5
Emmeline
I’d made it through the first month of school without making a total fool of myself in front of Corby. So what if he’d caught me staring at him every once in a while. I could have sworn he’d spent some time looking my way, too. Which had only made me watch him even more because I wanted to make sure I wasn’t just imagining things.
With another weekend looming ahead, I was disappointed I wouldn’t see him again until Monday, unless I happened to catch him running past my house on Saturday or Sunday. I’d spent plenty of time peering out of my bedroom window over the past several weekends, and I wasn’t looking forward to doing the same again.
“What’s wrong?” Emily asked, bumping my shoulder to get my attention.
“Yeah, you’ve been quieter than usual lately,” Sarah chimed in. “Is something going on? Have Staci and Traci been giving you a harder time than usual?”
I still hadn’t talked to either of them about my crush yet. It wasn't that I thought my friends would give me a hard time about my feelings for Corby or anything. It was a case of the whole thing seeming more real if I said it out loud. But they were the only two people who would really understand where I was coming from since their experience at BMA was similar to mine. I supposed it was time for me to pull up my big girl panties and tell them who I had been obsessing about lately.
I tugged on the strap of Emily’s backpack and guided her down the hallway to the girl’s bathroom with Sarah trailing behind us. After the door shut behind us, I checked all the stalls to make sure they were empty.
“You’re starting to freak me out a little,” Emily said, her eyes wide as she stared at me.
“I just don't want anyone else to hear about this,” I explained, pushing on the door of the last stall and confirming nobody was in there.
“Seriously, I’m with Emily on this.” Sarah crossed her arms over her chest. “What the heck is wrong? You were already acting weird the last two months of summer break, and it's only gotten worse since school started. Is it something with your mom?”
“If she’s being a major bitch, you can come stay with me this weekend,” Emily offered. “My parents won’t be around, so we don’t even need to ask them for permission.”
“It isn’t my mom or the queen bees.” I squeezed my eyes shut and blurted, “I have a crush on Corby King, and I’ve kind of been spying on him ever since he moved in with the Whitneys over the summer.”
Complete silence followed for a moment as though they were too shocked to react to my confession. It was followed by gasps before my friends crashed into me, slamming my back against the hard surface of the door as they jumped up and down, squealing. My eyes popped open, and I pushed them away. “C’mon, guys. It’s not that big of a deal.”
“Wrong.” Sarah made a buzzing sound, as though we were playing trivia and I’d given the incorrect answer. “You being into someone is a major deal.”
Emily nodded and grinned. “Yeah, I can’t remember the last time you’ve so much as mentioned a guy since those rumors swirled about Atticus asking you out during freshman year.”
My shoulders slumped at the reminder of how embarrassed I’d been back then. I hadn’t even really been interested in Atticus as anything more than a friend, but I’d been super flattered when I’d heard he was interested in going on a date with me. Then when nothing had come of it, Staci and Traci had lorded it over me for weeks. They’d taunted me endlessly about how dumb I’d been to actually think he was going to ask out a loser like me. Both girls had proceeded to drape themselves all over him anytime I was around, but at least he’d pushed them off each time. The same wasn’t true with Lindy, another girl on their cheer squad who usually stuck to guys on the swim team. Rumor had it that she’s slept with so many of them that they actually called her an initiation to the team, but that hadn’t stopped Atticus from smashing her and bragging about it afterward.
I’d never learned why Atticus hadn’t approached me, but the reason didn’t really matter. The result was the same—me being embarrassed—and the experience had been a lesson in the rumor mill at Black Mountain Academy. Or boys who were supposedly interested in me but slept with girls who wore their skank status like a badge of honor.
“This isn’t the same thing at all.” Sarah elbowed Emily in the side. “She’s into Corby, so whatever happens actually matters. The stuff with Atticus was irritating, but her heart wasn’t involved, so Emmeline wasn’t as hurt as she could’ve been when nothing ever came of it.”
“Oh, yeah. You have a good point.” Emily bit her bottom lip, looking worried. She was the most sensitive of the three of us while Sarah was the boldest of our little trio, which wasn’t saying much since we were all on the quiet side.
“Okay, so we need a game plan.” Sarah rubbed her hands together and grinned. “Living just down the street from him is convenient. What have you learned about him so far?”
“Besides the fact that he’s super-hot and plays hockey.” Emily let out a little sigh and got a dreamy look in her eyes, irritating the heck out of me. I’d already spent the past two weeks watching plenty of the popular girls try to flirt with him. The last thing I needed was one of my closest friends to catch feelings for him too.
“Ahem.” Emily’s head swiveled toward Sarah, who was glaring at her and jerking her chin in my direction.
Emily’s eyes widened, and her cheeks tinged pink. “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that. Corby is cute and all, but he’s not my type. It’s just that the possibility of you and him dating makes me happy.”
I heaved a deep sigh, relieved to know that I wouldn't have to navigate that potential minefield. “You’re such a soft touch.”
“Maybe, but this is all so exciting.” She bounced on the balls of her feet and clapped her hands together. “We’re smart girls. I’m sure we can devise an awesome plan for you to meet him, so you don’t need to stalk him anymore.”
I thought back to how it had felt to spend half an hour with him on the first day of school and blushed. Since Sarah didn’t miss much, she caught on right away to the fact I hadn’t shared everything with them yet. “What’s with that look on your face?”
“Um, so...you know how I have office aide for first period?” I asked, twisting my hands together in a nervous gesture.
“Yeah.” Emily circled her hand in the air, letting me know she wanted me to get on with the story.
I took a deep breath before rushing to get it all out. “On the first day of school, I gave Corby a tour so he’d know where his classes were, and he kind of sort of asked me to go to his first hockey game.”
“Oh.”
“My.”
“Gosh.”
They rotated off in perfect unison, almost as though they’d rehearsed their reaction, making me giggle.
“Whoa. Hold up.” Sarah lifted her palm toward me. “The hotshot hockey player who started at our school this year—the one who has all the queen bees panting over him even though he doesn’t have a penny to his name—asked you an entire month ago to come to his game and you’re only telling us this now? What else have you kept from us? Having you been secretly dating Cole Travis too? Are two hot guys going to battle it out for you?”