Cherry Red Summer (Emely and Elyas Book 1) (5 page)

It was not without reason that I usually put off our phone calls as long as possible, or called when I knew my father would be home alone. Talking to him was so delightfully uncomplicated, and often just hearing his voice was enough to calm me down from even peak-level college stress.

I did not dislike my mother, Carla. On the contrary, I loved her from the bottom of my heart. But she was an extremely trying person and stressed me out so much sometimes that I practically ripped my hair out.

Tonight she prattled on and on about the latest news, without stopping. After about an hour, she finally got to the subject of me. I closed my eyes, tilted my head back, squeezed the bridge of my nose, and braced myself for the barrage of questions, whose content could be inferred by listening to my side of the conversation alone:

“Yes, I’m fine.”

“Yes, it’s very hot here today too.”

“Uh-huh.”

“No, Mom.”

“No, really, Mom.”

“No.”

“Yes.”

“No!”

“Mom, are you crazy? The professors are all over fifty!”

“No, there’s definitely not anyone for me there!”

“No, I’m
totally
sure!”

“Mom!” I said interrupting her. “Please stop trying to get me to date!”

“No,
you’re
the one with the problem, not me!”

“No, Alex doesn’t have a boyfriend either.”

“Yes, she’s still alive.”

“Mom! Stop, you’re driving me crazy!”

“I couldn’t care less whose mother you ran into at the bake sale for African orphans!”

“Ye
s . . .
I know
. . .
”

“Everything’s fine at school.”

“No, you don’t need to send any money. How’s Dad?”

“I see,” I said, smiling. “Tell him I said hi.”

“Hey, don’t be mad, Mom, but I still need to fit in a jog today.”

“Yes,
I
want to go jogging—”

“It’s not that hot
. . .
”

“No, I won’t trip!”

“All right then, take it easy, and I’ll talk to you soon.”

“Yea
h . . .
bye.”

“No, I definitely won’t be getting to know anyone there!”

“Yes, I kno
w . . .
bye.”

I hung up with a loud sigh. My mother was going to be the end of me one day. That much was sure.

After our phone call, I lay on my bed for quite a while. Once I recovered and started to think about going for a jog, suddenly a thousand reasons popped in my head for putting it off until tomorrow. But, no, I thought, forcing myself to sit up. There was no getting out of finally doing something about the deplorable condition I was in. I had gotten up this morning determined to go for a jog, and, dammit, I was going through with it.

Resolved, I struggled off the bed and walked over to the closet. After I changed, I pulled my hair back and grabbed my iPod. I slid it into the pocket of my running shorts, looked around one last time, and left my room as fast as possible before I could have second thoughts.

When I hit the humidity, I hesitated again. It was way too hot to exercise outside, but who knew when I would feel inspired to try again. That’s why I wanted to carry through with it today, no matter what.

I planned to start the jog in a nearby park, and I was already sweating profusely by the time I made it there. This was my first day jogging, so with steely determination I set aside any sign of lethargy, switched on my iPod, and stuck the earbuds into my ears. I picked Bob Marley because reggae was the perfect pace for my speed. While stretching, I sang softly along to “Redemption Song,” whose theme of emancipation from the limits of the mind fit the situation perfectly, and then I took a deep breath and started jogging in slow motion.

A narrow gravel pathway wove all through the park, and even though the onlookers in the park were still too many for my tastes, I was glad the hot weather seemed to have diminished their numbers. I tried to block everything else out and focus solely on my feet.
Just act like you know what you’re doing
, I told myself, struggling onward.

Easier said than done, of course. Before long, my legs started feeling like I’d run a marathon. Unfortunately, my watch confirmed that my perception had little to do with reality, because I’d been jogging for only seven minutes.

Right, left, right, left,
I thought, clenching my teeth and forcing my legs to stick to it. Could I be so out of shape that I was out of breath after only a few minutes?
No. I wouldn’t allow it!
I doggedly stared at the ground, and I refused to let my lack of vigor conquer me again. I had to at least show it who was boss. Today was the day!

Unfortunately, my lack of vigor had a trump card up its sleeve, and it was all too happy to play it. Very soon I noticed an awful pain in my thighs. I cursed to myself. But when I looked up to see how far I had gotten toward my objective, I stopped dead in my tracks. I was looking right into two turquoise-green eyes, whose owner was casually jogging toward me.

For God’s sake. I couldn’t believe it. Why was I always crossing paths with him?

His lips were moving, but thanks to my music I couldn’t make out his undoubtedly glorious words. Elyas with the sound off was substantially more tolerable.

I stubbornly walked on, ignoring his sign language as he signaled to take out my earbuds. When he tried to tug on the cord himself, I caved.

“Small world,” he said grinning.

“Yes, shocking,” I said, panting. “Anywa
y . . .
have a nice jog.” With those words, I took off jogging down a different path.

“Hey, wait a second!” he called, jogging close on my heels.

“What do you want?” I snapped, feeling how seriously short of breath I was getting. Maybe I’d better stop.

“I don’t like jogging by myself,” he said, smiling, as he continued jogging next to me, breathing as casually as if he were taking a freaking stroll. I could not even express how much that frustrated me.

I gasped for breath. “You don’t like to jog by yourself, you don’t like to sleep by yourself—for the love of God, what does any of that have to do with me?” I grumbled, trying with great pains to keep running, while Elyas evidently found my outburst funny.

“So small, yet so snippy,” he said with a smug smile on his face.

