Page 54 of Searching for Beautiful
“No, it’s not. It’s awesome. Thank you. ” It’s the nicest thing someone has done for me in forever.
“So what’s up with you and the hottie?”
I manage to pull my eyes from the drawing. “Emery—”
“It’s not a big deal, Brynn. Let’s talk boys. Tell me about you and the hottie. ”
I sigh, knowing she won’t change her mind on this. There’s no question in my mind on who the hottie is. “Nothing. There’s nothing going on with Christian and me. We’re just friends. ”
“He looks at you like he wants to be more than a friends. Friendship with a guy like that almost feels like a waste. ”
I want to laugh at that thought because it is pretty funny, but I’m too distracted by what she said first. “Christian doesn’t look at me like anything. He knows I don’t want a boyfriend. Not that I think he would want to be mine, because I don’t, but it wouldn’t matter…boys suck. ”
The waiter sets each of our pizzas in front of us. Emery picks up a piece and immediately takes a bite. Then she taps my leg with her foot. Her eyes soften and not in the way that tells me she’s feeling sorry for me, but one that makes me feel like she understands. “That’s what girlfriends are for. To make you feel better. ”
“This is the first time I’ve gone out with a friend in a really long time. ”
“I guess that means we really should have fun, then,” she says.
“Which is kind of a shame; I was really looking forward to being miserable. ” My words are meant as a joke, but they strike a chord of familiarity inside me. I’ve spent so much time being miserable lately. I’m determined not to let myself do that today. “Now the pressure is on. I’ve changed my mind and I’m expecting to have a good time. ”
She raises her glass and I clank it with mine.
“Most definitely,” she says.
Even more so than before, I know it was the right decision to come.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Now
We stay in the restaurant until about five minutes before our movie starts. And I laugh. A lot. Emery is funny and has an attitude and she’s very open about her life. I don’t ask her about Max, and she doesn’t offer, but she tells me about her parents and how she never got along with them. How she never felt close to them and she thinks the pregnancy was just the excuse they were looking for to kick her out.
When I tell her I’m sorry, she shakes it off and moves straight into talking about her foster family. How they remind her of a perfect family and sometimes she thinks they might be cyborgs, but I think she likes them more than she wants to admit.
Before we know it, we’re laughing again and talking as we make our way back to the movie theater. Emery orders popcorn and we go inside. The movie’s a comedy and I find myself thinking a few times how much Mom would have liked it. Romantic comedies were her favorite, but basically anything that could make her laugh. She liked to laugh more than anyone I know. I try to remember what she sounded like, but it’s almost as if it’s further and further away. Soon, I wonder if the sound will be gone from my memory, leaving an open space from where it used to be.
Author: Nyrae Dawn
When I hear a buzz from beside me, I look over to see Emery pull her cell out of her pocket. It’s facing away from me as she looks at it, and then she turns it over in her hand again. When she glances at me, I try to look away, but I know it’s ridiculous. She had to have seen me looking at her. “Rochelle, my foster parent,” she whispers and I nod. It’s not like it should be any of my business who texts her.
Her phone goes off two more times in the last twenty minutes of the movie. I feel the vibration each time and I know it’s a silly thing to say, but it almost feels wrong. I’m about to tell her we can leave early if she needs to. I don’t want to keep her from something important, but then the credits are rolling.
“You ready?” Emery stands.
“Sure. ”
Emery’s quiet as we walk out to the parking lot. Her eyes dance around it.
“Where’d you park?” I ask her.
“I don’t have a car. Rochelle is picking me up. ”
“Oh. I can drive you home!” I feel like an idiot for not even thinking to ask her if she had a car.
“That’s okay. She’s on her way already. ”
“I’ll wait with you, then. ”
