I hope you like this chapter. I'm sorry that it has taken so long to post. I will be away this week, without wifi, so I will not be able to write. I hope to get back on track in June. Thanks for reading!
P.S. If you see any inconsistencies between this chapter and the rest of the story, please let me know. I reread this one, but I didn't go back to the others to check. Btw, I am making Jake's ex's name Carly. I know that I have her as Kerry in an earlier part of the story, but I'll be fixing that soon. Also, Adam's last name is Naysmith. I may have him as Adam Schaeffer in an earlier part of the story.
Don't have a pic in mind this time. I might add one later.
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DREW
The day flew by, and before I knew it, we were in Family Consumer Science class. It was now my favorite class, since I got to spend the time working with Em. She was talking about our pseudo finances, and I was pretending to listen. I was actually staring at her, wondering how on earth I had failed to realize how beautiful she had gotten in the past 6 years.
"Drew? Did you hear me?" Em asked, looking at me with concern.
"Oh, sorry. I was daydreaming," I responded. "What did you ask?"
"I asked if you think we should have separate or joint bank accounts," she repeated.
"Joint," I replied, not even thinking about it.
"Okay, that's fine. If you are thinking of getting a joint bank account with Ellie when you two are married, though, you better change your mind," she suggested. "You will be broke in no time if Ellie gets control."
She smiled. I loved her smile.
"Oh, I'm not marrying Ellie," I said, not thinking about the impact of my words.
She stopped. Now, she was staring at me. "Of course you're marrying Ellie, right?" she asked. It almost seemed as if she was pleading with me.
My hand traveled to hers on the table. I loved the feel of her hand under mine. My brain knew this was neither the time nor the place to do this, but my hand had stopped listening to my what my brain wanted.
"I'm not marrying Ellie," I repeated. I didn't really care at all about finances, or that twenty other people were in the room. She was staring at me the way she had at the party right before we kissed. I wasn't sure if what I saw in her eyes was fear or desire, but it wasn't going to stop me. I leaned toward her.
"I see you've managed to work out your finances," I heard a voice say from beside us.
That was enough for Em to pull her hand away, and answer the source of the voice.
"That's right, Mrs. Manchester," Em answered. "We are trying our best to get this completed."
Mrs. Manchester smiled, looking from me to Em.
As she was walking away, I thought for sure I'd heard her mumble, "Their results were right on."
I turned back to Em. Now she was looking at me.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"Don't you think I should be asking you that? We're discussing you marrying my sister, and you decide to hold my hand?"
Uh-oh.
"I'm sorry. It's just that I get all flustered when talking about a future without Ellie, but I don't think we're that good for each other anymore," I managed.
"Why not?" she asked. "What's wrong with my sister?"
She's not you, I wanted to say. Instead, I said, "Nothing. I just think we've got different priorities. Hers is being popular, and mine.......well, mine isn't."
Em just stared at me. Finally, she spoke. "I guess she is a little shallow," she mumbled softly, looking down at the desktop. I could see that she was smiling, so I contributed a little more.
"A little? That girl is about as deep as a dollar store kiddie pool. I used to at least have fun with her, but now she only talks about sex. She's extremely difficult."
"I guess you're right. You probably know her better than I do, anyway. She only likes me sometimes. Other times, I'm just her fat sister," she responded.
"You're the kind sister. She's the selfish sister," I explained.
"I guess," she said, lifting her eyes to meet mine.
The bell rang then, and Em hurried out of the room. I had been hoping to walk with her, but I guess I'd scared her off.
As I left my seat, I noticed Mrs. Manchester watching me. I walked up to her desk.
"What happened to the other partners who scored high on the compatibility test?" I asked.
She laughed. "One pair dated awhile, then broke up, one pair did a great job on the project and that was all. The other two pairs were couples who ended up getting married. Why do you ask?" she questioned.
"I don't know. I was just thinking there might be something to those tests," I answered.
"I was thinking the same thing," she responded.
