The Next Chapter

Chapter 30

I don't deserve to write something here after the last chapter, hehehe. Let's just- We'll jump right into it.

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Emery's POV

I've slept on it and nope- he's still a ginormous selfish fucking bastard who deserves to burn in hell. 

How could he say something like that?

It's about three by now and Auden should be home any minute. Ally went home before I fell asleep to help her mom with some preparations for tomorrow. Omg, tomorrow. What am I doing? I should help her. Not lie in my bed and feeling bad. 

Within about 10 minutes I'm at her place and a guy I've never seen before opens the door. I step back and look at the house.

"Ally lives here right?" I ask.

"Yes." He laughs. "I'm her cousin." He holds his hand out for me to shake. "Michael. And you are?"

"Oh, right. Emery. Nice to meet you, Michael." I smile at him and he smiles back. We stand here for a few seconds in silence. "So ehm... Is Ally here?"

"Oh, God! Forgot that." He laughs. "Yeah, she's upstairs." He moves over so I can walk in. I go straight to Ally's room where I find her on her bed.

"Hey." I say and sit down on her chair. "You never told me that you had a hot cousin." I laugh.

"Oh, I take it you met Michael?" She smiles. "Yeah, he's in college... In England so he's not around a lot." She explains.

"Oh. That's pretty cool. What's he studying?"

"Some medical thing. Doctor of something." Wow, he's smart.

"Why did he go all the way to England to do that?" 

"He had a serious relationship with his girlfriend but that ended pretty badly so he needed a fresh start. He loves it over there though." She smiles.

"Huh. Maybe I should do the same."

Ally looks at me. "How is it? Have you guys talked?" 

"I never replied." 

"To?"

I take my phone out and show her it.

Missed call from Jake.

Jake: Emery.

Jake: I have to talk to you.

Jake: You don't understand what happened.

Missed call from Jake.

Jake: Emery, please. 

Missed call from Jake.

Jake: I'm coming over.

Missed call from Jake.

Jake: You weren't home but tell me when you are, we need to talk.

Missed call from Jake.

Jake: Please, hear me out.

Jake: I have to tell my side of the story.

Missed call from Jake. 

Missed call from Jake.

Missed call from Jake.

"Omg. He's desperate to speak to you."

"Yeah, well I'm nowhere near wanting to talk to him." I say and put my phone back in my pocket. "My dad always said that Jake's dad was an asshole and now I can see that in his son. Runs in the family I guess." 

She looks at me for a while.

"Look, I don't really want to think about him anymore. Do you have something I can do? I'll do anything. Just give me something to distract me from everything." 

"Well, I guess you can help Michael with the food. We have to cook lasagna for tomorrow."

"Okay, yeah. I can do that. Thanks." I hug her and head downstairs to her kitchen where Michael is standing and preparing the meat. 

"Hey! Emery right?" He asks, smiling.

"Yeah." I smile back. "Ally said I could help with the food, so... What can I do?" I say, looking around the kitchen.

"You can start by putting on some music, do you like Queen?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I like Queen." 

"Good. So did he." He looks over at a picture of Ally's dad. "He wouldn't have wanted us to mope around. He would want us to move on and have fun." He pauses for a while and takes a deep breath. "So. Music?"

I nod and take my phone out to put on the music. I choose a song and let it shuffle from there. After that, I go to the sink to wash my hands and then I'm ready.

"So what's my job?"

"You can..." He looks around, thinking. "Oh! You can dice the onions." He says and hands me the onions. "The knives are over-"

"I can cut you off right there. I've known Ally all my life, I basically grew up here. I think I know where the knives are." I laugh.

"Right." He laughs too. "It's just- I've never met you so it's hard for me to imagine that you've known Ally for so long."

"Yeah, well I've never met you either so it was hard for me too to know who you are." I laugh and we just stare at each other. For a while. 

I tear my gaze away. "How big pieces?"

"Just about this." He shows with his fingers. I nod and get started.

About 3 minutes later I'm standing there, crying. "God, I can barely see." I laugh and wipe the tears away.

"I can do it if you want." He laughs.

"No. I'm a big girl. I can do it." 

"How old are you?" He asks. "I mean, I know you should never ask a woman about her age, so only answer if you want to." He laughs.

"It's fine." I say and go on to my next onion. "I'm graduating high school now in about a month. Like Ally." I smile.

"Right. Like Ally. So do you know where you want to study?"

I haven't even told mom and dad about this...

"Actually... I'm not going to college yet. I'm taking about a year to myself, figure things out you know." It feels good to say it out loud.

"Wow. That's a pretty big move. Good for you." He says and smiles at me.

Yeah... Pretty big.

"About moves... How is it in England? I've been there a few times."

"I love it. Much more than here."

"Oh really? Do you think you're staying there after college too?"

"I haven't decided yet. It depends on a lot of stuff I guess."

"Like?"

"Well, if I find a job there. An apartment. And if I meet someone." His green eyes meet mine but quickly goes back to the meat. "Just... Depends on a lot."

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So that's it! 

What do we think of Michael?