Cherry Red Summer (Emely and Elyas Book 1) (2 page)

From his simultaneously surprised and amused expression, I could tell my unsubtle hint had worked.

“Oh,
that
Emely,” he said, grinning as his eyes checked out the pertinent area. “Now that you mention it
. . .
”

Jerk!
I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Alex didn’t mention anything about
the annoying neighbors
,” I said, meeting his eyes.

Neither of us looked away, and I could have sworn that the temperature in the room fell at least five degrees every second we maintained eye contact. But the illusion dissolved in a flash when I heard loud clattering behind me.

Oh yeah, the move. I’d totally forgotten.

Wheezing and covered in sweat, Ingo was struggling with two boxes, offering me the perfect opportunity to bail on Elyas. That way I wouldn’t find myself arrested for his murder.

Ingo muttered something about “no elevator” and “too old for this” as I walked past him to get more boxes from the van.

Four hours later, after burning about three thousand calories, I flopped down onto the big black couch in the living room. In addition to my lungs, which were not accustomed to Sisyphean tasks like this, my knee was also giving me a hard time because, naturally—stupid me!—I had fallen down some steps while holding a fully loaded box.

“There is no way a single human being can own so much junk,” Elyas moaned between gasps for air, covered in sweat as he schlepped the last box through the door. He set it with the other boxes in the main room since there wasn’t any more space in Alex’s bedroom.

Well, if he thought he would strike up some small talk with me, he was seriously deluded. Did he think I hadn’t noticed his nasty grin when I fell on the stairs right in front of him? “Whoops!” he had said. But it wasn’t a normal kind of whoops; it was more of a “Geez, is she too stupid to even climb stairs? With an ass that fat, no wonder.”

All right, fine. Maybe I added that bit about the fat ass. But it was definitely the sort of thing he
would
say. Besides, just the smugness of his tone was enough to unleash the purest aggression within me.

Through narrowed eyes, I watched Elyas as he leaned against the wall wiping aside a few strands of hair that sweat had plastered to his forehead.

After everything that had happened between us, I couldn’t fathom that he hadn’t recognized me. Not that he could ever make up for what he had done or that I would ever forgive him—not in this lifetime. But remembering me was the absolute minimum he could have done.

The longer I looked at Elyas, the grimmer my face grew. When he looked up and narrowed his eyes at me, as if to show he had noticed my glaring at him this whole time, I gave him some serious stinkeye before pointedly looking elsewhere.

I then made what I thought was a wise decision: that he wasn’t worth getting upset over. I tried with all my might to set aside my grudge against him. I closed my eyes and leaned my head on the back of the couch, placing my hands on my stomach, and focused again on recovering from my last stair climb.

But apparently there was to be no rest for me. Only a few minutes later, I was startled from my dozing by the doorbell. Alex raced over and answered the door, as if she had been living here for ages.

“Pizza delivery,” I heard a man call from outside.

Wow! Was someone around here a mind reader?

“Piiizzza,” Elyas and I moaned in unison like zombies. For a split second we looked at each other with raised eyebrows. Who would have thought that hunger could bring together two people like Elyas and me? But since this fell in the category of “extreme situation,” I dismissed our moment of connection as an outlier.

As Alex shut the door again, her balancing act with a stack of individual-size pizza boxes was my signal to struggle back to my feet.

We dove at the boxes, and with a bit of luck I was able to get hold of the pizza Margherita. I carried it to the dining table and sat down with the others.

“I will be forever grateful to the person who came up with the idea of pizza,” I said as I took the first bite.

“That would be me,” Elyas said with a grin, sitting kitty-corner from me.

“Well, if that’s so,” I replied, “then I take it back.”

We didn’t say anything for the rest of the meal, curing our hunger with pizza and gradually recovering from the afternoon’s torture.

Once I was completely full, I flipped the lid shut on my last three slices. Alex’s mom stood up, retrieved a couple of wine glasses from the cabinet, and set them on the table. Things were finally starting to get cozy. Soft music was playing on the stereo, two candles were burning on the table, and the moving boxes on the floor gave proof that our work was finally done. Judging by their faces, everyone felt the same relief. I leaned back in my chair, relaxed.

“So, Emely, how are things going with college?” Ingo asked as he poured my wine.

“Pretty well, I think.”

“That’s nice to hear,” Alena said. “What year are you now? A junior already?”

“Yes, starting tomorrow. I’m a little stressed out about it, though.”

