“Oh, come on, I’m lonely by myself at my apartment.”
“Call one of your girlfriends to keep you company.”
“I got bored with them. I’m currently taking applications for new ones.”
I rolled my eyes. “You need help.”
“Nah, I need to get laid.”
“Really?” Emma asked. “That’s more information than I needed.”
He ignored her as he looked at me. “Come on, let me in on the birthday fun.”
“Let’s not and say we did.”
“Let him stay, Jesse,” Emma said.
I gave her a pleading look. I’d lied about the movie part. I had no intentions of watching a movie with her. I wanted to get her naked. That would be kind of hard to do with Andy around.
I finally gave up and agreed to let him stay. By his reaction, I would have thought I’d told him that Christmas was here three months early. He really did need to get laid.
“I’ll be right back,” he said as he walked to the door.
“Take your time!” I yelled as he closed it behind him.
A few minutes later, he returned with bags full of alcohol and a birthday cake. I almost laughed at him until I saw the excitement in Emma’s eyes. I kept my sarcastic comments to myself as she took some of the bags from him and put them on the counter.
“Damn, Andy. Did you rob a liquor store?” she asked as she pulled bottle after bottle from the bags.
“Nah, I’m friends with a guy who works at a liquor store. He hooked me up.”
“Obviously.” Emma said.
I finished my cereal as Emma cut the birthday cake. It was obvious that she was way more excited over it than I was. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched her dig into a piece. It was good to see her happy again. When Ally had been around, I had been afraid that I would never see her smile again.
I pushed Ally from my mind as I picked up a piece of cake and started eating it. Today had nothing to do with Ally, and I wouldn’t let her ruin my birthday. Everything was going great for us right now. I finally had not only Emma back in my life, but Andy as well.
“You could at least pretend to be civilized,” Emma said as she watched me eat my cake with my hands.
“What’s the fun in that?” I pointed to Andy. “Yell at him, too. He’s eating it the same way I am.”
“I’m surrounded by cavemen.” Emma laughed at us.
Once we finished our cake, Andy started mixing drinks. It was kind of early to drink, but who cared? It was our birthdays, and we had nowhere to be. By the time we finally got around to watching a movie, we were all buzzed.
Andy sat in the chair closest to the couch as Emma snuggled into my side. I was actually kind of glad that I’d let Andy stick around. He was my best friend, and it was nice to have him here.
When the movie was finished, I put another one in and settled back onto the couch. Emma grabbed the blanket off the back of the couch and threw it over us. She snuggled back against me and sighed.
Even though we’d done nothing special, this was the best birthday I’d ever had. Things were finally coming together for me, and I couldn’t be happier.
Chapter Nineteen: Emma
I stretched and yawned as I glanced at the clock. I’d been studying for almost two hours, and I felt like my brain was about to explode. Jesse was still in class, so I’d taken advantage of the quiet to get ready for a big test on Monday. Whenever Jesse was around, things were rarely quiet.
I decided to take a break and find something to eat. As soon as I thought of food, my stomach growled loudly. I laughed as the sound seemed to echo around the quiet room. Yeah, I definitely need food.
I threw my book down on the living room table and walked to the kitchen. I opened the cabinet to grab a bowl. I rolled my eyes as I dug through Jesse’s eight-million cereal boxes until I found something that looked good. I swore that he lived off that stuff.
I poured some cereal into a bowl and sat down at the table to eat. I looked into the living room and smiled as I noticed that my things were everywhere. Since Jesse and I had gotten back together, I rarely spent any time at my dorm room. Without even realizing it, I’d managed to move half my stuff over here. If Jesse had noticed, he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, he was always the one who insisted I stay the night.
I was rinsing my bowl out in the sink when my phone rang. Thinking it was Jesse, I answered without looking at the screen to see who it was.
“Hello?”
“I’m surprised you answered,” my mother’s cold voice replied.
It took me a moment to get over the shock of hearing her voice.
“Mom?”
“Who else would it be?”
“What do you want? I mean, why are you calling?” I asked as I sat down at the kitchen table.
“To see if you’ve wised up yet.”
“What are you talking about?” I asked.
“Don’t play stupid, Emma. You know exactly what I’m talking about. I want to know if you’re bored with that school yet.” The way she’d said school made it sound like it was a dirty word.
“No, I’m not bored with it yet. I’m actually really happy here.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.”
“Why do you always do that? Anytime I’m happy, you always act like I shouldn’t be. Why can’t you just be happy for me?”
“You don’t belong there, Emma. You need to come home where you’re supposed to be.”
“So you can control my life again? No, thank you.”
“Where did I go wrong with you? I made sure you had everything you ever wanted, and you do this to me.”
I ground my teeth together to keep from yelling. I hated how she always tried to make me out to be the bad guy. She’d done it to me my entire life.
“Yeah, you gave me everything I wanted—except for a mom.”
“What on earth are you talking about?” she asked angrily.
I really didn’t want to do this with her. I was finally happy, and I knew she would only try to tear me down.
“You never acted like I was your daughter. All I wanted was for you to be a mom to me.”
“This is ridiculous.”
“No, it’s not. I’m tired of pretending that we have a relationship because we don’t. We never have.”
“I’m done with this conversation, Emma, and I’m done with you. Don’t bother to call me when the world comes crashing down around you.”
With that, she hung up on me. I sighed as I put my phone down on the table in front of me. Tears slid down my cheeks as I realized that I would never have a normal relationship with my mom. Things would always be tense between us. She wasn’t capable of being the kind of mother that I wanted. I wiped my tears away as I vowed not to let it bother me any longer. I wouldn’t let her destroy whatever life I’d built for myself here.
I picked my phone back up and deleted her number from my Contacts list. She would never know about Jesse. She would never know when I graduated from college and found a job. She would never know when she was a grandma. She would know nothing about me from this day on.
I stood and started walking to the bedroom when the doorbell rang. My forehead creased in confusion. I had no idea who it could be. The only person who ever stopped by was Andy, and he never bothered to knock, let alone ring the doorbell. I walked to the door and looked through the peephole. Not seeing anyone, I opened the door, but no one was there. I stuck my head out and looked both directions, but there wasn’t a soul around.
I assumed it was just kids messing around as I closed the door and walked back into the bedroom. As soon as I made it there, the doorbell rang again. I ignored it, but whoever it was rang it again. Afraid that someone was actually out there this time, I turned and made my way back to the door.