The silence was deafening. There they were, Annalise and Parker, both of them happy, cute, even perfect. The couple on the screen could make any girl jelly. I tried to look less hurt, it was the past and today is the present. Yet, when I try to look away, I'm frozen. The video goes on and by the time I unfreeze it's over. Lee claims to need some fresh air, and Parker soon follows him out. I was and am not a match against her. Her flawless skin, glowing hair, loving face.
"Emily. Earth to Emily. " I snap back to reality and find a rather big hand going up and down in front of my face.
"Yeah? " I reply to Emmet.
"Time to go. " Right, time to go. I get up and we both get into Emmet's car.
"You ok Em? " He looks comcerned, but I don't want him to worry, so I muster up a smile and nod.
"Sure? "
"Positive. " It takes effort to swallow down the lump that keeps growing.
***
"Ok, well I have to go to practice, so see you in a couple hours. " Good, so he won't be here for dinner. I start watching a sappy romance movie, but then I realize that it would be the time I ate dinner. I basically lost my appetite after watching the last of the Adam brothers' home movies, so I decide to just eat a couple graham crackers. It's not enough, and I can feel my stomach gnawing at me, but like before, I ignore it. I end up falling asleep near the end of it thoguht.
***
"Eat the whole thing, you're going car shopping, with Parker. " I roll my eyes and eat three more bites, and cut the rest down to move around.
"Don't do anything crazy! "
"Yeah dad. " He fakes a frown, and starts the dishes.
"Hey. " Parker beams, it's nice to see him like this.
"Hey. " I get in and we start our drive.
"So how's your day been? " I fidget a little.
"Good. " I lie. We have an awkward silence after that.
"How about you? " I ask.
"Well, as good as I can be after seeing, those. " I nod, that was fair. Soon enough we arrived.
"So what kind of car are you looking for? " The sales man leads us inside and Parker tells him his preferences, and the guy nods and leads us place to place.
"Em, I'm gonna to some test drives, do you want to come along, or roam around here for 10? "
"I'll be here. " I watch the two men walk out the sliding doors. I decide to grab a seat when I bump into someone.
"Shoot, sorry! " I pick up the papers that have fallen and hand to the young man in front of me.
"No problem, the name's Matt. "
"I'm Emily. " He looks at me as if he's trying to figure out who I am.
"You're Parker's girlfriend, right? " Huh?
"Yeah, you two friends? " He shrugs.
"You and him now, I see he's actually moved on from Annalise. " I freeze up again.
"What, you don't know about her? "
"I do. Now, if you have all your papers, we're done here. "
"FYI, he still has a pic of her on Instagram. " He sings out and waves goodbye, as he heads toward a new group who has just walked in.
There's still a pic?
It is going down tonight, and I want answers.
***
"Parker. " We're in the car going back to my place.
"Yeah? "
"Do you still have a picture of, her, on Instagram? " He hesitates.
"No. " He's lying.
"Parker. " I grab his phone, and look at his page. I scroll down and find it.
"Ok, I do. "
"Why? "
"Is it really important? "
"Yes. Parker, this alarms me. " Tears start to sting in my eyes.
"Why should it? I told you this, your now, and she was then. I'm over her. "
"If you were over her you wouldn't still have those on there. I probably look like your cousin. " Ok, maybe not a cousin.
"Emily, here, I'll delete those pictures. " He pulls over, shows me his phone and deletes them.
"You think that will make me happy? " Now tears starts to flow. I wish I could stop.
"What will? " He slams the dashboard, and I cringe.
"Sorry. " He mutters. We don't talk till we get to my place. "Bye." He says. I don't respond, I just slam the car door in his face and storm into the front door.
***
"What the heck happened last nigt? " Emmet, being nosy as always, asks me while making omlets.
"He bought a car. " I try to eat my yogurt, but like a couple nights before, I've lost my apetite.