Alena sighed. “Incredible how time flies. Can it really be so long ago that you three were running naked through the front yard?”

Alex, Elyas, and I all rolled our eyes. I wondered if parents allowed their kids to run around naked as toddlers merely so they could mortify them by bringing it up again when they were grown. Soon, I found other memories popping into my head, like my surprise at the funny little thing jiggling around on Elyas. A related memory was so funny that I couldn’t help laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Alex asked.

“Do you remember that time we wouldn’t let your annoying brother in the wading pool?”

Alex thought hard for a second until she suddenly remembered. “You told him that he couldn’t come in with that
earthworm
!” She started snorting, which made me laugh even harder.

“But the funniest thing,” I added, “was when you whispered to me that you caught Elyas playing with his earthworm all the time.”

Elyas choked on his wine and coughed while his parents, Alex, and I all burst into peals of laughter. The furious glare I earned from Elyas was the best part.

Alena held a napkin to her mouth and cleared her throat. “Lovely,” she began. “Now we know that Elyas liked to play with his worm. I might have preferred living without the benefit of this information, I’ve got to say, but all right.”

I smiled and enjoyed this rare moment when Elyas was the one knocked down a couple of notches.

Ingo sighed. “If only he were as attentive to everything as he is to the worm.”

Elyas rolled his eyes. “I’m serious,” Ingo said, looking at his son. “You flunked your graduation exam
again
. If you keep that up, you’re going to get kicked out.”

“Oh, Dad, you’re exaggerating. I’ve got all the time in the world. What’s the hurry?” Elyas shrugged, and Ingo’s expression revealed that he and Elyas had already had this discussion several times. Alex had told me that Elyas was in medical school, following in his father’s footsteps. But I didn’t know much more than that.

Alena gently put her hand on her husband’s arm. After taking a deep breath, Ingo let the subject drop.

To me, Alena and Ingo were living proof that there really was such a thing as true love. The way they interacted, with such closeness and so much feeling, even after all these years, continued to fascinate me. People could write a thousand books about true love, but all you really had to do was watch Alena and Ingo for a second to know what it meant. It made me happy in a strange way to watch them.

“So tell us, Emely. How have things been going with your roommate?” Ingo said, turning back to me.

“Eva turned out to be a good roommate,” I said. “I mean, she’s a bit weird, and she
can
be very difficult, but actually we get along just fine.”

“Whenever she’s not getting the kinky stuff on with her boyfriend, that is,” Alex interjected.

I grimaced. “Thanks so much, Alex. Now I’ve got those images back in my head.”

Three pairs of eyes looked at me in surprise.

“Oh, it’s not as bad as you’re all thinking,” I quickly added. “I may have had the unfortunate experience of walking in on certai
n . . .
activities a couple of times. But since then, we’ve worked out a new system where she writes down when she needs the room in advance. And if I’m lucky,” I added, “she’ll stick to the plan.”

“You’ve come to an arrangement. Wink, wink,” Alena said with a grin.

“Yes, that’s one way to put it.”

“By the way, Emely, while we’re on the topic,” Ingo said. “How are things on the romantic front? How many proposals of marriage did you get last week?”

Oh God. Wrong question. Definitely the wrong question!

I tried to feel reassured that at least people were still asking me about my love life and not automatically assuming I was single. But I didn’t know how much longer that would last.

“Well, last week I did give the boot to the handsome young heir to a multimillion-dollar fortune. We just didn’t have enough time for each other.” I sighed. “Ah, well. I’ll miss the yacht, of course, but I’m sure I’ll be over it soon enough.” I sipped my wine as the others laughed softly. I could even make out a discreet grin on Elyas’s face, although that was probably because he was making fun of me in his head.

Whatever.

“That bad?” Alena said, smiling sympathetically.

I shrugged. “No, no. Don’t worry. I’m actually doing very well.” That wasn’t even a lie. Of course I would have liked a guy at my side, but I wasn’t one of those women who went to pieces without one. Being single definitely had its advantages.

Oh God. Did I seriously just think that? Fascinating how your own brain can mess with you like that.

“Oh, Emely-Bemely. You’ve got me! We’ll find a guy for you,” Alex said, so enthusiastically it instantly shot shivers of fear down my spine.

“Alex, I’m warning you. No cheap attempts at hooking me up with someone or I swear I will carry every one of these cardboard boxes back down to the car.”

“All right, all right,” she giggled. “No cheap hookups, I promise.”

I could only hope and pray she really would keep her promise, but I still had bad memories from her previous attempts at matchmaking.

