On
Saturday Emma had to baby-sit Jack and Angela while Spike, Snake,
Joey, and Caitlin all went to downtown Toronto for an adult day. She
took the kids to the park, pushing Angie on the swing while Jack
found amusement in the sandbox. They stayed there the entire
afternoon. At about 4 o'clock, Emma spotted Darcy and Chester walking
through the park, holding hands. She stared after them, packing the
kids' things to go home. She was responsible for feeding them and it
was nearing dinnertime. That was the excuse Emma told herself.
The
adults didn't come home until late, about 2am. Emma was still awake
as she heard them come in, laughing. Caitlin came upstairs and woke
up Angie, who was lying on Emma's lap in the rocking chair. They gave
Emma hugs good-bye and went back to Joey's. Emma fell asleep soon
after.
That
morning she woke up and walked upstairs to the smell of sausage and
pancakes. The sausage was, of course, store-bought, but Emma could
tell the lumpy yellow mixture on the stove was her mother's creation.
Snake sat at the table reading the technology section of the Sunday
paper, taking a sip from his coffee. Jack sat in his high chair,
cooing and occasionally babbling "Mama," "Dada,"
or "Emma," at which point Spike would nearly drop the
sausage on the floor and squeal in delight.
Emma
ate her pancakes silently and without complaint. Today would be a
peaceful day, Emma thought. It was more of a wish than a fact.
Just
after a lunch of Spike's homemade spaghetti, the phone rang. Snake
happened to be closest to it and answered it.
"Emma!"
he said, covering the phone.
"Yeah?"
"Phone
for you." She ran over. "Manny," he said, handing her
the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey
Em. I was wondering... did you want to come over today? Spend the
night?"
"Yeah,
sure," she said. "I'll be over in an hour?"
"Okay."
They
hung up and Emma ran downstairs to pack some overnight things.
"I'm
going to spend the night at Manny's," she announced to her
parents at the door.
"Alright,
Em. Have fun and don't stay up too late."
"I
won't." She walked out the door and headed to Manny's house.
It
was about a half-hour walk to the Santos residence. Emma trudged
along, wishing she would have asked for a ride instead. She made it
to Manny's, finally, and stood on the porch, ringing the doorbell.
She heard a rush to the door and some giggling voices. The door flung
open, Manny and Chante on the other side of it.
"Hey,"
Manny said breathlessly.
"Hi,
guys," Emma said, stepping into the hall.
"Come
on," Chante tugged Emma's arm and lead her up to Manny's room.
She opened the door. Old Spice Girls' blasted from the stereo. Manny
went and turned it down.
"I
was just teasing Chante about how she hasn't hooked up with a C-H."
"C-H?"
"Chester,
Chad, and Chuck," Manny explained. "I've kissed Chester,
you've hooked up with Chad... and Darcy-" she stopped short at
the look on Emma's face.
"I
think maybe I'll go for Chuck. He hasn't gotten with any of us yet."
Chante said. Emma noticed Manny looked uncomfortable at this idea.
"No offense, but no chance." She said, looking down. "He's
three years older than you."
"Yeah,
I guess you're right."
Just
then the doorbell rang. Manny and Chante just sat there.
"Manny,
aren't you gonna get that?"
Manny
looked down. "My mom will get it."
"Okay."
A
few moments later Manny's bedroom door opened.
"Hi
guys, sorry I'm so late, I-"
It
was Darcy. She stopped in mid-sentence after seeing Emma. Manny and
Chante kept staring at the floor.
Emma
rose. "I'll be leaving."
"No,
that's okay. You were here first." Darcy had a fake-smile and
clenched teeth. Emma walked over to her.
"No,
really, it's okay. I wouldn't want to ruin another night for you."
She
was halfway out the door when Manny finally spoke. "Emma stop."
She
turned.
"This
is getting ridiculous, okay? You guys are good friends. Don't let
some stupid guy ruin your friendship. He's not worth fighting over!"
"Chester
didn't ruin our friendship," Darcy said calmly, "Emma did.
If she wanted Chester for herself she should've never set us up in
the first place."
