Ellie looked to her watch, realizing with a start that it was ten to seven at night. "Wow," she exclaimed. "We've been talking for hours."
Emma glanced to her own watch and was taken aback at how quick the time had gone by. "Holy. My dad's probably having a heart attach," Emma laughed.
Ellie felt a stab of jealousy towards Emma. She had a father who was probably out of his mind with worry about where she was and why she wasn't home. Then realized with guilt that her grandfather was probably sick with worry as well.
"You're going to be in New York for awhile right?" Emma asked, her voice filled with hope.
Ellie smiled sadly. She was beginning to like New York, but she would always miss LA. "If my mother has anything to say about it, I think I may be here the rest of my life," Ellie said in all seriousness.
"Ok," Emma said, relieved. "I'd like to hang out again."
Ellie smiled genuinely. "I'd like that too."
They stood from the bench and Ellie pulled a pen and piece of paper out of her Gucci bag. In the neat cursive writing that Emma noticed was written with her left hand, just like herself, Ellie scrawled down her name and cell phone number, handed the paper to Emma, then handed her a second blank sheet and gestured for Emma to write down her number. She did so, then handed the sheet with her number back to Ellie.
"Promise me we'll keep in touch?" Ellie asked, her voice bordering on begging.
"I promise," Emma replied in a tone that made Ellie believe she was telling the truth. And in a motion that she would normally never do, Emma leaned in and pulled Ellie into a hug. "I promise," Emma whispered again in Ellie's ear and Ellie believed her.
They pulled apart and with a last fleeting glance and a sad wave of goodbyes, they turned and walked in opposite directions, both turning around about six feet away and looking back at each other, hating to leave.
Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Emma pulled the door to her apartment open and stepped in, the warmth from inside instantly making her limbs tingle.
"Hey baby. You were gone for awhile," Ryan said as Emma walked by him. He placed a kiss on the top of her blonde, wind-swept hair and handed her a steaming mug of coffee.
She took it with an appreciative 'mmmhh' and raised it to her lips, taking a sip and feeling the burning liquid slide down her throat and come to a rest in her stomach. "French Vanilla?" Emma asked, a sarcastically shocked look planted on her face. "Dad you remembered!" she joked.
He hit her lightly on her arm with a playful look on his face. "Hey is it my fault the last time I bought coffee the Hazelnut was in the French Vanilla box?" Ryan countered with a smile.
"Whatever helps you sleep at night," Emma quipped back.
"So why were you gone so long?" Ryan asked lightly, not wanting to make her uncomfortable.
"I ran into a friend at Massimo's," Emma replied, referring to the coffee shop her and Ellie had visited. "Then we went and sat in the park."
Ryan simply nodded his head. He could tell by the way Emma was avoiding his gaze that she didn't want to talk about it. "Hey what do you say about going to Newport for the weekend? Grandma Kirsten wants to see us," Ryan offered.
"This weekend?" Emma asked. "It's Thursday. Kind of short notice isn't it?"
"Ya I know but I think a trip to the west coast will do us some good. The funeral has taken a lot out of you. I can tell. And plus you haven't seen your grandparents and Seth and Summer and Reese and Hannah for over a month. They miss you," Ryan begged.
Emma sighed. "I miss them too … when does our flight leave?" she caved with an exasperated sigh.
Ryan stood from his barstool and kissed his daughters' head. "You rock," he said. "And our flight leaves at six pm tomorrow." He turned and walked away with a bagel in his mouth and a coffee mug in his hand.
Emma waited for her dad to leave the room before pulled out her cell phone and the piece of paper and quickly dialling Ellie's number.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXThe song "California" by Phantom Planet rang out from her cell phone. Ellie picked it up and read the caller ID. The name Emma flashed across the screen.
"Hey," Ellie answered perkily. "What's up?"
"What are you doing tomorrow?" Emma asked immediately.
"Nothing why? Is everything ok?" Ellie's tone showed extreme levels of concern.
"Ya, ya everything's fine. It's just that I'm leaving tomorrow night and I wanted to see you before I left," Emma rushed out.
"You're leaving?" Ellie asked, her tone slightly panicked. "Where are you going?"
"I'm just going for the weekend; to Newport. I have family that lives there and my dad wants us to visit. I'll probably be back by Sunday," Emma said.
Ellie let out a sigh of relief. When Emma told her that she was leaving, Ellie had had the unexplainable urge to tell her she wasn't allowed to leave. Suddenly, loosing Emma was the scariest ting to her and she couldn't explain why. All she knew was that she felt connected to her.
"Don't you have school?" Ellie asked, hoping that somehow her and Emma could get together.
"I'll use the funeral as an excuse. I'll tell the office around ten that the stress from the funeral is getting to me and that I'm going home. Then we can meet up," Emma said.
Ellie smiled. "That'll work?"
"Of course," Emma replied. "Can you meet me outside St. Marksburg Prep at ten am?" Emma asked.
"Ummm … sure. Where is it?" Ellie asked.
"On the corner of East 114th and Madison Ave. Think you can find it?" Emma finished.
"Sure it's just down the street from my grandfather's house," Ellie said.
"Ok so ten am sounds good to you?" Emma asked.
"Ten am sounds great."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX FRIDAY-3PM"Emma we're going to be late!" Ryan yelled up the spiral stairs. It felt like he was constantly telling his daughter they were going to be late for one thing or another. She was just like Marissa in that sense.
Emma came flying down the stairs, her long hair pulled back into a ponytail. "I'm coming, I'm coming! Dad our flight doesn't even board for another three hours. You need to calm down," she said as she walked to the door and dropped her last bag.
"Em, you know how much I hate …"
Emma finished his sentence. "…to fly. You say that every month when we go. You think after sixteen years you would be use to it by now. Tranquilo padre, tranquilo," she said with a grin.
Ryan stared at her. He hated when she spoke in Spanish, something she was fluent in. He could never understand a word she said. And then there was the times she spoke French, another language she was fluent in. Ryan found it incomprehensible that his little girl could speak both Spanish and French.
"Someone pays attention in class," Ryan quipped.
"Hoy en clase, mi amigo Evan de México y sus amigos jugaron a fútbol y ganaron por diez puntos. ¿Hablo español muy bien? ¿Sí?"
"Not funny," Ryan said, picking up their bags and carrying them into the hall.
"Tranquilo padre, tranquilo," Emma repeated.
READ!
Ok I know, weird place to end it. But I ran out of time. Sorry for the wait. Oh and …
I'm skipping the trip to Newport. The next chapter is gonna be Emma and Ryan when they get back. And the next chapter will be Ellie and Emma discovering that they're twins and Marissa's gonna come into the picture as well.
Oh and by the way, the Spanish above just means: "Today in class, my friend Evan from Mexico and his friends played soccer and won by ten points. I speak Spanish very well? Yes?"
Enjoy! R&R!
Love, Megan