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22: And We're Waiting

22: And We're Waiting

"We are leaving on the tenth," Emmett announced, dropping into a seat across from me.

"I don't want to be on a plane or something on my birthday," I protested.

"We are leaving on the tenth," he restated. "Your birthday is the eleventh."

"What about Selena and the girls?"

I wasn't very close with Kinley and Spencer, but Selena was. If there were any parties or celebrations, the three of them would be behind them. Maybe they'd even rope Emmett into helping.

"You didn't hear it from me, but they are taking you out Friday," he said with a smirk.

I groaned and ran a hand through my hair. It was curled, thanks to Selena's curling wand. I really needed a curling and straightening iron.

"Out where?"

"I must say no more," he said, holding his hands up. "I've already said too much." I rolled my eyes and looked at my coffee. He had made it a habit of his to come to the guest house for breakfast. I could usually cook—mostly pancakes, toaster waffles, toast, etc.—and he always ate about three helpings of it.

It was a good thing I didn't usually eat any. He could have my share.

But no matter how much I insisted that I wasn't hungry, he refused to eat all of it and saved at least one pancake for me. I glanced at my phone to see what time it was. Almost six thirty.

"If we leave now, we can go on and walk to school," I said. He nodded and put his plate in the dishwasher while I put away the food and the pitcher of water. My coffee was in a disposable cup, so I grabbed it and my bag and headed out.

Emmett wasn't far behind me, slinging his bag over his shoulder while he walked. My car anxieties were ebbing slightly. It had reached the point of being rational, according to Emmett. I would ride in one, but I still liked walking in the morning.

While it was snowing, the air was so cold that I could hardly hear myself think over the sound of my bodily fluids freezing over. I liked it, though. It was crisp and clean, my breath fanning out in a cloud around me.

Emmett was currently seeing how far he could get his breath to go, pushing all the air he could out to see. I laughed, seeing how frustrated he was getting because he couldn't tell how far it was.

"No, the one before that was further," I said, shaking my head.

"Yeah, I've only got so much air," he said muttered. I grinned and watched as he sucked in a huge breath and blew it out.

"None of these are going very far."

"I'm giving up!" he announced in frustration. I chuckled and glanced at Selena. She usually met us on the way as we passed her house.

"Here's your curling wand," I said. I grabbed it from my bag and handed it to her. The cord was wrapped neatly around the straight barrel, so she was able to easily slip it into her purse.

Selena's purse, I'd come to realize, wasn't meant for her wallet and phone and keys. It had all things beauty, plus a charger and a wallet. If I had a problem with makeup or hair, I could report to Selena and she would always have just what I needed to fix it.

"I got that lipstick you said you needed," she said, handing it to me. "It's your shades, plus one or two more that I knew would look amazing on you."

"Thanks." I took the four rectangle boxes she held out and looked at the shades. Smiling, I dropped the red and neutral into my purse, which was becoming a makeup bag for me as well. The other shades were very bold. "I don't know about this. I don't do this, um, out there."