Emily glanced at the clock on her phone for the 8th time in the last half hour. “He’s just held up in traffic…” She reassured herself. It wasn't working very well. She fidgeted with the charm on her necklace. “Tyler said that he would be here for our date by now.” She thought, growing more anxious as time passed by. She scanned the bustling lobby of the movie theater yet again, but to no avail. “VTRR! VRRRT!” Her phone vibrated in her pocket. Emily jumped, startled. She had received a text from Isaac. “so about that movie thing…” it began. “I say nd do stuf I don’t rly mean sometimes…” “What do you mean???” Emily inquired, feeling concerned. “well…” he answered. “When I said I liked u I was just trying to be nice. I just think of u as a friend and I rly dont want to date u.” “But you said you had never met anyone like me before…” Emily replied, feeling betrayed. “What about all the times you texted me until 2am? What about the time we kissed in the janitor's closet at school? Does that mean NOTHING to you???” She felt color rushing to her cheeks. “sry but no” replied Tyler. Those three words stung Emily more than anything else he had said. She couldn't bear to talk to him any more so she shut off the phone screen. The screen went dark, and in the reflection Emily could see tears streaming down her own face. “I can't let anyone see me like this!” Riley thought frantically. She darted into the women's restroom, locked herself in a stall and let loose heaving sobs. She couldn't believe that this was happening. “How could he do this to me?” She wondered in despair. “Everything was going so well, and then Tyler goes and stands me up on my first date ever, and I already bought tickets and everything and now I'm crying in a public bathroom like an idiot!” She covered her face with her hands and tried to muffle the noise. After about 30 minutes Emily's sobs had receded into soft whimpers. Tears had ceased to stream down her face, but her eyes looked red and irritated. She let out a large sigh, and slowly shuffled out of the bathroom, through the theater lobby, and all the way out to her bike. She rode home, climbed into bed, and cried herself to sleep.
The next day at school, Emily had trouble paying attention in class. She felt sad, angry, and betrayed. Most of all though, she resented herself for letting herself get so upset about a stupid boy. She felt that he wasn't important enough to get upset over, but at the same time Tyler hurt Emily so deeply. “I thought he was the one…” she thought wistfully during history. “My first boyfriend. I had waited so long for a boy who would treat me the right way, and now look at me. 16, never had a boyfriend or been on a date, finally get my chance and he plays me like an utter fool.” She hugged her history book tight to her chest as if it would hold back the raging river of emotion that welled up inside her. She stared off into space, her expression vacant, alone with her own thoughts taunting and tormenting her. “You're pathetic. You should have known better than to trust him. You're stupid and that's all there is to it. Do you hear me? STUPID!!!” Suddenly, the teacher's voice startled her into focus. “Emily! Pay ATTENTION!” Mrs. Jones snapped. “S-ss-sorry Mrs. Jones!” Emily squeaked, alarmed. The entire class erupted into peals of laughter. Emily wanted to bury her head in the sand. Finally the bell rang. All the students scurried out the door. Emily drug her feet as she walked and hung her head. The day seemed like it would never end but eventually it was time to leave. Emily hopped on her bike and pedaled home. For an hour, Emily fought a losing battle against her homework, eventually throwing her math across the room in frustration. She laid her aching head down on her desk and covered it with her arms. She wanted to scream. Emily had decided that she wanted to give up on her homework, flop onto her bed and watch the newest Dan and Phil video on YouTube, when she remembered that she had theatre rehearsal that night. “Uggghhhh…” She groaned audibly. Any other day Emily would have happily gone to rehearsal, after all, she practically lived there, and all her friends were there. But she didn't want to deal with anyone. Not today. “They don't need me.” She moped. “I'm no use to them anyway, as distracted as I am.” She folded her arms and rested her head on them sideways, not bothering to brush away the curly mahogany hair that had fallen over her eyes. “VRRTTT! VRTTTT!” Interjected her phone, startling Emily again. She bolted upright. “Is it him?” Emily wondered apprehensively. She picked up her phone and lit up the display. It was a text from her 17 year old friend Jack. Emily exhaled a sigh of relief. “Hey u up? 