Her phone rang, drawing her out of her thoughts. Emery pulled herself out of the pool and crawled onto the pavement without any grace whatsoever. She jogged over to her phone, tugging her bathing suit top to ensure that her boobs were covered at the same time.
When she saw who it was, a grin spread across her sun kissed face.
“Rach, you close?” Emery shook her head to the side, trying to get water out of her right ear.
“Don’t kill me,” Rachel answered.
Emery’s smile fell from her face and she stilled. “What?”
“I’m grounded. I can’t come. I’m so sorry.”
Emery was crestfallen, but knew that Rachel would come if she could. “That’s okay, Rach. It’s just a day.” She shrugged and sat down on the chair. “Have you seen Ashley?”
“Yes, this week. She’s doing great. My friend’s brother is in her class. Em, she’s so pretty and funny. She’s okay and she sent me a note to give to you for your birthday and also, I’m sending you a video from her.”
The weight that’d been on her chest lifted for a few moments. “When can you come?”
“Uh...I’m not sure, Dad is super pissed this time.”
“What’d you do?” Emery waited to hear some sort of criminal spree.
Rachel laughed. “He caught me and Derrick kissing.”
“That’s it?” Emery laughed too. “So I’m assuming operation take him down went well?”
“Oh he went down willingly, believe me.” Rachel’s giggle lit up Emery’s face. She was happy that Rachel had finally told Derrick how she felt.
“So…”
“Let’s just say I went on the best date of my life and that led to the best night of his life.”
“Damn, you’re easy.”
“Seriously, we’ve been teasing each other for years. I felt like we’d been engaged in foreplay since I was fourteen.”
“How was it?”
“Oh, Em, it was amazing. He was amazing and tender, but kinda arrogant in bed. It was sexy. We had sex like three times, and then he dropped me off and was giving me a goodbye kiss when Dad just happened to see.”
“So have you seen him since?”
“Of course. Being grounded doesn’t stop me from shit, especially since my father isn’t ever around. He’d notice if I was gone for two days, though.”
“Well, I’m glad Derrick feels the same about you.” Emery looked up just in time to see Noah pull into his parking spot. She smiled as he got out of his Jeep and walked to their condo. Their condo.
“I’m sorry I can’t come. Maybe next weekend. You know my dad will get sucked into some work shit and forget about me, so I’ll just slip out then.”
“Okay. I understand.”
“Oh, I got another payment to give you too.”
“Okay,” Emery responded, trying not to fall into that dark place where she would drown if she wasn’t careful. She was done letting him ruin her birthdays.
“Happy eighteenth slash twentieth birthday,” Rachel sang cheerily. “I love you, Em.”
“I love you more.” Emery smiled and disconnected the phone. She fell onto her chair, waiting for the ding of her phone indicating that Rachel sent her a video. As soon as she heard it, she scrambled to press play.
Her sister’s golden hair and eyes the color of a cloudless sky appeared immediately. Her smile was animated before she started speaking. “Emery, it was amazing to see your face! You can’t believe how it’s been since you’ve been gone. Mom slept in your bed for the whole first year. I’d hear her cry herself to sleep in your room. She’s been, like, crazy since then.”
Emery shielded her eyes so she could see the screen in the sun.
“Tell her something good, shit,” Rachel’s voice said from behind the camera.
Emery smiled, but wiped a stray tear that trickled down her cheek.
“Oh, you’re right, Coach is a hardass.” Her face lit up when she said “ass” and Emery giggled. “But I’m loving it. I’m pretty good too. I wish you could see. I’m almost as good as you were.” She looked to the right of the camera, then back into the lens. “Okay, I love you and miss you like crazy.”
The screen went black and she hit play again and again. She hadn’t seen her face in 667 days. When the screen cut off after the fifth time, she simply stared at it. Her stomach growled and she checked the time to see if it was time for lunch.
She left everything on the chair, knowing she’d be right back, and walked over to the condo. It was freeing to walk somewhere without feeling like she needed to cover up. Emery wasn’t quite sure when the change in her happened, but she’d grown okay with Noah seeing her scars. When she opened the door, she was assaulted by the smell of canned tuna. Noah was in the kitchen making lunch.