EMILY
After the awkwardness was over in Family Consumer Science, I rushed out the door to try to find Jake. I couldn't be around Drew right now. He was confusing me. I mean, I wanted him to touch me, but he really shouldn't. It was also scary to think that I might be reading Drew correctly. If I was, he was attracted to me as well.
It just didn't make sense. Why would he fall for me? I wasn't important, pretty, thin, or popular. Ellie was.
A little voice inside my head reminded me that he'd just admitted to being tired of Ellie's obsession with sex, and he didn't even know the half of it.
My phone was ringing. It was Adam. He hadn't shown up for school today.
"Hello," I answered.
"Hi," he replied. "How was school?"
"The same. How are you? I missed you today," I stated.
"I'm sick. I was vomiting all weekend. Now I'm just tired out," he explained.
"Serves you right for sleeping with my sister," I exclaimed.
"Don't remind me. It actually nauseates me. And I've always thought she was really hot. It's just that it meant nothing, you know?" he added.
"Yeah, I know what you mean," I agreed. "And then to think she went right to Mike afterward."
"What?" Adam asked.
"She was with Mike, too," I explained.
"No, she wasn't," Adam stated, sounding amused.
"Why are you so sure?" I questioned.
He chuckled. "Well. some of my memory has come back in fragments, and I remember some pretty juicy stuff, " he commented.
"Spill," I ordered.
As Adam was about to tell me, I felt someone walk up beside me. I looked over to see Jake taking my hand in his.
"Hey, you'll have to call me later. I really want to hear what you have to say, but Jake's here now, okay?" I rambled.
"So, you don't want to let loverboy in on the gossip," he inquired.
"Not yet," I replied. "I'll talk to you later."
"Definitely. You'll love what I have to tell you," he added before hanging up.
I really wanted to talk to Adam, but the sex talk with Jake was more important.
We drove to Drew's house, since he was going to my house to check on Ellie. When Jake's car rolled into the driveway, my stomach twisted in knots. I didn't want to have this conversation.
Once in the living room, we both sat side by side on the black leather sofa. Our legs faced in toward each other so we could be face to face.
"Em, I know we've only been going out for a little while, but I really like you. I think this relationship might be able to go somewhere," he began.
"I like you, too," I contributed.
"I was hoping you'd be on board for taking it up a notch sometime soon. I don't normally discuss this before trying to make my move, but Drew has me scared that I might push you too fast," he explained.
Damn that Drew for always butting in. When he tried to protect me, it not only interfered with my life, but it made me like him that much more. Why was he doing this to me? He'd always been an annoyance, but now he was even worse because I liked him so much.
"It figures," I stated. "He's always pointing out how different I am."
"Nah. He just knows how sweet you are," Jake commented.
Oh, why couldn't I fall in love with Jake and forget about Drew?
"You're too nice," I stated.
"Well, what do you say?" he asked, excitement evident on his face.
"I want to," I fibbed, "I really do, but not yet."
I knew lying wasn't the best course of action to take, but I didn't want to lose Jake. Drew just was not an option, even if, when he was around, my legs wobbled so much they could hardly hold me. I wanted to see if I could force Drew out of my head and force Jake in.
Jake hung his head.
"You're killing me, Emily," he added, before standing up.
"Where are you going?" I asked, disappointment in my voice.
"I'm just standing up. I'm into you, but I'm not sure how long I can wait," he said softly, as he pulled me off the couch and gave me a hug.
The hug turned into some kissing, and before I knew it, we were making out on the couch. He knew not to push me further than I was willing to go, and for that I was thankful. A few minutes into it, we were interrupted by someone coming into the living room. It was Drew.
I got out from under Jake faster than necessary. I found myself standing in front of Drew. He looked me up and down, then cleared his throat. It was then that I realized my shirt had fallen off my shoulder, exposing my bra. I hurried to fix it.
"Sorry to interrupt," he said, walking around me, heading for the stairs.
"Sorry," I stammered, "we should have been in my, I mean Leesy's, room. "
"Whatever," he stated, rather harshly. "When you're done having fun, we have to work on our project."