“Here’s to the same old Alex—who finally made it to Berlin!” Ingo said with a wink, and we all clinked glasses. Alex was beaming and even got a kiss on the cheek from her brother.

Ew. The idea of him kissing anyone made my skin crawl.

The mood in the cluttered room was cozy, and we continued talking for a good long while. It felt great having my second family around me again. Ingo and Alena told us all the latest news from Neustadt. Alex amused us at regular intervals with the enthusiasm that her move to Berlin had unleashed in her, and she missed no opportunity to paint a picture of her plans. It was huge fun to listen to her. Elyas mostly just listened as well, ignoring me, which was perfect since I was ignoring him.

Apart from running into this idiot and all the box hauling, it had been a really nice day, but it was now drawing to a close.

Somehow it had gotten rather late, and since I had only ten minutes to make the last bus of the night, I had no choice but to head home.

Alena and Ingo were staying overnight and would drive the hundred miles back to Neustadt the next day. After all the good-bye hugs and kisses with them, I was now standing alone with Alex at the open door to the apartment.

“What are we going to do tomorrow?” she asked.

“I’ll meet you at eight o’clock at the entrance to the main campus. Then I’ll show you around. My first lecture isn’t until ten, so we’ll have plenty of time.”

“Thank you, Emely. I’d never find my way around without you.”

“I had trouble at first, myself. But you’ll pick it up quickly.”

“Oh God, I’m so excited,” she said deliriously.

“Everything will go great. All right then, Alexa-Balexa,” I said, taking her tightly into my arms. “It’s nice to have you back.”

She sighed. “You have no idea how glad I am.”

I reluctantly untangled myself from her; otherwise, I really would miss my bus. Alex sent me a happy grin as I started down the stairs.

“Ciao, Emely,” Elyas called out as he stepped onto the landing.

“Bye,” I mumbled back, and he smiled seductively.

That bastard!

“See you tomorrow,” I said, vanishing down the stairs. I made my way to the bus in the balmy, early-summer night breeze. I inhaled the gentle, sweet smell deep into my lungs.

I leaned back against the yellow bus-stop pole and looked up at the windows of Alex’s new apartment.

If only the seven years since I’d seen Elyas could have become seventy. But not even Father Time himself could grant me that wish.

C
HAPTER
2

A F
LOOD OF
H
ELPFUL
I
NSIGHT

T
oward the end of every summer vacation, I always wondered how in the world I would ever manage to fall into my college routine again. The start of every semester was like jumping into a cold lake. But once I survived the jump, the worst was behind me. Before I knew it, I would find myself back in the familiar old rut of student life—much faster than I’d have liked, really.

I typically spent my mornings and afternoons in lecture halls, and afterward I would study. Sometimes I went back to the dorm, but “peace and quiet” was not a widely understood concept there, so I preferred the library.

I also worked three or four shifts a week waiting tables at a little cocktail bar called Purple Haze. My parents couldn’t be categorized as big earners, so even though they wanted to support me financially, my job at the bar took some pressure off them. Luckily, tuition is basically free in Germany, so I had to earn only enough to cover room, board, and books. I actually preferred earning the majority of the money I needed.

The pay at the bar wasn’t particularly good, but since I didn’t have an extravagant lifestyle, I got by fine on the couple of hundred euros a month I earned there. There were always student loans if I needed them.

Granted, given my ditziness, I wasn’t exactly what you’d call a born waitress, but after two years of practice, I had gotten relatively good.

What little free time I had I now spent mostly with Alex. Whenever a couple of days went by when we didn’t get together to do something, we would at least meet each other on campus somewhere. I’d celebrated my birthday with her a week ago, and I couldn’t remember when I’d had so much fun. We spent the whole night bar-hopping and clubbing, and it was the most welcome change of pace I’d had in a long time. Even though there were moments that gave me pause, I was still thrilled to have her with me again. It was almost as though we’d never been apart.

Alex had settled in splendidly in the two weeks since she’d moved. She was completely wrapped up in her new program. She positively beamed anytime she talked about it, which was practically every two minutes, saying it was exactly the right fit for her. She had also started to fall in love with Berlin. She was feeling on top of the world, and—even though it was actually impossible—she seemed to be getting to know the place better than I did.

Alex was floating on clouds. I was totally happy for her.

Alex’s face beamed as she maneuvered through the crowd in the gigantic lecture hall as though it were a small gathering in her own living room. My lecture had just finished.