😉” read the message. Emily smirked. “Of course I am, it's 5 pm on a Tuesday you Moron 😁” She replied playfully, Tyler momentarily pushed from her mind. “Well you never know…” Jack replied with mock seriousness. “What is this about anyway?” Emily asked. Jack rarely texted her, though they talked in person on almost an every day basis. “Britt said u seemed upset at school today. R u ok?” Was the reply. Brittanie was Jack's sister and a good friend of Emily's. “Yeah I had a rough day. I'll get over it.” She answered. “Hey, since when have you cared about my feelings? 😏” “I don't lol” he teased. “I am the dark lord Satan. I don't care about anyone, I only pretend to so nobody gets wise to me! 😈” “clever 😂” Riley replied. She felt a bit better, and was considering showing up to rehearsal after all. “Really though,” continued Sam, “I think your face looks better when your smiling. And if you're depressed and sad then it's going to rub off on other people and stuff.” “I'll try not to ruin your vibe lol” Emily typed. “okay” Jack answered. “I gotta go. See u at rehearsal tonight 😉” “ok see you” Emily replied, then switched off her phone. This time she could see her own face smiling back at her in the reflection. “Maybe this day won't be all bad…” she thought to herself, her mood improving even more.
At 7:15 Emily's mom dropped her off at Webster Performing Arts. “Bye Mom!” Riley shouted as she hopped out of their black SUV. “Bye sweetie! I'll be back to pick you up at 9!” Emily's mom called after her. “Ok!” Emily answered, waving to her mom as she pulled out of the parking lot and drove away. Emily walked over to the door, punched in the key code on the keypad, and stepped inside, closing the door behind her. She paused and breathed in deeply, inhaling the combined scent of pumpkin air freshener, fresh laundry from all the costumes hanging up in the back room, and something else inexplicably magical. She let out a sigh of content. Emily had always loved that smell. She walked down a narrow hallway past the ballet and voice lesson rooms, until she arrived at the slightly larger rehearsal room and stepped inside. “Hi Emily!” her friends greeted her. Most of them sat on the long wooden benches arranged in a rough circle in the small room. “Hi guys!” Emily replied cheerfully. She walked over to Emily's brother Jason and sat next to him. She opened her mouth to say something to Jason, but then Jack sauntered over and said “Oh hey Emily. Didn't see you there.” He winked at her mischievously. “Well then maybe you need your eyes checked.” Emily teased, rolling her eyes. “Well you know what?” Jack shouted, feigning anger. “you're probably right.” Both Emily and Jack laughed, and Jack walked over to a bench across the room and sat down, flashing Emily a dazzling smile. Emily smiled to herself, and then started a conversation with Jason. A few minutes later, Mr. Hampton the voice instructor walked in, signaling that it was time for the rehearsal to start. All the actors quieted down, and Josh (as he preferred to be called) Thanked everyone for showing up and started working on the songs with everyone. Emily was glad she came.
After rehearsal that night, Emily started to pick up her things. Jack sneaked up behind her and grabbed her shoulders. “Gotcha!” he shouted. “Very funny Jack.” Emily said sarcastically. She had gotten used to his antics over the course of their 2 year friendship. “Hey, you can't blame me for trying!” Jack said laughingly. Then he became more serious. “I'm glad you aren't upset anymore.” “Yeah.” Emily said quietly. “I'm not completely back to normal, but I will be.” Jack stuck his hands in his pockets. “Well we could, uh, talk about it. If you want to I mean.” He replied awkwardly. “Are you sure?” Emily asked, puzzled. “I mean, you probably don’t want to listen to my sob story.” “No really, I don't mind.” Jack replied Reassuringly. “Just no crying, ok?” “I'm not promising anything.” Emily said with a gloomy chuckle. “How bad of a day did you have?” Jack asked, slightly surprised. “On a scale of dropping your Ice cream when you were 5 to the apocalypse is now, I'd say it was a Justin Beiber concert.” “Wow.” Jack remarked. He placed his hand on her arm gently. “I'm sorry. Do you want to go somewhere Quieter to talk about it?” Emily nodded. “My mom will be here in about 15 minutes though.” “That's ok.” Jack replied.
