As Emma expected, the Hastings party was not crowded, it was indeed a private party. Most of the attendees where Summerville's wealthiest families.
Emma's hair was in a messy updo and she wore a long black spaghetti strap dress. She occasionally sipped on her non alcoholic champagne with a strawberry in it while she looked at the Hastings family photo wall.
She noticed that Mr Hastings did not have any strong genes because all of his five children resembled their mother. None of them had his silver hair.
This made Adelaide's story more believable. The black girl with the white father.
Emma looked at Adelaide's photos. Her beauty was undeniable and she had a beautiful smile that could light up an entire town.
Emma could not help the small smile that appeared on her own lips. Most of the photos were of Adelaide with her mother alone and if Emma was being honest, she was a little envious. It seemed Adelaide and her mom were the best of friends.
Emma noticed a series of photos that were the same but seemed to have been taken through different timelines.
Adelaide hugged her mother while she was being kissed on the forehead.
"My mother insists on taking photos every year on the first day of school. I honestly thought I would've outgrown it by 5th grade but it became my favorite thing." Adelaide said.
Emma didn't even notice her standing behind her.
She took a few steps away from the photographs feelings a little embarrassed for staring at them.
"Well, they are beautiful photos." Emma complimented truthfully. She liked nothing about Adelaide but she was mature enough to be cordial.
"Can you believe she decided to stay back home and send me here, saying no to all this luxury." Adelaide stated. "What a bitch."
Emma nearly let out a gasp. She was ready to walk away.
"That is not really a nice thing to say." She muttered.
"Nor is it nice to give your kid and ultimatum to choose between her mother and father. I get it, she was a side chick and all but why must she project her embarrassment on to me." Adelaide sneered.
Emma was confused, Adelaide was quite the character.
"You're somehow mad at your mom but you hung the photos with her?" She asked. They way Adelaide spoke of her mom, one would think she wanted nothing to do with her.
Adelaide chuckled.
"She is still my mother, whether I hate her or not... she is till the woman who provided a lot of me." There was a slight pause. "Ugh, what am I even doing talking to you? Shouldn't you be over there with your twin bestie and his weird recovering drug addict friend?"
Emma felt her blood boil instantly and nearly tackled Adelaide for the things she just said.
"Go to hell, Adelaide."
Emma walked away and to the table Jay and Ethan were sitting. She took a deep breath to defuse her anger than took a seat. The event was being held on the backyard patio of the Hastings house.
"I saw you and Adelaide talking, dare I say budding friendship?" Jay asked.
Emma scoffed. If only he heard the things she was saying.
For a split second, Emma related to Adelaide because they both had negative feelings towards their mothers but Adelaide was lucky enough to be able to speak to her mother and get an explanation for her actions, where as Emma could not.
"Subject change please?" She begged. "How did it go with Connor?"
"Uhhm, it went okay. His dad seems like a good guy... he asked Connor to move in with him." Jay stated.
"And is he gonna?" Emma asked.
"He already did. Left him packing." Jay said nonchalantly.
"I'm hungry so I will see if I can find some food around here that is not finger foods." Ethan said, getting up and walking off.
"Did Connor not tell you about his dad?" Emma asked.
"He did." Jay confirmed. "How do you know about that."
"It doesn't matter. And you let him go?" Emma asked in disbelief.
"What was I supposed to do, Em? He seemed really excited, okay. He has been miserable as fuck after he was kicked out by his mom. He barely ate those first days. Besides, his dad paid for his crimes, I am sure he is a better person." Jay explained.
Emma raised an eyebrow.
"Do you believe that?"
Jay pressed his lips into a thin line.
"I don't but I should. I refuse to believe all my friends have shitty parents like this is some sort of curse."
Emma cringed. Shitty parents seemed like a common theme between most of the teenagers in the town. She sighed.
"How did Connor even find his dad?"
Jay shrugged.
"I think he reached out online or something. Connor's face has been everywhere recently so..."
Emma shook her head. Hopefully if she succeeded in getting Connor back in school, his mom would welcome him back home.
"Hey..." Jay began as he reached his hand out to hold Emma's. He traced small circles on the top of it with his thumb.
"Everything will be okay. I will check up on Connor myself everyday if I have to."
Emma let out a chuckle. She did not know when she started caring so much about Connor, especially after what he did to Jay.
"Aren't you mad that I'm worried about the guy who almost ruined your life?" She asked.
Jay smiled.
"That would mean being mad at that big beautiful heart of yours and I can't do that." He said with the softest tone. His blue eyes glistened as they stared at Emma. She felt comfort and safe looking at Jay. A feeling that faded for sometime after Ray appeared.
All of a sudden, Emma felt another pair of eyes on her. She looked at the entrance of the patio and saw Marcus standing in the sliding doors doorway, his hands in the pockets of his suit pants.
Emma quickly pulled her hand back from Jay's. She felt like a kid who was just caught with her hand in a cookie jar.
She got up from her chair.
"Marcus, you here." She said.
"Yeah... Peter's plus one." Marcus stated. Peter approached the doorway with two glasses of the non alcoholic champagne.
"Hey Em." He chirped and handed one glass to Marcus.
"Let's get us a table."
The two boys walked past Emma and said their hellos as they also passed Jay.
