Some Loves (4 page)

“Grandma,” Noah groaned. He shook his head as he started packing the loose photos back into the box.

She looked affronted. “What? You had more important things to do tonight?
More important than helping your grandma?”

“You know I never mind helping you. But I do have a lot of homework,” he admitted. He glanced at me. “I’m sure that Emory does too.”

Unfortunately, he was right. I was going to be up late finishing it. At the same time, I didn’t mind in the least. It was worth it to have this time with Noah. I glanced at Adelaide as Noah hefted the box into the air.

“I’m sure Emory doesn’t mind at all,” Adelaide said as she winked at me.

I shook my head, amused at her antics, and smiled back. “Not at all.”

“Since you know where your photo is, I’ll go put this box back in the closet.” He took off down the hallway.

“I don’t know what happened with you two,” she said quietly. “I just wanted to see for myself whether or not I thought things were truly over. I don’t believe for one second that they are. If you love that boy, which I think you do, then you need to fight for him. Fix whatever is broken.”

“I wish I could,” I said. “But it’s not that easy.”

“Of course it isn’t,” she scoffed. “Fighting for love is never easy.”

“Everything is put away,” Noah said as he came back into the room. He sat down on the edge of a chair.
His elbows rested on his knees. “Is there anything else you need before I go?”

“Oh,” Adelaide said slowly, “I don’t think so. But maybe the two of you can come over for dinner again real soon.”

Noah flicked a glance at me and then back to his grandma. “Maybe.” His tone was noncommittal.

“Do either of you have special plans for the weekend?” she asked.

“Uh, no,” Noah answered. “Not really.”

“Just going out with friends,” I said.

She nodded, as if thinking that over.

“I need to get going,” Noah said as he rose to his feet.

“I should get going too. Adelaide, thank you for dinner. It was so good,” I said as I stood.

She nodded as she followed us to the door.

“Thank you for your help tonight,” she said.

Noah cast her a wry glance. “No problem. I’m glad you remembered where the photo was.”

She didn’t respond but her eyes twinkled in amusement.

“It was fun looking through the old pictures,” I said.

“It was, wasn’t it?” she agreed. She turned to Noah. “You’re going to walk Emory to her car, aren’t you?”

He nodded. “Of course.”

We said our goodbyes and made our way outside. Noah was parked right behind me on the street. I was sure Adelaide had realized that. She was likely just trying to make a point.

“I had fun tonight,” I said as we approached my car.

Noah gave me a sideways look and a half smile. “Yeah. It was a nice night.”

I pulled in a deep breath. Adelaide was right. I needed
to fight for Noah. So far, all I’d done was stand back. I’d wanted to give him some space and I’d wanted to put some distance between the situation last fall. But now, it felt as if enough time had passed. Maybe even too much.

“Noah, do you think maybe—”

“I do really need to get home,” he quietly interjected. I wondered if he knew what I was about to ask.

“Of course,” I said as we reached my car. “Right. Lots of homework.”

“Lots of homework,” he agreed. “See you around?”

“Sure,” I agreed because right then,
there didn’t seem to be a whole lot else to say.

Riley threw her arms in the air in her typical dramatic fashion. “I forgot how nice it is to have room to get ready! Usually when Casey and I are going out, we end up crashing into each other, fighting over the mirror, or tripping over the clothes we have laid out.”

“You don’t like living in the dorm?” I surmised.

Her arms flopped back to her sides as she made her way over to my bed. It appeared that she had half of my closet emptied out onto it. She had pants and skirts paired up with cute, flirty tops. Not an inch of my bedspread could be seen.

“It’s not all that it’s cracked up to be,” she somberly admitted as she plucked up my purple suede jacket. “Can I wear this tonight?”

I eyed it up. I had worn it a lot my senior year but I hadn’t worn it for months. “You can
have
it.”

“Seriously?
I thought you loved this jacket.”

“Seriou
sly.” I had found the jacket at a consignment store. I had a feeling it was retro-eighties. While I’d liked it a lot at first, I’d tired of it. “I don’t wear it anymore.”

She made
loud obnoxious air-kisses at me and then shrugged herself into it.

I turned back to my mirror and picked up my flat-iron again.
My hair was probably as straight as I was going to get it but it gave me something to do while Riley primped in front of the mirror again.

“I don’t know why you would want to get rid of those gorgeous curls,”
she said as she came up behind me.

“These ‘gorgeous’ curls have a habit of turning into chaotic frizz,” I drily pointed out.

“But your hair is so pretty.” She ran a hand over it. I felt a bit like a kitten that she was petting so I shook her off.

“Thanks,” I said with a laugh, “but since you were blessed with naturally straight hair, you have no idea what a hassle curls can be.
So why,” I said as I turned to her, “would you go to all this trouble?”

