Emily closed her eyes tightly and tried to fight the oncoming feeling that she was waking up. She'd been having a good dream. There was a tall, good-looking boy in it. A boy with a motorcycle.
She thought she heard the door creak open, but she wasn't sure if it was just a remnant of the dream. Of course, why there would be a door, she wasn't sure….
Then, without warning, something big and cushy walloped her in the side of the head.
"Oh my god!" she said, bolting upright and grabbing her attacker. "Kaylie, if you ever do that again I swear I will kill you!"
"Yikes," said Kaylie, pulling away with a big grin on her face. "Chill, will you?"
Emily, smiling in spite of herself, growled and threw the pillow with which Kaylie had thumped back at her cousin. Then she took a deep breath and looked around.
Clear, light golden morning sunlight was streaming through the windows. It fell across the dresser against the far wall, illuminated the items that were resting on its top: a picture of Kaylie and Emily, when they were both eight years old, a small glass unicorn, an oddly shaped seashell, and a faded picture of Emily's Grandma Winnie, when she was sixteen, Emily's age. It had been Winnie Foster's old room. Everything was covered in a layer of dust.
"Hey," said Kaylie, climbing onto the bed with the pillow in her arms, "What'd you want to do today?"
"I don't know," said Emily, sitting up to sit against the headboard of the bed, "What's there to do, again?"
"We can go shopping," said Kaylie, "or walk up to the graveyard, or explore the woods…"
"Hmmm," said Emily, poking a pillow absentmindedly with her finger. She had never really wanted to go into the woods; she just had the strangest feeling about them.
"Oh, and Matt's got a soccer game at twelve," continued Kaylie, not noticing Emily's hesitation, "so we've got to go to that. Or we could just laze around all day and play video games, or something."
"No, I want to do something," said Emily. "What time is it?"
"About eleven," said Kaylie, "you've been asleep for forever."
"Okay," said Emily, getting up and walking to the closet where she'd put away all her clothes the night before, "let's go shopping. I brought my money."
"Okay," said Kaylie, bouncing off the bed, "I'll go get ready while you get dressed."
Forty-five minutes later, the two girls were walking up what was the town's main street, two shopping bags on each of their arms, headed to Matt's soccer game.
"We didn't get much time to go shopping, did we?" asked Emily, looking into her bag. She's bought a book, and a black t-shirt. Kaylie had spent all her time picking out one pair of pants.
"Hey, we've got the whole summer," said Kaylie.
"Yeah," said Emily, smiling. They quickened their pace, and got to the field just as the game was starting. They sat in the grass by the field, next to Emily's mom, Aunt Mary and Uncle Ben, who had been saving them a spot.
"There's Matt!" said Kaylie, pointing to one of the forwards. Both girls cheered loudly, and Matt waved. Then the game started.
"Doing rather well, aren't they?" said Kaylie a little while later, putting on a sophisticated British accent, "I say…"
Matt dribbled the ball up the field, and scored, and their side of the field cheered loudly.
"Yes, quite well," said Emily, trying and miserably failing at Kaylie's accent. Both girls laughed.
"The game's going to be over anytime now," said Kaylie, looking down at the field.
After one spectacular goal by one of Matt's teammates, the game was over, and Matt ran over to meet them. "Them" being Emily, Kaylie, and Uncle Ben; Emily's mom and Aunt Mary were going back to the car.
"Great job, Matt," said Uncle Ben, patting Matt on the back.
"Thanks," said Matt, taking a gulp of water out of his bottle.
"Hey, I have to get back to work," said Uncle Ben, taking out his wallet, "Buy some ice cream, on me. And your mom and Mary will be at the house, Emily."
"Thanks Uncle Ben!" Emily shouted as Uncle Ben ran to the car. Matt snatched the money that his dad had given them, and stashed it in his pocket.
"Hey!" said Emily.
"As the oldest, it's my responsibility," said Matt, grinning. "Oh, come on; let's go."
Emily rolled her eyes playfully, Kaylie laughed, and they started for the ice cream parlor.
The ice cream parlor was back on Main Street. It was an old-fashioned little parlor, with a counter and little tables scattered around the place. Everything was pink, white, or red; it reminded Emily of Valentine's Day. It was also air conditioned, which was a bonus, as the weather had become very hot and sunny.
Emily didn't notice it when they first walked in, but as they sat at the table by the window, she gradually became aware of someone watching her. Her eyes roved around the shop until they came to a stop at the counter were Matt was ordering their ice cream cones.
"Kaylie!" she hissed, grabbing her cousin, "It's him!"
"What?" said Kaylie, looking confused, "What the heck are you talking about?"
"At the counter," said Emily, "the boy I saw at the graveyard!"
"What?" said Kaylie, looking around to the counter, "Wait, you mean… oh, is that him?"
She'd caught sight of the boy behind the counter. He was definitely the same boy; he was wearing cargo pants this time, and a striped ice cream parlor apron over his navy blue shirt.
