[edited]
It was Friday, and Emerson was coming over again after school today. I had set up the scanner for us to do the final part of our project this morning, so all we had to do was scan it and send it to our teacher.
I waited for Emerson after school. She gave me a small smile. "Ready to work?"
"Yeah. Let's go." We began walking towards our neighborhood. We made it to my house and went up to my room, where we immediately began to work.
When we had scanned Emerson's sketches into the timeline and finally added my paragraphs about culture in there, we both stretched back in our chairs.
"WE DID IT!" she yells, holding up her hand for a high-five.
I laugh, "Finally," I slap her five, and we share a smile.
"Wanna watch a movie or something?" I ask, "If you don't have to be home or anything."
She grins, "Uh, sure. I don't have to be home for a while," she shrugs.
"Race you to the living room!" she shouts, taking off out of the room and down the stairs.
"HEY! Cheater!" I run after her.
I catch up to her, and grab her by the waist. Tingles go up my arms, and as cliché as this may sound, I feel sparks. She squeals in surprise. Her skin feels so soft and smooth as I rub my hands on it, and I momentarily freeze. I feel her tense up under my touch.
I quickly let go, and rub the back of my neck in nervousness. She awkwardly sits down, and I beside her. She shakes her head and smiles at me. She forgot about it that quickly? Did she not have the same feeling as me? I knew it, she didn't like me like that. She probably liked Max.
We pick a movie to watch and I grab some popcorn, which we share from the bowl.
Halfway through the film, I hear the front door open and close, and Ethan comes in. I stand up, but am quickly knocked down to the ground.
"GRAYSON!" Addi yells from on top of me, her melodious laugh echoing throughout the room.
"Hey, Addi. You're excited today," I say.
"Yes, Grayson. Ethan and I went to the beach, and it was freezing cold, and Ethan kept screaming about how his nipples were gonna freeze and fall off, and-"
"Okay, that's enough," Ethan interrupts hurriedly.
"So, what're you doing, G?" she puts her hands on her hips and stand in front of me. I laugh at how she tries to be tall.
"Oh, I was working on my project with Emerson, and we were just watching a movie."
"Emerson?" Addi furrows her eyebrows, turning around to where I'm pointing, where Emerson is awkwardly standing there.
Addi beams when she sees her, "Oh my God, you're Emerson?! Ethan and Grayson told me all about you! You're so pretty, I need your hair!" she squeals.
Emerson looks kind of taken aback at Addi's bluntness. She probably isn't used to people talking so loudly or so quickly.
"Uh, hi," she gives a small smile. She turns to me, and gives me a 'who is this crazy bitch?' look.
I laugh, "Emerson, this is Addi. Our best friends from since we were kids. She's back from Minnesota right now," I explain.
Addi drapes her arms around our necks. "You're friends with these two idiots as well?"
Emerson laughs, "You could say that."
Emerson considered us friends? Did she just friend-zone Ethan and me? No, no. This couldn't be happening. I needed to figure out what I was going to do about this feeling, and fast.
"What do you guys wanna do?" Ethan asks.
Addi thinks for a second, then exclaims, "Let's play some games! What about Twister?"
Emerson immediately agrees, and Ethan and I follow suit. He gets the game box from the basement downstairs, and we set up.
"Who wants to spin first?"
Ethan volunteers, and grabs the spinner from the table, "Alright, people, get ready."
Each of us stands at one side of the mat, and waits for Ethan to start, "Right leg, blue."
I set my foot on the nearest blue dot, and Addi and Emerson did the same. I was not flexible by any definition, and Addi was average, but Emerson. Emerson took track, gymnastics, and ice skating. She had long legs, even though she was considered relatively short. She could be a contortionist if she wanted to.
"Left hand, red."
Emerson effortlessly bent down, but Addi and I both grunted. This was going to be a long game.
About fifty commands later, all three of us could barely say which limbs were ours. Although both girls were more flexible than I was, I could probably guarantee that I was stronger.
My face was very close to Addi's, and she kept sticking her tongue out, which not only made me shake with laughter, but kept getting her saliva on my nose, which grossed me out. But I would not give in to her teasing.
"ADDI! STAHP!" I shouted in her ear to annoy her.
I could tell she wanted to hurt me, but luckily, all her outer body parts were figuratively glued to a plastic mat. Emerson chuckled at us from my other side.
"Screw this, I'm going to go eat!" Addi said, picking herself up and almost knocking me down in the process.
"Right. It's now down to Emerson and Grayson. Since Addi forfeited, we start over."
Emerson and I immediately collapsed on the floor, totally exhausted. Her arm was draped over my chest, and my leg was on top of hers. God, what was this girl doing to me? We exchanged a quick glance, where I could see Emerson's blushing cheeks. I probably looked the same. We stood up and waited for Ethan to begin again.
"Right hand, green."
Addi came back in the room with a bag of chips. I suddenly realize how hungry I am.
"GO EMMY! You suck, Dolan!"
"HEY!" both Ethan and I said at the same time.
