CHAPTER 2:
After Finn had his snack, he went back up to his room and Chad went back to join the others.
"Okay, so where were we?" Chad asked.
"So, the next day during school I told my boyfriend all about Garrett and I told him that he has autism. Much to my surprise, he was so understanding to the point where he was okay with Garrett and I hanging out twice a week after school," Emily said.
"And good thing he was," Garrett added.
"So, what happened after that day?" Aubrey asked, curious.
"Well, thanks to my boyfriend at the time being so understanding about Garrett's struggle, we continued to hang out twice a week after school. Most nights after school, we went to the movies, went bowling, and of course whenever there was a chance to get ice cream, we did that too. Anyway, he was so happy to the point where he was smiling every time we hung out together. But months later, there was a moment when our friendship was on the rocks," Emily said.
"And that was?" Chloe asked.
"I remember a few weeks after Valentine's Day, Garrett took a big chance by asking me to prom. I really liked Garrett and I didn't want him to get hurt, but I did have a boyfriend and I knew I needed to be honest with him," Emily said, prompting another flashback.
March 7th, 2014
After lunch, Garrett followed Emily to her locker.
"Emily, before I forget, there's something I want to ask you. But I'm afraid of your answer," Garrett said as his hands twisted nervously.
"Garrett, we've been over this; you should never be afraid to ask me what you want," Emily assured him.
"I know, it's just hard sometimes," Garrett clarified.
"I understand. So, what did you want to ask me?" Emily asked as the two approached her locker.
"Emily Junk...will you go to prom with me?" Garrett asked, very nervously as his face was a swirl of emotion ranging from worried to excited.
Emily heard the question and thought hard about her response. She was understanding about Garrett's struggle, but at the same time, she wasn't going to cheat on her boyfriend. So what she was about to do was going to be very hard, but at the same time, she knew it had to be done.
"Garrett, you're a great friend. But, you know I have a boyfriend, right? I'm sorry...I can't go to prom with you," Emily said, apologetically before noticing tears coming out of Garrett's eyes. "Garrett, please don't cry. I'll make it up to you somehow."
"You will?" Garrett asked, sniffling while Emily wiped his tears with her finger.
"Of course I will. Just give me time to think, okay. I have to go to class, but I'll text you later," Emily said before the two friends parted.
Present Day
"Rejecting his promposal was one of the hardest things I've ever done. It broke my heart to see him cry like that," Emily said, looking like she might cry herself.
"So, what happened?" Chloe asked.
"Well, like I mentioned to you before, after that failed promposal, Garrett couldn't stop crying for the rest of the school day," Emily recapped.
"Did he make it through the whole day?" Chloe asked.
"No. He ended up going home. I felt terrible. So, I did eventually make it up to him by surprising him later that night," Emily said.
"What did you do?" Aubrey asked.
"I paid Garrett a surprise visit that night to try and cheer him up," Emily said.
"That was really sweet of you," Aubrey said.
"Thank you. If there's anything I learned from being friends with Garrett, it's that the one thing that makes him happy when he's sad is ice cream," Emily said.
"Yeah, ice cream could pretty much cure my sadness anytime," Chloe said.
"So, often times if I pay Garrett a surprise visit, I would bring over a pint of ice cream to share," Emily said.
"It's always so delicious. In fact, there was a certain time Emily came over with ice cream I'll never forget," Garrett added.
"Two months later, on the night of prom, I just finished putting on eye glitter when my boyfriend called me saying that he had the flu. When he talked to me on the phone, I offered to bring him some soup, but he told me it wasn't necessary because he didn't want me to catch whatever he had. So instead, I paid Garrett a surprise visit to his house while still wearing my red prom dress," Emily said, prompting another flashback.
May 22nd, 2014
Garrett could be seen in his bedroom watching "Up" when his phone rang. Much to his surprise, it was Emily. He expected that she'd be too busy on the dance floor at prom to call him, but seeing her name on the caller ID always cheered him up. So, he paused the movie before answering.
"Hello?" Garrett said, answering.
"Open your window." Emily said.
"Why?" Garrett asked.
"Just do it!" Emily said.
Garrett did open his window to find Emily standing outside on the front lawn in her red prom dress, carrying a pint of ice cream.
"What are you doing here? Isn't prom tonight?" Garrett asked, surprised to see her.
"I didn't go," Emily said.
"Why?" Garrett asked.
"My boyfriend has the flu," Emily said.
"Sorry to hear that," Garrett said, leaning on the edge of the window sill looking down.
"Can you let me in? I brought ice cream," Emily asked, holding the pint up so he'd see.
"I'll be right down!" Garrett said, excited.
He quickly rushed downstairs to open the front door and let Emily in. The two made their way into the kitchen to grab two spoons before heading up to his bedroom.
"Well, prom may not have worked out tonight, but at least I got to spend it having ice cream with you," Emily said.
"Yeah. Well, I hope your boyfriend feels better soon," Garrett said.
"Me too. But for now, let's just enjoy the evening together," Emily said.
As they were enjoying their ice cream, Garrett eventually unpaused the movie while the two friends passed the pint back and forth. Granted, the evening didn't start the way they both pictured it would, but the two friends sharing ice cream together certainly made the evening an enjoyable one for both.
Present Day
"Do you regret blowing off prom?" Shannon asked.
"Not at all. I mean, if I was nominated for Prom Queen, then maybe. But even if I was, I probably wouldn't have gotten the votes," Emily said.
Just then, Shannon started to smell the familiar scent of a dirty diaper.
"Guys, I don't mean to interrupt the story, but I think Lucy needs a diaper change," Shannon said.
"Bathroom's right around the corner," Aubrey said.
"Thanks," Shannon said as she carried Lucy to the bathroom.