Emma
sat outside on her porch. The block party was in full swing; Spike
had invited Joey and Caitlin, who had brought their karaoke machine.
Of course they and her parents were "entertaining" the
neighborhood with a rendition of "Everybody Wants Something."
She grinned to herself. Joey and Snake had fun pretending they still
had their band. Emma had a special appreciation for the Zits- her mom
had gone into labor during one of their shows.
She
stopped grinning when she saw Chester and his brothers walking over,
Chad tossing a football back and forth with Chuck. Clearly they found
her parents funny, but she wasn't sure that was a good thing.
Chuck
tossed the football at her; she caught it just before it hit her in
the face, but she dropped it. Chester picked it up.
"Emmaline..."
"What,
Chesterson?" Chesterson? Why did she give him a dumb nickname
like he had given her? She braced herself.
"I'm
so glad our parents would never do anything embarrassing like that."
He was testing her. Emma tried to look like she didn't care what she
thought. Wait, tried? She didn't care what he thought. She didn't. He
continued.
"What
I really want to know is... your friend Darcy. Is she... available?"
This
wasn't what she was expected at all. Far from it. Since when did
Chester like Darcy? Since when did she care who he liked? Is that why
he called her last night? Whatever. Emma knew fully well that Darcy
thought Chester was, so to say, yummy. She'd set them up. Darcy was
her friend. Chester annoyed her. If she set them up, maybe he'd stop
bugging her. But in the meantime, she could use this to her
advantage. She smiled slyly. "Why do you want to know?"
"Umm,
Chuck, Chad... can you guys go... somewhere... not here?"
Chester's brothers groaned but complied with his wish.
Emma
pressed on, "You like her. Don't you?"
He
sat down next to her on the steps of her porch and leaned closer. She
could smell him. He smelled nice, she thought, not gross and sweaty
like most guys did.
"Not
necessarily... I think she's nice, and she's totally hot, but
I want to get to know her. Will you help me?"
Emma
turned away, pretending like she was going to say no. She turned
back. He looked desperate, hopeful. She could make him do stuff for
her in exchange for help. But no, she wasn't like that; she wasn't
Paige. She nodded her head.
"Thanks,
Em." He hugged her, one of those quick, awkward hugs, and ran
off to play football.
Emma
found herself staring at Chester while he was playing football. He
was very muscular, she noticed, and athletic. He could outrun his two
older brothers easily, and every once in a while they would unfairly
tackle him. Emma didn't notice Craig sitting down next to her. But he
noticed who she was staring at.
"Hey,
Emma, what's going on?"
She
looked over at him, startled. "Hey Craig. I didn't know you were
here."
"I
just came with Ange. So... you got a thing for Chester?"
"What?
No." She was trying to convince herself as well as Craig. He
raised his eyebrow. "I don't. I just... enjoy football, okay?"
Craig
backed away a few inches. "Alright, alright. I believe you."
Just
then Angela came running towards them, arms outstretched. "Emma!"
She wrapped her arms around her former babysitter, hanging from her
neck. Emma returned the hug before prying her off. Angie grabbed her
wrist and pulled her over to the sidewalk, where they began an
afternoon of writing on it with colorful chalk.
Emma
lay awake that night (in her own bed for a change) thinking about
what Craig said. It wasn't possible to like Chester. Not for her,
anyways. She turned over and looked at her digital clock. Two AM. She
just couldn't fall asleep. She couldn't think clearly with all the
distractions of her house- Jack crying, her parents getting up. They
got home at about 12 from the block party, so they were keeping tabs
on the baby tonight. Let Emma get some decent sleep. She got out of
her bed and changed into a pair of jeans and a black tank top. After
a quick search for a grey zip-up hoodie, she snuck out.
Emma
stepped outside, immediately regretting the hoodie decision. She
didn't know it would still be this hot at two in the morning. She
took it off, tied it around her waist, and walked down the street.
She turned the corner, and another corner; she was on Chester's
street. She passed his house, a chill running down her spine. No,
she thought, this isn't happening. I won't let myself like him. I
can't. I'm going to set him up with Darcy. She walked back around
to her block, snuck back inside, and fell asleep, without even
changing, before she could change her mind.
Emma
woke up in the morning to... silence. No crying Jack, no Spike
attempting to make Belgian waffles, no clicking of Snake on his
laptop... just silence. She opened her eyes, and saw her clock.
12:32. She sat up, a bit dizzy. Not bothering to change out of the
previous night's sneaking-out clothes, she walked upstairs into the
kitchen to find nothing but a note on the fridge. She scanned it,
learning that her parents had taken Jack to the park. Great,
she thought, I have the house to myself.
After
making herself a sandwich, she picked up the phone and dialed Darcy's
number. It rang twice before she picked up.
"Hello?"
"Darcy.
It's Emma. Listen, can you come over?"
"Sure."
She
hung up. Darcy took notoriously long getting ready, especially when
she was going over to Emma's- she wanted to impress Chester. Smiling
to herself, Emma went upstairs and took a shower.
An
hour later Darcy and Emma were sitting in lawn chairs in the front
yard, sunglasses on, tanning. A football landed between their chairs,
grabbing their attention. Five seconds later Chester, Chad, and Chuck
came bounding from across the street.
"Hey
Emmaline."
"Chesterson."
Emma took off her shades and opened her eyes, surprised to see Chuck
standing over her.
"Chesterson?
That would be him." Chad pointed to Chester, who was standing
behind Darcy, trying to steal her sunglasses.
"Hey!
Give those back!" Chester had taken off with her shades; she got
up and quickly chased him around into the backyard. Chuck sat in her
empty chair, taking a sip of her Coke. "Ten bucks says they're
making out right now."
Chad
smiled at Emma, and knelt down beside her. "Wanna bet against
him, Emmaline?"
"Don't
call me that," she said, putting her sunglasses back on.
"Chad,
only Chesterson can call her that." Chuck was mocking her
and Emma knew it.
"Oh,
that's right. You have a crush on him, don't you Em-ma?" Chad
took her sunglasses and put them on, grinning.
"Do
not," she mumbled, snatching them back.
"Chuck,
you better go check on them. Make sure they aren't doing anything
naughty."
Chuck
leapt up and ran into the backyard. Chad got closer to Emma. He
smelled like Chester, but it wasn't the same. Emma's stomach churned.
He probably was making out with Darcy. But, she had decided
she didn't like him. Or, at least her mind had.
"It's
okay if you like Chester. He's too stupid to notice. Besides, you can
have a better Chester. You can have me." With that, Chad stood
up, just as Chuck came around the house from the backyard,
interrupting Emma's rebuttal. Not that she had one. What could she
say to Chad's proposition?
"Well,
they weren't back there. My guess is led her back to our house. And
up in his room."
Emma's
heart sank. If they were alone in Chester's room... there was no
doubt in her mind they were hooking up. Her set up had worked all too
well.
