Second Chances {ACM}

Chapter 38

Emily's POV

I stretched and slid out of bed. I walked over to the closet and grabbed my own black cuff sweats, a pink lounge sweater and my hello kitty slippers. Hey, you're never too old for Hello Kitty.

I quickly changed and headed downstairs. The clock on the wall read 8:00. Wow, my sleep patterns were so out of whack.

I went to the fridge and poured myself a glass of milk and then grabbed the jar of pickles.

"Mmm." I sighed in happiness as I crunched on one before trudging to the couch in the living room to read. It didn't last long, though, because I ended up chucking the book at the TV when I got to a romantic part where the two lovers proclaim their love for one another, both crying in the process. I didn't need a reminder of my own love life, thank you very much.

"What to do, what to do." I muttered to myself. "Can't play on my phone , I only have one functioning hand." I paused. "Ooh! Maybe I could bake!"

I jumped up and went to the kitchen cupboards to gather ingredients for a chocolate cake before I preheated the oven and started mixing. I pumped up the tunes, and suddenly, I was in a great mood.

"We are never ever ever getting back together. We-ee! Are never ever ever getting back together!" I sang as I attempted to mix the batter with my good hand on the mixer and the wrist of my bad one on the bowl. It was actually working pretty well.

When I poured the batter into the cake pan, I slipped it into the oven and cleaned everything up, putting the used utensils in the dishwasher.

"Cause I knew you were trouble when you walked in. So shame on me now. Blew me to places I've never been." I softly sang as I wiped the counter. "Now I'm lyin' on the cold, hard ground!"

While I waited for the cake, I texted on my phone and kept glancing at the clock. Austin hadn't told me when he'd be home, so I was a little antsy. Okay, try a lot.

The cake finished twenty minutes later, so after it had cooled off, I iced it with chocolate icing, but I didn't know what else to put on it.

Suddenly, a thought struck me and I grinned before grabbing Austin's favorite pancake mix from the cupboard. I didn't know how much time I had, so I quickly whipped up eight pieces of pancakes and laid them on the giant cookie sheet he had. I grabbed the can of whip cream and sprayed "I'M SORRY" on them before decorating it with whip cream vines with strawberry flowers on them. I sprayed "I LOVE YOU AUSTIN!" on the chocolate cake and set it underneath the pancakes. After it was done, I looked it over in satisfaction. Two of Austin's favorite foods in an apology. Seemed legit to me. I sprayed whip cream in my mouth in celebration. I now his favorite food is pizza, but I can't put whoop cream on them. That's gross.

About a minute after I had walked into the living room, I heard a vehicle pull into the driveway. I glanced out the window in time to see Austin getting out of his car. Austin looked like absolute shit, for lack of a better word.

His hair was everywhere and not counting his decent outfit, which was just jeans and a white t-shirt with black high tops, he had bags under his eyes and his usually tan face was now pale.

I closed the curtain and suddenly felt extremely guilty. That was because of me. God, I'm so stupid.

I went into the kitchen, pretending to be rummaging for something when I heard the front door open and close from the hallway. I heard bags drop before footsteps approached down the hall, and I turned around in time to see Austin walk into the kitchen.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed before catching sight of me. He quietly said, "Hey, Emily."

"Hi." I replied.