Chapter 04 – A New Friend

A few weeks had passed and despite her initial worries, Emily had adjusted quite well to her new life. What struck her as almost bizarre was having so much time at her disposition, without being obliged to attend her mother's dinner parties or to accompany her dad to his golf club every other Saturday morning. Sometimes, she even missed Elizabeth Prentiss' harsh voice telling her to sit up straight or to stop biting her nails. They hardly spoke over the phone; the ambassador was a busy woman, and that hadn't changed one bit.

Since schoolwork couldn't keep her occupied, Emily spent her free time wandering around the city and nearby locations, like a tourist visiting for the first time. Whenever she found a quiet place, she would take a book out of her bag and lose herself entirely in its plot, only realizing how late it was after the sun had finalized its journey across the sky; with the moon waiting just around the corner to make his appearance. Henry never complained when she arrived late for dinner once again, though on occasion he looked rather worried.

It was Friday in the afternoon, and Emily was in her room holding a pen and notepad. She inspected every inch of her new "lair", as her grandfather had called her mother's room, enthusiastically scribbling down everything that came to her mind. Yes, she would need some paint, the old wallpaper with pink and yellow flowers was awful. A bookshelf would be awesome too, she didn't own any piece of furniture to guard her treasures, and she would also buy an easel for her paintings. The heavy curtains would have to go, they prevented the sunlight from illuminating the place during the day, and the old-fashioned embroidery belonged in an old lady's room; she would gift it to her neighbor Mrs. Berkeley, an adorable little woman who lived across the street with her two cats.

Emily wrote "bean bag" in large letters on her paper, quite pleased with herself. For starters, this was enough. Then, something occurred to her, and she ran down the stairs and grabbed the phone.

"Hey, do you want to come over?"

"Who is paying for all this stuff?" asked Derek incredulously.

"My parents," said Emily huskily. "Do you think it's too much?"

"Well, you didn't have to buy the second bean bag," Derek chuckled. "And why on earth do you need both blue and yellow paint?"

"The red one is for you, you dickhead," laughed Emily. "Where else would you sit when you come to visit?"

"I don't know, on the bed?"

"Yeah, you wish. As if I didn't know your real intentions," Emily joked.

"My intentions are always noble, I swear."

"Right," she snorted and threw a cushion at him.

"Hey!"

Emily laughed and aimed for his head, hitting her mark.

"Ouch!" he complained and chased after her. Emily ran away, but naturally, the boy was much faster, and he caught her in no time. She giggled as he started to tickle her most sensitive spots. Her body went limp and she fell on the floor, dragging Derek along with her. He landed on her and she couldn't breathe, the boy's weight immobilized her. The teenagers looked into each other's eyes for three seconds, panting heavily. Then, Emily pushed Derek away with force and jumped to her feet. A moment of awkward silence followed, until a loud knock on the door interrupted them.

"Yes?" asked Emily feebly.

"Dinner's ready. Why don't you and Mr. Morgan follow me into the dining room?"

Emily mentally thanked Henry for being discreet, if he had noticed their accelerated breathing and embarrassed looks, he surely would've jumped to the wrong conclusion.

"Of course, we will be there in five," she answered. "Come on," she said to her friend. "Berta's cooking is fantastic."

Wow, Emily hadn't exaggerated when she had praised Berta's cooking skills.

"Thank you very much, it was extremely delicious," the boy told the corpulent woman, whose face glowed with pride.

"What did I tell you?" Emily beamed at him. "Do you want to watch a movie?"

"I would never say no to that, especially if it's with my favorite girl."

Emily blushed, remembering what had happened in her bedroom earlier.

"Whoa, aren't you a Casanova. You've known me for about five seconds, and I'm your favorite already."

"My favorite and my only one."

"You're crazy. What movie do you want to see?"

"Do you have 'Terminator'?"

"Are you kidding me, Morgan?"

"No? It was worth a shot. You pick the movie, then. I watch pretty much everything."

Twenty minutes later, both teens were sitting on the couch in Emily's late grandmother's living room. Derek had installed the new VCR, and Berta had made fresh popcorn for them. Emily had even found some blankets in her closet; everything was set for a long, cozy movie night. The brunette cuddled herself against her classmate, feeling completely at ease. They had agreed to watch a horror movie and those scared the hell out of her. Derek wrapped his arm around her, though not as comfortable as his new friend. He had definitely felt something in Emily's room while laying on top of her, even if it had been just a spark, and he needed to be careful not to ruin everything.