#GoodGirlBadBoy

by Yesenia Vargas

  My friends would hardly recognize me if they could see me right now. Ever smiling, good girl Harper, crying in class.

  I missed my friends more than ever.

  As Mr. Nguyen handed out tonight’s homework, I opened up our messages thread and typed out a quick text.

  Harper: Not headed to Wisconsin after all. Didn’t work out. Miss you guys.

  My phone buzzed only seconds later with an influx of sorry’s and sad emojis.

  I typed out one more message, swallowing the lump in my throat.

  Harper: No worries :) I’m glad I’ll be here when you guys get back. Plus more time I’ll get to spend home with my mom.

  The bell rang, and even though it was time for social studies, I left math and turned the other way.

  Maybe I was the good girl to the rest of my friends, but today, I was taking a page out of Emerson’s book.

  Sixteen

  I’ve never skipped class before. Not here, not back in Wisconsin.

  It felt completely odd to me, not being where I was supposed to be, doing something that was against the rules.

  I walked out of school near the gym and found a large tree. I sat down, resting my back against the rough bark and stared up at the mid-morning sky. The sun grew hotter by the minute, so I shrugged off my cardigan. Then I closed my eyes and exhaled.

  This should have been my summer. Napping in the warmth of the sun and relaxing with a good swim.

  For a few minutes, I let myself stretch out and forget where I was.

  Until I heard soft steps in the grass. I sat straight up and opened my eyes. “What are you doing here?” I asked.

  Emerson stood before me, his skateboard under his arm. “May I?” he asked, nodding at the spot in the grass next to me.

  Not knowing how else to respond, I nodded, and he took a seat, laying his board a few feet away. “As your fellow peer, I was concerned when I didn’t see you in class a few minutes ago. I’d hate for your grades to slip due to poor attendance.”

  Shielding the sun with my eyes, a smile grew on my face. “Is that so?” I asked.

  He nodded. “Oh yeah.”

  After a moment, no one said anything, and I remembered that talking to him like this, letting my guard down, probably wasn’t the best idea. Not if I was going to get over him.

  Just as I opened my mouth to say we should get to class, he said, “Is there a reason you decided to bail today? Is it the same reason you’re obviously not on a plane right now?”

  Wow, just like that, he’d gone and addressed the elephant in the room.

  I stuttered for a few seconds. “Uh, um, I—things didn’t work out. And I’m not going,” was all I managed to say.

  Probably seeing the pained look on my face, he quietly said, “I’m sorry.”

  I gave him a quick smile. “It’s okay. Probably for the best.”

  And once again, the same feelings from last night were back, except now Emerson was just a few inches away, there to see it all.

  “You know,” Emerson said, “parents can be real jerks sometimes, huh?”

  I nodded. “My dad, anyway.” That was all I could say without the tears threatening to escape.

  “Yeah,” he said. “Mine too. Both of my parents, actually.”

  I looked at him, not believing he was opening up to me. To anyone. “I’m sorry.”

  He shrugged.

  We were quiet again, both of us staring down at the green grass.

  “My sister’s always been there for us, though,” he said. “When my parents couldn’t or wouldn’t, she’s there. So at least there’s that.”

  I smiled. “That’s my mom. It’s always been the two of us because my grandparents passed away before I was born, but she’s always been like two parents in one. And a really good friend, actually.”

  Saying that out loud made me smile but a couple of tears also ran down my cheek. “Sorry,” I said, embarrassed that Emerson was watching me cry. I turned to wipe them away.

  But before I could do that, he was doing it, his hand carefully touching my cheek.

  Slowly, I turned back to him, not knowing what to do besides look at him. My breathing became fast, and my heart raced, even after his hand went back to his side.

  His eyes stayed locked on my face for several seconds before meeting my gaze. “I’m kind of glad that I decided to give summer school a real try this year,” he said. “Because it meant getting to know you.”

  I smiled.

  “I mean, graduating is nice, too, but…” His voice faded.

  His words had me reliving every moment we’d spent together this summer—that first day at the nursing home, dancing with him as we held on to each other, that night at the park.

  Did he mean that he felt the same way about me as I did about him? My heart screamed yes.

  Then Emerson leaned in, and I asked myself if I was really going to let myself do this.

  My heart whispered, Here’s that summer adventure.

  Maybe he’d break my heart for real, but I also needed to do this and not let love slip by.

  Emerson took his time, his mouth just centimeters from my own and his nose touching mine. Maybe he was fighting some kind of inner battle too. One I wanted his heart to win.

  “Harper?” he whispered.

  My phone went off, and I jumped. Emerson sat back.

  Our moment was gone, and all I wanted to do was turn my phone to do not disturb.

  But it was my mom’s face on the screen, and I realized it was lunch time. She had to be checking in. “Sorry, it’s my mom,” I said, hardly looking up at Emerson.

  I took the call. “Hey, mom.”

  Her voice greeted me right away. “Hey, honey, I can’t talk long, but I just feel horrible about last night.”

  I looked down. “It’s okay, Mom. Really. I think it’s for the best. And you know it’s not your fault, right?”

