Explain. What do I explain? How do I explain?
I decided to reveal as little as I could. "First off, what did Penelope tell you? Because she lies, a lot..."
Ashlynn appeared quite confused, but nevertheless, she filled me in on what I missed. "Well, she was making small talk, and then she politely asked why I was over. So I told her I was driving you to the sleepover. Then she asked if I was your friend. And I told her that of course I was. Why else would I be at your house? But the last part...What was she talking about?"
"She's under the impression that I used people and faked being their friend," I lied. How could I tell her the real story? She would never understand; she couldn't understand.
"Well, is it true?"
Yes. "Of course not. I would never do that, especially to you," I promised her.
"What was the 'incident' you were talking about? What do you feel guilty about?" I could tell how relieved she was, finally asking me all these questions.
"Something happened to one of our friends, and it's our fault. It's just...I don't really like to talk about it, I'm sorry." I broke eye contact with her; I couldn't bear it. I didn't want to see judgmental eyes staring back at me. I hadn't even told Lillia, Jake, or Joey. Why would I tell her? She would never look at me the same.
"Please look at me," she whispered.
I was terrified. I was scared of looking into her judgmental eyes; I didn't want to answer her unending questions. If she knew the real me, she would never want anything to do with me again. She would only see the worst in me.
"Emily, please." In that moment, she reminded me of Ana, speaking in a hushed tone. Her voice was more of a plea, and she had the same charm as my little sister. I couldn't resist looking.
Surprisingly, her eyes weren't filled with disgust or judgment. They weren't overfilling with questions, ready to spill out any second. Instead, she had a look consumed with concern and sympathy.
Was I wrong? Maybe she wouldn't judge me for telling her. Maybe it would feel good—being able to tell someone.
" You don't have to tell me. But if you ever want to talk, I'll be here. Always. I promise."
Words cannot explain how I felt towards this girl, I was so thankful that I had her in my life. If it was anyone else, they would have prodded me with questions until I popped. But not Ashlynn; she was always looking out for everyone else.
And then there was me, only ever looking out for myself.
I didn't really deserve such an amazing friend. I lied to her and barely answered any of her questions, but she didn't push for any answers.
"You're the best, really. Thank you," I whispered. She leaned over and hugged me, and just like that, everything was back to normal.
She shifted the gear into drive, and drove off to Annabel's house.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The remainder of the night at Annabel's was peaceful. Ashlynn didn't say another word about earlier, which I was beyond thankful for.
I could tell that my friends were hesitant before they ate their cookies, knowing how terrible of a cook I was. Ashlynn was the brave warrior that took one for the team. When she took a bite she looked like she had just seen Zac Efron standing in the doorway or something.
"OH MY GOD. THIS IS AMAZING, EMILY!" she shrieked.
Later on, we ate pizza and pigged out on snacks, while watching a marathon of romance movies, the best of all the genres.
Around two in the morning, my phone went off. So, Annabel reached over and grabbed it off her bedside table.
"You got a text from someone named Penelope!" Claire shouted, leaning over Annabel's shoulder as they read my text. They gasped and their eyes almost popped out of their sockets as they looked at me with alarm and question. Ugh, what could Penelope have possibly said?
I quickly snatched my phone from their prying hands and silently read the message.
"Where's your alcohol stash?"
Oh, I thought, fighting the urge to laugh.
"She's just playing around, you guys," I lied. "She was trying to mess with you."
Despite my obvious lie, they bought it, and I watched as they visibly relaxed.
Me: Go to bed.
Penelope: I'm on the verge of a freak-out. Please, Em.
Me: Fine... my closet.
It's not like I drank that stuff, anyways.
I wondered why she was freaking out. Maybe she did feel guilty. As terrible as it sounded, I hoped she did. You can't just do something like that and not feel anything.
All I know is that I'm so glad I agreed to hang out with Joey tomorrow.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The next morning, we woke up around noon to the delicious smell of chocolate chip pancakes from Annabel's parents.
When I finished eating, I realized that I needed a ride home. I felt bad asking for another ride from Ashlynn. And Lillia was at breakfast with her mom. Maybe Jake was home.
I went into the other room and called him, but it went to voicemail immediately. As a backup, I texted my mom, asking for a ride, and she replied immediately with, "If you can find a ride there, you can find a ride home."
Thanks for the support, Mom.
I was about to swallow my pride and ask Ashlynn for a ride when my phone bleeped with a text from Joey.
Joey: I'm ready whenever. Lemme know when you want to be picked up.
Me: I'm at my friend Annabel's, do you mind picking me up here? :(
Joey: Of course not. Text me the address. See ya soon.
Ten minutes later, my savior arrived at the door. I greeted him with a hug, thanking him repeatedly.
"Where are we going?" I finally asked, buckling my seatbelt.
"I was thinking about rollerblading, and then eating at the iHop across the street? And then, if you're not sick of me, we can go to a movie or something," he replied, starting his car.
"Yeah that sounds great. The longer the better," I muttered, clicking my seatbelt.
"Not eager to get home?" he snickered.
"Not when my house has been invaded by the Ricorda's," I stated with a sigh.