“Emely,” she said once she had found me near the doors, “it’s Thursday afternoon, it’s beautiful outside, and I’ve heard a rumor that my best friend—who I’m sure still has some ancient swimsuit from when she was a kid—is going to be joining me on a trip to the pool.” She rocked back and forth on her heels.

I sighed. “First of all, my swimsuit is nowhere near that old, and second, the grapevine is mistaken,” I said. “I still have two hundred pages to read by tomorrow morning. So, regrettably, you’re going to have to go on your excursion without me.”

Alex stopped rocking on her feet as she frowned and jutted out her lower lip. “Oh, man! I was really hoping you’d come along.”

“I’m sorry, Alex,” I said. “But I just can’t swing it. Should I feel guilty for spoiling your afternoon, or do you have someone else you can ask?”

“Well,” she started, “Elyas is coming, too, so you haven’t spoiled my afternoon. But it’s still too bad. It would have been way more fun with the three of us!”

The three of us? My eyes grew big. If I’d known her stupid brother was coming, my answer would have been a resounding no in any case.

Apparently Alex got along fairly well with him, or at least she pretended to. It was truly beyond me. But the two of them had had a good relationship since they were little. Oh well. No need to understand everything in life.

“Another time, OK, Alex?” Now I wasn’t the least bit sad about having to waste such a beautiful day in the library.

“It’s all right,” she said in a sulk. “Do you at least have a little time for me tonight, then?”

“If I finish reading the book on time, I’ll try to pop by later. But no promises.”

“Too late, you already did!” she said grinning. “I’ll see you tonight. Gotta go. Have fun reading!” Before I could reply, she had pranced back out of the lecture hall. I watched her go, shaking my head and wondering how she managed to be so full of life all the time. I sighed again as I walked out the door and headed toward the library.

When I got there, I set up at my usual table and then closed my eyes, taking a deep breath of the familiar, calming smell of the place. It smelled like old wood, and books written many years before I was born, in bygone eras. Immense old walls loomed at the edges of the space, framing the high arched ceiling. Together they cast a mysterious aura.

I felt at home here, and as was so often the case, only a few other seats were occupied. After looking around, I set my book in front of me and started feeding the lines of text into my brain. Though the material proved very complex, I made good headway. After two hours I noticed the library was filling with people and the noise level had increased. When several young women sat down at the table next to me, chattering about how great “Chris” was in bed, I packed up my things and moved my study session to my dorm room.

The term
room
was generous in my case, since my accommodations were more like a shoe box—two beds jammed between a toilet and a shower, really. The dorm also had a communal kitchen and lounge on each floor.

Living in the dorm had a thousand downsides, but there was one decisive advantage: it was cheap.

When I’d first moved in, it took me quite a while to get used to things, but after making my room cozier—as much as possible—and getting to know Eva better, I started feeling settled. I even began calling this little room home.

That said, this was going to be my first and last foray into the world of communal living. That much was certain!

I had learned to let myself into my room cautiously, only after knocking loudly three times and making sure I didn’t hear any moaning or animalistic noises coming from inside. Today I was lucky. The room was empty for once! I pulled out my book, flung myself onto my bed, and picked up reading where I had left off.

I continued for three more hours with eighteenth-century German poetry, despite thinking several times that this genre was way too complicated for me. Finally, even though I still had fifty pages to go, I just couldn’t go on. The words were blowing through my head like a gust of wind through an empty building, and they weren’t making any sense anymore. I sighed, set the book down, rolled onto my back, and closed my eyes, which desperately needed a break. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to enjoy the rest for long. Eva burst into the room three minutes later. “Huh? You’re asleep already?”

If she earned a euro every time she asked a silly question, Eva would have to rent a warehouse to store all her cash. Even if I had been asleep, I certainly wouldn’t be now that she had slammed the door.

“No,” I mumbled. “This stupid book has done me in. What are the symptoms of brain death again?”

“I wouldn’t know.”

Could have fooled me
. . .

I opened my eyes when I felt the bed sag. She was sitting next to me, browsing through the brain-deadening book. Her black hair was pulled up into a bun.

“Wow, even the title is seriously over my head.”

“Tell me about it,” I said. “And the title is nothing compared to what’s inside.”

She shrugged. “I’ll never understand why you’re willingly doing this to yourself.”

I had long ago given up trying to explain it to her. Eva was a sophomore biology major, and she couldn’t appreciate anything about my majoring in German literature. But to me, books were one of the most precious treasures on earth—words strung together artfully and melodiously, transforming into images. White expanses adorned with little black symbols made the universe grander, entrancing human beings and making them forget everything around them.