  She sighed on the other end of the call. “I know. I just…I was thinking. Let’s make the best of this. I decided to come in and work some overtime today so we can get away this weekend. Just me and you. Road trip to the beach. How does that sound?” Now she sounded like her usual self. Bright and chipper and happy.

  And so did I. “Oh my gosh! Really? Are you sure?”

  “I’ve already booked it, sweetie! We’re going to Savannah!”

  I shrieked into the phone again, and Emerson chuckled beside me. “I can’t wait! When do we leave?”

  “Don’t unpack your things. We leave early in the morning.”

  And just like that, things had turned out even better.

  We hung up, and I turned to Emerson, trying not to blush from our almost-kiss. “Sorry, that was my mom. She surprised me with our own trip. We haven’t taken a vacation in like forever.”

  Emerson smiled. “Promise you’ll bring me back a souvenir?”

  Seventeen

  When I got home, I could hardly sit still. But I had nothing to do because my bags were already packed.

  I made my way through the house, washing dishes and wiping down bathrooms, but a couple hours in, I had nothing to do again.

  Laying on the couch, I texted my friends a cute selfie and the good news.

  Ella: YAY for summer adventure!

  Rey: I’m so jealous! The beach beats walking around museums and tourist sites all day :(

  Tori: The beach sounds amazing…

  Lena: Maybe you’ll meet a beach hottie over the weekend ;)

  I was sure Lena was just joking, but her comment only made me think of Emerson.

  That was twice we had almost kissed. I thought before that it was just me or that whatever we had didn’t really mean anything, but the way he looked at me today…

  I had to mean something to him, right?

  Enough to break his rule of no relationships?

  For now, there wasn’t much I could do about the situation. My mom and I were leaving in the morning for the beach. Just thinking about not seeing Emerson for two days felt really
hard, as excited as I was to get away.

  After a few minutes, my eyelids grew heavy. Pulling a heavy blanket over shoulders, I let thoughts of Emerson be the last thing on my mind before sleep took over.

  When I woke up an hour later, night was settling in. I got up, closed the curtains, and made sure the front door was locked.

  Then I dug out the leftovers from last night. The fridge was full of them.

  After I finished eating dinner, I counted down the hours until my mom would be home. Probably around midnight. Because of my nap, I wasn’t sleepy at all, so I grabbed my phone and settled onto the couch again, this time with Netflix on.

  My phone buzzed with a notification. A familiar name lit up my screen. I had a friend request from Emerson Lopez.

  I sat up, a smile on my face.

  Maybe he was thinking about me?

  Or maybe he wanted to talk about our project due in a week?

  No, he had to be thinking about me, right? Maybe he was just as bored as I was tonight.

  I accepted his friend request and waited.

  Part of me wanted to send him a message right away, ask him what he was up to, but I knew it was probably better to let him make the first move, since he was the one who’d sent the friend request in the first place.

  Sure enough, a minute later, my phone buzzed with a new message, and I almost fell off the couch with excitement.

  New message from Emerson Lopez.

  I opened the message right away, completely forgetting about the movie still playing on the TV. For once, Peter Kavinsky could wait.

  Emerson: Hey…

  Harper: Hi :)

  I bit my lip, not believing I was messaging with Emerson. I turned off the TV and headed upstairs to my room. It was finally starting to get late, and I didn’t want to fall asleep on the couch again.

  Emerson: What are you up to?

  Harper: Nothing much. Kind of bored actually.

  Putting my phone on my nightstand, I headed into the bathroom to brush my teeth, too anxious to wait by the phone.

  About to wash off my makeup, I snuck over to my phone instead. I shrieked when I found another message from Emerson. I sat on my bed to read it.

  Emerson: I thought you’d be out on a Friday night.

  Harper: Not with my best friends out of town. Stuck home alone.

  I waited for him to say something, but several minutes passed and nothing.

  Maybe he’d fallen asleep? It was only nine o’clock, though. Surely, he was at a party or something. I couldn’t expect him to keep talking to me.

  I lay down, staring up at my phone and feeling lonely all over again.

  I settled for browsing social media and then my favorite: Pinterest.

  Then a new message.

  Emerson: Um, mind opening your window? ;)

  WHAT?

  I sat straight up and looked around. My room was on the second floor. No way he could just climb in. And I wasn’t sure I wanted him to. Just the idea of having a boy in my room made me want to freak out.

  Not just because it was my mom’s #1 rule, but because I would likely turn into the most awkward human being ever.

  Ever.

  Emerson: Please? I really don’t want to crash into your window :)

  I got up and inched my way to my window. Pushing aside my sheer curtains, I looked down to my driveway, and sure enough, there was Emerson. He had on a black leather jacket and a daring grin. My hand came to my mouth, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

  Wondering where he’d left his skateboard tonight, I noticed a motorcycle stood across the street.

  I could have screamed. A motorcycle and a black leather jacket? If Emerson Lopez wasn’t the definition of bad boy, I didn’t know what was.

  He waved to me and took a few steps back. I pushed my window up and peeked out. “I can’t believe you.”

  But he didn’t give me the chance to say much else because then he was running toward the tree just a few feet from my window.

