Beyond Those Eyes

Chapter Eight. My Epiphany

Sorry for the late update, I've been busy the past few days. Anyway, enjoy! 

Emily's POV:

 There are some days that seem normal but in truth everything changed. 

 'Today was a great example,' I thought to myself as I took a bite from my cheeseburger. My hands were sore from helping Ms. Harrison back in the bookstore. I had to put all the books back in the shelves, and believe me, it wasn't easy. 

 It was dinnertime; my family and I all ate our respectful burgers while exchanging stories about their day. 

 "-have to go to the seminar this week," Dad was saying, "Apparently John-"

 "The man with no hair?" Andy interrupted. 

 Alissa half-glared at him, "Andy, don't interrupt." 

 But dad looked at Andy in an adoring way, "Yes, the man with no hair. Anyway, he was supposed to be the one to go, but apparently he's home sick with the flu." There was a slight pause, "Which is kind of weird, if you think of it, since his voice seemed okay when I talked to him a few hours ago." 

 "Poor daddy," Andy said. 

 "Yeah, poor you," chorused Alissa. 

 "Poor me," Dad agreed as he gulped down his shrimp burger. He turned to Andy, "What did you do today, Andy?" 

 Andy beamed, "I helped mommy be un-bored!" 

 Mom, who had been quietly eating, exchanged looks with Dad. 

 "Un-bored isn't a word," Alissa snorted, but Dad cut her off. 

 "That was nice of you, Andy," he said, "And how was your day, Alissa?" 

 She shrugged, "It was decent." Then her eyes widened, as she remembered something, "Oh, I finally got an A in-" 

 Whatever subject it was that she had gotten an A on, I didn't hear, as my phone started vibrating from my pants. 

 My heart started to pound fastly. Could it be Terrence? 

 It wasn't that I had any feelings for him. It was just that after what had happened today, after what he'd agreed to do, I thought we'd be in a more contacting relationship than this. 

 I'd thought that he'd at least text me hey, or ask for more elaboration about this dating facade. 

 But no, either he wasn't the texting-people type or I'd read too many cliche novels. 

 I was certain it was both. 

 To my (kind-of) disappointment, the text sent to me happened to be from Wendy about how she was going to come to school late tomorrow and that she couldn't pick me up. 

 I mentally groaned. If she couldn't drive me to school tomorrow, I'd have to ride the subway with Alissa. 

 It was one thing to talk with your sister at home. It was another thing to acknowledge her outside your house. 

 "What about you, Emily?" Mom asked, and I realized that I was with my whole family. 

 "Huh ?" I looked up from my phone. 

 "Don't do your phone while eating dinner," She said, then asked once again, "How was your day?" 

 "My day was.." I thought for a moment, "interesting." 

 Mom and Dad didn't pry. I guess they knew that I'd have talked about it if I wanted to. 

 It was quiet for a second. Andy, who hated silence, said, "Mia has a babe." 

 That did it.  Mom, Dad, and Alissa all rose from their chairs, each of them almost shouting things to me, while Andy laughed so hard because of their  reactions that it was a miracle he didn't fall from his chair.  

 I hissed at him through the shouting, "How the heck did you know?" 

 I was pretty sure I'd never talked to him about Terrence, since it had happened just a few hours ago. 

 Andy giggled, "You're phone said 'Babe'!" 

 "Oh," I sighed in relief, as I recalled this morning, then said loudly so everyone could hear, "That's Wendy, guys. You can all stop laughing." 

 There was a slight pause of disappointment, then Alissa tilted her head questioningly, "So you're dating Wendy?" 

********************************************************

 After some studying and explaining that Wendy was not my girlfriend, it was time for me to go to bed. 

 Just as I silently closed the door of my room and laid down, however, I had an epiphany. 

 I grabbed my phone and quickly dialed Terrence's number. 

 After about six ringings, he answered in a groggy voice, "Hello?" 

 "Did I wake you up?" I asked politely. 

 "Yes. Now what do you want?" He demanded. 

 I swallowed. Terrence, I realized, wasn't an easy person to talk to. He was unpredictable and uncomfortable. Nevertheless, I opened my mouth. 

 "I was wondering if you could drive me to school tomorrow." 

 There was a slight pause, then, "You're serious?" 

 What did he think I was? "Of course I'm serious. My friend said she couldn't pick me up, and since you're supposedly my boyfriend, so-" 

 "Don't you have any other friends?" 

 Ouch. "Um actually, no." 

 I could almost hear him shaking his head, "I don't even know your address." 

 "I'll text you." 

 After what felt like a minute, Terrence sighed, "Fine. Bye." He ended the call. 

 "Asshole," I muttered to myself as I sent him my address. 

 "What's an asshole?" Andy's voice made me jump. His hands were on the doorknob, and he looked like he'd just woke up. 

 "It's... um... a rude person," I said, my face red from surprise, "Couldn't sleep?" 

 Andy nodded as he climbed onto the bed beside me. 

 There were three small rooms in our house; one for my parents and Andy, one for Alissa, and one for me. Despite the fact that he could sleep with Mom and Dad, Andy almost always came to my room at night, claiming that he couldn't sleep or that he had a nightmare. 

 It was one of the things I felt proud of. I was his favorite person in the world. 

 "Were you talking to your babe?" He asked as he laid down. 

 I rolled my eyes, "Andy, I don't have a boyfriend." 

 Oh well, it wasn't an entire lie. 

 "Okay," Andy said lightly, and he hugged me tightly as I laid down myself, "Good night Mia." 

 "'Night, Andy." 

 And with that, we both dozed off to sleep after a very tiring day. 

Phew. It was a long chapter... I hope you liked it. 

Just so you know, Emily doesn't like Terrence romantically. Not yet. Currently, she's just interested in Terrence because he's the one that helped her. 

By the way, how close are you with your families?