My hand floated up and I wound one of my fingers through her curls. She’d just recently started wearing it that way.

She shrugged as she swatted my hand away. “I guess we always want what we can’t have. And what I want are your curls. And your jacket.”

“You are welcome to both.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Are we about ready to get out of here?”

I eyed up the pile of clothes on my bed. She must’ve decided another clothing change was not in order.
I’d deal with the mess later.

“Sure. We’re just meeting Casey and Beth Ann there, right?”

“Yeah. And Mel should be there too. She was so excited for tonight. She came into our room and raided our closets twice this week,” Riley said with a laugh.

“Good for her,” I said with a smile as my phone started to ring. “I hope everything works out for her.”

I crossed the room to my bed and picked up my phone. I glanced at it and then silenced it.

“Who was that?” Riley asked.

“My dad,” I said as I shoved the phone into my pocket.

“Edward’s been calling you?” She couldn’t hide her surprise.

“Strange, I know,” I said with an edge to my tone. “He doesn’t call often but he used to call
never
.”

“Do you ever talk to him?”

I laughed self-consciously. “Believe it or not, I do. It’s just that usually his timing is terrible, like now. And then he can’t understand why I sometimes need to cut him off. Sometimes it’s just easier not to talk to him at all.” Truth be told, it was always easier not to talk to him at all. But I felt guilty if I ignored him too often. However, tonight was an exception. I didn’t feel guilty because I was busy with Riley.

“Well then,” Riley said
as she put her hand on her hip, “if you’re ready, I think we should get out of here.”

I laughed. “Riley, I’ve been ready for almost an hour. I’ve been waiting for you.”

“Let’s get out of here then.”

“So tell me again, where, exactly, are we going?”
I asked as we made our way down the stairs.

“Beth Ann’s boyfriend has been living in a rented cabin on the lake. He’
s having a party but it’s invite only. We, thanks to Beth Ann, are invited.”

Fortunately Riley had paid attention when Beth Ann had given her directions. The cabin was tucked away at the edge of town. We drove on a winding dirt road until we came upon the driveway that was back in the woods.

“This has to be it,” Riley said as we turned down it. As soon as we did, a line of cars came into view.

“For invite only, it looks like a lot of people showed,” I surmised.

She shrugged. “You know how these things go.”

I parked behind the last car in the line. The moment we got out, I could hear music. It was probably coming from down by the lake. We made our way closer to the cabin, greeting a few people that we knew along the way.

Laurie, a girl we knew from the dorms called out as we walked by. “Hey ladies! The keg is down by the lake. And if you’re looking for Casey or Beth Ann, they’re both down there too.”

“Thanks!” I told her.

“No problem. I’m glad you showed up. I don’t see you out very often.”

Riley threw her arm around my shoulder. “She’s here now.”

“Hey! Riley!”

We both
turned to see who had called out to her. A smile spread across her face as we caught sight of a tall, lanky blond lumbering our way. He must’ve just come out from the cabin because I hadn’t seen him a few seconds ago.

“That’s Kevin. He lives here too. Do you mind if I talk to him for a minute?” Riley asked.

“No, that’s okay. But maybe I’ll just go look for Beth Ann and Casey.”

“Just follow the trail down to
the lake,” Laurie said. “It’s that way.”

There was a row of trees that had a break in it where a wide dirt path appeared.

“Thanks,” I said.

“I won’t be long,” Riley assured me.

I crossed the lawn to the path. The sun was just beginning to set. The closer I got to the lake, the louder the party became. Along with the music I could make out the sound of laughter and gently rippling waves. The dim hum of multiple conversations buzzed through air. I hadn’t realized until that moment how much I needed a night out. I’d been staying home too much lately, acting like a recluse, probably wallowing in my self-pity a bit too much.

I was looking forward to having a good time tonight.
A bonfire on the beach, good friends, good music, and a gorgeous evening under the stars sounded like a great distraction. Casey and Riley especially were a lot of fun to be around. I was silently vowing to myself to go out more when my footsteps slammed to a halt when I noticed the sight before me. My heart felt as though it skipped a few beats before taking off again.

This could not be happening.

Melanie’s shiny red hair was nearly impossible to miss. Yet, that wasn’t what had caught my attention. Noah was leaning against a tree, looking down at her, a smile on his lips. Whatever she was saying, it had his full attention.

I stood frozen, as if watching that proverbial train wreck. Knowing you shouldn’t look, that you aren’t going to like what you see, yet unable to look away. Yeah, that was me.

A mixture of jealousy, sorrow, and regret grabbed hold of my heart. It wrapped around it, squeezing it painfully.

