THOSE GOOD TEEN YEARS 3 CRUSHES NO MORE

Chapter Seven: Console

Peter was standing in front of Em's house.

It was evening. The moon was coming out. A slight wind was blowing that ruffled his hair. He had waited so long because he knew how upset Emma could be. She needed time. It helped when you knew the person inside out.

He tried the door and found it locked. He rang the doorbell and waited. The door was opened by Mrs. Deyton was a pretty woman with chin length blonde hair. Like Em, she had grey eyes that seemed to shine. Unlike Em, however, she had straight hair. Where Em got her curly hair from, he had no idea. Whatever. It still looked pretty.

"Hey, Mrs. Deyton."

"Peter. Hi. How are you?" Her tone was strained, like she was trying to sound cheerful. He raised his eyebrows.

"Please, Mrs. Deyton. No need to put the act. How bad is it?" Mrs. Deyton gave him a small smile.

"Well, you do know her. Do you know what happened at school?"

"I do, but I can't tell you because she wouldn't want me to. She won the debate however."

"That's good. Fine. Go on up and try to cheer her up, ok? I didn't enter the room to give her privacy. Make sure she hasn't taken any, um, drastic steps, so to say."

"Sure, sure. See you." He went upstairs. This time he didn't stop to check the photo frames. He stood in front of her room and knocked. No response. A minute later, he entered.

He didn't pause to admire her room. Her bed was a mess, with her sheets all crumpled (Emma never had a bed that messy.) It was like she had cried. Of course she had. If Peter had been in her place, he would have filled a well with his tears.

He checked her bathroom and didn't see anything. Her laurel wreath was lying carelessly like it didn't matter anymore.

He finally saw the open window. The window was big enough to let in a person. The curtains in front of it were blowing a bit.

So Emma was outside. On the mini-roof. Peter had once dared Em to climb on to that, but she had refused. Damn, if Em was crazy enough to go on the roof now, then she was pretty upset.

He walked towards the window and climbed out. Sure, Em was there.

The roof was called a mini-roof because it wasn't the main roof. It was a small, rectangular patch of red tiles that ran along the side of the house, like a slant covering above the porch. It wasn't slippery or anything, but it was still dangerous if you lost your balance.

Peter carefully treaded his way towards Em. She was just sitting there, sniffing. She was wearing one of those huge baggy T-shirts. For a second Peter thought she wasn't wearing anything below and he blushed. Then he noticed the blue fabric of cut-off jeans. Thank god.

She seemed lost in her thoughts and didn't seem to react to his footsteps at all, until he sat down next to her.

"Em." She straightened up. Her eyes were a little red, as was her nose. She looked tired and defeated. Her shoulders slumped once more, as if all that crying had taken all her energy. He saw that she was trying not to cry in front of him.

Despite looking so lifeless, she somehow managed to look beautiful. Maybe in his eyes. It happened.

"Hi."

"You don't have to act like that, you know."

"Like what?"

"Just let it out, Em. That's what I'm here for."

Her lips trembled, and she looked like she could burst out crying, but she bit her lip. He knew she didn't like showing her weakness, and she was very weak at the moment. Then she burst out.

"I...I just...I mean, how? No, why? I don't know what to think! He...he is a chauvinist, Pete. How could he still be in Lakeforest?"

"No society's perfect."

"Still...I..you were right. I should have just stopped dating him when he started getting all freaky. I'm so moronic to think that he could improve! And..what he did today...it's so hard to believe! Did it really happen?"

"Um, yeah, it did. The part when he..."

"Say it. I don't care."

"Fine. When he slapped you. It did happen." They were silent after that.

"This is the part where you say, I told you so." Em said suddenly.

"I'm not going to gloat while you're like this, Em. Even when you're normal. So you made a mistake. It happens."

"Damn it! You're supposed to make me feel-"

"No, I won't. HE is at fault, Em. NOT you. You had no idea, and it was your first time."

"I'm pathetic. I probably should remain single."

Alarm bells rang in his mind.

He noticed now that she was actually cutting into her lip. He did something that surprised both of them. He pulled her into a hug.

"Just let it out, Em. No one's seeing you. You have every right, you know." That's when she started crying. It was horrible. She was shuddering, and she clutched at his shirt as she wept into his shoulder. He held her, patting her gently. For how long, he had no idea. Enough that the moon was bright and cast an ivory glow everywhere, making Em's hair look almost silver. She finally stopped and wiped her eyes. She took his hand. This surprised him, but he held on.

"Thanks, Pete. Nice to know that friends still care," she said, barely audible. That made him a little mad.

"You know what, Em? You deserve someone better than that idiot. Someone who knows you inside and out, understands you and accepts you. Someone who loves you for YOU. Someone who's known you a long time." He just blurted out, but as soon as the meaning sunk in he realized it almost sounded like a proposition from his side. Ugh. Bad move.

She looked at him and tilted her head. He was suddenly aware of the distance between them, which was none. Their shoulders were pressing together, and he smelled her lavender scent. Her T-shirt slipped down from one shoulder, and revealed a pretty orange strap. Peter blushed. She was looking at him with such intensity. Her grey eyes held his- he just couldn't look away.

"Do you really believe that, Peter?" She asked, her voice now clear. He nodded, not being able to speak. He was captivated by her beauty. She looked amazing in the moonlight. Then he realized that they were just inches apart, face wise. Her lips looked amazing.

Unconsciously, they both were leaning towards each other. He felt as if she was about to kiss him, and his heart raced. Was this the moment? Was something good coming out of misery?

The only thing that ruined a supposed magical moment was Emma's mom calling for her.

"Emma! Honey, are you ok?"

Emma and Peter broke apart. Cool air rushed in. Both were blushing hard. Peter decided that maybe it was time to go. He couldn't really think anything.

"So, um, I'd better, uh, go. Gotta help mom and everything. Feel good." He said, trying to sound cheerful. He sounded...confused.

"Yeah, you too." Em's voice, on the other hand, sounded...resolved, confident. Then she scrambled up.

"Don't want Mom catching me here. Let's go."

They climbed in and Peter literally fled from her room, trying to separate his thoughts from chaos. He hastily said good bye to both of them.

What had happened? Did he imagine all that, or was it real?

If it wasn't, I'll make it real, he thought, as he ran back to his house.