Justintylor, thanks for keeping up with the story and thanks for replying. I love yours, too.
Suzzy20, thanks for reading and for the compliment. I'm posting as often as I can.
Fightinfillini, more to come and, well, lol, I'm happy the story can be so addicting.
Iamthundermonkey, you've been reading for a long time, too. Thank you!
Chavela20, I'm posting more soon. Thanks.
Idontknowanything, thanks for reading and thanks for the review.
jc4u, don't worry, I'm anti jemma too. I'm sorry if anyone is looking for Jemma, but I'm not a fan of it.
Aprildaisy, yeah, that's pretty much what's happening. I'm posting more now, and thanks!
Ashley was busy standing at her kitchen counter sclicing tomatoes when she heard the phone ring.
"Toby!"
To her dismay, the phone rang again.
"Toby! Get the phone!"
With no answer, and aparently, no interest, Ashley indignantly wiped her hands on her apron and picked up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Ash, what's wrong, are you not feeling good?"
He sounded more hopeful than concerned.
"Craig? Is that you?"
She turned back to her tomatoes, carefully pushing the knife away from the cutting board. "No, it's fine." Her voice raised. "Just someone won't pick up the phone!"
"Yeah -- hey Ash, you know Mrs. Nelson, right?"
"Emma's mom, yeah. Oh, did you hear about Emma?"
Back in the Jeremiah household, Craig actually froze. He literally lost all knowledge of the fact that he was supposed to me moving. She actually knew... She actually knew. Obviously it was big news to her, because she took on a whisper to her words.
"I mean, I'm not one to talk, but I just never thought she'd do something so stupid."
Craig's hand drew to his forehead once again, his eyes closing with tension. He didn't want to be hearing about this. He didn't even want to talk about it.
"Yeah... me neither, just, can we just... can we just go to the party?"
Ashley continued to slice her tomatoes in the Kerwin residence. "What party?"
"Mrs. Nelson's having a party for baby Jack."
"And?"
"Well, I wanted to know if you would come."
"Well, it'd just be kind of odd, don't you think?"
"Well, if you don't want to go --"
"No, it's fine. Be here to pick me up at seven?"
"...Sure."
Ashley turned the phone off and threw it aside, thinking nothing of it. Inside the Jeremiah house, Craig had fallen back onto his bed in a slump. Things were taking way too much energy these days, and there was nothing he could do to stop it. A party was the exact thing he didn't want to do -- and a party with Emma? Probably the most awkward night of his life...
Craig stood at the door of the Nelson house after thirty minutes of listening to Angela and Joey croon to his horrible old band song. So now, hot pie in hand, Craig stood shivering outside in the cold, both Ashley and Angela clamoring up to him for warmth. It was as though they found him to be some chivalrous hero; a big strong man to graciously lend a hand to those in need. But he didn't really get what that was all about. He didn't really consider himself much of a man, anyway.
"Joey!"
Mrs. Nelson had opened the door, cup of gingerale in one hand and bottle of milk in the other.
"Come in, come in. I just put Jack down for a nap, so you're gonna have to be a little quiet. So, thank you for coming. Craig, you brought your girlfriend, I see?"
Craig's attention snapped back to Ashley, who was standing idly beside him. He had forgotten she was there.
"Oh, yeah."
Joey removed his coat, taking Angela's as well, hanging them near the door. Craig felt as if he should have removed Ashely's coat for her, but apparently he waited too long, and she did it herself.
"Well, Emma's downstairs if you guys want to talk to her." Mrs. Nelson said as she lead Joey and Angela to the living room. "Oh, just don't get offended by anything she says."
This left Craig and Ashley standing in the middle of a crowded room, feeling completely unwelcome. Craig looked around at the party guests, shifting from one foot to the other. Ashley took his hand, and swiveling around to meet her face, he saw she was smiling.
"C'mon. We'll never have fun if we don't try. Let's go sit with Mr. Simpson and play cards."
She started to move in the direction of the poker table, but Craig stubbornly held his ground.
"What if we didn't... I mean, what if we went to talk to Emma?"
Ashey grinned to hide her skeptisicm. "Craig, you can't be serious. She's in a weird place right now, let's just leave her alone."
It toook a moment of thinking for Craig to finally shake his head in agreement and allow him to lead him off to areas unknown, but once she did, he felt a little more at home. Like he actually belonged there in the midst of all the people.
Emma lay in a neat little coil on her bed, hair twisted around her finger. It was just about eleven at night, and all she heard was the distant rumblings of a party. She knew her parents deserved a little fun, and she knew they had been seriously deprived of it for a very long time, but she also knew that she hated when other people were happy when she wasn't. It was selfish, obviously, but couldn't they all bask in misery with her?
Sean hadn't approached her all day, although she had expected him to. After four months of his absence, it was only proper for him to seek her out. Especially after he cut things off with Ellie. But the school, she suddenly though in agony, everyone gossiping ... can't they all just shut up? But it was too much to ask that everyone forget what she did. As Mrs. Soveign said, "You make mistakes. You have to clean them up."