"Oh, right, sorry Ethan. You suck, Bailey," she corrects herself, calling me by my middle name, something that really irritates me.
I see Emerson with a confused look on her face. Oh God, please don't let Addi see.
I guess the odds are just not in my favor today, because Addi notices, "Oh, you don't know? Grayson's middle name is Bailey."
Emerson laughs lightly, but not in a mean way. She secretly gives me a reassuring smile, "My middle name is Henry, after my great grandfather or something."
I smile at her. She was nice enough to admit something embarrassing about herself to make me feel better. No one had ever done that for me except Ethan, and it made me feel even euphoric inside.
Ethan gives us more directions. I slide my hand under Emerson's leg, and feel her tense up as my hand graces her butt accidentally. She doesn't look at me, so I do nothing.
"Left hand, yellow," Ethan says. I easily move my hand to the next dot, but Emerson doesn't have it so easy. There is one thing standing between her and the other side of the mat: me.
She snakes her hand over my low-hanging chest and makes it to the yellow spot. Her hair is draped over her shoulder, right in front of my face. She smells like vanilla, very sweet and welcoming.
I could see her hand shaking next to me, her thin arm struggling to hold her up. It began shaking harder and harder, and I waited for it to fall.
But it didn't. And it wouldn't Emerson had a competitive streak a mile wide, and it didn't matter how much pain she was in, she had to win first place.
While Emerson was in a very uncomfortable position, I was the exact opposite. I was evenly on all fours, and didn't have to do very much stretching.
Emerson was now gritting her teeth. Why couldn't she just give up? Her determination was admirable, but her hardheadedness was stupid.
I knew what I had to do. I faked my hand slipping, and fell, my back on the mat. Emerson sighed in relief and laid back next to me, both of us staring at the ceiling.
"We'll be downstairs!" I hear Ethan and Addi shout. I had totally forgotten they were even here. I was too busy staring at Emerson.
I inched closer to her, making sure she didn't notice. She turned to face me and smiled, "I know you lost the game on purpose and I just wanted to say that you didn't have to, I would've been fine, even if I lost."
I was slightly embarrassed she had found out, and decided my best option was to deny all accusations, "I don't know what you're talking about. My hand slipped," I shrugged.
She smirks knowingly at me, and laughs, "If you say so."
I stare into her eyes for a minute. They felt so familiar after looking at them so often. The icy blue color looked like the nearby river flowing on a fall morning. But as the light shined on them, it was like they miraculously changed, and became a deep purple. This girl was making me feel something I had never experienced before, and I didn't like it. I wasn't in control of my thoughts and actions around her. I might start speaking a foreign language for all I knew.
I felt her get closer. Did she have the feeling at me? Did she want to kiss me as much as I wanted to kiss her? I stared at her lips. They were small and thin, but they looked so soft. My lips moved closer to hers, as if a magnetic field was pulling them together.
We brushed our noses against each other, we were so close at this point. We were still lying on the ground in the middle of the living room, but I could care less who sees. I had a severe crush on Emerson Samuels and I was not ashamed to announce it to the world.
"Gray, where did you guys-"
We both hurriedly sit up, breaking apart. Dammit Ethan, just when I was so close. He hesitates for a moment and then continues, "Addi and I were coming to see where you guys were?"
I don't know what to say, so I stay quiet. Emerson shrugs, "We're picking up the game."
Ethan nods, and walks out again. Emerson gets up quickly and begins picking up the Twister board. I sit still for a second before snapping out of it and helping her.
We join Ethan and Addi in the basement, where they smirk to each other. Did Ethan tell Addi what he saw? What even did he see? I would have to ask him after they left.
After about two more hours of just hanging out in the basement, Addi and Emerson leave. Addi drives away, and Emerson walks to her doorstep.
Ethan shuts the front door, and looks at me slyly, "So, buddy, what was going on when I walked in?"
I shove him, "I think we may have been about to kiss, but I don't know," I shrug, a little mad.
"Oh, sorry about that."
I sigh, "What about you and Addi? Anything happen?"
"We've been catching up a lot really, she's been telling me all about Minnesota," he stops suddenly, his face falling.
"What's wrong, E?"
"Gray, I feel really bad about not telling her about the whole YouTube and Vine thing, you know."
Ethan and I had decided not to tell Addi about the whole being-famous-on-social-media thing. We didn't want her to treat us differently, and we certainly didn't need her informing all her friends when she got back home. We figured since she didn't already know, it wouldn't hurt not to tell her.
"Ethan, it's for the best. She hasn't brought it up, which means she doesn't know who we are," I argue.
He looks down at his feet, "You're right. It's better this way."
He walks away up the stairs, and I knew he and I were both thinking the same thing.
Was it really better like this? Hiding a huge secret from our long-time best friend? She probably hasn't told us some stuff, right? I mean, it has been a pretty long time since we last saw each other in fifth grade, we would understand if she didn't tell us everything.
Then why did it feel so wrong?
~ ~ ~ ~
SONG OF THE CHAPTER: Be As You Are
ARTIST: Mike Posner
ALBUM: At Night, Alone