Internet Boy

Chapter 3

"Fridays suck.” Christian groans to Emma on the ride to school. Emma laughs, “Only to you Chris. But it’s your fault for getting soccer, you have to deal with the practices.”

Christian ruffles her hair, annoying her. “I love soccer and I love the practices. Friday’s though,” he pauses. “Coach pushes us to run 10 miles instead of five and we still have to do the rest of our daily exercises and do a scrimmage.”

Emma looks at him wide-eyed. “You seriously have to do that every Friday?” Christian nods. Emma mouths a ‘Wow.’  The rest of the ride is filled with small jokes and twin talk.

***
Matthew walks into his third period and his eyes trail over to where Emma sits, as they always do. His lips curl upward in a smile at the sight of her laughing with her friend.

He cooly walks to his seat but doesn’t miss the words directed to him. “Hey, Matthew.” He sits down and looks at Emma who’s still smiling at him, waiting for a response.

“Hello, Emma,” her name slides smoothly off his tongue and he finds it appealing.

Her smile widens and her blue eyes almost shine, he notes. She turns away to face her friend, Kayla, and talks to her about something Matthew could care less about.

Matthew watches as the light shines off her brown hair. He liked it before she added the pink streak but the new addition shows her positive attitude- the attitude he’s grown attracted to.

Emma focuses her attention on Kayla who curiously gazes at her as if to ask What was that about? “He’s lonely. He’s probably a nice guy and I’m curious about his story.” Emma attempts to shrug off Kayla’s persistent curiosity. “You sure that’s all? Yesterday you seemed to be thinking awfully hard about him,” her teasing tone suggests more than an innocent curiosity but possibly a crush.

Emma scoffs, “As if.” Kayla smirks, knowing her best friend is keeping something hidden.

Kevin enters the classroom and walks up behind Emma and hugs her shortly as a greeting before pulling a chair up beside his girlfriend and kissing her cheek.

Today the couple’s outfits are identical, as they always are; a simple black t-shirt and dark jeans paired with black Adidas. “Hey, Kevy.” Emma teases with a falsetto obnoxious voice.

He smiles cooly, “Hey, Em.” Saddened by his lack of annoyance, Emma pouts her lip. “So not fair. My nicknames never bother you.” He laughs and turns his attention to Kayla.

“Hey, Beautiful,” his normally cold eyes soften around her and Kayla has a broad smile. “Hey, Handsome.” He smiles at her softly and Emma coos, loving their relationship.

Kevin’s looks pair well with Kayla’s. He has dyed black hair, originally blond, dark blue eyes, tan skin and is very tall.

They turn their attention to Emma with coy smiles. “Shut up, will you?” Kayla laughs, embarrassed about her display of affection. Emma smiles, shrugging her friend's embarrassment off. “So, Em got the app, Kay.” Kayla's eyes light up with excitement.

“Oh, really? And when were you going to tell me exactly? I'm your best friend! Why does my boyfriend know before me?” Her voice suggests agitation but her eyes say otherwise.

“Kay, you know better than anyone that I was going to tell you.” But the both of them know it’s a lie, only one person knows Emma better than she knows herself - her brother.

“Yeah, yeah. Shush. Have you talked to anyone on the app?” Kayla’s interest has skyrocketed.

“Besides Kevin? No.” Kayla smiles, “Well, change that tonight. Talk to someone. Okay?” Emma nods, agreeing to Kayla’s words despite her internal disagreement.