Being Shot

P h o t o #46 - Ebony Locks

P h o t o #46 - Ebony Locks

~Emma's POV~

The excruciating quiet within Cooper's car almost made my ears pop with how much it contrasted with the festivities going on outside, whether it be children having fun sledding or playing in the slushed snow due to the slight rise in temperature or the many homes getting ready for a lavished party in the later hours of the night.

I would have been undoubtedly fazed by the shift in atmosphere around our group of I wasn't so preoccupied with my own issues at the time.

Again I shuffled in the warmth of Cooper's coat, my eyes trained on the back of his head as he sat in the passenger seat, letting Elliot take the wheel for him on the to my house in order to make a quick pit stop to pick up my party attire.

The rhythmic drumming of Elliot's fibers against the leather steering wheel as we sat at a red light almost had me pondering just what had seemed to make our situation worse until the heat pumping through the car's vents aided me in once again catching a whiff of the faint smell of Cooper's cologne.

My cheeks reddened as I shrunk back down into his oversized jacket, hoping Kayla at my left, whole happily held a bag on her lap containing the gorgeous midnight dress she had decided on for the party tonight, wouldn't notice the color in my face.

'This...is very unexpected.' I thought to myself as I continued to analyze Cooper's light brown hair, wondering why now of all times that I had to make the realization that I did.

Unconsciously, after all of this time knowing him, I had seemed to be viewing Cooper as somewhat of a child so to speak. It wasn't truly hard, after all, he was always sporting a smile and a sunny disposition that I couldn't help but connect to someone I needed to take care of. It just wasn't until he had finally taken care of me for a change that I was able to see him for who he really was: a guy.

Which, understandably, made me realize all of the embarrassing things I had done to him while in this mindset. It made me feel as though this entire time I had been rude, which made me all the more shameful.

Yet another emotion swirled within my gut. I was almost nervous at the thought of being treated so kindly by a boy my age. Of course I couldn't compare it to how I've felt around Elliot these days, but it still confused me nonetheless.

I quickly stopped myself, 'What do you mean it doesn't compare to Elliot?'

Just as I was about to address the thought, the car's breaks screeched and I immediately found myself smacking my face into the back of Cooper's headrest as a result of the sudden stop. Since we were in a car only bearing three seats in the back even though there was four of us once again, I was sharing a seatbelt with Kayla as we basically sat on top of each other, making me susceptible to this kind of mishap.

I prayed a cop wouldn't ever see the occupied back seat of the car.

Elliot cursed under his breath as a car held down its horn as it past us, and I pried my face from the leather it was currently fused to.

Kayla gasped, "Are you alright, Emma? Some guy just totally cut us off." She shook her head as she watched the screeching car retreat down the road.

Jonas leaned his head back, uninterested, "It isn't the holiday season unless you see idiot drivers, after all."

I rubbed my reddening nose as I nodded towards him, definitely agreeing. I had seen my fair share of accidents that could have happened hadn't I thought far enough ahead during the many times I drove myself to my holiday shifts down at work.