Drew stomped up the stairs, leaving us a little confused.
Jake's phone buzzed. He took it out of his pocket to look at it.
"Oh. It's Carly again. She will not leave me alone. She keeps texting me, telling me that she really needs to talk to me," he sighed.
"You should talk to her," I exclaimed. "It could be important. You two were together for a while. You owe it to her. I trust you to tell me the truth about what happens when you see her."
"I guess I'll agree to meet her. Maybe she'll leave me alone then," he said, kissing me on the forehead and walking to the door.
"Yeah, then I can have you all to myself," I smiled.
He winked at me, then disappeared out the door.
I walked to the bottom of the stairs, and yelled up to Drew. "Drew, he's gone. We can work on our project now."
Not much more than a minute later, Drew came bounding down the stairs, holding our paperwork. He walked past me and sat on the couch, still looking miserable. I sat down beside him, and we began to discuss our project.
We talked about our finances, how many kids we would have, what type of house and car we would buy, and if we would stay together or get divorced. We managed to get alot done. We were discussing our future as a pseudo couple when it happened. We were talking about reasons for breaking up.
"What if I cheated on you?" I asked him.
"You wouldn't," he answered.
"How do you know?" I questioned.
"You just wouldn't. I know you," he explained.
"Okay, I wouldn't," I said. "What if my sister tried to seduce you?" I laughed.
"It wouldn't happen," he said, straght-faced. He was staring at me.
"But, what if," I began.
"I would never choose her over you," he said, getting closer to me.
"You already did," I responded, obviously getting too real for the topic at hand.
"Everybody makes mistakes," he countered. I wasn't sure how to take what he said.
I didn't have to wonder for long. His head came close to mine, his hands on the side of my face. He was pulling me toward him, poised to kiss me. I wanted this, my body wanted this, but it was so wrong. What was I doing? How could I kiss my sister's boyfriend? Why was he trying to kiss me? I hated this, and I hated myself for turning to mush in Drew's hands. Somehow, I managed to pull away.
"We can't," I breathed, backing away from Drew.
"But, I...., I...." Drew stuttered.
"It doesn't matter. We can't," I said, running up the stairs.
I wanted Drew so badly, it hurt. I had a hard time accepting that Drew could be atracted to me, but I was pretty sure he'd just proven he was. I loved my sister, and I was very fond of Jake. We couldn't hurt them like this. We just couldn't.
ELLIE
Drew had come over tonight to make sure I was feeling alright. I could tell something was distracting him, but he wouldn't tell me anything about it. I hope that he tells me soon. I really wanted to discuss my indescrepencies with him, but I could tell that tonight was definitely the wrong time.
Instead, I just rambled on about how terrible I had felt earlier today, and how much better I felt now. He mentioned that Adam hadn't been in school either, and I wondered if he was sick, too. I sort of hoped so, since that would help to solidify my theory that I was only sick and not pregnant.
I wanted to call and ask him, but I felt weird talking to him. Knowing that I had slept with him was making him more appealing to me by the second. It's not like I would sleep with him again, because that was just stupid, but I was feeling a certain connection to him. Funny, though, that I had no such feelings where Mike was concerned. It was probably just because Mike was so foul.
I was disappointed that I hadn't gotten the chance to talk to Em, though. I really wanted to see her. Drew said something about Jake being with her tonight. He hadn't seemed too happy about it. I was happy that I had been wrong about Jake. He really liked Em. She deserved to find love, and he was a good match. She was smart, too, for not sleeping with him. All it got me was a lot of regret, a soreness between my legs, and the fear that I was pregnant. I hoped Em kept her virtue for many years to come.
I planned on telling Drew about my mistakes tomorrow. It was unfair of me to let him think otherwise. It was time to own up to my mistakes.
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Whoa. Has Ellie seen the light? What do you think? Hmm....and I wonder what Carly wants. And what did Adam have to say about Mike? I guess you'll just have to wait and see. In the meantime, though, votes and/or comments are extremely appreciated. Please let me know what you think! Thanks again for reading.