EMILY***This is not what I had planned. I shouldn’t have allowed my desire for revenge to take over. I regretted it as soon as I said it, not only because I was dragging Harry into my drama with Gabriel, but also because Gabriel seemed unaffected by the news. I had a feeling he knew I was lying. It pissed me off all the more that he knew but he chose to play along.What pissed me off even more, though, was the fact that when he was asked if he was dating he said no. He didn’t play along. He didn’t try to pretend the way I was. It was like he was uninterested, unbothered. But the Gabriel I knew was not the type to be upstaged. I had hit him where it hurt. It’s not that he wasn’t affected. It’s that he was coming up with a strategy.I could tell by the way he got silent for the rest of the dinner. I could almost hear his brain turning. As soon as we waved them goodbye I ran up to my room. I needed to text Harry. I paced around my room. What was I even going to say? How would I bring i
EMILY*** “Thanks again for agreeing to meet me,” I said to Harry as I sat down. We’d decided to meet at a coffee shop off campus. It was my suggestion. I didn’t know where Gabriel was and I didn’t want to run the risk of running into him before I told Harry what I had done. “Sure,” Harry said, “is everything okay? You look pale.” I was anxious. I had never done anything like this, and I hated that I was doing it to someone who didn’t deserve it. Someone who was genuinely interested in me, that I was genuinely interested in as well. I hated that I was dragging him into this. “I’m okay,” I said, “probably just tired from the weekend. It was a lot.” “How was the dinner?” he asked. I guess we were getting straight to the point. “It was great. I hadn’t seen Gabriel and his Mom in a while so it was great to catch up on things,” I said, sipping on my Iced Americano. “That’s great to hear. What did you want to tell me?” he asked. I placed my drink on the table and took a deep breath
GABRIEL***“Glad you could make it,” I said to Harry as he sat down across from me. He’d asked to meet at a coffee shop off campus. He didn’t seem happy to be here. Emily must have told him about what happened between us. I didn’t blame him, though, that he’d chosen to take Emily’s side over mine. It made sense. I would just have to plead my case. “Make it quick,” he said.He was acting hostile, probably because of what Emily told him about me but I needed to make sure that he felt that I was genuine. It was going to have to be Emily’s words over mine. “I told you when we first met, that Emily and I have been best friends since kindergarten,” I said.“I remember that, yes,” he said. I could tell he was getting irritated. I needed to choose my words carefully, to make sure he didn’t feel threatened by me. “We’re not best friends anymore. I’m sure she’s told you that. I hurt her so many times and our friendship ended completely when she moved here. It’s all my fault.”Harry’s face
(Bakersville Elementary, 2002)***Emily was woken up by the sound of a soft knock at the window. She had gotten used to it by now, and she had become a light sleeper as a result. She needed to hear Gabriel coming in, otherwise, he would sleep outside in the cold. This had been their routine for the past few months. Ever since the day Gabriel showed up at Emily’s door, she had been allowing him to sneak into her room when her parent’s fighting got worse.Their parents didn’t know that he had been sneaking out, and she hoped they wouldn’t because it seemed that the fighting was getting so bad that he couldn’t sleep. She got out of bed and opened the window for him. It was dangerous, because her room was not on the ground floor of the house, and he had to do some serious climbing to get there.He climbed into the room. She had already set out some snacks for him in case he had not eaten, and his sleeping bag for when he was ready to sleep. He had been crying, she could tell. She hugged
EMILY***“I’m genuinely happy for you. You deserve to be happy. And I'm genuinely sorry.”I couldn’t stop thinking about Gabriel's words. He had called me two days ago after he'd met with Harry. and he had proved me wrong. Apparently, he'd met with Harry to apologize for the misunderstanding that he'd caused and he hoped that the three of us could interact peacefully from that point on.I felt like he was lying, like this was just another scheme of his but my conversation with Harry had given me much to think about. I called him after the call with Gabriel."Hey," I said."Hey, he responded, "I'm on my way back to school. I just met with Gabriel."I liked that he went straight to the point so that I didn't have to. I had been a bit worried that he would have taken it badly if I was the one who brought up Gabriel. I didn't want him to think that I cared."Oh, really?" I asked, deciding to act clueless, "how'd it go?""Quite well, actually. He apologized for lying about the both of you
GABRIEL***Thanks for apologizing to both Harry and me. I hope that this fresh start will be good for you. See you on Saturday. I had not responded to Emily’s text, but I hadn't stopped thinking about it either. It filled me with a sense of guilt because it essentially meant she had believed me. So had Harry. He had texted me on the same day to tell me that our being friends wouldn’t be such a bad idea. I had gotten what I wanted, but I didn't feel happy about it. I had achieved my goal, but I felt guilty instead of feeling great that my revenge was underway. It was Saturday, the day Emily and her Mom were coming over for dinner. I had come home early in the day to help my Mom with the cooking and also to keep her company. I was away for most of the week and I feared that my Mom had been feeling lonely.She was still getting used to the newness of the town and although she had reconnected with Terry, she couldn’t hang out with her every day so she was spending a lot of time on her
EMILY***“Do you mind?” Nila asked.“Sorry,” I said, getting up from my desk. I had been bouncing my knee and it didn’t even occur to me that I was. It must have been irritating Nila and she just couldn’t take it anymore.I had gone to my desk to try and read but I couldn't focus on anything. My mind was still on the day that should have been my first date with Harry. He was going to say yes, that they knew each other, right? Why did he change his mind after she said they didn’t? I wished there was a witness, someone aside from me and them that was there to confirm to me that I was not crazy.I had wanted to ask him since then but I didn't know how to bring it up or how he would take it. Our relationship was fairly new and I didn't know how he would take me asking if he knew some girl that he clearly said he didn’t, a girl I didn't even know myself.But was it really clear? I didn’t know. I sighed and made my way to my bed. Pretending to read wasn’t doing me any good. Even Gabriel ha
GABRIEL***"Hey man," I said to Harry as I sat down next to him.We were on the football pitch, getting ready for practice. I hadn't been officially recruited yet, but I loved the game so much that I didn't want to wait for it to happen. I just wanted to be here, in the field, whether or not I was a member of the team. It had been something I had been passionate about and when things got rocky between my parents and between my Dad and me, it was what kept me sane."Hey," he said, tying his shoes.We had only been friends for a few days so it was still awkward, but I trusted that we would get comfortable with each other over time. I was still pretending, and I still felt guilty about it, but I was not going to back down. I would make all the first moves in the world if it meant Harry would get comfortable with me as a result."How's your week so far?" I asked. "Not bad," he said, but he didn't look like he meant it. I hadn't known him for long but I could tell something was off. Coul
EMILY***"You guys knew about it, didn’t you?" I asked Nila and Julie who were suddenly awfully quiet when Gabriel walked in."Who, me? I have no idea what you're talking about?" Nila asked while holding her hands to her chest in mock surprise.We all laughed."I won't lie and say I didn't know. In fact, I had a meeting with him to make sure he had changed for good," Julie said.She was always so intense. I loved it."Thanks for looking out for me," I said to her."You know I got you. Always," she said.
