"Well
good night Carol" Kim exclaimed, her voice full of sarcasm once she
had opened the door to Emily's house.
I rolled my eyes at her
and childishly stuck my tongue out of her, earning giggles from both
girls.
"My alarm completely died on me and it's a long trip
down here" I explained. "Sorry I'm late"
It was true. I had stayed up telling my mom all about the people I had met, and she was just as happy for me as I had been when I had seen her the previous day with her old friends. She told me she actually knew Sue Clearwater, Seth and Leah's mom, and that sometimes, when Mrs. Weber and Mom would hang out in La Push, she would hang out with them and sometimes take them to bonfires like the one I had gone to.
I
stood in Emily's living room for a few seconds, taking the house
in. It wasn't a mansion. In fact, it was small, old looking and
simple, but it had this charm that instantly made me like it. It was
like those books they used to read to us in Elementary School, where
the old kind lady lived.
"It's fine" Emily said, turning to
her kitchen, urging me to follow. "I hope you don't mind, we
started cooking while we waited"
Cooking?
What were we cooking for? I really hoped they hadn't gone out of
their way to make some sort of incredible lunch for me, and once I
peered inside the kitchen, I almost gasped.
It was full of pots
and pans, ingredients and other whatnots.
"We
had thought about taking you for a small hike, but then the guys
decided they were staying for dinner—"
"And you saw how much
they eat last night, so we were wondering if you know how to cook"
Kim continued.
"Err…"
Truth was, I didn't. I had
never been able to cook something, just macaroni and cheese and the
lame sandwiches I prepared. The only thing I was good at, concerning
the kitchen, was baking. Making all kinds of desserts, pies, cakes
and cookies had always been a hobby of mine, and when I let Emily
know, she smiled at me. I noticed only half of her face, the one
without the scar, moved.
"That's great! You can make dessert
then, and help us with some things"
We set up to work, and within the hour, the kitchen smelled like a restaurant, full of different scents and aromas. I had two chocolate cakes in the oven, Emily had made three casseroles of an incredibly delicious looking stew, Kim was cooking something else on the stove and we were all talking and laughing about everything. Being with them was unbelievably cool, something completely different than what we did back at home: swim and hang out at the mall. Cooking was cool, and getting to know my two new friends at the same time was great.
"He never really paid any attention to me before, but I always knew we had something special" Kim said as she told me about her relationship with Jared. "I had a crush on him ever since the 5th grade" she added proudly. I know knew her eyes sparkled every time her boyfriend was mentioned, and even if I could still not get rid of the little green monsters, I was really happy for her. The way she talked about him, and all the things she told me about him, as well as what I had seen the night before, made me wish I could ever be lucky enough to find a boy that would care as much for me as Jared cared about Kim.
I had asked Emily about Sam, only to receive the same kind of response from her. She absolutely adored him, and could talk about him without stopping for an hour, which she did. When they asked questions about boys back in Texas, I couldn't help but feel uncomfortable and embarrassed as I replied.
"Well
I was never a…boy magnet" I told them, messing with a strand of
hair, curling it around my finger. "And things with my boyfriend
are pretty weird, it's kinda awkward between us, but I really
like him"
Kim frowned, and Emily looked disapproving as well. I
knew what they were thinking.
"He's not a bad guy" I
quickly informed. "He's a really nice person, he's just really
quiet and reserved, which is not a bad thing"
Still, they
continued to look discontent and pressed for more information.
"What's his name?"
"Oliver"
"Is he cute?"
Kim asked, mixing the soup and turning to look at me.
Again,
I blushed.
"No" I told her. "He's just your average Joe"
"You need an above average Joe, Carol" Kim insisted, placing
a hand on my shoulder as though she was reasoning with me. She wasn't
smiling, and a serious expression was on her face. "I don't think
he's good enough for you"
My heart sank.
"He's nice"
I insisted. "
I knew that he was the weirdest person, but I just
couldn't bring myself to stop being in love with him, because I
was. Sometimes I even thought I didn't really feel anything for
him. No guy had ever shown any sign of liking me, and he was the one
who sometimes hugged me and held my hand. Still, I couldn't bring
myself to push him away permanently and forget about him, and trust
me, I had tried.
"But now you're here" Kim said after the
little speech discussing everything I was thinking. "You can
forget about him, and you will" she told me.
I sighed and I silently thanked Emily for changing the subject brusquely, discussing what else we could cook for the guys. I had been so entertained by the girls that I hadn't even noticed it was already 6:47 and Emily had said they boys would be there by 7:00. Suddenly, my stomach flipped at the possibility of Paul liking me from what I had seen last night, like the hug.
Don't get your hopes up, Dalhart. I thought to myself. What were the chances of such a good looking guy liking me, average little Caroline Dalhart?
"What
were you and Paul talking about yesterday?" Emily asked, as though
she could read my mind, but I knew they had both been dying to ask
this the whole day. I smiled at them.
"We were just having fun
and getting to know each other"
"Paul's kinda cute, don't
you think?"
"Yeah, and you two looked adorable last night"
Kim added, nudging me in the arm. I rolled my eyes at her.
"Please,
of course we didn't" I dismissed nervously. "We were just
talking, Kim"
"Yeah, but Paul really looked like he was
having a good time" Emily told me.
"You must be special!"
Kim insisted in a sing-song voice.
I smiled at her, but inwardly
I knew that was definitely not possible. Boys did not
like me, especially not after just three hours of knowing them
"And
plus, he hugged you!" she added, as though just remembering. "That
was so sweet!"
"I know!" Emily added, smiling at me. It
was kinda like this was all planned, and I suspected they wanted to
get my mind away from Oliver by getting me to have a crush on Paul.
Not like that was going to happen, I was not letting myself fall in
love with an impossible guy ever again.
"And then idiots Jake
and Quil had to ruin everything"
To this I agreed. Did they try to be so molesting or did that just come naturally?
Kim and Emily laughed, and we heard the door open. In walked the giants I know could call my friends.
