Reaching Emma

21.

"So tell me about all your famous friends" Anna requested once we were all back in the living room.

"Okay, but actually it might be easier if you ask specific people?" Emma suggested instead.

"OMG" Anna yelled and threw her head back into the couch excitedly. She regained her composure, still giggling "Okay, okay. Umm... Liam Hemsworth?"

"Yep"

"Justin Bieber"

"Yeah"

"Shawn Mendes"

"Yes"

"Taylor Swift?"

Emma nodded again and David jumped in too, "What about Drake?"

"Yeah" Emma replied.

David got excited, "Okay, uh- Post Malone? Sam Smith?"

Emma laughed, "You got me, I haven't met Post Malone."

Noah came into the living room and set some pizzas on the coffee table before plopping down in an empty chair and chiming in on David's question, "I have, he's a nice guy."

"My turn again!" Anna shouted even though I didn't think her turn had ended. "Hmm, Ariana Grande?"

"Ariana is actually one of my best friends," Emma told us.

Before Anna had time to ask any other questions David shouted, "My turn again!" He was obviously poking fun at Anna's earlier comment. He and Anna were loving this way too much. I was just in shock that Emma actually knew all these people.

David thought for a minute before asking, "Jennifer Lawrence?"

"I've only met her briefly" Emma answered.

"Wow you guys seem to know a lot of famous people..." Noah said sarcastically, referring to David and Anna's extensive list of Hollywood's who's who. Emma just laughed at Noah's comment.

"Noah's still upset that you didn't recognize him," Emma explained while rolling her eyes.

Anna ignored them and kept asking Emma about different celebrities. I zoned out, I didn't even know who some of these people were.

"Oh!" Emma interjected, I could tell she was getting tired of listening to Anna's never-ending list of celebrities and she said, "I guess I can add you guys on Instagram now!"

Anna bounced up and down on the couch, waiting for Emma's friend request to go through and shrieking when it did, "Omg Emma, you're verified?! That's crazy!"

I pulled out my phone and saw that I had an Instagram notification too. I added Emma and started scrolling through her photos. Whoa, now I understood why she didn't add us right away if she was trying to keep her famous side a secret. Her account looked like that of an Instagram model, but I guess she really was one. Her hair was a little different in her photos; it was darker and longer, maybe that's why nobody at school recognized her. Some of her Instagram photos looked professional, where she was posing for a photo shoot, while others were just with her friends, and by friends I mean Ariana Grande, Jay Scratch, and of course, Noah.

"Wait Emma, you're friends with Jay Scratch? Is the Jay you keep talking about the Jay Scratch?!" I asked, I couldn't believe that she was friends with my favorite musician.

"Oh yeah! He's one of our best friends actually, but I haven't been able to see much of him lately because he's on tour right now" Emma explained.

I was speechless, but managed to sputter, "Uh- wow. That's awesome. He's awesome, I'm a big fan."

"Really? I didn't realize that" she answered, "Oh and speak of the devil..."

I was confused as to what she was referring to until I looked up at the flat screen TV mounted in front of us. The screen showed that Jay was calling. I didn't realize that her phone was connected to the TV because my parent's TV couldn't do that, but it was really cool.

Emma accepted the FaceTime call and I'm sure my mouth was wide open when superstar Jay Scratch appeared on the screen.

"Hey Angel," he said. He was focused on his guitar, so he didn't notice that Emma wasn't alone. It looked like he was on a tour bus or in a small room.

"Hi Jay, say hi to my friends!" Emma replied. Jay looked up from his guitar at the sound of her voice.

"Oh, hey guys! Sorry Em, I didn't realize that you had company." he responded sounding confused. He probably didn't realize that Emma told us about knowing him. 

"No worries, we were just talking about you actually. My friend Luke is a huge fan," Emma replied, motioning towards me. I was put on the spot and couldn't think of a single thing to say, instead I just grunted a quick "Yeah, hi" and waved. Emma continued to introduce Jay to Anna and David before telling him that she'd call him back later.

Looking over at Emma, I still couldn't believe that I hadn't put the pieces together earlier. It shouldn't have been a surprise that she was a model with how beautiful she is. When we got to her apartment she had changed into a sweatshirt and shorts, but still looked incredible. I didn't realize how distracted I was until I felt David nudge my side. "It's getting late, man, I think Anna and I are going to head out." I looked at my phone, I couldn't believe that it was already 10pm. Shit, I had to get home too.

"Sorry guys, I would give you a ride home, but I have a conference call in a few minutes." Noah said, getting up from the couch.

"Isn't it a little late?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, I do a lot of business in different time zones," he explained. "I'll have our driver, Thomas, give you a ride back to school to get your cars."

A driver? That's pretty cool. That must be why Emma never needed to learn how to drive.

We said goodbye to Noah and Emma and met Thomas in the lobby. He was an older man, but really nice and said he had been working with Noah, Emma and Jay for a while now.

Thankfully, my parents were too upset when I came home, I'm glad I remembered to text them that I was going to miss dinner earlier today when Anna had initially asked us all out to get ice cream. We never did make it to get ice cream. I was mentally exhausted from everything I learned tonight. I took a long shower and was scrolling through Facebook in bed when I got a text from Emma.

Emma: Hey, is this a bad time?

Luke: Nope, I'm just laying in bed.

Just a minute after I sent that text, I received a call from her.

"Hey, you miss me already?" I answered the phone. I laid on my back, taking in the sweet sound of her laugh through the phone.

"Maybe" she replied, still chuckling, "but actually I wanted to make sure you're okay. I know a lot of stuff came out tonight and I just wanted to check-in and see if you had any questions or anything and now I'm rambling again...."

I laughed at how cute she sounded, even if she was worried. "Yeah, thanks. But honestly, I'm good Emma. You can't scare me off that easily" I said.

She sounded genuinely relieved as she said, "Really? That's good, I really didn't mean to deceive you or freak you out."

"I know" I reassured her.

We ended up talking for a while. She was glad how easily Anna and David took everything and admitted that she was relieved that we finally knew. After talking for a while, I could hear her yawn from the other end of the line.

"You tired, sweetheart?" I asked, bravely trying out a different nickname and silently praying that it didn't sound too weird.

"Yeah, I am" Emma replied and I swear I could hear her smile through the phone.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Emma. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Luke."