3
Emily
The time had arrived. It was game time and my dad could not be happier to see me out of the house. His enthusiasm showed at the arena. I think he was the loudest person there. I focused on the game, but I couldn’t find it in myself to yell and cheer.
I stayed quiet the entire three periods plus the intermissions. I was probably the only person that was quiet. I smiled at the irony of my dad and I.
My dad caught my smile and gave me a huge hug. “I love you, honey. Thank you,” he whispered in my ear. I hugged him back. It seemed like he was squeezing all of the breath out of me.
“Dad. I can’t breathe.”
He released me, smiled, and focused on what was happening. Naturally, I hoped so anyway, my eyes were drawn to Jake. He really pissed me off yesterday. He made me talk and then had the nerve to laugh at me. I wasn’t looking forward to tomorrow at all. I didn’t want him anywhere near me.
I noticed a little boy sitting on the bench with the players, watching intently. He had the same black hair and face as Jake. That had to be his little brother. My eyes soon traveled back to the ice and followed Jake as he skated back and forth across the frozen surface. He made the winning goal with three seconds left in the final period. The crowd went wild. A smile rose and I clapped.
“That was a great game,” my dad commented on the way home.
“Yep.”
We stopped by McDonald’s to grab a bite to eat. Of course, we had to go inside and eat. Once we were seated, my dad asked, “Any plans this weekend?”
I tried not to sigh. “Someone is coming over tomorrow.”
“Oh yeah?” He was excessively pleased with this.
“Yes. We have to work on a project.”
I glanced up when the door opened and saw Jake and his little brother. The boy was talking animatedly about something and Jake laughed.
“Hon?” I looked at my dad for a second and then glanced back down at my food.
“What?”
“Who is coming over?”
“Just some guy.”
“Well, what’s his name?”
“Jake. He was number 11 on the hockey team.”
“Really? He’s a great player. I’ll be excited to meet him.”
That caught me off guard. “Why would you need to meet him?” I asked quietly.
“I don’t need to, but I’m going to.”
“His little brother will be there too.”
“Okay.”
I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Something bad was about to happen.
“Hey, Emily.”
Speak of the devil. I glanced up and looked just to the right of Jake’s head. I waved. My dad spoke up since I wouldn’t.
“Hey, Jake, I’m Emily’s dad. You can call me Mike.” He held out his hand, which Jake promptly shook, and said hello. “Who might this be?” my dad asked turning his attention to his little brother.
“I’m Drake!”
“Nice to meet you, Drake.”
“Hey, Drake,” I said quietly. I wished they would leave. Why did he even have to say hey anyway?
My dad made it worst. “Would you guys like to sit with us?”
I glanced up at Jake and saw him contemplating me. He was probably trying to figure a way out of having to eat with the weird girl. Drake looked up at Jake and pleaded, “Can we please?” His eyes flickered over to me and then back to Jake who smiled and nodded. Drake scrambled over to sit beside me while my dad moved over so Jake could sit beside him.
“What’s your name?” Drake asked, shoving fries into his mouth.
“Drake, one fry at a time and no talking with food in your mouth,” Jake said in a fatherly tone.
“Sorry,” Drake mumbled before turning back to me and asking again.
“Emily,” I said. It was easier to look Drake in the eye than the others. He had such a sweet face and cute, slightly chubby cheeks.
“You’re pretty, Emily.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Drake. How old are you?”
“Seven. But I’ll be eight in two months!”
I was starting to relax. I laughed at Drake’s expression. He was definitely excited about turning eight. “That’s pretty cool.”
“Can I tell you what I did in school today?”
“Sure.”
Drake began to tell me how he got to hold a big snake. “Want to know a secret?” He whispered, covering the side of his mouth.
I leaned down and asked, “What?”
“I was scared at first. It was a big snake. But I knew Jake would think I was brave, so I held it.”
I smiled down at him. “I wouldn’t have the guts to hold a snake, big or small.” The voice that came out didn’t sound like me. I was talking in a normal tone instead of my usual quiet one. It scared me. I couldn’t think about it long though, Drake was soon after my attention again.
I was taking a sip of my drink when Drake asked me a question. “Are you Jake’s girlfriend?”
I choked on my Dr. Pepper and started coughing. I shook my head vehemently and tried to quit coughing. Drake patted me on the back and asked if I was okay. Soon the question echoed from Jake and my dad.
Finally, I quit. “I’m fine,” I croaked.
With the choking over, Drake started to giggle. Jake and Dad had been caught up in their conversation because they did not know why Drake was laughing. “What’s so funny, Drake?”
I nervously looked over at Drake, he was sure to tell Jake. Sure enough, he stopped giggling long enough to say, “She started choking when I asked her if she was your girlfriend.” The look of surprise on Jake’s face sent Drake into another fit of giggles. I shook my head and tried to be invisible. Soon everyone at the table was laughing, except me. I didn’t think it was that funny. In fact, I didn’t think it was funny at all.
“Well, Drake. We need to head home.” Drake started to gather up his trash.
“We should get going too, honey,” my dad said. I nodded and placed my trash on my dad´s tray.
“I’ll take it,” Jake offered. My dad said thanks and Jake took the trays, dumped out the trash, and then came back to get Drake.
