“Jake, Emily. You’re up.”
I grabbed the poster and, with shaky hands, took the rubber band off. I walked up to the front of the class where Jake was waiting. I held the poster up, covering my face and let Jake do the talking. The three-minute presentation seemed to last three hours. How did people do this? It was as if I could feel everyone’s stares through the poster.
I sank into my seat with a deep breath once we were done. I felt relieved as I put my head down on my desk, but my heart was still racing a hundred miles a minute. I tried to take deep, slow, quiet breaths to calm myself.
I felt a hand on my shoulder and then I heard a whisper, “Are you okay, Emily?”
I turned my head to look at Jake. “I’m fine.” I gave a weak smile, but he didn’t seem to buy it. “I’m fine. Go. Sit down before we get in trouble.” However, it seemed that the teacher knew he was back there. I sat up and pointed to his empty chair, silently telling him to go sit down. After a moment, he did as I wished.
I didn’t put my head back down as I was feeling a bit better. Jake kept glancing back at me and I would offer a wave.
When class was over and I was relieved. Since I didn’t have to get Drake today, I thought it would be good to walk home. After making the necessary stops, I walked out of school and made my way to the sidewalk.
“Emily!” I turned to see Jake standing by his car. “Do you want a ride?”
“If I wanted a ride, wouldn’t I have driven my own car?”
He laughed and said, “Good point.”
I turned around and began my walk home. While I was feeling better about my mom calling, I was worried she would call again. What if she showed up at my house? A cold shiver of terror went down my spine. Arriving home, I locked the door behind me. I sat down at the table and realized how empty the house was.
Without Drake or my dad here, the house was quiet and eerily empty. Silence meant my thoughts were coming full force like a train and crashing into me. I couldn’t go through with this. Whatever this was. After the game Thursday, life would go back to normal. I wouldn’t have to be around Jake. I wouldn’t have to wonder why he was around. I wouldn’t have to wonder why some random person like Jake Benson would want to be around me when my own mother despised me.
Tired of the trail of thoughts, I pushed my chair back and walked over to the radio that was installed under the cabinets over the counter. I found one of my favorite stations, Bob 93.3 and turned it up. I felt better with some noise.
I finished my homework two hours later. My dad came in the door as I was packing my things up. “Hey, hon. How was your day?”
“Pretty good. Yours?”
“Tiring. I’m going to have to work this weekend. Will you be okay here?”
“Of course.” Dad started to get various items out of the fridge and pantry for supper. “Oh, Jake wants us to go to his game tonight. We can just grab a bite later.”
He began to put everything back, “Alrighty then, what time does it start?”
“In about thirty minutes. We should go ahead and find seats.”
“Okay, I’ll drive. Just let me get out of my suit.” He left me in the kitchen to change.
I went to my room with my backpack in hand and dropped it beside my dresser. I checked myself in the mirror…whoa, where did that come from? I haven‘t cared what I looked like in a long time.
“Let’s go, Emily.” No time to think about it. With my phone in my jacket pocket, I headed out the door and to the game.
We met the chilly air as we entered the rink. “Emily! Over here!” I looked towards the bench and saw Drake waving at me. My dad and I made our way to him. He gave me a hug.
“Hey, buddy.”
“Hey, Emily. Hey, Mr. Mike. Can we get ice cream after the game?”
My dad was the one who answered. “If Jake wins, we can.” Drake smiled a huge smile. “He will win then. I saved you guys a seat!” He pointed to two seats next to the bench in front of the glass. The players were starting to come out and skate around the ice. “Well, I have to go.” Drake waved goodbye and went to go to the bench.
We took our seats and the game began a few minutes later. My eyes followed Jake around the ice and, when he was on the bench
, I tried to focus on the entire team. The Ravens were already doing well. My dad and I rooted and cheered them on. I was having a fantastic time.
There were five minutes left in the 3rd period and we were leading 3-1 when I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Who in the world was calling me? Taking it out, I looked at the screen, and it was as if everything around me fell away. My hands began to shake as I saw the word Mom popping up on the screen.
“Emily? What’s wrong,” I vaguely heard my dad say. I showed him the phone and I saw his face turn to ice with anger. He took the phone and walked outside.