The Girlfriend Request Read online

  My daydreaming came to an abrupt end when my mom poked her head in the room. “Emma! What are you doing? I told you we were leaving at two. Your dad’s waiting in the car. Are you ready to go?” She fired questions at me one after the other like an automatic weapon.

  She still wore her church clothes—crisp blue linen skirt, button-up blouse, hair neatly tucked into a perfect twist. Mom looked every inch the school guidance counselor she was, complete with a slightly irritated expression.

  Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I sighed. “All right, all right, I’m ready.”

  Her narrowed eyes held mine as she studied me for a moment. “Is everything okay?”

  Standing up, I made sure to tuck my phone back into my pocket. “I’m fine. Sorry, I didn’t realize what time it was. I was talking to Eli.”

  Next came Mom’s knowing look, but she said nothing at first. Smoothing a non-existent wrinkle from the side of her skirt, she assumed a nonchalant tone. “How is he? Are you going to be seeing him later?”

  My hands stilled from throwing items into a tote bag. “Well, yeah. We always get together on Sunday.”

  “I know.” Stepping into the room, her navy pumps made no noise on the plush, lime carpet—carpet that Mom had tried her best to convince me not to select when redecorating, stating it was an eyesore and in no way conducive to rest and relaxation. Her words, not mine.

  I’d won that battle, arguing it was my personal space, and that it went perfectly with the printed bedspread and curtains I’d picked out. At least my room could reflect aspects of my personality I never let come through anywhere else.

  At school, I was the invisible girl. There was at least one of us in every grade, the one who silently sat in class and got As on every test but never raised her hand. I wasn’t in any extra-curricular clubs, unless you counted the Math League, and no one did. Even I’d admit my clothing choices were safe, bland—and utterly boring.

  By now, Mom had crossed over to stand behind me as I sat at my vanity table. She stood silently, watching me in the mirror. I rolled my eyes as I removed my hair tie, and attempted to tug a brush through my long, wild curls, despising them more with every pull. I finally gave up and slammed the brush back down on the dresser, tears threatening. I wasn’t even sure what was wrong; I just felt so lost lately, like the kid sitting alone at the playground watching all the other kids play.

  Gentle hands on my shoulders distracted me from the self-pity party. I sniffed back tears.

  “Shh, sweetie, stop.” Mom reached up and softly smoothed my hair back and began to braid. The action reminded me of when I was a little girl and she would sit behind me on my big white four-poster bed. She would sing while she twisted my hair into one smooth braid that would spill down the back of my favorite pink Belle nightgown, the one with the lace ruffle at the top that always made me feel so pretty.

  Tilting my head forward slightly, I allowed her to take me back in time to the days when I still believed in fairytales and happily-ever-afters. Back to when I had complete faith that the Prince would always see that the quiet girl was really a secret Princess, and pledge his undying love before he kissed her.

  As Mom’s hands stilled on my back, my eyes drifted open and I once again saw the more grown-up me staring back from the mirror, and the magic disappeared. I’d stopped believing the fairytale a while ago, pretty much when I realized that the quiet, average girl didn’t really get the guy. Instead, that honor went to the outgoing, perky Barbie-clones with perfect smiles who knew how to giggle and flirt to get whatever they wanted.

  Finished, Mom twisted the elastic tie around the bottom. Leaning in, she hugged me from behind, meeting my gaze. “There. You look beautiful.” She smiled.

  Yeah, right. Beautiful. A mom has to say that. Some unwritten rule of motherhood.

  I offered a weak smile in return. “Thanks.”

  My stomach twisted, because Mom’s face looked worried. Even so, I could see myself in my mom’s reflection—the same dark eyes, small nose, the same wide mouth, but somehow on my mother it looked elegant.

  “Emma, I respect if you don’t want to talk about whatever you’re feeling right now. But”—she spun me around to face her before continuing—“I wish you could see yourself the way others see you. You might be surprised.” Giving me another quick hug, she added, “And that includes a certain neighbor.”

  I pulled back and stammered, “This has nothing to do with him. I don’t know what you mean.”