"What's Penelope doing in town?" he inquired.
As he drove on, I explained our argument at the cotillion and our mother's plan of getting us to be "friends" again. For the remainder of the car ride, I babbled on and on. I must admit, he was a pretty good listener, asking questions and seemingly genuinely interested in what I had to say.
While I was lacing up my rollerblades, Joey gulped. He sat on the bench for a few extra moments before he sucked in a deep breath and finally gripped the railing to stand up.
When Joey revealed that we would be rollerblading today, he failed to mention that he had the balance of a giraffe on a bouncy ball covered in jelly. He only fell every other step.
"Why did you want to go rollerblading, again?" I asked, unable to wipe the amusement off my face.
"Lillia told me that you love to rollerblade, and I figured that it couldn't be that hard," he said, glaring at the skates. "However, she regretted to inform me that I would have to balance on these."
I stifled a quick laugh, trying to disguise it with a cough. But it was no use, he saw right through it. Within seconds, we were both drowning in laughter.
"You owe me, you know." He smirked.
"I do not! You were the one who planned the day," I argued, grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"I think you should do something you're terrible at to make me feel better. What can't you do?"
"What can't I do? That list can go on forever... But, I can't surf, so next time we're at the beach, you can take me surfing," I bargained.
"Sounds like a plan; I'm holding you to that." How Joey had learned to surf is beyond me, but I was left hoping that we wouldn't be going to a beach anytime soon.
After tripping a few more times, Joey refused to get up until I agreed to leave. Considering we only did about three laps in two hours, it didn't take long for me to cave.
We walked across the street to iHop, which was one of my favorite restaurants. I always ordered the same meal: a stack of pancakes drowned in icing and sandwiched between cinnamon cream.
It was a strange feeling not having to defend my food from someone else's lustful stare. In fact, Joey told me he didn't even like cinnamon. Instead, he opted for a breakfast burrito.
During our meal, I received a text from Lillia "reminding" me to ask Joey when he was planning on asking her out. Instead of beating around the bush, I cut right to the chase.
"Hey, Joey? Lillia has been pestering me for, like, months about when you're going to ask her out. So, I'm the messenger."
"I figured this was coming sooner or later," he answered, releasing an awkward laugh. "Jake and I talk about it all the time, but we worry that once we start dating, things will get weird. You know? Besides, we have all the time in the world. We don't want to rush things and ruin everything."
"Hmm," I responded, unable to how take this information.
"So, I don't have an answer for you. Maybe soon, maybe not. And in case you're wondering, it's the same type of deal with Jake."
I wasn't really sure how to feel. Was I disappointed that I wouldn't get to call Jake my boyfriend anytime soon? Or was I relieved about not having to worry about messing up? What if, when we dated, Jake stopped liking me and we had to break up? Things would definitely get awkward then...
"Wow, that's actually pretty percipient of you. I would've never known you had it in you," I teased.
"So, how about that movie? Or are you sick of me?" He joked, although there was a hint of seriousness in his tone.
"Even if I was sick of you, you're better company than Penelope," I told him as I climbed into his car.
"Did something happen today?"
"No."
"You're lying."
"What?" I've perfected the skill of lying; no one ever catches me. How can he see through it?
"I can just tell," he nonchalantly stated. "You don't have to tell me, if you don't want to."
"Well," I sigh. "I'll tell you in general terms, and I'm going to be talking about an 'incident', which probably won't make sense at all. But I don't really want to talk about the incident; I just need to tell someone about what happened today. Does that make sense?" He nodded, locking his eyes on the road. And, with that, I explained today's events.
When I finished, he didn't ask questions, instead he said, "Well, I don't know what happened, but if you're feeling this distraught over it, then she probably should too. And clearly, she knows that your school friends are out of the loop on everything. So the fact that she was purposely going out of her way to bring that up was pretty low, even for her."
His reply surprised me a little. I expected to hear the usual, "Just brush it off; she's only saying things to get to you." I was actually really glad that he was genuinely trying to help.
I looked out the window, unable to suppress the smile inching its way across my face.
We finished the drive to the movies in silence, but instead of being awkward, the silence was comforting.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
We decided to see a superhero movie. I wasn't really into it, but he definitely was. And, after earlier, I decided that I owed it to him. After all, it was pretty entertaining watching him get so attached to the characters and the plot. To be completely honest, I enjoyed his reactions better than the actual events.
When I was about to get out of the car, he stopped me. "Hey, if you get sick of Penelope tomorrow, I'll be home all day working on my history project."
I grinned. "Thank you for today; I had so much fun. And I will definitely keep that in mind."
Although it was a sweet offer, my mom would drag me back to the house by my hair if she realized I blew off what was supposed to be "my weekend with Penelope". She definitely wouldn't believe the whole "yeah, we're totally BFF's again" lie.
I let out a sigh as I walked up my front porch.
Contrary to my original beliefs, today actually wasn't awkward at all. If anything, it was really comfortable. Why did I stop hanging out with Joey in the first place?
——————————————————————
What do you think is the full truth?
How do we feel about her and Joey's blossoming relationship?