Heartbeat

Four

This chapter is dedicated to kated37 for her comment on chapter 3! The first comment I've EVER had and it made me super happy... and gave me the confidence boost (aka kick up the backside) that I needed to keep going with Heartbeat! As I might have mentioned, the story is finished, but I'm editing. If I put my head to it, I could finish editing this week, or next, and then I can update weekly, or every few days!

Until then, here's Chapter 4. And we're back to Emma.

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EMMA

His weight was like a thousand bricks as he bumped into me. I lost my footing pretty quickly and I could feel the rush of air as I fall to the ground, but before I crashed against the cold floor I felt a pair of arms on my waist holding me against a hard chest.

                Instinctively I grip my hands around his biceps, trying desperately to balance myself as he lifts me back to my feet. I stare up at Jordan Knight and see his lips curl up on the sides as he takes in my body in his arms.

                “Jordan?” I mumble, hoping that by dropping my gaze to the ground he might somehow miss my embarrassed face. I finally stand upright and try to gather myself. “Sorry.”

                 “My fault,” he admits, holding his palms up in the air laughingly. “Are you ok?”

                I nod. “Yeah. Thank you for, you know, grabbing me before I hit the deck.”

                “You’re welcome,” Jordan smiles at me.

                He stands in front of me making no effort to move, even after the morning bell goes and it’s time for homeroom. Eventually, after Adam Langer gains Jordan’s attention, he steps aside and lets me pass as my friends turn to find me.

                Holly Jefferson and Zoe Carr are my oldest and closest friends, and from the confused looks on their faces I knew they’d question me about my moment with Jordan. Even from thirty paces I could see Zoe’s blue-green eyes dancing with excitement. She was hopping from foot to foot in anticipation and her long blonde hair bounced around her shoulders as I approached.

                “What the hell?” Zoe finally screams when I come to a stop before her. “Jordan Knight was talking to you.”

                I nod. “Yep.”

                “And?” Zoe prompts.

                I shake my head. ‘And’ nothing. There wasn’t anything to tell other than the fact that I bumped into him, or vice-versa, and he’d stopped me from falling. Zoe sighed and assured Holly and I that she would have deliberately fallen at Jordan Knight’s feet if she had been in my shoes. Holly rolled her green eyes and brushed her fingers through her dark hair as Zoe rambled on about her undying love for Jordan Knight.

                “OK, Zoe,” Holly finally snapped as we reached homeroom. “We get it. Major crush on Jordan Knight, but enough is enough.”

                I smile at Zoe’s hurt expression as we take our seats. Zoe was the more outgoing of the three of us, while Holly was the grumpiest and I was somewhere in the middle- the peacemaker of our friendship. Somehow, despite our varied personalities, we managed to balance each other and had been friends for years. Or if you were Holly and me, we were friends since before we were born, owing to our mother’s friendship.

                We sat together in a row and chatted as Mr. Pike began to lecture us on the importance of choosing a good college. No-one was listening as he had given us the same speech on our final day before summer break, urging us to be responsible and to the right choices.