Taking her hand, he led Emily down the narrow hallway into the empty guitar room, which was lined with sound absorbing foam like a recording studio. The two teens sat down on the carpeted floor in the tiny room and leaned their backs up against the wall. “So what's up?” Jack asked. Emily slowly began to explain about what had happened at the movie theater. She was really surprised that Jack actually took the time to listen to what she was saying. In the two years they known each other, he had never done anything like this. Usually his attitude was something along the lines of “Suck it up! Be a man!” but this was different. He seemed like he genuinely cared. As Emily continued her narrative, she found it increasingly difficult to stay dry-eyed. She could feel a lump growing in her throat, and before she could do anything about it, two enormous tears had Rolled down her cheeks. “I-I'm sorry Jack.” She stammered, turning her face away. She felt deeply ashamed to be seen like this. “I know I shouldn't be this upset, but... I am.” Jack moved closer to Emily, placing his hand on her shoulder. “It's ok.” He reassured her gently. “I won't tell anyone. You can just cry all you want to in here. It's soundproof.” He pulled her into a loving embrace, one of his ample arms supporting her back, the other gently cradling her head against his chest. She clung tightly to his back, and bawled her eyes out. He occasionally stroked her long curly hair. Eventually, she stopped. Her grip loosened, and she sat up. “Do you feel better?” Jack inquired. “Yeah.” Emily replied. She let out a shaky sigh. Wordlessly, Jack embraced her from behind, then let her rest her head and upper body on his lap. He took her hands in his, and gently kissed her on the forehead. Emily felt safe in his arms. “Thank you.” Emily whispered. “You're welcome.” He replied softly, smiling. “Jack?” Emily asked. “If you are so kind, why do you try to hide it?” Emily's gaze shifted. His brown eyes glistened as he ran his fingers through his dense curly hair. “I don’t know…” he mumbled. “I just… it's easy for me to be kind to you I guess.” he lifted Emily off of him and they both stood up. “What is it Jack?” Emily asked. “Emily,” he began. “I'm not really sure what to say, but I'm going to try. When I first met you 2 years ago, I liked you. You are the only one who really understands and accepts me. After all those times I yelled at you when I was mad and you forgave me, after that time that you visited me and brought me soup when I had the flu, after you didn't tell anyone when you saw me crying the day my dog died, I had to be there for you when you needed someone. I didn't even tell you when I needed you, but you knew. Every time. And I…” Jack stepped closer to Emily. He looked into her eyes. “I love you.” Emily put his hands around her face. Her dark hair contrasted starkly with her pale complexion. Emily wrapped her arms around his waist. They both closed their eyes, and leaned in for a passionate kiss. His tongue caressed hers slowly, but with feeling. She ran her hands up and down his back gently, increasing her hold as time went by. After what seemed like a year, they pulled away. “So…” Jack began. “If I ask you to be my girlfriend, will you promise not to tell anyone about this?” Emily giggled. “Yes!” she shouted, hugging him tightly. Suddenly, the door swung open, and Jason poked his head in. “Oh, Emily, your mom was looking for you.” He informed her, then walked out again. Emily and Jack burst into laughter. “Well that sounds like my cue to leave.” Emily said, smiling. Jack and Emily walked out into the hallway arm in arm.
The End
YOU ARE READING
My Friend Jack
Short StoryA short story about 16 year old girl named Emily who loves acting. She gets stood up on her first date and is then comforted by her friend Jack.