"Oh, he's hot," said Kaylie, grinning. "Hey, I think he's looking at you, Emily!"
"Really?" asked Emily. She'd been avoiding looking directly at the boy since she'd first spotted him. Now, she looked right at him. Surely enough, his eyes were staring straight back. Of course, they both looked away as soon as they realized they were looking at each other.
"Lucky you," said Kaylie, "He really is pretty gorgeous…"
Emily wasn't really listening to her cousin. She'd gotten a weird feeling when she looked at the boy behind the counter. It was the same feeling she'd gotten when she thought about the woods behind her cousin's house.
"Hey, you should go talk to him," said Kaylie, poking her on the arm, "You know… 'Oh, excuse me, I seem to have forgotten a spoon…'"
Emily laughed, and punched Kaylie on the shoulder. Kaylie smiled.
"I still think you should," said Kaylie.
"No way," said Emily, "Not unless I actually need something."
At that moment, Matt came back with a cone and two sundaes. He set them down, and started to sit, but then he stopped.
"I didn't get spoons," he said, "I'll go ask…"
Emily looked at Kaylie, who was smiled. She rolled her eyes.
"I'll do it," she said, standing up.
"Okay," said Matt slowly, almost confusedly, sitting back down.
Emily walked up to the counter, slightly nervous, although she didn't know why. Before she knew it, she was there, right in front of the boy, who was making a twist cone.
"Hi," he said, not looking right at her, "Just a sec…" He finished off the cone, and handed it to a little kid at the counter with a smile.
"Okay," he said, looking at Emily, "How can I help… you?' He had paused as soon as he got a good look at Emily's face. It was like Emily's brain had frozen. She forgot what she had wanted to ask.
"Uh…" she said, blinking, "Oh, sorry. Can I have a couple of sundae spoons?"
"Sure," said the boy, smiling slightly and pulling out two spoons from behind the counter.
"Thanks," said Emily, turning to go. Then she stopped herself, and turned back. "Do I know you?"
"I don't think so," said the boy, "I'm Jesse. Jesse Tuck. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Emily," she said, shaking his hand. "Nice to meet you."
"Emily Foster?" asked Jesse.
"No," said Emily, slowly, "but my mom's maiden name is Foster. Why?"
"Nothing," said Jesse, looking at her face again. "I just thought… I mean, you look like someone my… parents knew. Winnie Foster."
"Really?" asked Emily, interested. "She's my grandmother. I noticed… you were at her grave yesterday?"
"Yeah," said Jesse, looking at a slight loss for words. "I was… curious. I mean, I met her a long time ago."
"Really?" said Emily again, "She died when I was five."
"Yeah, it was a really long time ago," said Jesse.
"Well," said Emily, looking back at the table where both of her cousins were looking strangely at her, "I better go. It was nice to meet you, Jesse."
"You too," said Jesse, and then, "Hey, do you think I could see you again?"
Emily smiled questioningly. "I guess," she said, "Do you work here every Tuesday?"
"No," said Jesse, "I'm just in town for a long vacation, and I'm making some money. Summer job, you know. I won't be working here for long. But I'm going horseback riding tomorrow, if you want to come. Up in the woods."
"That would be cool," said Emily, smiling. "Thanks. What time?"
"Tomorrow at eleven," said Jesse, "Are you staying in the big Foster house?"
"Yeah," said Emily.
"I'll meet you at the crossroad behind the house, then," said Jesse, smiling. "I'll have a horse for you."
"Okay," said Emily, smiling. "Thanks. This'll be great."
"See you there," said Jesse, grinning.
Emily, feeling excited, hurried back to her table, clutching the two spoons in her hand.
"What was that all about?" asked Kaylie, taking her spoon.
"Nothing," said Emily, still smiling, "We just introduced ourselves and stuff. I'm going horseback riding with him tomorrow."
"Whoa," said Matt, looking at her, "moving at little fast, aren't you, Speedy?"
"I don't know," said Emily, "It's not a big deal… Oh yeah! And he says that his parents knew Grandma Winnie, so they're probably old family friends, and your parents just don't know they're in town yet…"
"You're assuming an awful lot," said Matt.
"Hey, lighten up," said Kaylie, grinning as she pretended to fling ice cream at her brother. "What was his name anyway, Emily?"
"Jesse," said Emily, "Jesse Tuck."
"Hey!" said Matt and Kaylie at the same time.
"What?" said Emily.
"Grandma used to talk about them, remember?" said Kaylie, taking another spoonful of ice cream.
"Oh yeah!" said Emily, remembering for the first time. "See, it's fine then! They are old family friends."
"I guess," said Matt, and switched to a playful, sarcastic tone. "Have fun on your date."
As one, Kaylie and Emily pretended to catapult globs of ice cream at him, and they all laughed, Matt holding up his arms as a shield against the imaginary onslaught.