Literature was cloaked in magical enchantments that held me captive with their power.

Eva smiled and looked around the room, an exaggerated look of innocence on her face. When she started saying “S
o . . .
Emel
y . . .
,” I knew exactly what time it was.

“You need the room,” I finished.

She flashed me a hopeful smile.

“How long?”

“A couple of hours, maybe?”

Ugh,
I thought, sighing to myself. Oh well, Alex was probably already waiting for me, and there wasn’t much point in trying to get any more studying done right now, anyway.

“Fine by me,” I said, struggling clumsily to get off the bed. “But not too long. I’ve still got to finish reading that book.”

“You’re the best!” Eva said.

“Yeah, yeah.” I rolled my eyes. Eva and Nicolas had been dating for a year and a half, and it was kind of alarming what
a . . .
rewarding sex life they still had. Wasn’t all that supposed to stop at some point?

But how would I know? The longest of my grand total of three relationships had lasted eight months and was—

Whatever. Better not to talk about it.

I dashed into the bathroom to freshen up, then grabbed my shoulder bag, and left the apartment with a “Say hi to Nicolas for me.”

I put in my iPod earbuds and went to the bus stop to wait in the twilight. As usual, the bus arrived a few minutes late. I climbed on, and exited ten minutes later near Alex’s building. Right when I was about to press the buzzer at the main entrance, another resident came out and held the door for me. I thanked her, walked in, and looked up the stairs sullenly, dreading having to climb them yet again.

Five freaking flights. It made me want to puke. Whining under my breath, I slowly and steadily slogged my way up landing after landing for what seemed like an eternity. What were those contraptions called that old people used to go upstairs? Stair lifts? That’s exactly what they should install here. I giggled and promised myself to get around to doing something about my fitness level. But since I knew myself better than anyone, I also knew that “get around to” was a fairly elastic expression.

When I finally reached the last floor, I caught my breath for a couple of minutes before ringing the doorbell. It wasn’t long before Elyas opened the door for me. Even though he had behaved more or less normally during my past few visits and had largely stayed out of my way, it was still not exactly thrilling to see him.

“Hi,” I said.

“Hey—Emely was the name, right?” He smiled and winked.

“You’re a regular comedian,” I muttered. “Will you let me in now? Or is there more to your stand-up routine?”

He smiled, cocked his head slightly, and pretended to give some serious thought to whether to let me in.

God, what a freaking jerk!

“OK, if you insist.” He shrugged and stood back to let me in.

Attaboy.

He closed the door behind me and headed toward the couch, where he had evidently been before being roused by my ringing. Without giving him a second glance, I headed toward Alex’s room.

“Where are you going?”

I frowned and turned to look at him. He was still sitting on the couch with his back to me.

“To see Alex.”

“Oh, right. Alex isn’t home.”

I stared at his back and felt my frowning muscles cramp. Was he making fun of me?

To get to the bottom of the matter, I went to Alex’s door, pushed down on the handle, and found that her room was pitch dark inside. I flipped on the light to confirm my fear.

This could not be true.
That lousy little—

My eyes narrowed into thin slits as a soft growl escaped my throat. I stomped back into the living room, planted myself in front of the couch, and crossed my arms over my chest. The grin on Elyas’s face spoke volumes, and the more clearly I saw that he had pulled one over on me, the stupider I felt.

“Very funny! You could have mentioned she wasn’t home when you answered the door!” He could hardly hold back his laughter.

“You were the one in such a hurry to come in,” he said, playing innocent. I growled again.

“You really think you’re all that, huh?” I said. Apparently he found the expression on my face amusing, only irritating me more.

“Oh, come on,” he said, finally relenting. “First of all, it was, in fact, funny. Second, Alex will be back any minute now. And third, you should take a seat on the couch to wait instead of standing around like an idiot.”

I didn’t like the thought of sitting on the couch with him one bit. I considered waiting for Alex in her room, but that would make me seem like a little girl in a huff.

“I won’t bite,” he said.

I wasn’t so sure about that, but what could happen? At most he would get on my nerves, and that would happen no matter how much space there was between us. I mean, geez, I had just turned twenty-three; I should be able to sit next to someone for five minutes even if I couldn’t stand him. Although the incidents of the past had left a bitter aftertaste, they’d happened a long time ago. And the TV was on, so I wouldn’t actually have to
talk
with him.