And Then He Fell

Chapter 8

I smiled.  "Yeah," I said, sounding wistful.

"He's pretty cute," she exclaimed.

"Yeah, I guess," I replied.  "I just hope he really wants to do this.  I'm afraid he, like, owes Drew a favor or something, and is just paying him back."

"Oh, you would think that!" Colby responded. 

I just laughed.  I couldn't help but think of all the bad things that could happen.  Letting myself stay happy for too long was dangerous, especially when it came to guys.  I just never had much luck in that area.

"Here," Colby said, pulling out a navy blue A-line dress from my closet, "wear this on Wednesday night."

"I have to try it on first, and see if it fits.  I haven't worn it in awhile," I explained.

I pulled it on over my cami and my jeans.  I looked in the full length mirror on the back of my bedroom door at my reflection.  I looked okay, but I was fat. 

"I love it!" Colby screamed.  "You need to wear it."

"Nah," I said, "I think I should just wear some jeans and a nice shirt.  Will you help me find a nice shirt?"

Colby sighed.  Although she was supportive, Colby did not understand what I put up with.  She had shoulder length, curly red hair, and bright green eyes.  She was probably a size four on a bad day, and had been dating Jeff Leggett for the past three months.  I'm  not exactly sure why we stayed friends, we had very little in common.  I was thankful for her friendship, though, now that Elise was away at college.  Adam was a great friend, don't get me wrong, but I needed a female's opinion every once in awhile.

Eventually, we agreed on a bright blue, somewhat see through shirt, with a black cami underneath.  I was going to wear my nicest, best fitting jeans with it.  My blue pumps went nicely with the outfit, also. 

"You are going to have a great time," Colby assured me.  "Don't worry one little bit."

I hugged her.  "Thanks so much," I said.   "You helped me out a lot tonight.  If my date's a success, I have you to thank."

"And Drew," she said.   "Don't forget that he set this all up in the first place."  I nodded, knowing she was right. 

As we walked down the stairs, I heard Drew and my dad talking. 

"Are you about ready to leave?" Drew asked. 

"Yep.  As soon as Colby leaves, I'm all set," I answered.

I had put my stuff in a small suitcase, under the guise that I had forgotten a few things that I needed to take back to Drew's with me. 

We walked to the car, and Drew opened my door for me.  I hesitated, not used to such chivalry. 

"Get in, Martin.  We can't stand out here all night," Drew exclaimed.

"Sorry, " I mumbled, getting in and letting him shut the car door.

Once he was inside, he started up the car and off we went. 

"You have trouble accepting help from people, don't you, Martin?" he asked.

"I never really thought about it, but I guess I do have some trouble with it," I agreed. 

"If someone wants to be polite and help you every so often, why not let them?" he inquired.

"I guess you're right," I said.  I could feel him looking at me as we pulled into his driveway. 

"You're alright, Martin," he said, as he opened my car door. 

We went inside, and each went our separate ways.  I did my homework, and went to bed.

ELLIE

I wanted to tell my parents that Em had a date scheduled this week, but Drew told me not to say anything yet.  I figured I should listen to him.  I really didn't want him mad at me while we had a good chance of being alone in his house. 

I really had trouble buying that Jake Francis wanted to date Em.  He had girls falling on him at every party we went to, and he wanted to date my sister?  My chubby, not so popular sister?  I just thought he was doing this because he owed Drew something, but I didn't know for sure.  It was the only explanation that made sense, though.  I hoped that Em wouldn't end up hurt because of this.

After dinner, Drew and I went downstairs.  My little brothers were down there as well, playing their video games.  I took advantage of the fact that they weren't paying attention, and I began kissing Drew fervently.  He seemed really into at first.  When I straddled him, and attempted to begin kissing him again, he stopped me. 

"Ellie, you know I can't.  If you do this, you'll have me all worked up, and your dad will kill me," he said.

"Drew, it'll be fine.  You'll be all settled down before Daddy even realizes what we're doing.  It's not like we're going to have sex on the couch," I said.

"Shh, " I scolded, " your brothers will hear you." 

"You're such a party pooper," I complained, getting off his lap and sitting next to him once again.

Drew looked at his watch, and exclaimed, "I really need to get going.  I hope Em's done up there."

We walked up the stairs, and Drew gave me a quick kiss goodbye on the lips.  My dad was in the kitchen, and they started up a discussion on how things were going without Drew's parents.  Drew explained that it was nice having Em there to lessen the loneliness. 

It almost seemed like he was happier having Emily there than he would have been if I had stayed with him.  It made me kind of mad if he actually felt that way.  After all, I was his girlfriend.  Maybe I was just bitter, and I was being paranoid.  I don't know why I cared.  It wasn't like he was going to fall for my sister.  After all, he set her up with his friend, for crying out loud.

When Colby, Em, and Drew had left, I went up and got ready for bed.  I couldn't wait until this month was over.  Before it was over, though, I was determined to get Drew into bed.  I could hardly think about anything else, and Drew certainly wasn't making things easy.

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Next:  Em and Jake go on their date.

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