Edited
I stood, waiting near the gym doors for Aiden, so we could walk to the library together. School had just let out, so I was still wearing my gym clothes, but apparently Aiden had to go and change because he "can't be walking around sweaty all day." Isn't that what a girl is supposed to say?
The halls were beginning to empty out as students sprinted to get to their cars before the buses left. You see, if you don't get out of the parking lot before the buses leave you're practically stuck here for another thirty minutes. That obviously wasn't a problem for me though, since Aiden and I were going to be staying after school.
Just as that thought popped into my head, I heard the sound of balls bouncing on the tiled floor and I immediately looked up, only to be greeted by our school's boys' basketball team. I saw Carter and Blake among them, Blake just glancing at me and giving me a head nod, meanwhile Carter greeted me.
"Waiting for Aiden?" he asked as I sighed.
I nodded. "Does he always take this long to change?"
Carter chuckled. "You know him, he's a lady's man,"
I just shook my head at that statement, before watching Aiden emerge from the boy's locker room on the other end of the gym. His teammates greeted him, head nodding and bro-hugging him, but it was obvious that there was sadness lingering in the air. He wouldn't be practicing with them until he could raise his GPA up to at least a 2.5.
I watched as Aiden looked at his team longingly, like his very soul had been ripped from his chest. I suddenly felt for him. All he wanted to do was play basketball, yet he couldn't do that. It must be really hard on him.
He sighed, taking glances back at his teammates as they began doing their warm up drills, while waiting for their coach to arrive. "Come on, let's go."
The usual happy-go-lucky, annoying, pestering Aiden was nowhere to be found at the moment. He didn't say anything, he didn't crack a joke, he didn't smile, he didn't laugh, he didn't try to annoy me with his constant badgering about my paper-OCD, he was completely silent. And to be honest, I didn't like it one bit. Aiden and I were constantly bickering, or he was always making me laugh, so walking in complete and total silence with him just felt wrong. I took a quick glance at his face, the longing and sadness evident in his expression, and I just couldn't bear to see him like that. An Aiden that isn't smiling or laughing or constantly bickering with me just doesn't feel right.
In the past month, twice he's taken me out to just have fun and let go of all the stress and worry in my life, so now, I think it's my turn to do something for him.
I stopped walking. "Aiden?"
He turned to look at me, the sadness evident in his demeanor. "What?"
I stared at him for moment, debating whether or not it'd be a good idea to tell him my plan, before I finally settled with the fact that this would be better left a surprise. "I think I forgot something back at the gym. I'll be right back."
I didn't wait for his answer, or his reply I just turned quickly on my heel and began speed-walking back towards the gym. You see, I know exactly what Aiden's grades are at the moment because as his tutor I have full access to his grades, so I can see what areas he needs improvement on. As of right now, his GPA is a 2.39, just shy of a 2.5. So, if I can somehow convince his coach to let him at least practice with the team, then maybe the Aiden that I've grown so fond of will come back.
I don't know why, but Aiden's kind of growing on me. Don't get me wrong I don't like him like that, but... he's just not like everyone says he is. I guess it's because they don't really know him. Not like I do, at least.
When I finally made it back to the gym, luckily, the team was still warming up, so I wasn't really interrupting anything when I approached Coach King.
"Coach King?" I called as he turned from his position of scribbling rapidly on the clipboard he was currently holding.
I suddenly felt all eyes on me as I glanced over at all the boys who were eyeing me with some glint of emotion in their eyes. For some reason, I felt like they all knew what I was going to ask, but Coach King shot them a glare and they all returned to their warm ups.
"I don't know if you know me, but—" I began.
He nodded his head. "You're Aiden's tutor. How's he doing by the way?"
"That's actually what I came here to talk to you about." I explained, immediately catching his attention. "Aiden's been working really hard lately. He's managed to get his biology grade up to a C, his English grade is a high D, and his Spanish grade is still an F, but—!"
He cut me off, shaking his head. "He can't play unless his GPA is a 2.5. That doesn't exactly sound like a 2.5 to me."
"I know, but—please Coach King, you don't know how hard he's been working to play again. His GPA is a 2.39, can't you at least let him practice with the team and then let him play once he gets up to a 2.5?" I tried, internally pleading to him.
Coach King seemed reluctant as he looked in between the players and I. "Fine. He can practice, but he's not going to be able to play until that F is at least a D."