  He was like Spiderman, jumping from the tree to the siding on the house then a branch and then I jumped back, hands to my mouth again.

  Just like that, he came in through my window feet-first, like it was no big deal to jump into a room on the second floor.

  He gave me a sheepish grin. “Ever since I saw that on one of those Twilight movies, I always wanted to try that.”

  I laughed. “Oh my gosh. Well, I’m glad you didn’t break your neck because that would have been—”

  “Embarrassing,” he finished for me. He took a step closer.

  I automatically took a tiny step back, still completely surprised how we’d gone from a friend request to this in a matter of minutes. “I have a front door, Emerson!”

  He laughed. “So? Where’s the fun in that?”

  I shook my head at his words but smiled because he was right in front of me. “We should head downstairs.”

  “Why?” he said. “Your mom’s not home.”

  I crossed my arms. “So? You cannot be in my room.”

  He came closer, and this time, I didn’t back away. “You are a total good girl, aren’t you?”

  I opened my mouth to say something, anything, but I couldn’t, not with the look on his face, the one that made my stomach melt into putty.

  “Fine,” he said, with a gleam in his eye. “We’ll go downstairs.”

  I led him down to the living room. He stopped at the pictures of me and my mom hanging up on the wall.

  “You were a fat baby,” he said, chuckling.

  Clearly, I did not think this through.

  He turned to me. “A cute fat baby, though,” he said.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked with a small smile. “Do you even have a license to drive that bike out there?”

  He shrugged. “Maybe. Maybe not. But you said you were bored. I was bored.”

  What was that look in his eyes?

  “And maybe I wanted to hang out with you,” he said. “If you don’t mind?”

  Thankful I hadn’t washed off my makeup after all, I shook my head. “Want to watch a movie?”

  We sat down on opposite ends of the couch, and I put on a movie. Definitely not To All the Boys. That would have been too awkward. “Do you like Friends?” I asked.

  “Who doesn’t?” he said with a wink.

  Before long, though, we were doing more talking than watching. I hugged a pillow to my chest. It still felt like I was breaking the rules, but I reminded myself that I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Other than having a boy on my couch without my mom knowing.

  I made a mental note to introduce my mom to Emerson after we got back from our trip, and then I was able to relax.

  He asked me about my friends, and I told him about them.

  “Lena’s like this soccer warrior princess,” I said. “Total daredevil. But a lot of fun. And Ella is smart with a really good heart. Tori, she kind of tells you how it is. She’s honest and strong. Then there’s Rey. She is so sweet and creative. She’s always doodling and writing.”

  “You guys sound like a team of girl Power Rangers or something,” he said. “Like each of you has these unique powers.”

  That made me laugh, and then he was laughing. When we finally stopped, he said, “What about you, Harper?”

  I looked away. “I don’t know.”

  His voice made me turn toward him. “I think you’re kind, like you always see the good in someone. No matter what.” He reached over and touched my hand. “You’re beautiful, inside and out.”

  Had I just heard him right? My heart palpitated, and I could hardly find my voice.

  Squeezing his hand, I said, “And I think there’s more to you than you let on.” I locked my eyes on his and said what was on my mind, pretending I was as daring as Lena for just a few seconds. “Underneath that tough exterior, there’s this person who brings little old ladies their favorite flowers and—”

  But he was already coming in closer.

  Headlights filled the li
ving room for a second, and I pulled away instantly.

  I jumped up and peeked out the window. “It’s my mom!” I said, panicking.

  Emerson stood up.

  “You’ve got to go,” I said. “She cannot find out you’re here!”

  I grabbed his hand and led him to the back door, the one in the kitchen. Unlocking it, I practically pushed him outside, my hands on his chest. “Sorry!” I said.

  But it wasn’t like I was giving him much time to say anything back. He stepped away from the door.

  Before I could close the door in his face, I stopped. “Emerson, wait. Before you go…”

  Praying my mom didn’t walk straight into the kitchen, I tugged on his shirt and pulled him to me. I closed my eyes, leaned my head slightly to the right, and found his mouth. Then my hands went up and around his neck.

  And then Emerson kissed me back.

  Fireworks could have gone off, and I wouldn’t have noticed the difference between them and my hammering heart.

  Then I pushed him away, realizing what I had just done. Why had I just done that? At this moment?

  Emerson stared back at me, mouth slightly open, his hands on my waist.

  “You have to go,” I breathed.

  But before I could say anything else, he pulled me to him, and he closed the distance between us again. He kissed me like there was just this one and only chance to get it right.

  Wishing I could stay in his arms forever, I made myself pull back. The sound of the front door being unlocked reminded me why he had to go. I think it reminded Emerson too because he gave me one last look and disappeared.

  Then I quietly closed and locked the back door, leaning my back against it and not believing I had just kissed Emerson Lopez.

  Eighteen

  Emerson and I talked non-stop over the weekend. Even though relaxing on the beach was like nothing else, I still missed him.

  What I would have done to relive our kiss from the other night. Or simply see him again.

  “Is it just me or are you on your phone more than usual?” My mom asked with a sly smile. “Are you talking to a boy?”

  Waves hit the shore, the sound reaching us all the way on the sand. I never wanted to forget the sound.