  Mom tilted her head slightly before giving a gentle smile. “Okay. Either way, you’re special, Emma. Don’t forget that.” Dropping her arms back down to her sides, she turned and headed to the door. “We’ll be down in the car. Don’t take too long.”

  I nodded. “I’ll be right there.”

  She left the room, leaving me to my own thoughts. She had no idea what she was talking about; there was no way Eli could see me as anything really special. As a good friend, sure. He’d do anything for me, and always had my back, but as more than that? Something romantic? No way the thought ever occurred to him, that was for sure. Guys like him didn’t go after girls like me except in movies or books. Real life wasn’t that generous.

  But all that was going to change. I stood, lifting my chin. No more waiting in the wings. I was ready to play the starring role in the story of my life, with Eli as my leading man.

  Chapter Three

  Eli

  Something was up. I didn’t care what Emma said, no way she was acting that weird over SATs coming up. One of the smartest people I knew, her intelligence was one of the things I admired the most about her.

  I leaned back in my beanbag chair and stared outside. The sight of a piece of Emma’s window, visible behind the oak tree in the yard, reminded me of the time we’d strung tin cans together and tried to use them like walkie-talkies after seeing it in some old movie. I shook my head and laughed. It hadn’t worked out that great. We’d given up after about forty-five minutes of pretty much shouting across our yards to hear each other.

  It’d been Em and I doing crazy stuff like that almost as far back as I could remember, ever since she moved to town. What was so great was that she wasn’t like some of the other girls at school—I could just relax and be myself around her without having to worry about all the stress of relationship crap. It wasn’t like that with us. My friend, Kevin, didn’t get it. He kept asking me if I was “hitting that.” Kevin’s relationships—or should I say hookups—tended not to last past one or two nights. Me and Emma? It was different. I wouldn’t change a thing.

  I grabbed my laptop to upload some of the pictures to Facebook. Soccer camp had been epic. We’d learned a ton of new drills and the coaches were awesome. With the new footwork I’d picked up, we’d totally crush McKinley in the playoffs. With so many schools in the Lancaster area competing in Division I, it took a lot of sweat and hard work to earn the title, which was why it’d been so important to go to the extra training camp. Hopefully college scouts would see me this season and offer a scholarship. I wasn’t supposed to know, but walls were thin. Although Mom was selling more of her work, money was still a little tight since Dad’s old company downsized and he had to start consulting.

  A new friend request showed pending from a Kelli Summers, but I didn’t recognize the name. I clicked it open and stared. Damn, this Kelli was cute. Out of my league actually, more like someone you’d see modeling swimsuits or something. I leaned in closer to read her profile. She looked like that and liked Star Wars? Talk about a no-brainer. Friend request accepted.

  I leaned back and smiled. Talk about a day looking up. Kind of made up for having to clean up the mess Vader made in the house.

  A quick glance at the time reminded me that I’d better get a move on. I shifted in the lumpy chair, sore muscles complaining. Maybe a shower would help. I sniffed under my arms. Oh yeah, I reeked. My stomach grumbled, reminding me I hadn’t eaten since before we got on the bus to head home.

  I couldn’t wai
t to hit Valenti’s. Besides the fact that Em and I both loved their pizza, we made the restaurant our usual Sunday spot since it was close to where she visited her grandparents each week. Either I walked over to meet her there after her visit, or sometimes I’d drive her and stay while she visited her grandparents before we grabbed dinner before our weekly movie night.

  Besides looking forward to the food, I wanted to make sure she was okay. I stood up and stretched. I’d get it out of her. After all, we’d never had secrets between us.

  Chapter Four

  Emma

  “Bye Nana, bye Pappy. I love you!”

  As I leaned in to kiss each of their softly wrinkled faces, a surge of love washed over me. Old-fashioned or not, I really enjoyed my family’s tradition of visiting my grandparents at the retirement home for a few hours each week.

  I’d kept surreptitiously checking my iPhone all afternoon, and knew right away when Eli hit accept on “Kelli’s” friendship request. A quiver of excitement ran through me. It was starting.