I nodded my head quickly, before pulling my phone out and scrolling to Aiden's name in my contact list. My thumb quickly pressed the call button and he answered on the first ring.
"What's taking so long?" he asked, his voice sounding drained of all energy.
Crap, how was I going to get him to come down here? Come on, Emery, quick! Think of something!
"Emery?"
"Uh—I—could you come back down here to the gym? Carter said you forgot something in the locker room."
There was a pause, before he sighed. "I'll be down in a minute,"
I walked outside the gym doors and stood there waiting for him, leaning against the glass trophy cases next to the doors. When he finally arrived, his eyebrows were furrowed, and I could practically see the gears turning in his mind. I knew how hard walking into that gym again was going to be for him, so I stopped him.
I looked at him, as we stood in front of the gym doors, the entire team glancing at us. "Okay, so I fibbed a little." I shot him an innocent smile.
"What?"
I dismissed the obvious tone of anger and annoyance that was in his voice as I looked at him, before explaining why exactly I'd come down here.
"I talked to Coach King about your grades—" Aiden winced at the mention of his grades, "—he said that since your GPA is a 2.39 that he'd let you practice!"
"What?" he whispered and the smile that appeared on his face in that moment was one so pure, real, and genuine, that I was practically taken by surprise. That's the first time I've ever seen Aiden smile that... real before and the feelings that were spreading through my body at the sight of that smile was not something that I was okay with.
I gulped, before quickly dismissing everything that had just happened in my mind. It was probably just because I'd never seen him smile before. Yeah. Yeah, that's definitely what it was.
I looked at Aiden, laughing a little. "Hold on, I'm not done!" I cried as he began looking at all his teammates with that grin still plastered on his face. His head quickly snapped back to mine, his big brown doe eyes radiating with so much happiness I couldn't help but smile. "I did the math in my head and if you can get a one hundred on your next Spanish test, you'll be able to play by the time the first game rolls around."
"You're serious?" he smiled, shaking my shoulders as I laughed,
"Yes!" I cried, and before I even realized what was happened, Aiden had picked me up, twirling me around in his arms and giving me one of the tightest hugs he could muster as I laughed and giggled. There was a strange feeling in the bottom of my stomach—a little butterfly you could say.
"Well, Parker?!" Coach King yelled as he set me down. "Get your ass in gear or you're gonna be sitting on that bench again!"
"Shit!" Aiden cursed, fumbling in his gym bag as I began laughing, meanwhile he was sprinting towards the locker room and believe it or not that boy was out of there in less than a minute already dressed in his practice clothes. As soon as he came out of the locker room the entire team charged at him, screaming and yelling and swarming him into a huddle, jumping up and down.
I just stood there, leaning against the gym doors shaking my head with a smile on my face. If all it took to see a genuine smile on Aiden's face was being able to play basketball and I could somehow help him do that then you better bet I will, because I know what it's like to have the one thing you love within your grasps but have something holding you back from it. Heck, I should be an expert on that feeling. I've been feeling it every day for the past seven years of my life... and you know what?
It's not a feeling I'd wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy.
Saturday rolled around and everything was quiet again. Autumn was gone for the weekend because she had to go and visit her grandmother that lived a few hours away, so I decided today would be a good day to help my elderly neighbor, Mrs. Eleanor, pull her weeds.
Mrs. Eleanor was my seventy-two-year-old neighbor, whose husband had just passed last year. Ever since he'd gone, she kind of lost the will to tend them. You see, he was always out here with her, mowing the grass, or helping her haul soil around for her flowers. After he passed, she'd always just come outside, sit in her lawn chair, and try to tend the gardens, but she just... couldn't.
A few months ago, I'd seen her outside trying to pull the millions of weeds that had infested her once beautiful gardens and I guess I just felt for her in that moment. Ever since then, I've been coming over every Saturday or Sunday to help her clean it all up, since she can barely be out for more than an hour on her knees. She doesn't have the best knees, you see.
I stood, along with Mrs. Eleanor, staring at the once beautiful flower beds lining the brick siding of her house. It was once filled with bright yellow sunflowers, pink peonies, and beautifully adorned snap dragons, but now all that could be seen was an infestation of horrid bright green. Her peonies had been overrun by an ugly looking weed that was almost as tall as I was, the stem a horrid red color that gave off a putrid stink that had me gagging.
