Operation Beautiful

Chapter 20: you have to be there.

Chapter 20: you have to be there

“Hey, Corey,” Jessica says as she passes my locker in the morning.

“Hey, Jessica, hey, Emm--” I stop and look at her. “Where’s Emmaleigh?” Jessica just shrugs.

“I don’t know.” And she walks away. O-kay, then. I go in search of Haley’s locker. Maybe she’s seen Emmaleigh.

“What’s up?” Haley asks, taking a book out of her locker.

“Have you seen Emmaleigh?”

Haley turns around, a smile on her lips. “Aww, is someone missing their girlfriend?”

“Hey! She’s not my-- when did you start teasing people?”

“What are you, my therapist?” The smile falters slightly as she slams the door shut. She shakes her head slightly and the smile returns. “Maybe I started after I got these pictures of Trevor printed.” She takes an envelope out from inside her backpack and hands it to me.

“Oh my God!” I snort in laughter. It’s Trevor making a complete fool of himself on the merry-go-round. “Oh my God, it’s hysterical!” We both keep laughing until the bell rings.

“Okay, I should get to class. If I see your girlfriend I’ll let you know.”

“She’s not my girlfriend!” I call out after Haley.

“Who isn’t?” comes Emmaleigh’s quiet voice from behind me.

“Oh..ah...uh...how come you weren’t with Jessica earlier? Usually you guys are joined at the hip.”

“Um...I asked first?” she asks hopefully. I laugh.

“Okay, fine. You know, I’m not going to kill you if you look me in the face.”

“Yeah, but you’re so--” she cuts herself off. “Um, I heard you have a soccer match next week.”

“Yup.” We start walking to class. “Are you coming?”

She just shrugs. “Oh, come on! You have to be there,” I almost beg. I really want her to watch me kick ass. I know this feeling. I’ve been trying to avoid it when it comes to Emmaleigh, but it looks like there’s no stopping it.

“Why would you want me to be there?” she asks, confused.

“Support,” I say, as though it were the most obvious thing in the world. “Besides, Matt will be there.” I nearly choke on the words, but I say them anyway. More for my benefit than for hers.

She frowns slightly. “Oh.”

“And Haley will be there, rooting for Trevor. You and Haley and Jessica could hang out!”

She stops by one of the doors. “I don’t know. I might be busy.”

“Oh, please! Too busy to come watch me play football?”

She giggles. “It’s soccer.”

“Whatever. Just come, okay?”

She smiles. “You really want me to come?”

Ah. Uh... I just ruffle my hair a little. “Why not? Haley would like it, I think.” This is probably true. But Clarice will be there too, so it wouldn’t really matter if Emmaleigh shows or not.

She smiles. “Okay. I’ll be there. Is your class nearby? Because you’re late.”

“Oh, yeah,” I Iie, reassuring her with a wave of my hand. “See you later!” 

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Awww. Adorkable much?