The Ordinary Life of Emily P. Bates (24 page)

              “Because.” He shifted uncomfortably. “I don’t know. I think I felt like I needed to stake a claim for your attention or something. Finn was always hanging around. Shannon I like. Margo, too, but Finn doesn’t like me much, not really. He’s always so possessive of you. You know, I think Finn might have a thing for you.”

              “Oh, this is not happening.” I sank even lower into my seat.

              “Anyway, so my point was that because I was so fickle about dating you, I drove you off. My fault. And I’m sorry. And I regret it because I really do miss you.”

              I peeked at him between my fingers. He did look miserable. Maybe he was telling the truth. Even I’d noticed how charming he was with all the girls. Only Shannon, who was so used to being charmed, was immune to his talents, which was why the pair of them had been able to conspire together several times without incident.

              “So what are you saying?” I asked. Glancing out of the window, I saw Dad’s car pull into the parking lot. “Dad’s here.”

              “I’m saying that I want to forget this whole mess and start over again. As friends.” 

              I studied his face carefully. “Yeah. That sounds wonderful, actually. I’ve hated that it’s been so awkward.”

              “Yes! Me, too! It shouldn’t be that way with friends.”

              “No, it shouldn’t be. And I really am sorry about how I handled things there at the end.” I was still squirming a little from his disturbing revelations about his dating history, but I would just have to get over that. Or else interrogate him about it later. “Listen, I’ve got to go. Dad’s waiting. But I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

              He grinned that familiar old grin. “Yeah. Good.”

              “Thanks for helping me out.” I couldn’t help but smile back.

              “Any time!” he called after me just before I slammed the door shut.

              I crossed the parking lot quickly and slipped into Dad’s car. “Man, it’s cold out there.”

              “Yeah,” Dad agreed as he pulled the car into gear. “They say it’s supposed to change to freezing rain Thursday.”

              “Great.” I glared out the window, but quickly averted my gaze to the radio LCD when we passed the Cornell Library.

              “So aside from Oscar’s untimely death, how was your first day back?”

              “Uneventful. How’s Mom?”

              “The same. She’s going crazy stuck in the house like she is.”

              “I’d go crazy in the same situation.”

              “Anybody would.”

I scrunched down in my seat and glared at the rain the rest of the way home.

The next morning Aaron had to take me to school. He had to get up half an hour earlier than usual to get me there on time, which he grumbled about the entire way.

              “What’s so wrong with your junk heap again?” he asked over the rumble of his ancient truck.

              “It died yesterday,” I reminded him. “It’s over at Auto Stop until Friday.”

              “So I’ve got to chauffeur you around for another three days?”

              “Yes, you do.” I stared out the window, my stomach rolling. I hadn’t spoken to Finn or Shannon since yesterday, and I had no idea what sort of a mess I was walking into at breakfast. Had Finn mentioned anything to Shannon? Had Shannon noticed anything if he hadn’t? What was I going to say to Finn? What would he say to me?

              “What’s your deal this morning?”

              “Nothing. Leave me alone.”

              “You’re too quiet for it to be nothing.” He sounded truly concerned now, which made me a little curious.

              I glanced at him, then turned back to the skeletal trees that were flashing by the window. “I’m just having a little guy trouble.”

              “Ah, so Finn finally made a move?”

              I glared at him. “So everybody knew about this except for me?”

              “Keep your pants on, sheesh!” He raised his right arm defensively. “And yes. Everybody knew. I was taking bets with my buddy Andy on how long it would take you to figure it out.”

              “Please tell me you’re joking!”

              “All right, I’m joking.”

              I glared at him. “Are you lying?”

              “If I said ‘no’ would you believe me?”

              “No.” I rested my head against the cold glass. “Just please no more bets on my love life, okay?”

              “Whatever.”

              “Or my social life.”

              “Aw, come on! You’re cutting me off at the knees, now!”

              “No bets!”

              “If I said ‘all right’ would you believe me?” He grinned and wagged his eyebrows at me.

              I thumped my forehead against the window. “No.”

              Aaron dropped me off in front of the building, and his truck roared away almost before my feet had hit the pavement. I glared after him for several seconds before walking inside. If nothing else, my useless brother had made me angry enough that my nerves were no longer center stage.

              “What’s wrong with you?” Shannon asked when I stepped up to our usual table. Finn was sitting next to her and, like always, he pushed a bright green apple across the table to me without looking up from his book. Today it was Bill Clinton’s memoirs.

              I took the apple hesitantly and sat down. “Aaron’s being a butt face,” I said. I couldn’t stop staring at Finn through his book, and his sister noticed.

              “And what’s wrong with you,
now
?” she asked, leaning into my light of sight.

              I jumped and focused on Shannon’s face instead of Bill Clinton’s. “Nothing.”

              Her eyes narrowed. “You keep saying that, and I keep not believing you.”

              “That doesn’t even make sense.” I took a large bite of my apple, mostly as an excuse to stop talking.

              “Hey everybody!”

Shannon and I both jumped when Ethan’s bright and cheerful voice interrupted Shannon’s glaring. Finn lowered his book half an inch and stared at him blankly.

              “Ethan!” Shannon beamed. “Long time no
see
! What brings yo
u here
?”

