Chapter 7

Emerson

Well this day was shaping up to be a complete mind fuck. When she had gotten up this morning, Em felt a new sense of peace. Starting a new school her senior year wasn’t in her plans. She was however so grateful for Aspen already. Her new BFF had called her last night to talk about what they’d be wearing today. She had settled on some jean shorts and a lightweight sweater. The weather was cooler here in the mornings than it was in California, and luckily this school didn’t have much of a dress code.

She had fully planned on driving her car and dropping her brother off at his new school on the way. But her mom said she would take care of that this week before she got her new permanent schedule at the hospital. That way Em could ride with her new friends, and her mom could have a little extra time in the mornings with her brother. Her brother who- by the way- apparently had no qualms whatsoever about starting at a new school and spent the morning smacking his pancakes and singing “bitch better have my money” to prepare for his day.

On the drive to school Em found she not only loved Aspen but was beginning to love her twin as well. Asher was not only breathtakingly gorgeous but he had a way of putting you at ease with his antics. He was constantly flirting with her but she didn’t mind it. It was all in good fun she knew. And he was making her laugh and forget what she was about to walk into.

The twins not only had similar names and features but also their cars matched. Em found this very funny as they argued over which one to drive that day. Asher had a bright neon yellow jeep with huge mud tires on it and Aspen had a matching white one. They ended up in Asher’s. As much as she liked the twins she didn’t love the driving. Asher was all over the road and going about 5 times the legal speed limit. Em found herself saying a silent prayer of thanks once they pulled up at the school in one piece.

Although her moment of peacefulness didn’t last too long. They were standing in a-group, the twins introducing her to a few of their friends. She met a girl named Sylvia who was Aspens good friend and another girl named Mickey. Em immediately started laughing at that when the boys started singing the the song from Dirty Dancing.

A second later a weird feeling came over her and she immediately remembered why Asher looked so familiar. Panic clawed at her throat… he was here. Somewhere. The boy from the stoplight. She could actually FEEL him.

She stared at Asher. He had been there that night. He gave her a “what’s up” look and then at the same time they turned to stare at the reason. There he was. Em couldn’t breathe. His staring at her made her skin feel like it was on fire.

She was happy to see him again. She had a feeling they would mean something special to each other. She just didn’t know what yet… but then.. the bond broke. A girl was with him and holding his hand. She stepped in between them, staking her claim no doubt.

Once he got to the group Asher’s brain finally decided to work and he figured out where they all knew each other from. But the boy - whose name was Quinn or “Q”for short, barely even looked at her. In fact he straight out ignored her presence and turned to walk away.

The girl however wanted to make sure Emerson didn’t get any ideas. (Too late she thought) and introduced herself as his girlfriend. Aspen gagged at that and Em tried hard not to react but a little slip of a smile still came through. The girl whose name was Finley snarled her nose at Aspen then ran after the boy of their dreams.

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The day carried on as would be expected. People stared at her. She was new…. Thank the heavens somehow Aspen was in every class except two. Em thought she must be friendly with the counselor because that morning in the office while getting her schedule Aspen whispered something to him. She didn’t care though she was more than grateful .

Lunch time came and Emerson followed Aspen to a table outside where she sat with the girls from this morning.

“So we sit out here every day. Even in the winter so remember a big jacket, it’ll be cold soon” Aspen was telling her.

The other girls - Mickey and Sylvia were asking her about her day and her classes. They seemed really nice. She hadn’t had any close friends in a while. Her friends back had kept their distance after what happened to her. Her closest friends were on her dance team. And she had to stop that even before they moved. She just didn’t have the strength or mental capacity for it during that time. That reminded her:

“Do you guys have a dance team?”

“Well we did but damn these school politics.” Mickey started. “One girl got pregnant and insisted on still dancing. Some of the parents didn’t like it so they shut it down last year.”

Em’s face must have shown her disappointment at that because then Sylvia chimed in.

“There’s a dance team not affiliated with the school though. The coach left and opened her own space it’s downtown on the main strip. If you just want to join there, you could”

Emerson remembered that she had passed it on the night they moved in.

“Oh yes that would be amazing!” “Do they take people at any time? Do they do competitions or anything?”

“Woah there flashdance” Aspen joked.

“You must really love dancing.” Sylvia said. “And yes you can join at any time. Well you will probably need to try out. And yes there’s competitions and even recitals. You can come with me after school today and check it out, if you want”.

Em was smiling. “You go there too?”

“She’s my mom.” Sylvia said with a grin. “So yes. I am a member of said dance team.” “But even I don’t get that excited talking about it”. She said jokingly.

“I was on the team at my other school. I really love it but I had to quit last year”

“Well gee who would’ve thought, you a dancer?” Aspen chortled her. “ I never would’ve known with those sexy legs and bouncy ass you’ve got”.

They all laughed at this. Garning the attention of the tables near them.

Em caught the eyes of Quinn staring at her.

That seemed to remind everyone:

Mickey spoke first.

“Okay what were they talking about this morning, about you and Quinn?”

Emerson gave them the short and very very condensed version of what had happened that night. The girls all looked at each other when she got finished.

“What” she asked them.

That’s just unusual behavior for Q that’s all. He doesn’t usually give much of anyone the time of day unless it’s someone in his group.” Asp said.

“Or one of his groupies” Mickey added.

“But aren’t you one of his group?” she asked Aspen.

“Not really. Just by association. He and Asher are joined at the hip but I don’t get involved too much with what they get into. That kind of stuff just isn’t for me”

Emerson wanted to ask her what she meant but she dropped it for the time being. They only had a couple more minutes to eat before lunch was over.

Her last two classes drug by. Aspen wasn’t in those classes she had electives these periods which apparently Em didn’t apply for since she was new here. Second to last class was athletics, and since she was new she was unable to sign up. So Em was granted permission to help out in the office for that hour. She did however have a period she could spend in the library. And the last one of the day which was mostly a study hall and Asher was there to keep her company.

Asher couldn’t shut up for the whole hour about the stop light incident. Em was becoming increasingly embarrassed that this conversation was still going on. How many people saw that?? She decided to ask Asher what the deal was between Finley and his sister.

“Ah they don’t like each other” was his astounding response.

No shit.

She prodded some more and he finally opened up a little. They’ve never ran in the same crowd, for one. But mostly because even though his sister didn’t really care for his best friend, she thought that Fin took advantage of him.

“But, how?” She had asked him.

“That — my dear— is another story for another day”. And he booped her on the nose with his finger, officially ending the conversation. Emerson didn’t know why but she felt like she was missing a huge part of a story.