A/N: As I haven't done it yet, to my knowledge, I'd like to toss some shout outs to the two reviewers that I've had. I want to thank you both for taking the time to review my story and I'd like to personally acknowledge you both. So thank you to both Genieva was a Diver and compa16 for your reviews. I appreciate your kind words about my writing and want you both to know how great it was to find the reviews in my inbox when I went to check my mail. Thank you both so much!
Kendra and Marley had gone to the mall and had done a lot more window-shopping than actual shopping. Actually that was something the girls seemed to do rather regularly. It was typical for them to head to the mall for a bit and look around, even try on some things here and there without buying much beyond some junk food and maybe a new shirt or pair of jeans or something if there was a really good sale going on. Going to the mall was more of a fun excuse to window shop and people watch than anything else although today they seemed to shop a little more than usual.
They'd even stopped and had gotten their nails done today, which was a special treat for them both. Marley didn't usually get her nails done just because she seemed to break them so often but Kendra had talked her into it today. They both got French tips but Kendra picked some wild color instead of white while Marley stuck with the normal white tips. It seemed to make Marley feel a little more 'girly', which seemed like a plus. There was a See's Candies in the mall, which Marley loved and she made sure she picked up some candy before they left. She couldn't seem to leave the mall without at least a stop at the candy store after all.
She even bought a few things at Wet Seal and Forever 21, which she hadn't been planning on when they'd left. While she loved to go shopping, Marley didn't often have extra money to spend but today she did and so she let Kendra talk her into some extra purchases. She'd always been a simple girl, wearing jeans and t-shirts and sneakers most of the time but she figured it wouldn't hurt to pick up some new clothes while she had the extra money to spend.
Kendra had helped Marley pick out a few shirts and some other things, all sale items because Kendra knew that Marley didn't have a lot of money to spare. She didn't spend a lot, thankfully, but it was more than she was planning on spending. Marley thought it would be nice to have a few new things to wear though. Maybe something would catch Emmett's attention so she wouldn't feel like it was some fluke that he'd spoken to her.
Now they were sitting in the coffee shop, sipping lattes and nibbling on muffins. They'd gorged themselves on fast food at the mall so they weren't hungry but the muffins were good so Marley and Kendra couldn't resist each getting one. They were talking and giggling over the cute barista who had flirted with them when he took their order but as soon as Emmett walked through the door, Marley felt like all the breath left her lungs. She took a deep breath, almost gasping for air in the process and tried to settle her senses because seeing him seemed to make Marley feel dizzy. She chewed on her lower lip nervously and watched him look around as soon as he'd walked in. Her heart skipped a beat when he spotted her and smiled.
"That's Emmett," Kendra said in a hushed but excited tone. There was a little squeak to her voice, even as she whispered. She was trying to not bounce where she sat. "And he's looking right at you. Look at those dimples when that boy smiles. Damn he is fine. You, my friend, are one lucky girl."
Marley was blushing and giggled, shaking her head at Kendra. She knew she had to be grinning like an idiot right now though. It couldn't be helped after Emmett smiled at her. "He is. Ohmigod, Kendra, he just smiled at me," she softly said. Her voice sounded squeaky from her excitement as well and Marley giggled softly. "Can you believe it?"
"Believe what?"
Marley jumped at the sound of someone's voice and noticed Kendra looking up, her eyes huge and this smile on her face. She turned her head but she didn't need to since Marley recognized Emmett's voice almost immediately. There was just no way to not recognize that deep, almost husky voice of his. It seemed to match Emmett in every way. She could feel how flushed her cheeks were and she looked up at Emmett and shrugged. "Nothing. So what brings you here?" she asked, trying to sound sweet and flirty at the same time.
