Operation Beautiful

Chapter 26: i also said i didn't think i was going to back down this time

Chapter 26: i also said i didn't think i was going to back down this time

“Emma! Come on inside!” Mrs. Hansen wraps Emmaleigh in a huge hug. “Corey, Matt, help her with her bags, please.”

We head outside, only to find one suitcase in the car. “Where’s Jessica?” I ask Matt.

He sighs and ruffles his hair. “Upstairs. I don’t think Mom knows about the fight.”

“She’ll find out about it soon enough,” I say, heaving the suitcase out of the car. “I guess I’ll go talk to Jessica.”

“No!” Matt says, a little too forcefully. “I’ll talk to her.” He grabs the suitcase from my hands and heads inside.

I follow after him, but instead of going upstairs I head into the kitchen.

“Well, Emma, did you see your parents off?”

“Yeah. They were really excited.They’ve never seen Alaska before. My mom wants a picture of them in front of a glacier and some whales. She has this weird love of whales.”

I smile at Mrs. Hansen and slip into the bar stool next to Emmaleigh at the kitchen island. “Sounds like they’ll have a good time,” I say.

She nods. “Yeah.” She turns to Mrs. Hansen. “Have you guys already had dinner?”

“We were actually waiting for you. Why don’t you call Jessica down. I don’t know why she hasn’t come to see you yet.”

Emmaleigh gets up and looks at me. “Um, yeah. I’ll go...talk to her.”

“I’ll go call Matt,” I say, following Emmaleigh upstairs. We climb in silence for a bit. “Nervous?” I ask her.

She nods. “Yeah. I don’t know what she’ll say.”

“Well, you did say that you would apologize and it would all blow over.”

She hooks a long strand of curly hair behind her ear and looks down. “I also said that I didn’t think I was going to back down this time.”

“Meaning?”

She looks at me. “There’s something we both want. Usually I’m the one to back down, but...I’m going to have to tell her that I can’t this time.”

“Well, I guess it’s her turn to stand back,” I say, unsure as to what exactly I’m supporting. “Is this about Matt?” I ask.

“Yeah. She wants to push and I don’t want her to,” Emmaleigh says with a sigh.

I pat her on the back as she stops at Jessica’s door. “Good luck.” She nods and I walk past her and into my room. “What did you talk to Jessica about?” I ask Matt.

“I told her she’s going to need to make up with Emma before Mom finds out.”

“What did she say?”

“She said it was none of my business.” He looks up at me and sighs. “I guess there really isn’t anything we should--”

“If you want something then go out and GET IT!” I hear Emmaleigh yell from across the hall. “Stop blaming me just because you’re too spineless to do it yourself!”

“Well you’re not helping!” Jessica yells back. “And, as a friend, you’re supposed to HELP!”

“Should we, uh,” I jerk a thumb at the door.

Matt shakes his head. “Nah. They’ll need to battle it out anyway.”

“Well, how about this. Instead of going all behind-the-scenes and trying to manipulate the situation, why don’t you just go for it and if you fail, respect what I want!” I hear Emmaleigh yell.