"Oh dear," Mrs. Eleanor whispered, as she stared at the spot where her peonies had once been budding and growing beautifully, "these weeds have grown so tall. I didn't realize how out of control they were."
I looked at her, seeing the frown form on her wrinkled cheeks, her white hair blowing behind her in the wind. She adjusted her glasses on her nose, wiping the minimal amount of sweat from her brow, before looking at her garden. The both of us had been out here for the past hour, pulling what weeds we could.
"Mrs. Eleanor, why don't you go back inside and take a break. You've been out here for an hour. It's okay, I can finish the rest." I reassured her.
She seemed hesitant. "Are you sure, dear? I hate to leave you out here all by yourself. It's so much to do..."
I waved my hand. "Don't worry about it, just go inside and get some rest."
"Oh... alright, dear, but when you're done why don't you come inside and I'll whip up a fresh batch of cookies?"
"You don't have to do that, Mrs. El—!"
"Nonsense," she dismissed me, "I'll go ahead and get started."
I sighed. I guess there was no stopping her when she set her mind to something. My attention came back to the mounds and mound of weeds that were manifesting themselves into Mrs. Eleanor's flower beds and I frowned. I was definitely going to be here for a while. As I began my long task of pulling all the weeds, my mind couldn't help but wander to Aiden.
I wonder what he's doing right now?
Probably with some girl he met at a party or something last night.
Yet, as that thought popped into my head I couldn't help but frown. I don't know where that thought came from, but I certainly don't like it. In fact, I felt a bit ashamed. There was so much more to Aiden than just girls and basketball. Yes, he loves basketball, but that love for basketball had to have manifested from somewhere. But where? I know that he loves the game and everything about it, but there's more to it than that...
After another thirty minutes of being outside in the heat, I could feel the sweat practically dripping from my face. I mean seriously, how was it possible for it to be the middle of October and it be eighty degrees and sunny outside? That makes absolutely zero sense.
I sighed, before grabbing hold of one of the biggest weeds and trying to pull it from the root, but it was no use. I pulled and pulled and pulled on that thing, but it would not budge. And just then, when I thought I almost had it, I heard the sound of a car driving by and as I turned to look, I was greeted by none other Aiden Parker, the window to his car rolled down. "What the hell are you doing?!" he called out from his car.
"Helping pull weed!" I shouted back, laughing to myself as if it was the most obvious answer to his question.
I saw him visibly chuckle, before he pulled his car up into my driveway and got out, walking over towards me. "So, is this how you normally spend your Saturdays?"
"For the past two months," I answered grabbing onto the root of one of the weeds and pulling as hard as I could until it came out of the ground.
"Why?!" Aiden asked like it was the stupidest thing in the entire world.
I shrugged. "Mrs. Eleanor can't take care of her flower beds anymore, so I offered to help her."
"Why?"
I shot Aiden a look that pretty much said, quit asking why like a little four-year-old, before I answered the question. "Because the one thing Mrs. Eleanor loves the most in this world—" I grabbed onto another weed and pulled, struggling, "—are her flower beds—and if I—can help her take care of those—then I'm going to do it." Aiden didn't say anything for a moment, staring at me for a few seconds, before I turned to look at him furrowing my eyebrows. "What?" I asked.
He shook his head, before saying, "Nothing,"
After a few minutes of him just standing there and watching me I stopped what I was doing, turning to look at him, with curiosity in my eyes. "What are you doing at my house on a Saturday anyways?"
He winced, before rubbing the back of his head. "I kinda need help with Spanish. I really want to pass that test on Monday, so I can get back to playing basketball."
I couldn't help but smile a little. "Aiden Parker, studying on a Saturday." I teased, feigning surprise as I placed my hand over my heart, imitating a mild heart attack.
He scowled, before I burst out laughing.
"Well, Aiden I would help you, but I promised Mrs. Eleanor that I'd finish this side of her flower beds today, so maybe if you come back later—around five, maybe—I could—!" but I hadn't even gotten the rest of my sentence out before Aiden walked over and bent down, beginning to yank weeds out of the dry soil right along with me. I turned to look at him, raising my eyebrows.