Kendra gave Marley a surprised look, which Marley caught out of the corner of her eye. She almost giggled at that but didn't. Instead she tried to focus her attention on Emmett. It seemed best to keep her attention on him because she thought she might dissolve into giggles if she didn't. Marley laughed when Emmett pulled out a chair and sat down at their table without asking to join them. There was something about that behavior that was cute although she didn't know why. If any other guy sat down without being invited, Marley would've been annoyed. But it seemed Emmett could do things that would've normally annoyed her and she found that she didn't mind it one bit. If he knew that, she thought it might be dangerous. Not that Marley expected Emmett to try anything without her permission.
"Nothing really," Emmett said with a little shrug of his shoulders, smiling softly as he watched her. He glanced for a moment at Kendra and then his attention was back on Marley again. "So how are you, Marley?"
Marley tried not to giggle when she heard him saying her name and shrugged. "I'm okay," she said, glancing over at Kendra when she felt her friend kick her under the table. There was a look on her face that said 'ow' and then she realized why Kendra had done it. "Oh, Emmett, this is my best friend, Kendra Wilkins. Kendra, this is Emmett Cullen."
Emmett smiled at Kendra, giving her a polite nod of his head. "Nice to meet you, Kendra," he said, his attention shifting to the pretty black girl before he was looking at Marley. He wasn't trying to be rude but it seemed like Emmett quickly went from acknowledging Kendra's presence to paying attention to Marley.
"Nice to meet you too, Emmett," Kendra quickly said, gently nudging Marley with her elbow and softly giggling.
Marley looked at Kendra and gave her friend a playful eye roll. She did nod though. Even without words, she knew that her best friend was pointing out the fact that Emmett didn't look at Kendra for long before he was staring at Marley again. She'd noticed that too and it made her stomach feel like it was doing somersaults. All that attention from Emmett left her head swimming. She took a sip of her latte to keep herself busy. She didn't want to wind up saying something stupid.
"So what were you up to today?"
Marley smiled at the way Emmett seemed so curious about her and shrugged, trying to seem indifferent although it excited her more than she could say. She felt such a thrill whenever Emmett said her name. She found that she loved the sound of her name coming from his lips. But the sound of his voice in general sent a wonderful rush through Marley. Enough to nearly make her shiver.
"Kendra and I went to the mall mostly to hang out," she said, glancing at her cup for a moment before looking at Emmett. Marley was worried about staring too much although Emmett didn't seem to have that same problem. He stared at her regardless it seemed.
"Yeah? And that was fun?"
Kendra even seemed to laugh at that and nodded. "Yeah, I guess you have to be a girl to get into that, huh?" Kendra said with a shrug of her own, smiling softly. She smiled a little brighter when Emmett looked at her. It seemed like whenever Kendra spoke up, he would look over at her so at least he wasn't ignoring Kendra completely. "We wind up trying stuff on and hang out and walk around together. It's fun."
Marley nodded, smiling pretty brightly. She doubted that Emmett really understood the appeal. "It's probably a girl thing."
Emmett seemed to chuckle and shrugged in this 'whatever' kind of way. Even the look on his face seemed to say 'whatever'. He actually looked like he didn't get it. "Yeah, maybe. I bet my sister Alice would have fun with that though," he said, looking from Kendra to Marley rather quickly. His attention shifted back to Marley quicker than when it drifted over to Kendra for a bit as she spoke. "Did you buy anything or just try on stuff and walk around?"
Marley got a little sheepish look on her face and giggled rather shyly. She was looking at her cup of coffee again, knowing that she was probably blushing pretty fiercely. "Yeah, I did. I, uh, got some candy," she said with a half shrug. It seemed like a pretty stupid thing to admit to buying but since she had gotten candy, Marley didn't see any reason not to tell Emmett that.
Kendra shook her head a little bit at her friend and gave her a nudge with her elbow again. "And I helped Marley pick out a few new things besides that. Plus we got manicures. Another girly thing I suppose."
"Candy, huh? And clothes? And a manicure?"