  Since Mom and Dad wanted to stay to watch some old movie with Nan and Pap, they’d told me I could head out and walk the three blocks to Valenti’s.

  Stepping out into the late afternoon air, I smiled and breathed in deeply as a rush of sun and breeze hit. April wasn’t always this warm in Pennsylvania, so the recent spikes in temperature were a welcome change. Although it probably wouldn’t last, it felt great to be able to throw on shorts instead of long pants and a jacket.

  I didn’t pay much attention to the quaint shops or the couples window shopping hand in hand as I strolled down the quiet street. My mind focused on trying to think if I’d covered my tracks. I’d waited to send the request until I had already racked up a bunch of other “friends” on Kelli’s page.

  It amazed me how plenty of kids, mostly guys, were more than happy to add some hot girl to their friends list even though they had absolutely no idea who she was. For all those other kids knew, I could be some creepy sixty-year-old man sitting in my underwear, typing away from my basement apartment.

  Fingers of guilt crept in since I was totally pretending to be someone else too. I quickly reminded myself that I wasn’t some creepo stalker; I just wanted to get a guy to fall in love with me. Okay, so maybe not completely above-board, but still.

  As I rounded the street corner, red neon lettering on a building partway down the block spelled out the word Pizza. Eli’s black Jetta sat parked near the door, close to the large awning in front of the restaurant.

  I smoothed my plain navy T-shirt flat against my stomach, willing the unsettled feeling in my gut to disappear. I could do this. I had a 3.8 GPA and took honors classes for crying out loud. This should be a piece of cake.

  Twirling an empty straw wrapper around my index finger, I tried to think of a way to work the conversation around to Facebook. Since I didn’t have much of an appetite, I’d only nibbled at the slice in front of me on the grease-streaked paper plate. Finished, I sat in the padded booth across from Eli and watched him devour his fourth slice.

  The overhead fan spun lazily, seeming to push warm rather than cooled air down on us. My bare legs stuck to the red vinyl seats. The random thought that I might have pepperoni stuck in my braces made me run my tongue over my teeth. Out of nowhere, the image of doing the same thing to Eli rushed through my head, and I couldn’t help but stare at his mouth.

  He glanced up to catch me studying him. “Do I have sauce on my face or something?” He absently swiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

  “What? Oh, no.” Warmth rushed up my neck and into my cheeks as I shook my head. “I was just thinking.”

  He pushed his sauce-speckled plate away and leaned in. “About?”

  Yeah, I so wasn’t telling him what had really been on my mind. I dropped the wrapper and played with the packets of sugar nested in a small white dish on the table instead.

  “I don’t know. A bunch of stuff. Summer vacation coming up in a couple months, how next year will be our last in high school. That kind of thing.”

  In one smooth movement, he reached over, took the sugar packets from my grasp, and placed them back in the container with one hand while holding my wrist gently with the other. Tiny fragments of energy sizzled against my bare skin where he touched me, kind of like the sparks that shoot out from a sparkler you played with as a kid.

  His gaze was questioning. “Em, you seem nervous. I know you told me earlier that nothing was going on, and I tried my best to not bring it up for the past”—he glanced at his watch—“forty minutes.”

  My entire arm still tingled from even that casual touch.

  As his thumb lightly brushed the inside of my wrist, I reached over without thinking and pressed my hand against his. I suddenly felt like a little kid poking at an electrical socket, knowing it probably wasn’t a good idea and I might get shocked, but unable to resist. He offered an encouraging smile. “Now c’mon. Whatever’s going on, stop worrying.” Ha! If he only knew.

  “You’re right, summer is almost here. And you know what that means?” He grinned broadly, causing his dimple to peek out. He hated his dimple, I loved it.

  Unable to resist him, I relaxed and smiled back. “No. Tell me, Yoda, what does that mean?”

  “It means…” He drew out his response as he stood, pulling me up with him. “That we’re going to finally get a bunch of us together to actually take that road trip to Ocean City we’ve been talking about for the past two years.”