He shrugged. "I don't have anything else to do,"
For the next hour and a half Aiden and I worked diligently, pulling and yanking the many weeds that had infested Mrs. Eleanor's gardens, all the while the scorching hot sun was searing down on our backs, causing my shirt to practically stick to me like a second skin. Not to mention the fowl stench of man sweat mixed with cow manure was all that I was smelling at the moment and let me tell you it was not pleasant.
"Come on, yank it!" Aiden laughed as I grabbed ahold of one of the biggest weeds that had grown there—taller than me in fact—and tried to yank it with all my might, but that thing wouldn't budge.
"I am!" I cried, pulling on it as hard as I could and just when I was about ready to give up, the root finally gave and I fell backwards right on my butt, with a loud thud!
And of course, the sound of dying laughter rang out afterwards, but you know what? That wasn't even the worst part. The weed snapped, so I didn't even manage to pull the root out.
I shot Aiden a glare, before throwing the weed at him as he shielded his face with his hands, still laughing like a maniac. "You know what?! If you're such an expert why don't you try pulling that stupid thing out of the ground! It's like trying to lift two hundred pounds!"
Aiden stopped laughing, before he raised his eyebrows at me, walked over to the weed, gave it a nice, hard yank, and pulled it right out of the ground.
"I hate you."
Aiden laughed, throwing the weed into the wheelbarrow, along with all the others. "No, you don't, Em. Your life would be pretty boring without me."
"Are you implying that my life was boring before I met you?!"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I was implying."
"You jerk!" I cried, smacking his arm as he cackled. "My life was perfectly normal for your information, meaning I didn't have to be constantly annoyed by idiots like you!"
"What's the fun in that, though?!"
I just rolled my eyes, pulling the last of the small, tiny weeds that were remaining on this side of the house, as Aiden busied himself with pulling all the large ones. Let me tell you that boy yanked those weeds out of the ground with such ease, that even I was impressed. Especially since the only person that usually manages to impress me is Evan with his amazing math skills.
After a few more minutes, the once green-filled, weed infested flower beds had been stripped down to the soil, free and clean of all remaining weeds. Meanwhile, as I stood there, admiring the fine job both Aiden and I had done I didn't notice him disappear around the corner of the house, until he called out to me.
"Hey, Emery!" I heard his voice call out from the front end of Mrs. Eleanor's house. "Come here for a sec!"
I didn't think anything of his request until I had turned the corner of the house, the fact that he was holding the water hose in his hand not registering in my brain until it was already too late. The mischievous glint in his eyes only seemed to grow, before he finally pulled the handle of the water hose and a clear white, jet stream of water came out, spraying my stomach, head, and hair all in one go. I let out a scream, before Aiden began cackling in laughter, and I just stood there, completely soaked in water from head to toe. In fact, I'm pretty sure I looked like a wet mop, my hair clinging to the side of my face and my shirt sticking straight to my skin even more than it already had.
Aiden still hadn't stopped laughing, when I realized that there was in fact, two garden hoses, one on the front end of the house and the other on the side of the house that we had just been working on. I practically sprinted to the other end, grabbing the hose, and running back towards Aiden before turning the full, jet spray on and watching as the water sprayed him right in the face.
"Oh, shit!"
This time it was me who burst out into laughter, before I sprayed again, aiming for his pants this time. Thankfully the jet stream of water hit its mark and I practically doubled over laughing.
"Seriously?!" I heard Aiden yell. "It looks like I peed myself!"
I could not contain my laughter at that statement, before I felt more water hit me, the jet spray on full blast as I felt hard prickles against my skin.
"Sto—stop!" I continued to laugh, giggling and practically choking as I tried to veer away from the water, meanwhile clutching my stomach in laughter. All the while Aiden was trying to spray me, clutching the handle of the hose in his hand and squeezing, but the water was coming out in spurts because every time he laughed his grip would loosen.
And suddenly I heard the sound of a door opening, the pattering of feet against concrete and a familiar voice. "What on earth is all that—!" Mrs. Eleanor began, before stopping once her gaze landed on us, but instead of a frown forming on her face I could've sworn there was a little glint of a smile.
I could feel my cheeks heating up as I realized that I was probably standing in front of her looking like an insensitive, idiot, teenager—which was not a look I enjoyed sporting—who doesn't have any respect for her elders, but instead of her yelling or scolding us, she was smiling.
"Mrs. Eleanor, I'm so sorry, we didn't mean to—!"