Marley nodded before taking a sip of her latte. She was tempted to show off her nails but she didn't think Emmett would be that interested. That felt like something another girl might've appreciated but to show off her nails to Emmett made Marley feel silly, although she knew that she'd already said things that made her feel a little stupid for saying it so showing off a manicure was probably no worse than mentioning buying candy. She sipped her latte so she wouldn't have to talk right away though. She even broke off some of her muffin and started chewing it with a bit of a smile. At least if she was eating, it wouldn't be weird if she didn't talk and just nodded in reply.
"Am I making you uncomfortable?"
Marley's eyes got huge when he asked that and she immediately shook her head. It wasn't that he made her uncomfortable, not in the least. It was more that Emmett left her tongue-tied and she often wound up feeling like she was stupid. She was always afraid that she might say the wrong thing at the wrong time. Marley swallowed that bite rather quickly so she could speak again since Emmett looked and sounded a little hurt. The last thing that she wanted to do was to hurt him. It was strange, the feeling that went through her at the thought of hurting him. It actually caused her some physical pain to even consider the idea of Emmett being hurt in any way. Marley didn't know why but she felt like she'd rather die than ever hurt Emmett.
"Oh no, no, not at all," she said, shaking her head rather furiously, a soft smile on her lips. She wanted Emmett to know, with every bit of her being, that he didn't make her uncomfortable at all. She liked having him around actually. She was kind of starting to feel like maybe she needed him around. Without thinking about it, Marley reached out for Emmett's hand. She was just looking to reassure him that everything really was okay. When he pulled it away before she could touch him, she looked confused, cocking her head when she looked at him after having glanced at Emmett's hand. "What did I … What … Is something wrong?"
Emmett cleared his throat and shook his head, looking nervous and confused. And maybe even a little pissed. He looked for a moment at Marley's hand, which was still stretched out a little on the table as if she were still reaching for him. Then he pushed back form the table, standing up as he spoke. He even acted like he was in a rush to get out of there, to get away from her or at least from her touch for some reason or another. "No, Marley, it's just … it's just that … I should probably go now. I just stopped by to get something anyway and my family's waiting for me so …"
"Oh," Marley said, trying not to look heartbroken although she couldn't help but look a bit dejected. She wasn't sure that Emmett noticed though. He seemed to be in such a hurry and she didn't think he was looking at her at the moment. She knew if she wasn't careful, she might tear up so Marley was trying to think of something else, anything that would keep the tears from coming. "Okay. Well, nice seeing you anyway, Emmett. I'll talk to you on Monday I guess."
Emmett just nodded without saying anything before turning on his heels to leave the table. He didn't look at her as he moved, just left without a word. Emmett moved quickly too. Marley was almost surprised by how fast he moved. He didn't head towards the counter though. He headed right for the door without a word and without thinking twice about what he'd just told Marley.
"Wait, didn't he say he came in to get something?"
Marley looked confused but nodded. "Yeah. Why?"
Kendra shook her head a little bit and shrugged. "I don't know. Just weird how he took off then without getting anything while he was here."
Marley realized then that Emmett had left rather quickly but that hadn't taken anything with him. It wasn't like he stopped at another table to get a book or notebook or anything from someone. She looked around and noticed that there were a handful of people from school there but it wasn't like Emmett had stopped at any of their tables to get anything. It made her wonder what Emmett had come in for then.
Most of the kids from school had seemed to take notice of the fact that Emmett had been sitting with her and Kendra for a bit. It wasn't until then that she even noticed that anyone might've been staring. Somehow while Emmett was sitting with them, Marley didn't notice anything other than him. She didn't think about that long though because she was too busy trying to figure out why Emmett had left in such a hurry and why he had lied to her about why he was there and why he had to leave. She sighed when she couldn't seem to figure it out though and shook her head.
"What the hell, Kendra?"
Kendra seemed to sigh then and shook her head as well. "Yeah, that's what I want to know too."