Emma went back to her seat, engulfed in guilt. Marcus was at the party as someone else's plus one and not hers, this was not a good look on her part. Not to mention he caught her holding hands with Jay.
"Finally got myself some food. There's actually a buffet in the kitchen." Ethan said as he came back to the table, a plate of chicken wings in one of his hands.
No response from Emma or Jay.
"Is everything okay?" He asked looking at them.
"Peachy." Jay simply stated.
Emma looked at him and noticed his face was a slight shade of red. She realized how pulling her hand back from his must've hurt him in a way.
"I'm sorry." She said. "I panicked."
"We are best friends, Em, holding my hand should not be weird." Jay stated.
Emma did not know how to respond but she knew for a fact her holding hands with Jay would be weird and disrespectful to Marcus. No guy would want his girlfriend holding hands with another guy, best friend or not.
"I was just surprised okay? I didn't think Marcus would be here." Emma said. "I think I should go talk to him and apologize."
"Apologize for what? You did nothing wrong! God, De Luca!" Jay expressed in frustration.
Emma's eyebrows came together in confusion because of Jay's reaction.
"What is your deal? Marcus is my boyfriend and I know that I hurt him, so I have to say something."
"Right, your boyfriend that you hooked up with like what? A week after your break up with Liam." Jay scoffed. "It feels sort of rushed."
"Dude." Ethan said.
Emma felt a sting in her chest, she was not expecting Jay to throw that in her face.
"Wow, thanks Jay." She said holding back tears. At this point she was ready to leave.
"Fuck." Jay whispered under his breath. "I did not mean it like that."
Emma was not going to take Jay's apology, instead she was going to confront him head on. If there was something he wanted to confess, this would be the best time.
"I can't help but feel like you don't like Marcus. You think I did not notice how happy you were when I told you I was not coming with him. Is there something you want to tell me?" She asked. Her heart was beating in her chest. She did not want to believe that Jay had feelings for her because it would ruin their friendship.
Jay's mouth was slightly agape but no words came out, he looked rather startled. His eyes darted from Ethan's to Emma's.
"It's me! This is my fault!" Ethan blurted out.
"What?" Emma and Jay both asked in unison.
"Yeah. I told Jay that I have feelings for you and he was doing this to avoid making me feel hurt because.... I have feelings for you... Emma." Ethan confessed with furrowed brows. The then gave a small smile.
This time Emma's mouth was slightly agape and her eyes darted from Jay to Ethan.
She had to process everything she just heard.
"Yeah. Ethan has feelings for you." Jay said in a low tone, his eyebrows were also furrowed. "We didn't want to say anything because it would make things awkward."
Emma began to speak but stopped. She was not sure she believed that Ethan had feelings for her. It was absurd. His words and facial expressions were not convincing.
"I'm really sorry, I hope we are still cool?" Ethan asked.
"Uhm.... Sure." Emma managed to say. Confusion still plagued her. She was sure this was a bullshit cover story. She looked at Jay who seemed tense. His face was still red and jaw clenched.
"Can I have your attention please." A male voice said. It was Bill Hastings addressing his guests.
"I just wanted to say thank you for coming and celebrating with me. I really hope the families at this event can work with me so we can better our town. I look forward to building and bettering our town with you." He raised his glass. "Cheers."
Most of the adults raised their glasses as well.
*
The rest of the evening progressed and everyone seemed to be enjoying the party.
Emma, Jay and Ethan still continued to sit together but they were not as chatty. Things were awkward.
Emma looked over at Marcus's table. He was seated with Peter and Josslyn.
The table next to them was occupied by Liam, Adelaide, Brock, Katie and Maxine.
"You don't have to sit here you know..." Jay stated.
Emma looked at him and he had a small polite smile.
"What kind of friend would I be if I left?" She asked with a tired smile.
"I'm sorry about earlier." Jay apologized.
"Yeah. Me too." Emma said back. She never wanted to fight with her best friend.
"I think I am going to head out." Jay stated. "I'm pretty exhausted."
"Same. I still have to prepare for Wednesday's play." Ethan said.
Emma gave a small nod.
"I'll walk you guys out. I could use the change of scenery."
The three friends got up and headed into the house and towards the front door.
Emma hugged both Jay and Ethan and the two boys got into Jay's car and drove off.
Emma was going to back to the party to find her father so they could both leave. She was emotionally exhausted and embarrassed in regards to Marcus. She wanted to go straight to bed.
She entered the Hastings house and saw a panicked Josslyn running down the stairs.
"Oh my gosh!" She exclaimed.
"What's wrong?" Emma asked.
"So I was just coming from the bathroom right? And I guess I passed by Mr Hastings office and he was in there with Liam's dad. The door was slightly ajar and I heard something. Sheriff Wilson thinks someone was selling drugs at the mayor's ceremony. Apparently they found a small baggie with some unidentified contents in it." Josslyn explained. "They are having it tested but they are sure it's like cocaine or something."
Emma was not sure how to respond. The news was not shocking for her especially with word about The Hyenas returning.
"I mean... are we really surprised?"
"I am. I am worried for our school mates. Teenagers and drugs are not a great mix. What if they are involved in that stuff?" Josslyn stated.
Before Emma could respond, she saw Marcus approaching her and Josslyn.
"Hey... can we talk?" He asked.