  “Are you crazy? My parents will never let me go to the beach with a bunch of kids and no adults.”

  He waved away my protests. Reaching into the back pocket of his jeans, he pulled out his wallet. “Here, dinner is on me.”

  I fought disappointment when he released my hand to grab a twenty and throw it on the table next to the check.

  “What are you doing? It’s my turn. You paid last week, remember?”

  “Whatever. Consider it my way of saying it’s nice to be back and see you after soccer camp.” He tossed me a quick grin.

  “You were only gone two days, not two months.” I rolled my eyes, brushing away the comment that secretly made me glow inside.

  Eli tipped his head. “Okay. So consider it my way of apologizing for yelling at you earlier.”

  Covering my face with my hands briefly, I grimaced. “You had every right, I screwed up. And I feel awful about that.”

  He placed his hand on the small of my back to lead me toward the exit as he shook his head. “Doesn’t matter, I over-reacted. So, I’m sorry too. I know you’d never purposely break a promise you made to me. It was an accident.” Pulling the glass door open, he motioned me out first, following close behind. “I know you,” he reiterated as we walked toward his car. “And I know I can trust you. You’d never lie to me. It’s as simple as that.”

  The fake profile photo flashed in my head.

  I smiled weakly as he gallantly opened my car door with a flourish before jogging around to get in his own side. As he turned the key, he glanced my way. “Oh, and I hope you’re ready for my movie pick.”

  “What’d ya get?” We took turns grabbing a movie from Redbox, and agreed to watch each other’s picks—with varying degrees of success.

  “It’s a surprise,” he teased.

  Expelling a long fake sigh, I said, “Fine, but it better not be anything as bad as that one you made me watch a couple weeks ago.”

  He shook his head and chuckled. “The Hills Have Eyes? What was wrong with that one? I went for an oldie but a goodie.”

  “Yeah, well it had the oldie part right. Other than that, oh my God. Just…no.” I wrinkled my nose.

  “You screaming when they came through the trailer door. Classic.” He tipped his head back, howling with laughter as he eased into a stop at a red light.

  I rolled my eyes and stuck my tongue out. “So, what did you do this afternoon?”

  His tan fingers lightly grasped the leather wheel, turning it slightly when the road veered left a
nd he began moving forward again. He managed to make the simple act of driving a turn-on.

  “Not much. Straightened up. Unpacked my stuff from training camp. Messed around online a little.”

  My heart rate sped up at the last part. “You said you were going to take pictures while you were at camp. Did you post them on your page yet?”

  The wind through the open windows blew his hair forward slightly, causing it to fall into his eyes. “Yep, I took pictures. I didn’t have time to get them all up, but I put a few on my page.”

  “Well, how about when we get back to my place we check them out before we watch the movie?” Since that might sound like it was coming out of nowhere, I hurried on in a teasing tone, “I want to see evidence you were really there, and not at some geek convention.”

  My actual motivation was thinking that if we went online together, he might bring up the request from Kelli, since he didn’t know her. Or else I could casually bring it up since it showed in his feed that he’d added a new friend.

  “Yeah, right. Like if I was at a geek convention I’d show you pictures just so I’d have to hear you calling me R2-Geek2 again for a month.” Laughing, he leaned over to turn up the radio. “I love this song.” He began to drum the beat out on the wheel before joining in for the chorus.

  Listening to his throaty voice singing was like listening to ocean waves crash against the shore, relaxing and exciting all at the same time. I fought off a cheesy grin, and hummed along, too.

  The drive home went quickly, and before I knew it, the familiar trees edging the end of our street came into view. It was hard to believe how much things changed from the first time I’d seen those towering maples. Back then I’d wanted nothing to do with this town. Now I couldn’t imagine not living here, not meeting Eli. It’s funny how our attitudes about life or circumstances change when we least expect it.

  Streetlights hadn’t come on yet since it wasn’t even 7:00. Children still shrieked with laughter and yelled to each other from different yards. Calls of, “You’re it!” and, “Billy, it’s my turn to use the scooter!” floated our way.