Chapter Three: Digging Up The Past
Later that night, however, things took a different turn. Emily rounded on Katie as soon as they were alone. "How could you do that to me? Why didn't you tell me his name?" she cried in exasperation and humiliation. She spun away, dragging her hands through her hair, which she'd taken out of its ponytail.
Katie flopped down on her bed, lying on her stomach with her chin propped in her hands. Her dark brown eyes followed her friend's every move as Emily paced restlessly from one end of the room to the other. "Would you mind telling me the story behind this?" she asked. "You two are more than casual acquaintances."
Emily sighed and finally ceased pacing, kicking off her snow boots and shedding her winter-weather gear. Sitting down on her bed, she leaned back against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Jerry and I were… childhood sweethearts, I guess you could say. We went to school together, lived close to each other, and played together every day. In junior high, we were inseparable and then in high school… well, I guess you could say we officially fell in love."
Katie nodded, sitting up a little. "But what happened?"
"You know that I went to the Arctic Circle every summer to be with my father." Katie nodded. "Jerry had always been a little jealous of my adventures up there and ofthe other boys – native eskimos, usually – that I met and hung out with. He was afraid that I liked them better. So, his fury and jealousy built up until the summer before my senior year, when he lost it and got back at me the only way an immature teenage boy can – dropping me like a hot potato, badmouthing me, and hooking up with some blonde-haired beach bimbo. When I got back and found out what he'd been doing, I confronted him about it, wanting to work it out." She shook her head to indicate the futility of her effort. "Harsh words were spoken on both sides and I must confess, I left a handprint several layers deep on his cheek. We didn't speak to each other all through our senior year, Jerry dropped his girlfriend and never dated, and after graduation, we went our separate ways, not thinking we'd ever see each other again…" She grinned wryly. "But it seems fate had a different idea."
"Surely you two aren't still bitter after what, five years?" Katie exclaimed. She was clearly upset by this iron wedge driven between her boyfriend and best friend.
"If by that you mean do we hate each other? No, we don't. I don't think we ever really did. But the coldness definitely exists and will take a long time to thaw. However," Emily added, looking pointedly into Katie's face, "if it means enough to you, Kate, I'll try – for my part – to make it easier for you by being friendly and warm towards him."
Her friend smiled gratefully. "It would mean so much to me, Em. Mind you," she said sternly, her eyes teasing, "don't you dare go stealing him back from me!"
Emily grinned her green eyes sparkling defiantly. "Give me a little more credit than that!"