She walked down the steps carefully, coming to stand in front of Aiden and I—who were sopping wet—cutting me off with a slight smile. "And who might this young man be?"
I glanced at Aiden, who was scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "This is my... friend—Aiden. He helped me clean the flower beds today."
Aiden glanced at me for a moment, before offering Mrs. Eleanor his hand. "Aiden Parker, ma'am, it's nice to meet you."
And as I stood and watched him introduce himself, the demeanor in which he conducted and presented himself completely and totally changed. In the blink of an eye, Aiden turned into such a well-mannered, upstanding ... gentleman. Huh?
Mrs. Eleanor let out a laugh. "Well, I try,"
What were they talking about again?
"Why don't you two come on in inside? I made a fresh batch of cookies." she smiled.
I winced. "Mrs. Eleanor we're all wet—!"
"Oh, not to worry!" she let out a small smile. "You all just take a seat there on the porch and I'll be right out with those cookies."
She began to wobble towards her front porch and just as I was about to offer her my help, Aiden beat me to it. "Here—!" Aiden grabbed her arm gently and helped her up the steps.
"Oh!" she smiled sweetly yet again. "What a kind young man!"
Huh?
There were absolutely no words in my mouth right now. I was completely and totally surprised as I watched her hobble off through the front door, meanwhile Aiden was taking a seat in one of the brown wick patio chairs that Mrs. Eleanor had set out on her front porch.
His head turned towards me. "Why are you just standing there?"
His eyebrows raised as he watched me walk up the steps and take the empty seat next to him. We were surrounded by hanging flower pots, along with a white railing to the right of the front porch steps. Not only did Mrs. Eleanor have chairs already set out on her front porch, there was also a matching wick table that went with the chairs. As I took the empty seat I couldn't help but wonder if this was where Mrs. Eleanor and her husband came to eat dinner night after night. The pained expression that appeared on my features wasn't missed by Aiden.
"What's wrong?" he asked, worry laced into his voice.
I didn't think anything of it.
I blinked back tears. "I think this was where she used to eat dinner with her husband every night."
Aiden was silent, but just as he was about to reply she hobbled out of the door, a kind smile on her face as she placed the glass plate of chocolate chip cookies in the center of the table, before taking the seat across from me. Aiden immediately reached for a cookie, before taking a huge bite, meanwhile I tentatively reached for one, nibbling small pieces of it slowly, thanking her for baking the cookies.
"Holy sh—!"
I gave Aiden a hard glare.
"—oot!" he emphasized, before glancing at Mrs. Eleanor, who had a ghost of a smile on her lips. "These are amazing!"
She smiled. "I'm sorry I couldn't give you two anything else for all your hard work. There's just not much I have left to give."
And as the words left her mouth it was like I could suddenly feel her sadness. The same sadness that she seemed to have in the months after her husband had died. I suddenly felt an ache in my chest, right where my heart was. A sinking, horrible, ache that seemed to resonate throughout my entire body. In that moment, I wanted to cry for her, not knowing how to reply.
Aiden broke the silence though, of course, with his infectious happiness and humor, breaking the ice and lightening the mood. He ate another cookie.
"Those are so fucking good!" he moaned, before realizing he had just cursed in front of Mrs. Eleanor. "Shit—!"
He placed his fist on his forehead as if silently telling himself to shut up, before both Mrs. Eleanor and I burst out laughing. This boy was so unbelievably care free and happy. It was amazing to watch how something as simple as a chocolate chip cookie could change his mood in an instant.
Mrs. Eleanor laughed. "You're quite alright, dear."
"You're going to have to give my mom that recipe," he pointed towards the pile of cookies where only two remained, the great big bafoon had eaten almost all of them, "because she is a terrible baker. Terrible!"
"Aiden!" I laughed, placing my hand over my mouth.
Mrs. Eleanor was laughing as well, holding her stomach.
"I'm serious!" he cried, turning to Mrs. Eleanor. "You don't know how many, crispy, burnt cookies I've had to endure in my lifetime. It's torturous! And the worst part..." he winced painfully, before whispering, "even my dad hates them."
If Mrs. Eleanor and I had been laughing before, you can bet we were practically crying now. I had to place my hand on my stomach, clutching it tightly so I wouldn't pee all over myself.
"Oh dear!" Mrs. Eleanor clutched her stomach. "I haven't laughed that hard in years."