“I’ll see ya later, Emily. Nice to meet you, Mike.” He shook hands with my dad and waved at me.
“Nice to meet you, Emily,” Drake piped in, completely ignoring my dad.
I crouched down to come face to face with him. He held out his hand and I shook it. “It was nice to meet you too, Drake.” He smiled, waving goodbye as they walked off.
I followed my dad out and went home. Thank goodness.
School flew by. Everyone seemed to be in a good mood. Fridays do that to people. Everyone seemed focused on his or her weekend plans. I was just ready for that last bell. I had driven to school today because I had a few errands to run after school before Jake and Drake came over.
Dad wanted me to stop by the grocery store and pick up various items. Plus, I wanted to make sure we had snacks and extra drinks. I also had to go by Wal-Mart and pick up some items for our project. Once we did the worksheets, we had to make a poster to present to the class. I was already praying that Jake would do all the talking. I could hold the poster… and hold it high enough to hide my face. Then I wouldn’t have to look at anyone and no one could see me. It sounded like the perfect plan to me.
The bell rang and I made my quick getaway. After stopping by my locker, I headed for my car, a Ford Focus.
“Hey, Emily,” someone called out behind me as I threw my bag into the car. I turned to see Jake whose car was parked three spots down.
“If you have a car, then why do you walk?”
“I like walking,” I said, shrugging. Without a second thought, I got in my car and drove off.
I hated going to the store. More often than not, the cashiers were friendly and smiling. They would try to make conversation. I couldn’t do that. I kept thinking that someone would lash out at me and start fussing because I was holding up the line
with friendly conversation.
Therefore, I kept quiet and looked down, watching the items as they were scanned. I handed over the money and mumbled thanks as I took off. Happy that I had everything I needed, I headed home.
4
Jake
I parked on the curb at Emily’s house. “Drake,” I began.
“I know. I know! Behave,” he interrupted.
I smiled. We got out of the car and made our way to the front door. Drake had been as excited as ever about today. I had to admit, I was a little excited too. I had never seen Emily as relaxed as she seemed last night talking to Drake, well, up until she almost choked. Nevertheless, I was looking forward to seeing her relaxed again. I wanted to see her smile again too. She had a beautiful smile. Drake knocked on the door, anxious to see Emily.
She opened the door, quickly glanced at me, and then down to Drake. She smiled and said, “Hey, Drake! How are you today?” Her voice was clear and not at all quiet. She was completely different around Drake.
Drake bubbled over at the attention. “I’m great!”
“Well, come on in.”
We walked into the house and Emily led us into the kitchen. Their house definitely felt homey. Pictures of Emily were everywhere. Sometimes she was by herself, cracking up over something funny. Sometimes, she was with her dad, grinning or laughing. There were a few of her with friends.
She looked nothing like the reserved girl she was now. In the pictures, she looked loud and outgoing. What happened to make her like she was now?
“Jake,” I heard, ever so softly.
I turned to look at Emily, realizing I had stopped walking and was looking at the pictures. “I was just looking,” I said like an idiot. Of course, I was looking. She walked over to where I was and looked at the picture that currently was holding my attention. It looked as if it was taken maybe two years ago.
She and three other girls were jumping off a walkway into a lake. They were all smiling and doing a pose in the air for the camera. Emily looked like she was trying not to laugh.
“That’s one of my favorites,” she whispered.
“You look so happy and carefree,” I said just as quietly.
“I was.” With that, she walked away into the kitchen.
I followed her and saw Drake drinking milk and eating cookies. Drake looked up at me and smiled. “She made me cookies!” I glanced at Emily.
She shrugged and said, “I like those better.” I sat down at the table. “Would you like something to drink?” Emily asked as she opened the fridge. Her quiet voice carried over to me.
“Whatcha got?”She named a few sodas and I settled on Pepsi. She fixed a glass of Pepsi and a glass of Dr. Pepper before she sat down. “Thanks,” I said, taking my glass. She nodded then turned her attention to Drake as he began talking to her.
“You’ll never believe what happened today! The guy who brought the snake… You remember that, right?” Emily nodded. “Well, he came back today and brought different lizards and a baby alligator! Everyone got to hold all the animals. It was so cool!”
“It seems like you go to a dangerous school,” Emily commented.
Drake laughed and continued in detail about the way the lizards and gator felt. Emily looked grossed out. I tried to hold in a chuckle, but to no avail. Emily looked over at me and then back at Drake.
Emily shook her head as Drake said he wanted one of the lizards as a pet. Her hair fell into her eyes and she quickly pushed it behind her ear. “You sure are a brave young man, Drake,” she said, causing Drake to grin wildly.
Drake looked at me and said, “Did you hear that, Jake? I’m a man.”
I laughed and said, “A young man.”
That didn’t faze Drake at all. “A man is a man, Jake.”
Emily started laughing and said, “It’s true.”
Drake beamed at the affirmation. “We should get started on our project,” Emily said, taking the smile off Drake’s face. “Don’t worry, Drake. We have plenty of channels on TV for you to watch. Come on, I’ll show you.”
Drake followed Emily out of the room and into the living room. I could hear Emily showing him the cartoon channels and Drake’s