              Ethan sat down in the empty seat next to me. I glanced nervously at Finn, who was still staring at Ethan.

              “Emily and I have decided that enough is enough.” He smiled and put one arm around my shoulders. “We’re going to start over again.”

              “Really?” Shannon asked, eyebrows raised.

              Finn’s eyes left Ethan’s face and slipped over to drill into my own. All I could do was return his green eyed gaze and hyperventilate. I was mesmerized by it. I couldn’t move. I think my mouth might even have been hanging open a little. It didn’t last long, just a couple of seconds, but those two seconds were enough to stop my heart.

              Finn closed his book with a snap, grabbed his bag, and left the table
--
all without saying a single word. 

              “Okay, now what’s wrong with
him
?” Shannon asked.
She shook her head patronizingly, clearly not that concerned.
“So what’s this about enough is enough?”

              Ethan removed his arm from my shoulders carelessly. “Well, yesterday when Emily stalled out again, I happened to be there. We got to talking, and decided to start over.”

“As friends,” I said. Oh sure,
now
I could
make my voice work. Ethan
grinned at me, and I managed a weak smile in return.

              “Your car stalled out?” Shannon asked. “Is that why you came in the front today?”

              “Yeah, Oscar’s officially dead, I think.” I placed the half eaten apple on the table and looked away from it. I was too nauseated to eat.

              “Dead? As in dead, dead? As in you no longer have a car?”

              “No. I should be getting it back before the weekend.”

              “Good, because I think we should all go out this weekend.” She turned her satisfied smile to Ethan. “To celebrate the return of our prodigal friend?”

              “Sounds great,” Ethan said. “Friday night?”

              Shannon shook her head. “No good. I’ve got plans.”

              She went on to fill Ethan in on everything that had happened in the past couple of months, including her impending date with Tom Noll. I tuned it out and stared at my apple instead.

              “So are you going to tell me what’s really wrong with you or not?” Shannon asked me later that morning in Chemistry lab.

              “I don’t want to talk about it.” I was having a difficult time measuring the sulfate; my hands hadn’t stopped shaking since breakfast.

              “Well I do.” She took the beaker out of my hand.

              “Just drop it, all right?”

              “Why won’t you tell me?”

              “Why won’t you tell me what happened with Finn and Margo?” I shot back. She didn’t need to know that Finn had already spilled the beans on that one. Now I was aiming for pain.

              “Because that’s not my business!”

              “Well this isn’t your business either!” I snatched back the beaker and tried to measure out four milliliters for the fifth time.

              “Emily P. Bates, you are driving me insane with curiosity!”

              “Curiosity killed the cat.” My hands were shaking too badly now. I just gave up and dumped the inaccurate amount into the mixture over the Bunsen burner.

              “I’m not a stupid cat, Emily!”

              This was just too much. I ripped off my goggles and apron and dropped them on the counter.

              “Emily?” Shannon asked, startled.

              “I’m getting out of here.” 

              “But-”

              I pushed open the door that led to the classroom and stalked through it. There was no one in there, not even Mr. Lankford, which was odd. I didn’t care, though. I wasn’t thinking about the fact that I was preparing to skip school, nor that I was planning to do it without a car. I grabbed my coat off of the back of my desk and stepped out into the hallway.

              “Ms. Bates?” Mr. Lankford was walking toward me from the direction of the office.

              “I’m sorry,” I said, thinking fast. “I have a project I’m working on in
--
ah
--
art class. I’m done with the lab.”

              “Wait, Ms. Bates.”

              “Sorry, I’ve got to go.” I walked by him.

              “Stop!”

              I halted and turned to look at him. I expected him to be mad, but I wasn’t prepared for the look of worry on his face. “Your dad’s just arrived. He needs to see you in the office.”

              My heart stopped. Dad was here? That could not be good news. There was no way. The only reason he’d ever bother coming up to school was if Mom had gotten worse. Much worse. She would be in the hospital.

              I turned and sprinted down the hall towards the office where I found Dad pacing the small lobby area.

              “Dad?” I said in a choked voice. “What happened?”

              He grabbed my elbow and led me right back out of the office. “She passed out,” he said as we walked. He shoved the front doors open and we stalked through into the icy wind. “I had to call an ambulance an hour ago.”

              “An hour ago? Why didn’t you call me?”

              “Because I didn’t want to worry you while we got her taken care of! There was nothing you could do
, anyway.
”

              “Well you’re worrying me now!”

              He let go of my arm so that I could walk around to the passenger’s side of his blue sedan and I climbed inside.

              “She’s all right now,” Dad said, brushing his unkempt hair out of his eyes. “She’ll be fine, but the baby’s having a hard time of it. As of right now it’s stable.” He pulled the car out of the parking lot and before I knew it we were speeding along the highway towards the hospital.

              “They’re going to deliver?” I asked.

              “In the morning. They’ve scheduled a c-section.”

              “But the baby? Isn’t it too early?”

              Dad didn’t reply. His eyes were red, but he hadn’t cried yet. Not yet. He wouldn’t cry until the news was definitive.

              I, on the other hand, had lost control. My eyes were streaming now, and so was my nose. Dad dug around in his back seat and produced a box of tissues. I took several and started dabbing at my eyes. “She’s gonna be all right, isn’t she?”