Reaching Emma

25.

People started approaching Emma to ask how she was. Some people even asked what happened to her, but Emma handled all the questions gracefully. She was friendly, even when I thought some of the questions were a bit rude. Emma seemed to know everyone. We met a ton of people in such a short time, from actors to musicians; there were way more A-listers here than I thought there would be. Anna must have been in heaven, but she did a good job of staying calm and collected. That is, until Zac Efron came over. Anna's mouth hung open as Zac snuck up behind Emma and wrapped his arms around her waist, hugging her from behind and saying, "Hey Emma!"

"Zac! How are you?" Emma replied, leaning into his embrace. It was cool seeing Zac Efron in person, but I couldn't take my eyes off of his hands still wrapped around Emma's waist.

"I'm good, how about you? I haven't seen you in ages!" He said. He let go of her waist and introduced himself to us.

"Oh my god. You're Zac Efron. I can't believe that I'm meeting you!" Anna sputtered, causing David to jump in, "So, how do you two know each other?" he asked referring to Emma and Zac.

"Just through mutual friends" Emma replied casually. Zac gave her a smirk that implied a bit more and I raised my eyebrows at their exchange, but didn't ask about it.

"We miss you out in California, Emma." Zac added, his arm resting casually around her shoulders instead. Zac's name was called from the other side of the room and he said, "Well it was nice to see you Emma and meet you guys. I'll see you a little later", before stepping away to talk to whoever called him.

Anna turned to Emma the minute Zac left, "HOW DID YOU NOT TELL ME THAT YOU KNOW ZAC FREAKING EFRON!" she yelled at Emma.

Emma laughed at Anna's reaction, but her face turned a little red, "It's not that big a deal and now you've met him too!" Emma replied, biting her lip, sometimes Anna's questions feel more like an interrogation. Emma changed the subject, "So are you guys having fun?" We all nodded enthusiastically.

We hung out for a while longer, talking and drinking until Emma suggested we find Jay and we followed her upstairs. The upstairs part of the Lux was a more intimate atmosphere with smaller rooms and quieter music. There were about 50 people milling around, but Emma spotted Jay right away.

We followed her to where Jay was talking with some people. Emma greeted them and introduced us. Even though she seemed to know everyone, she was always considerate and introduced us. All her friends were really nice, most of them didn't seem to care that we weren't famous. I don't know why I thought everyone would be stuck up, but I guess knowing Emma, I couldn't imagine that she wouldn't hang out with anyone that was rude.

I noticed that Emma and my glasses were empty and decided to get us refills. "I'm going to get us some new drinks. Vodka soda, right?" I asked her, taking the glass from her hand.

"Yeah, thanks Luke!" she replied, smiling at me.

"I'll come! I need another drink too" Jay said when he heard that I was getting another drink. There was a small bar on the other side of the room which was nice because we didn't have to go all the way downstairs.

Waiting for the bartender, I glanced over at Emma talking with Anna, David and the guys from Jay's band that we met earlier. She looked so beautiful. Her dress left little to the imagination and it was making me crazy. I just wanted to hold her and kiss her. She must have felt my eyes on her, because she met my gaze across the room. She gave me a stunning smile, making me further doubt my sanity. I don't know how I got so lucky to be here tonight.

I snapped out of my daze when Jay spoke up, "She's great, isn't she?" he asked casually, noticing that I was looking at Emma.

"Uh, yeah" I replied lamely. I was embarrassed that I was caught staring.