GABRIEL***"We're home," Mom said as she opened the door to our house.She dumped her bag onto the living room floor and went around every room as if she was announcing her presence. I shook my head. I knew she had forgotten all about it and so I picked it up and carried it to her room before I went to mine.It felt good to be back. It had been a great year, a year I would never forget but being home felt great. It felt like a sigh of relief. I had made it back. I had done it. My mother and I had chosen to relocate temporarily because it felt like a good idea to just start over in a place that was unplugged and away from real life and all the responsibilities that real life demanded from us.It had been healing to be in a place where no one kn
EMILY***“We’re gonna be late,” Nila said to me.“Just a minute,” I said as I put the finishing touches on my outfit.I was a perfectionist in everything my dressing included. Besides, today was a special day for someone special to me and I needed to look the part.“Okay, I'm ready,” I said as I turned to face Nila, “how do I look?” I asked.“You look.. Stunning,” she said, “you look really great.”“Thank you, you do too,” I said to her and she curtsied and smiled.
THE END(Bakersville High school)“Emily doesn’t want to see you right now,” Terry said to Gabriel and he could tell by the tone of her voice that she didn’t want to see him too.He still didn’t know what he had done. Was this still about the stupid argument they had had that past weekend? He wanted to believe that that was what it was but something felt incredibly off.Something very bad had happened but he had no idea what it was and he had no way of finding out either because Emily wouldn’t see him. She wouldn’t pick up his calls or answer his texts either.
EMILY***“See you on the weekend,” Mom said as she dropped me off in the parking lot.“See you,” I said as I got out of the car. I watched her drive off before I walked to my dorm room.I had a new roommate because it was part of the school rules to change roommates at the beginning of every academic year. Nila and I had hoped and prayed that fate would let us meet again as roommates but that hadn’t been the case.It almost didn’t matter, though, because we remained good friends who were always together around the school. It had been months since the school year started. In fact, it was closer to the end now than it was in the beginning. The semester in which Gabriel felt like it was ages ago- it was almost
GABRIEL **** “I heard that you were leaving,” Emily said. “At the end of the semester, yes,” I said. “What?” she asked, turning red, “I came running over because Harry made it sound like you were leaving today!” I laughed. “He probably did that on purpose,” I said, “I should thank him for that.” “We should thank him for that,” she said, “it’s about time we had this conversation anyways.” “Yeah,” I said, “I was going to save it for last but I guess now is just as great, considering you ran over and everything,” I
EMILY***“Are you sure you’re okay?” mom asked as she helped me pick up my last bag from her trunk.“I’m sure, Mom,” I said, “plus there are only a few days left until the end of the semester and I'll be back home.”“I’m only letting you go because you have finals,” she said and I couldn’t help but smile.My parents had been watching over me more carefully than ever since I went back home and it had become suffocating- I used the fact that finals were ongoing to free myself and go back to school. I just needed a few days.&ld
GABRIEL***“I think you already know what I’m going to say,” I said to Harper who was seated across from me.She was crying.“I do,” she said as she sniffled.“I am sorry for all the hurt I've caused you. I shouldn’t have dated you when I knew I had so much baggage. I only hope that you’ll find someone who will be easy to love, someone who won’t cause you as much heartbreak and pain as I have,” I said.“I’m sorry too, to you as well as to Emily. I shouldn’t have let my insecurities control me.”“I shouldn’t have pu
EMILY***“Dinner’s ready,” my Mom said, snapping me out of my thoughts.It seemed she had been standing there for a while, watching me, and I hadn’t even noticed.“I’ll be right down,” I said, and she smiled at me before she left.I had been home for the past three days. My parents had gotten wind of the news and they had come to pick me up in the evening after I talked to Harry. Final exams were ongoing, and I had been against the idea of being at home but my parents had insisted.I had appreciated the rest and being away from what had happened for the first few days, but now I wanted to go back to school. Doing nothing all day did not sit we