Minute by Minute

Chapter 3

"Ok, ok. Tell me again."

I sigh. Emma and I have been sitting here for the past hour and a half and this is the third time I've told her about what happened this morning.

"Fine. But pay attention this time. I ditched school to talk to Josh about the trip. When I got there, I talked to my dad and Eliana really quick and then went upstairs. When I got upstairs, I heard the shower running so I thought it was Josh but it wasn't because he let me into his room right after. We talked about the trip and then he asked if a friend of his could come along. I said yes and when I asked him who it was, Aidan came into the room."

Emma takes a second to think about all of this. Then she says, "What did you do after you saw him?"

"I panicked and I asked Josh how they knew each other, I think it had something to do with Aidan's cousin. Then I told them that I had some things to prep and then I left and then I called you at the stoplight."

Emma seems highly amused, so much so that she actually starts giggling.

"What?" I asked. "What's so funny?" This isn't supposed to be funny; it's annoying.

"Nothing," she says, her laughter dying out. "It's just, I never thought either of us would ever see him again after his family moved to Arizona."

"Yeah, me neither."

Aidan, Emma, and I were best friends back when we were kids. We were inseparable. We would play in the park or at each other's houses every day. Emma lived two blocks away from me, still does, but Aidan used to live right next door. I used to sleep over at his house a lot and vise versa. That was until Aidan and his family moved to Arizona for his dad's job when he got promoted to be head of his law firm in Tucson. That was eight years ago. Emma and Aidan lost touch pretty quickly but we used to talk on the phone everyday. And then everyday turned into twice a week. Twice a week turned into once every other week. And then once a month until we eventually just lost touch completely.

Emma notices my brain is somewhere else and decides to bring me back. "How do you feel about him being back? And him coming on the trip?"

I don't even have to think about it; I know exactly how it feels. "Weird. I mean eight years of not seeing each other after 10 years of friendship and he's in my dad's house. My dad didn't even tell me about it. Josh and Eliana have no clue about Aidan but my dad knows everything. It was a shitty move on his part to send me up there without warning." I can't believe my dad would do that. He knows how much Aidan leaving affected me. My dad should have told me he was there and that he and Josh are friends. Maybe then I would've known what to say when I saw him.

"Ok let's change the subject before you get frustrated and I lose you," Emma says once again pulling me out of my thoughts. "You said Josh didn't hesitate to agree to come with us. I thought he would've at least been a little unsure. What did you say to him?"

I still haven't told Emma about the list so now's probably the time. I take the paper out of my back pocket and say, "I didn't tell him anything. I just showed him this," as I give it to her.

She unfolds the paper with a confused expression on her face. As she begins to read, her face softens and I can see that she now understands why Josh was so quick to agree. She hands the paper back to me and lets out a sigh as I put it back in my pocket.

"Cassie would've loved to come on a trip like this," Emma says.

I let out a small laugh as I slowly nod my head. "She would've gone crazy trying to talk me into do the stuff on this list. And I probably still wouldn't have done them. Now that she's gone, I feel like I have to."