two weeks away, they were positive she was trying to secure a date. The girls complained to Whitney about Emma’s conniving tactics.
“Tyler never noticed her b
efore and now he’s following her around like a lost puppy.”
“He walked her to class!”
“At least you don’t have to worry. Matt’s safe.”
Because of Matt’s devotion to his sister, Whitney refrained from saying anything negative about Emma. She was still trying to win Matt’s affections and secure an invitation to the dance.
As she made her way to class, Emma was oblivious to the backstabbing drama unfolding around her. She would have gladly told the uniforms that she had no interest in going to the dance. She had already registered to take a seminar on the university campus to spruce up her transcripts. Emma’s sole focus was acceptance into the college of her choice.
Her twin had a different attitude; Matt not only planned to attend the dance, he wanted to take Whitney. Unfortunately, Emma had thrown a monkey wrench in his plan by claiming their car for her class. Matt didn’t want to double date because depending on another couple usually spelled disaster. He scrambled to find a reason for Emma to relinquish their car. Appealing to his dad failed; Emma furthering her education superseded his fun and when he asked to borrow his dad’s car, Jillian shot that down.
Grumbling, Matt vented to his friends, “Only my freak sister would want to take a class on the weekend.”
Foolishly believing he and Emma had connected, Tyler announced that he would solve Matt’s problem. “I’ll just invite Emma to the dance with me and she won’t need your car. Everybody wins.”
Everyone but Emma, Evan brooded. The pangs of jealousy were stronger than he cared to admit; imagining Emma dating a guy like Tyler made Evan physically ill.
When she rejected the offer, Evan’s heart leapt but Matt was disappointed. One by one, each of Matt’s friends asked Emma out but she shot them all down. By Friday, Matt’s disappointment turned to panic. He was nearly out of time. In the locker room after gym class, his friends were teasing him.
“You could always put Whitney on your handlebars and pedal her to the dance.”
The others laughed, but Matt found no humor in their ribbing.
“You clowns are supposed to be helping me,” he snapped angrily.