AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She hesitates in answering.
I sit up in bed, watching the screen of my phone intently. Finally, I can see the dots moving again.
Emmy: Evan, like I said in my other message, if I sent you mixed messages, they were unintentional. What I mean is that … if I came off as jealous or something like that, it was not on purpose.
Emmy: Maybe what changed is the fact that I broke my arm and wanted you to be there for me. Just for me. There’s nothing more than that.
I read the messages and my heart sinks.
Before I have a chance to answer, she writes to me again.
Emmy: Evan, I really want to thank you. For opening up to me and telling me how you feel. It meant a lot to me and, once again, I’m sorry. I do want you to be happy. I hope you know that.
She sends me a shower of kiss and heart emojis that flood the screen of my phone.
Me: You’re a great friend, Emmy…
Emmy: Right back at ya, hon.
I tell her that I need to get to the gym and end the conversation. But instead of going anywhere, I lay back into the white cotton pillows of my bed, which now feels cold and unwelcoming. I feel as if someone threw a cold bucket of water over me—my body is numb and my skin is tingling unpleasantly.
I look up at the ceiling and watch the few shards of golden light strewn across it, as my mind drifts off into a daydream.
I can see Emmy and myself as we used to be back in high school.
You were kinda tall and lanky, and had a bad haircut.
She’s not wrong but, somehow, I always expected that she might’ve seen more in me than just that.
In my memory, I’m riding my bike down a narrow street. I’m heading toward Emmy’s house for dinner, but also to help her with her math homework. I feel ecstatic and very eager to spend this time with her. We haven’t seen each other in a few days, and I have so much to tell her.
I get off my bike and ring the doorbell. She answers, dressed in a pair of short jeans and a white T-shirt, and wearing a fresh layer of red lipstick. I can tell that she just finished applying it.
“Hey, come in! My mom is making French fries and chicken!” she says before grabbing me by the hand.
We disappear up the stairs and into her room.
I can vaguely hear her mom calling out for us to leave the door open, but Emmy pays no attention to that. And what would be the point? Emmy and I are just friends.
She crashes onto the bed in that dramatic fashion that teenage girls have mastered, and pulls me by my T-shirt next to her. We sit there, close enough that I can feel her heart beating, and smell her skin—the vanilla and cherry body spray, syrupy and unctuous, a smell that seems to stick to my very being. Her legs are rubbing against mine—her soft skin feels like heaven. I shift a little on the bed, but she doesn’t allow me to get away. She pulls me closer to her again, and my head grows dizzy.
“Where are you going? Come on, we haven’t seen each other in aaaages! So, what’s up?” she asks.
Her icy blue eyes peer up at me from the depths of her adolescent pink pillows. She’s so beautiful that I can barely take my eyes off her. “Umm … well … not much,” I reply, trying to focus.
“Not much? Come on, Evan! What’s up with that girl … Carmen? I saw you two together! Now, tell me!” she demands.
“Nothing is happening between us, don’t worry,” I tell her.
“I wasn’t worried. I was just … asking. Anyway…” She looks to the side and, for a second, I have the feeling that she’s jealous.
“What about you, then, Miss Popular? What’s going on between you and Chris Harding? You’ve been parading all around school with him,” I tell her, trying not to let my own jealousy get the best of me.
I know that she’s been seeing Chris for a while, and I, as her best friend, have to try to find a way to be okay with it.
“Chris Harding? He’s a dingus. And he has a unibrow. Haven’t you noticed?” She makes a serious face.
“Not exactly. I don’t tend to look at other guys’ eyebrows that much,” I reply sarcastically.
