CHAPTER 1: Awkward Goodbyes
Tonight was amazing. Amazing and awkward then strange. It was my last night with Emily. We were lucky to even get the chance to see each other again actually. Once my parents got the phone call from Pam all hell broke loose.
I came home from hanging with Emily and being sent home by Pam. I went in the backyard to take a look at the shed. It would have been an awesome studio. Instead I didn't really have a place to play, to escape, to let out my frustrations of backing down to Pam for Emily's sake. So I sat on my back porch and threw my ear buds in. I let Etta James take me away.
Within 5 minutes I felt a tap on my shoulder. Scared the shit out of me. I turned around to see my mom with the most pissed off look on her face. "What?" I said. My mom let out a deep sigh and simply said, "So you've been smoking again, huh?" I wondered what she was talking about. I'm a master at covering my tracks in this house. I don't feel comfortable enough in Allison's house to let my guard down so I know for a fact I didn't leave anything lying around.
She continued, "Mrs. Fields gave me a call. Said you left your backpack at their house. She found your stash in the bag..." I tried to interrupt, but she stopped me. "Don't worry; before I thanked her for the heads up I let her know exactly how rude she was for going through a teenage girl's bag, my daughter's bag none the less." I smiled at my mom. Okay, so I had been caught. Why the hell did I leave my bag? Did I even take a bag over there? I feel like I didn't…
"Anyway…" my mom continued. "I'll talk to your dad about this when he gets home. New city, new start, Maya. What happened to that? Hand me your phone." I felt like I had betrayed her. I mean I did tell her I'd lay off once we got here. I wanted to say something to fix this, but all that came out was, "Mom, I'm really sorry. I screwed up." She nodded and I gave her the phone.
My mom gave me my phone back but it was blocked in like 6 different ways. Not at all sure how she even knows how to do that. I decided to go to work for a couple of hours. When I got there my first customer was one of Emily's friends, Aria. We said our hellos and I put in her order. She asked me how my alone time with Emily went before her mom derailed it. I told her it was great but I wish I had more time.
"I should call Emily. Make sure she's okay," She said. I nodded, feeling a mixture of anger and sadness that I couldn't call Emily myself. Aria stopped before she left the store and walked back up to me. "You know Maya, you make her really happy. I've never seen her like this with anyone. Not with Ali, definitely not with Ben. Make sure you come back in one piece." she said "Don't worry, I don't break." She smiled and left the shop.
Three hours later the most clichéd thing is happening outside of my window. Pebbles are being thrown; white girls are on my lawn with a latter and huge mischievous grin on their faces. None of which look like they'd ever c limbed a latter in their lives. I can't help but laugh. Emily really does have the best friends. I get to Spencer's room and she helps me set up the candles. As I begin to light them Spencer stops and stares at me. "She's going to love this," she says. I smile at Spencer. Besides Hannah, she was always the funniest to me. Not in the same way Hannah is funny. Hannah is a stand-up comedian, but Spencer doesn't know how funny she is. She just is. "Have you told her, yet?" I stare at Spencer confused. "That you love her silly! Have you told her? It's painfully obvious." "It's obviously painful," I say. She nods in understanding and smiles, "Good luck." Spencer leaves the room and I become nervous. What if Emily's is pissed off at me? What If she's disappointed in me like my mom? Nah! Emily and I have smoked together before, but I made he stop smoking with me because I could tell she was doing it to appease me.
After a short while, Emily comes through the door. She was so gorgeous in the candlelight I began to cry. And can you believe it? She thought I was mad at her! Never! I put on some soft music, one of Emily's favorite songs, and we dance. Here's where things got amazing. I mean…really…amazing. I kissed Emily like I always do, but this time it came with this sense of longing. I was going to miss these lips. I wanted to savor the moment. Surprisingly, Emily's kisses got hungry. She began kissing down my neck and a moan escaped my lips. I pulled back, reluctantly. The look in her eyes…I'll never forget that look. It scared me. It turned me on. Next thing I know Emily's pushing me onto Spencer's perfectly made bed and removing my clothes. I could tell although she was initiating everything she was still kind of nervous. So I decided to take the lead, make her feel comfortable, and make her feel pleased. Make her miss me as much as I was going to miss her.
About an hour later we walk down the stairs to say goodbye. I hug all of her wonderful friends, still crying, still emotional from everything that's happened today. Hannah tells me I'll be back soon. I laugh it off because to me, it's funny. True North will be a lot of things, but it won't be a 'quick' trip. Emily then kisses me goodbye and to be honest, it's a little awkward. Neither of us knows when to pull away because neither of us wants to. I take one last look at my girl and I step unto the Hasting's porch.
When I get to the bottom I hear some rustling in the bushes. I brush it off, thinking it's a lizard or something. There's all kinds of crazy shit running around in Rosewood. I turn and walk to my car and am stopped by that tiny, annoying diva from school, Mona.
"Hi! Maya right?" she says. I've maybe spoken six words to this girl my whole stent as a Rosewood Shark. "Yes. Hi, Mona. I was just leaving." I start to walk towards my car. "To True North right? That's such a bummer. You came here to say goodbye to the awesome 4-some? Don't let them turn you up there. Some people have come back from that place missing a screw or two…or they haven't come back at all." "I'm sure I'll be fine, thanks." Another awkward moment passes as Mona remains silent and grins at me. I'm waiting for her to go up the steps and knock on Spencer's door. But she doesn't, she just waves and walks back to her car. So I walk to mine...wondering what the hell that was all about.