Melanie’s hand slid up to Noah’s cheek. I told myself to look away. Better yet, my brain commanded my feet to walk away but my feet refused to listen. I stared for a few horrible, drawn out seconds. Noah’s mouth met Melanie’s in a slow, drawn out kiss. His hands skimmed down her back, resting gently on her hips. She moved in closer as her arms went around his neck.

It felt as though I’d been standing there forever, yet it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds. My feet finally managed to receive the message my brain had been screaming at them. I turned around—because there was no way I could keep walking straight ahead. The gravel skidded under my sandal.

To me, the sound was deafening. I cringed as I prepared to dart away. I had only managed a few steps when Melanie called out my name.

I kept walking. Not too fast. I didn’t want to look like
I was running away.

“Emory!” Melanie tried again. I heard her mutter something to Noah and then I heard her footsteps grating against the gravel as she tried to catch up to me.

I realized I had to stop. I’d look like a crazy person if I just continued to ignore her.

I was really left with no choice. I
stopped and let her catch up to me but I didn’t turn around.

“Emory,
I want you to meet someone! I already introduced him to Casey and Beth Ann,” she said with a big smile. Her eyes were sparkling and I couldn’t remember ever seeing Melanie so happy.

I, on the other hand, felt nauseous.

I looked at her and forced a smile. I was going to keep myself from looking at Noah for as long as I could. I felt my lip trembling, my eyes were burning, my throat was constricting. This was not good.
I could not cry. Oh, please, not now.

“Noah,” Melanie said,
“this is—”

“Emory,” he finished for her.

I glanced up at him. I hadn’t heard him walk up, closing the distance between us. A look of confusion flashed across his face.

“You know each other?”
Melanie asked, suddenly looking confused as well.

I cleared my throat and turned back to Melanie. Maybe we could finish this introduction and I could just leave. Not go up to the party…simply
leave
. There was no way I could stay here tonight.

“Yeah. We, uh…we went to school together.”
I tried to force a smile. It probably came out as more of a grimace. I wrapped my arms around my stomach. My hands were shaking and I felt like my knees were about to give out on me. I glanced over my shoulder at the trail behind me. The row of trees that separated this winding trail from the front yard was only about twenty feet away.

It felt like twenty miles as I stood here, feeling trapped in place.

“Oh!” she exclaimed. “I had no idea.”

“Well,” I said as I took a step away, “it was nice seeing you again.”

“Yeah,” he said. “You too.”

I spun ready to hurry out of there. The moment I was facing away from Noah I felt the tears reemerge.

“Emory!” Melanie called after me. “Where are you
going
?”

Anywhere but here
, I thought.

I had every intention of getting back to my car as quickly as possible.
I’d only managed to take a few steps when Melanie’s hand clamped around my elbow, she took me by surprise with her firm grip.

“Hey,” she said.
“The party is this way. Casey and Beth Ann are down at the lake already. You can walk down with Noah and I. We…” she faded off as she got a good look at me. “Are you okay? You seem really…”

I quickly brushed the tears off of my cheek.

“What’s wrong?” she demanded. She glanced over her shoulder, presumably at Noah. I wasn’t about to look back to be sure. I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

“It’s nothing.
I’m just not feeling the best. I shouldn’t have come tonight so I think I’m going to head home. We’ll talk later,” I said as I pulled my arm free. I could tell she was about protest but before she could say a word, Riley appeared on the path.

“Hey guys!” Her huge smile faltered a bit. “Hey, Mel. Emory?” I subtly shook my head but she either ignored it or didn’t understand.
Her brow furrowed in concern and I wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear. “Noah,” she said in a chilly tone.

“Riley,” he returned.

“What’s going on?” Riley demanded. She looked at Noah with irritation in her eyes, then back at me. “Did you and Noah have another fight?”

As if this moment needed to become any more unbearable.

“I need to get out of here,” I whispered.

“Sure,” she said as she
looped her arm through mine. “I got it from here,” she said to Melanie.

I squeezed my eyes shut. Riley must’ve assumed that Noah and I had a fight and that Mel
anie had been trying to comfort me.

“Oh, Noah’s not with…” Melanie faded off.
She was silent for a few moments as everything clicked into place for her. “No. Oh, no.”

I gave her an apologetic look but she was looking at Noah. I
didn’t want to look at him but I couldn’t stop myself. He looked as uncomfortable as I was. Melanie’s gaze swung back to me, then Noah again.

“You didn’t just go to high school together. You two…” She faded off as the realization sunk in.
The happy sparkle from just a few minutes ago fizzled out completely. She knew that things had ended badly with my ex. She knew we’d been together for a long time and that I was nowhere near over him. What she didn’t know, until possibly right that second, was that Noah was the ex I was nowhere near over. She shook her head in disbelief. “Emory, I didn’t know.”