Well, that was Aiden for you. Always making people smile and laugh. It was practically infectious when you were around him.
We ended up spending another thirty minutes there with Mrs. Eleanor, talking about anything and everything there was to know about life. In fact, we somehow ended up on the topic of what happens to you after you die. Don't ask me how, even I don't know how we got on the topic.
I sighed, placing my hand under my chin. "I think that—that we go to heaven and... we just stay there, you know? You just stay with God and all your relatives and your family and you just live there forever in happiness. There's no crime, or sadness, or bad people, no death... just happiness. And maybe, you can come back down sometimes... watch over your loved ones that are still living." I paused. "Make sure they're safe. Keep an eye on them. I don't know." I whispered.
As the words left my mouth I could feel Aiden's calculating gaze on me. His eyes were boring into the side of my face, watching me with such sharpness I was afraid to turn and look at him. Afraid to see what might be hidden in his eyes.
"I—!" Aiden shook his head, clasping one hand over the other and placing his elbows on the table. "I don't think we just—go to heaven. I mean—!"
I watched him closely as he spoke, watched the way his expression changed, the way he seemed so much more mature for a moment.
"—I think we go to heaven, but I don't think it just ends there, you know? I feel like you go to heaven and then God tells you what's going to happen next, and you're just... reborn." He was struggling as I watched him. "You know, I just can't believe that after you die, everything just ends. That your life is over. I have to believe that there's something beyond this life. That death isn't just... the end. I can't believe that. I just can't."
I looked at him, looked at his face, at his undeniably prompt and masculine features. And in that moment, he didn't seem like the immature Aiden who always cracked jokes and tried to lighten the mood. It was like he was so much more, older. It was strange, but mesmerizing. I found myself unable to look away from him. Unable to take my eyes off the way his jaw set when he was speaking, the way his eyes crinkled together when he was deep in thought, the way he looked back at me, as if staring straight into my soul.
Oh god, he's looking at me.
I quickly turned away, a bit embarrassed that he had caught me staring.
He raised his arms, placing them behind his head. "I don't know," he muttered, before looking at Mrs. Eleanor, "what do you think?"
She looked in between the both of us. "I don't disagree with either of you. I think that when you die, you'll either go to heaven or hell, but which one, is entirely up to us. And while I do hope that I'll be going to heaven I don't quite think that heaven is just, the end, as you said Aiden. Perhaps we are born again, or maybe we're not, but that isn't something for us to find out as humans, so maybe we should stop pondering it and just live the life that God has given us."
You could've heard a pin drop as we sat there. Neither of us had been expecting that answer.
"But don't you think it's important to understand what happens after death?" I asked.
She shook her head. "It's that fear of death, of the unknown, that keeps so many of us alive. Because think about it, when you're in a situation where you're afraid that you're going to die, what keeps you going? The fear of death. The fear of the unknown. We, as humans, have always been afraid of that which we don't understand. Without that fear, there could be no life."
I didn't know what to say as I sat there, pondering what she had just said to me. She was right, though. Without the fear of death, there couldn't be life. You would have no reason to fight, no reason to move forward, no reason to cherish the moments that you have left with your loved ones. Your life, wouldn't even be your life anymore.
"Well, that just got real deep, real fast." Aiden spoke up.
It did, but I wasn't bothered by it. Rather, I was in awe at the answers Aiden had given to the questions we had thrown at him. And while Mrs. Eleanor's answer was the wisest of them all, I couldn't help but still be amazed at the way Aiden had answered the question.
Never in a million years, did I think he could be so wise. So, as I sat there and watched him help Mrs. Eleanor up, while I picked up the plates and glasses, I felt a strange feeling in the pit of my stomach.
And when I watched him, and he looked back at me, shooting me that 100% Aiden grin, that feeling only intensified.
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Oh my gosh you all! I can't thank you enough for reading, voting and commenting! You all have gotten me to 660 reads! It means that world to me and I appreciate it so much! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!
Wow, so this chapter turned out to be pretty deep. Looks like Aiden and Emery are starting to get to know each other on a lot deeper level ;)
What do we think about that?
How about Emery talking to Coach King?
Let me know your thoughts! I love reading all your comments, they make my day! Speaking of which, this chapter is dedicated to @katelowens because her comments make me SO HAPPY!
-Katy