God, why was I even talking to him?
Ignore him! Just ignore him! Block him out and focus on your legs.
Those legs were demanding mercy. But mercy would come only when I’d reached my objective. So,
right, left, right, left.

A few minutes later, the world’s most inspiring mantra couldn’t have helped me anymore. I was totally and completely out of breath. The pace Elyas was setting was just too fast. My head started spinning, and I got an odd pins-and-needles feeling in my mouth. Goddammit! I didn’t want to come off as weak in front of him—not in front of anyone, but definitely and absolutely not in front of him.

Keep going, keep going, keep going
were the only words going through my head, and with each step, it got harder.

“Hey, are you feeling OK?” he suddenly asked me.

“O
h . . . I . . .
fee
l . . .
grea
t . . .
,” I mumbled.
Keep goin
g . . .
keep goin
g . . .

“Your face is bright red. I think we’d better take a break,” he said.

Arrogant jerk. I definitely won’t be giving you the satisfaction.

“N
o . . .
nee
d . . .
,” I panted back, hardly enough breath left in me to speak.

“You sure?”

“Yea
h . . .
no
w . . .
sto
p . . .
bugging me.”
I’ll show you,
I thought with conviction.

Keep goin
g . . .
keep goin
g . . .
keep going
. . .

“Emely?”

Someone was calling my name.

“Emely!”

I slowly opened my eyes and was overcome by an unbearable headache. I grabbed my forehead. Where was I?

I squinted because the pain kept me from fully opening my eyes. Slowly the fog around me cleared, and my surroundings started coming together more and more. I saw something light blue, gigantic, infinitely wide—which, after a brief hesitation, I identified as the sky. After several more seconds of blinking, I finally made out the crowns of trees overhead.

What had happened? Why did everything in my whole body hurt? I wrinkled my forehead trying to force myself to remember, until suddenly the memory flashed back into my head.

Oh God, no!

I hadn’t—

“Are you feeling any better?” a voice asked.

With difficulty I turned my head, looking for the voice’s owner. It confirmed my worst fears. Elyas was standing by my feet, elevating my legs, and scrutinizing me with a worried look.

No. This could not be true. Where was the goddamned button I could press to rewind everything?

I was mortified. I wanted the earth to swallow me up. Right here. Right now.

I had fainted. In my pathetic attempt to continue jogging, I had actually fainted. Was there anything more embarrassing? Yes, there was. Fainting in the presence of Elyas Schwarz, and it had happened. I could only make whimpering sounds as I put my hands over my face. I thought I could somehow vanish that way, but—much to my disappointment—it didn’t work.

Deat
h . . .
Yes! Death wouldn’t have been bad right at this moment.

But since wishes never really come true, I didn’t die, either. Instead, I peeked through my fingers as Elyas continued to hold my legs, turning me slightly, and leaning my heels on a tree trunk to keep my legs up.

Maybe if I wished
he
would vanish? Just as a tiny glint of hope emerged that my new wish might come true, Elyas knelt beside me and took hold of my wrist to check my pulse.

“Don’t worry, Emely,” he said with a wink. “It’s not that bad.”

It’s all very well for him,
I thought. He wasn’t the one lying in the grass like an idiot.

“It looks like you’ve got a case of heat exhaustion, which can occur if you’re not used to being active in temperatures like this. We need to get some fluids and sugar into you. I’m going to get you a soda, and then you’ll be good as new.”

I turned my head to avoid eye contact with him. The only answer he got was a barely audible “Uh-huh.”

“If I leave you here for a minute, do you promise to stay lying down with your feet up?”

Was he joking? Did he think I was going to run off and squeeze a round of shopping in while he was away? Though I wanted nothing more than to stand up and make a quick getaway for all eternity, I was nowhere near able to do so. So I nodded, continuing to hope my wish for death might still somehow come true.

“Good,” he said. “I’m counting on you to stay put, and I’ll be right back.” With those words he ran off.

Geez! Why couldn’t someone else experience something like this for once? Why on earth did it always have to be me? And why did it always have to be me when
he
was around? He was going to tease me about it for the rest of my life. That much was sure.

I felt sorry for myself and cursed my fate until Elyas returned with a bottle of Coke, and to my even greater chagrin, sat down next to me. “Do you think you can sit up?”

Easier said than done, jerk.

I pushed myself up on my hands, disgruntled that Elyas was helping me. Once I was finally sitting up, everything spun, and my head felt like it would explode at any minute. Elyas handed me the opened bottle, which I took and started gingerly sipping.

“You’ll be feeling better in no time, you’ll see,” he said.

Although I didn’t put much faith in anything that came out of his mouth, in this case he ended up being right. After I had drunk half the soda, I started feeling better, though still not good. After fifteen more minutes, I thought I could at least stand again.

“What exactly do you think you’re doing?” Elyas eyed me as I made my first attempts.

“I’m feeling better. I’m going to go home,” I replied, straightening with some difficulty and trying to balance my weight on my still-wobbly knees. They turned out to be wobblier than I had expected.

“Let me help you,” Elyas said, suddenly at my side.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” I mumbled, waving him off—but then I started to sway.

He raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, I can see that.”

Without asking permission, he held my arm to keep me steady, and because I knew I’d just make a fool of myself if I didn’t let him, I clenched my teeth and bit my tongue. I was furious at myself. How had I even come up with the shitty idea of going for a jog?

“I should probably drive you home. My car’s parked just up there,” Elyas said, pointing, after we’d walked a few yards.

Um, did he just say he was going to drive me home
in his car
?

That got my brain going again.