"Hey, Emma..."
She swiftly sat upright, gazing in the direction of the stairs. Craig's here. The way he just stood there, his shirt weakly clinging to his shoulders... he looked so incredibly dishelved in his very Craig like way. It was a tie between attractive and bleak.
Craig made his way down the dusty basement stairs, his hands gracing the web-woven walls. He hadn't anticipated on coming here tonight; all he knew was that he wanted it. After telling Ashley he'd be gone in the bathroom, where was exactly where he had intended to go, he noticed the door. The basement door. It wasn't much, but it was rnough to sustain the inexplicable bubble of curiosity he held.
"Hey, Emma..."
The fact that it was just the two of them in this grimy basement, stuck with the silence and forced to deal with it, was so oddly unbearable. But he put himself in this situation, so he had to deal with it.
His eyebrows rose. "Can I sit?"
She nodded, clearly giving him full-fledged permission. There should have been no reason Craig felt in the least bit guilty. Still, something didn't feel so right about it.
"Congratulations." Emma said, smiling cheerfully. "You're the first boy to ever enter my bedroom."
She spread her arms out, showcasing the area around them. She was so blissfully happy; happier than he'd seen her in months.
"Yeah," Craig laughed. "I can see why, this place is a dump."
"This place is a kingdom!" She protested, letting her hands go wild. "I love it down here."
"It seems private."
Emma gazed off into a faraway corner of the room, grinning. "It is. No, really, the only thing Spike comes down here for is the laundry, and she does that when I'm at school."
It was then at this moment that Craig sat there, absentmindledly nodding his head, that he realized his feelings for Emma. It wasn't an epiphany, or a revelation of any sort. It was just this knowledge that he accepted.
"Oh, and that's your makeup stand." He sauntered over to the vanity and made a funny face. "You're such a girly-girl."
Her face was beaming by now, more radiant than imaginable. It was sweet, in a way. He could make her feel something, and he was proud of that.
"So, how's Ashley?"
In dissappointment, Craig set the lipgloss he was twidling in his fingers down, and placed his hands on his hips, letting them slide down to their normal position.
"Oh, that. Well, Ashley's good, she's really good. She's written, like, forty songs since we got back together, and she's just really happy."
"That's good. Why didn't she come? Joey said you were going to bring her."
What would she think if she knew he had abandoned his girlfriend for another girl? She would make me go upstairs.
"Craig."
An upsetting voice, belonging to none other than Ashley. She stood in the dark, shock spreading over her face. Misunderstanding. Confusion. What explanation could there be for all of this?
"Craig, you said you were in the bathroom."
"I was. I just wanted to talk to Emma."
He was horrible. Less than dirt. Ashley had done nothing wrong lately; she deserved much more.
"Umm, okay. I'm going to be upstairs." she said, clearly signifying that the show would continue above ground.
Emma had seated herself upon the stool that lie in front of her vanity hardly a moment after Craig had left. He had made a beeline for his girlfriend, face nothing but apologies and his departure nothing but abrupt. No acknowledgements were made toward anyone as he carried himself out of the room, determined to reach his destination.
It would be weird to face him Monday at school. Groaning at this thought, Emma realized it trudged up a whole pocketful of unpleasantries. Reasons to dread Monday morning. Lamenting over horrors of the future, Emma was completely caught offguard when the phone beckoned her her attention. No matter how private the basement was, it wasn't silent. Emma knew she wouldn't find that in any particular corner of the house. So, sighing, she swung her legs from the bed and began strolling up the stairs.
When Craig saw Ashley exit the house and enter teh backyard, he knew she had something to say... something... loud. And he didn't like it. So, sputtering words that didn't actually make any sense, he followed her on her journey to the vacant back. He stopped before her, nervously and cluelessly shifting.
"Craig, it's not like this is a big deal,"
Craig could almost go weak in the knees from the guilt, she sounded so nice.
"But what were you doing down there. You tell me you'll be in the bathroom but I find you giddy as a school girl in Emma's room?"
There was that school girl comparison again.
"It's just weird. I'm not mad or anything -- I mean, why would I be? But Emma's been down enough as it is."
Craig made a beeline for his girlfriend, a remorseful look upon his face. Words sputtered from him, none making any actual sense, nonetheless a satisfactory form of apology to Ashley.
No, no one talks like that to her face
Will you babysit? No abysitter needed
"I know," Craig said.
Ashley grabbed his hand, beginning to sway hers along jauntily, causing Craig's to go along for the ride.''
"There's a rave next week. We could go together for a couple of hours. It could be nice."
Craig remembered the last time he had been to a rave. It had been anything but nice.
"Sure." He answered.
Ashley smiled, her hand moving a lot faster.
"I love you."
"Yeah," Craig said, feeling uncomfortable. "I love you too."