"Care to specify? "
"No. " He shakes his head and gives me my omlet. I eat three bites and make an excuse to wash my eyes. I know he's going to call Parker. So I decide to stay in the small hallway and listen.
"What did you do? " I can't hear his reply.
"No, not ok. She barely ate her breakfast. She was uptight. You messed up this time.
"Whatever. Next time , don't do anything that stupid again. " If there even is a next time.
***
It's been a week and we haven't talked since. Tomorrow's Thanksgiving, the worst holiday ever. Food everywhere, do people know how many calories are in a single leg of turkey? Emmet has a soccer game today, so it's just me again. As it has been for the past 2 weeks, I don't feel like having all that food. So I do some homework, text people, and stare into space.
Emmet comes back in a couple of hours.
"Ok, your going to have to wait for dinner. I have to shower. " He grins.
"That's ok, I already ate. " His smile wavers but he doesn't linger for long. When he's back I go to my room. I look at the picture of the four of us; Emmet and Lee pretending to be a couple, and Parker and I looking happy together. I feel a wave of nostalgia and decide to sleep.
***
I get up early. Lovely, Thanksgiving. Since Emmet's out on his run I can try to skip breakfast. I take a yogurt container and start to dump it in the sink. The trash is too obvious.
He comes back, all sweaty, and starts to make our usual Thanksgiving breakfast.
"I already ate. " I show him the empty yogurt container and he stares. Not for too long though, so it doesn't seem like he's too suspisious.
I start to get ready for our Thanksgiving lunch, odd but true. It's one of the times in the year that the both of us have to stand the yapping of our parents.
Today's going to be harder to eat.
***
"Hello darling! " My mother exclaims. I plaster on a smile and hold it throughout. I did my usual, ate 2 bites, cut the other parts into pieces and moved them around and around, till finally, they had to leave.
When we were back I go to my room and change. I head out and stop in my tracks.
"... She did the thing you talked about." Now it was Parker's turn to talk.
"Where she cuts her food, into little pieces instead of eating, and just sort of moves them around so that it looks like she's eating it. " He's suspicious.
"You guys have been fighting? " Parker's time to answer.
"This comes back to Annalise, doesn't it? "
"When's the last time you physically sat down and ate with her? " We haven't been on a real date, too busy fighting.
"Maybe I should call our parents. " Parents? I don't catch much of the rest, only something about Saturday.
"Saturday Parker, you better be there. " He hangs up.
"Who were you talking to? "
"A guy from school. " I play it off and nod.
***
Saturday has come, and I haven't even bothered to make myself look presentable. So when Parker comes and ring my door bell, I put my bird's nest of hair onto a messy bun and open the door. He brought flowers, my favorite ones. Behind him I see a grinning Lee. I invite them in and we start to chat. He says he misses me, that I'm his favorite girl. I take it in, and try not to seem too desperate. Then he starts talking about taking me out to dinner. I try to tell him I'm behind on homework, but he doesn't listen.
"How about a movie. " I finally give in.
"A movie is one of the least romantic things to do. " Then to prove his point he talks about going to the movies with some frat guys. He wants to go out for dinner. But I won't go, I'll do anything in the world to avoid humiliation.
"What do you want from me? "
"I'm sorry. " What the heck?
"What in God's name are you sorry for? "
"I'm sorry. " This is going no where
"This is the part where you speak. "
"What do you want me to say? You walk into my apartment with flowers and a smile. Claiming that you came here to surprise date me, and now you're apologizing. What's going on? " Honestly, he has to make up his mind.
He then rambles on about how he's not guilty, and how he's sorry about being a bad boyfriend. My wall is starting to break. It doesn't crumble until his analogy of me and art. Tears start to threaten to spill out, I can't look him in the eye. He must realize this, because he pulls me into a bear hug. Tears spill and next thing I know I'm sobbing. There isn't a doubt in my mind anymore, Parker Adams loves me. And I love him.
