Dynamite

Chapter Eight: True

It took Emma a few weeks to get over the breakup. Even though she had accepted the fact that Cody was a player and cheated on her, she still felt bad about her first love not working out and managing to let someone as deceiving as him get close to her. Every day, Nathan comforted her. He'd remind her of everything he loved about her, hold her hand during school, and text her at night to make sure she was ok. He helped make the recovery of the heartbreak go by smoothly.

After those long weeks, Emma was completely over Cody and wanted nothing to do with him. She had told Nathan that over the weekend, so she wouldn't be surprised if he asked her out the next Monday. She still had a little voice in her back of her head that told her he said he loved her only to make her feel better while she was heartbroken. However, she was able to convince herself that it wasn't true.

When Monday arrived, Emma excitedly got ready for school. Truthfully, she really wanted to go to school... for the first time in a while! She walked into her homeroom classroom. A couple sophomores sitting by the front of the room waved at her as she shyly smiled back. Ever since she broke up with Cody, word got around that Cody seriously was bad news and his cheating reputation had to be shamed, not appreciated. He was so humiliated, he ended up moving from San Francisco, California to Tallahassee, Florida. Kids also were being more friendly to Emma. Well... Hannah was still rude to her. When people heard about Hannah being rude as well, people also shunned her. Even Nicole stopped being her friend.

"Hey Emma," Nathan greeted, sitting next to an empty desk. Emma smiled and sat in the seat next to him. "You doing fine? Feeling better about Cody and all that?" She nodded. "Good. I'm glad to hear that." Emma giggled and put in her headphones. Nathan sighed sadly.

"Dang it, just ask her out!" Nathan thought. "I'm so nervous! What if she says no? But... I know she loves me! She even said so! I just don't know how to ask her out. I mean, I should just listen to my heart. Wait... that's it!"

Nathan smiled suddenly as butterflies filled his stomach. He was going to do it. He tapped Emma on the shoulder since her headphones were in. She turned, looked at him, and took out her headphones. "Emma... all my life, I've been told to chase what I desire. And one of my desires is being with you." Emma blushed and smiled. Nathan held her hand. "And I know that my desire is true because anything that's in my heart is true."

"Nathan, you're too sweet," Emma sighed. She stared at the ground, butterflies also in her stomach. Her smile became permanent on her face.

"I'm not done," Nathan laughed. "Emma, I know that we've already confessed our love for each other and all that but... will you please officially be my girlfriend?" Emma smiled and hugged him.

"Yes Nathan, I'd be very happy to be your girlfriend," Emma answered with a giggle.

"Your laugh is so cute," Nathan chuckled. Emma was about to let go of the hug when Nathan whispered, "Can we just stay like this...?" Emma giggled again and continued to hug him. They hugged so long, they lost track of time.

"Are you guys done?" Mrs. Purr spat from the front of the room. Nathan and Emma looked up to find the teacher, with her arms crossed, waiting for them to finish their hugging. Everyone else in the class was also staring at them, but they were all happy because of how cute they were as a couple.

"Heh... sorry," Emma apologized, staring at the floor. Both of them blushing, they sat back in their seats and stared at each other for the rest of homeroom.

~~~~~~~~~

When lunchtime came, Emma sat in the library, as usual, with Tony and Jess. That day, Tony and Jess were having an argument about who'd win in a fight: Superman or Batman. They were going to have Emma be the tiebreaker, but she had her head in the clouds. Jess snapped her fingers in front of her face, causing her to jump.

"Emma, you've got to figure this out for us!" Jess exclaimed. "Tony thinks Batman would win in a fight against Superman, but it's obvious who would win!"

"Hey, Batman is a very underestimated superhero, he'd beat Superman in a minute flat!" Tony snapped, slamming his hand on the table. Emma smiled and rolled her eyes.

"Emma... have you even been listening to our debate?" Jess questioned. Emma laughed and said, "No... sorry guys, I've been in dreamland all day. See... Nathan kind of asked me out officially this morning." Jess and Tony both gasped as Emma smirked and nodded.

"Did you say yes?!" Jess asked excitedly.

"Of course I did!!" Emma squealed.

"That's great news!" Tony exclaimed. "To celebrate, I will sing-."

"Tony, don't you even dare try to sing Love Boat again," Emma growled. Jess covered her mouth and laughed as Tony sighed, "Ok... mood ruined..." Emma laughed and patted him on the shoulder. Tony smiled and put his arm around her shoulder.

"To defend him, he isn't a terrible singer," someone piped up from the entrance of the library. Recognizing the voice, Tony quickly turned his head towards there. He saw Nicole and immediately felt painful love in the bottom of his heart. Ever since the party, Nicole and Tony avoided each other. They hadn't spoke a word since then, and it hurt both of them.

"Hey," Nicole sighed, smiling slightly at Tony. She walked over to Tony, Jess, and Emma at their table.

"Hey..." Tony greeted, blushing. He quickly wiped his smile off his face and rubbed his eyes behind his glasses. "Listen, Nicole, I'm sorry about the party and saying I like you, but I really do. I know I must've humiliated you awfully and I'd understand why you'd hate me-."

"I like you too," Nicole admitted as he continued blabbering.

"So I hope you can forgive me... wait what?" Tony asked. Right away, he was in complete shock. He gave himself a second to think about what he had just heard. "You... You like me too?"

"Yeah..." Nicole chuckled as she blushed a light shade of pink. "It had to take me some time, and I needed to think about a lot of things... but yeah, I like you too."

"So... would you maybe... want to go out to lunch with me?" Tony asked. "You know, after our next class period? We could go to that court house at the mall close by here..." Nicole blushed again, very flattered by the first date request.

"I would love to," Nicole giggled. "Um, I have to go back to class. I'll see you later." Nicole kissed Tony on the cheek before leaving the library. Tony stared at space while touching his left cheek, where she had kissed him. Emma and Jess both looked at each other, smirking.

"The love boat..." Emma sang into Tony's ear. He looked over at Emma and snapped his fingers like a sassy, typical teenage girl.

"Girl, it's only funny when I do it," he sassed with attitude in his voice, even though he was joking the whole time. Tony also left the library, having to go back to class as well. Emma and Jess shrugged at each other, then went off to finish their lunch.