"I
didn't want him, okay?" Emma was near tears. She began walking
back and forth between Manny's door and her bed. "I don't know
why I acted the way I did. I'm sorry for what I said, and I know this
doesn't change the past, but I'm sorry."
She
finally flung herself on the bed, crying. Darcy was shakened. She got
up and comforted her friend. "Em... I'm sorry. I should have-"
"No.
You were fine. It was me."
"Emma
you were drunk," Manny said. "It brought out the worst in
you. But you can't help that; you didn't know what would happen!"
"Emma...
it's fine, really. I'm sorry for some of the things I said, too.
Let's be friends again. Please stay."
Emma
sat up, and she was so overcome with emotions all she could do was
give Darcy a hug.
It
was about four in the morning. Emma and Darcy lay awake, talking like
they used to. Manny and Chante had fallen asleep hours ago. They were
now sharing their most intimate secrets.
"Em...
what's it like kissing Chad?"
Emma
lie back on her pillow, sighing. "It's... really amazing,"
she said, turning over to face her friend. "It's as close to
being perfect as a kiss could get. What about..." she was almost
afraid to ask. Though she had shared many secrets with Darcy tonight,
Emma hadn't mustered up the strength to admit her feelings for
Chester.
"Chester?"
Darcy smiled. "Fantastic. Hot. Fireworks. That sum it up for
you?"
"Yeah,"
Emma laughed. She paused, then said, "Have you done anything
more? I mean, more than just kissing?"
"Not
really. Well... I mean he's been up my shirt. Does that count as
something more?" Emma nodded. "In fact, I've never been
further with a guy. What about you? I mean... of course I know how
far you've been with Jay. But what about Chad?"
"I...
he's equaled Jay," she said quickly. Darcy gave her an
almost-menacing look and Emma quickly defended herself. "I'm
cured. And we were smart about it. We talked about other partners- I
was his third and he was my second. He put on a condom just in case."
Darcy
wasn't sure how to respond to this. "I guess that's alright,
then." She looked at the clock. "Oh my gosh, it's past
four. Maybe we should sleep?"
Emma
nodded dreamily; her eyes were already closed. "Night, Darce."
"Sweet
dreams. Emmaline." Darcy giggled.
"Oh
and Darcy?" Emma just thought of something.
"Yeah?"
"Don't
tell Chester... what me and Chad have done, kay?"
"Of
course not."
"Good.
I want to be friends with him again."
"Don't
worry, Em, I'll make sure he knows you're sorry. And it's kind of his
fault you were drunk, too."
Emma
sighed and fell asleep with a smile on her face for the first time
since the summer began. Everything was finally falling into place...
There
was a ringing in Emma's head. It was annoying, and singsong, and it
wouldn't shut up. It got to be too much. She opened her eyes and sat
up. She heard a buzzing sound now, too. Suddenly it stopped. She
looked all around her and her eyes rested at Darcy, quietly chatting
on her phone.
"Hello?"
she whispered. "Oh hi Chester." Pause. "At Manny's.
Listen, I need to talk to you about something. In fact..." she
glanced at Emma... "I have someone who needs to talk to you."
She
forced Emma to take the phone.
"Uh...
hey Chester."
"Who
is this?"
"Emma...
please just listen!" She blurt it out before he could tell her
where to shove it.
"I'm
listening."
"Chester...
I'm really sorry. For everything. I was... to put it bluntly, I was
drunk. I didn't know what I was doing, and I didn't care who I hurt.
I'm sorry."
"Well..."
he wasn't going to forgive her, she knew it! "I understand. And
I'm sorry for over-reacting about you and Chad. I guess I was a
little... jealous."
Jealous?
Did he say jealous? Why would he be jealous? She didn't mention it,
though. "Thanks. I'm glad we worked this out. I want us to be
friends again."
"Of
course... Can you put Darcy back on?"
She
handed Darcy the phone. Darcy got up and went to the bathroom. This
was obviously some sort of confidential boyfriend-girlfriend
conversation. One she would probably never have with Chester. Well,
she would just have to settle. She lie back down and fell asleep
thinking of Chad's words:
You
can have a better Chester. You can have me.
