Reaching Emma

42.

Since we won our last basketball game we qualified for the state championship. David and I were ecstatic to say the least. Last week we had long practices and on days we didn't have official practices David led informal ones before school. It was intense and exhausting, but also a lot of fun. I was excited for our final game, the team was really good this year and I think we had a real chance to win.

The team rode to the game on a bus because it was a few hours away. The school rented additional buses for other students to come and cheer us on. I think most of our friends were planning to come. 

Chloe was wearing my jersey to the game, I drove her to school this morning to catch the student bus. Otherwise, I hadn't seen much of her this week. She said that she had a lot of schoolwork to catch up on after our trip to LA. She was also busy hanging out with some new friends, she even sat with some different people at lunch a few days during the week, which was alright with me because I had been spending many of my lunch hours in the library catching up on homework recently.

We finally got to the stadium and stepped inside the building. It was a huge gymnasium and people were already finding seats. After dropping my stuff in the locker room, we started warming up on the court. 

We took one final water break before the game started, David and I scanned the bleachers to see if Anna and Chloe were here yet. I spotted Anna first. She and Emma were jumping around and waving at us with giant posters that they made. I waved back and smiled at their enthusiasm. I saw Chloe sitting a few rows in front of them talking to Jennifer and Andrew. I waved back at them, unsure if Chloe even saw me, and got some water before the game started.

Everyone played really well and we ended up winning by five points. Our friends and family met us on the court as we were posing for pictures with our giant trophy. I was ecstatic by the time I found my parents. Catherine ran up to me and congratulated me. I picked her up and gave her a hug, then gave my parents a side hug while trying to juggle my squirming little sister in my arms. We talked for a while and they took some photos of David and I with some of our other teammates before we had to get ready to catch the bus home.

The bus ride home was loud as everyone was talking and yelling the whole way home. 

I closed my textbook and glanced at the clock in anticipation of the bell ringing. I was itching to get out of this class, our professor's monotone rambling was making me tired.

I had so much more time to finish my classwork now that the basketball season ended. With no practice after school, I spent a lot of time catching up on homework and projects that I had put off. I even had time to apply for summer jobs; I decided to accept a position as a day-camp counselor at the local YMCA where I'd be working with the kids to learn sports, play games, and a few classes. I was actually really excited about it.

I leapt out of my seat when the bell finally rang a minute later. I stopped at my locker and looked around for Chloe before heading to my last class of the day. Even though I had more free time now, I had strangely been seeing less of Chloe. I didn't see her at her locker so I decided to get to class early. I always looked forward to Chemistry, especially when we had labs to work on. Emma was already sitting at our table when I walked in.

"Hey Emma" I greeted, taking a seat beside her. She looked up at me and for a second I couldn't stop thinking about how breathtaking she looked, her blue shirt made her big eyes look even more beautiful today. I looked down at my binder to distract myself. 

"Hey! What's up?" She asked as she got her notebook out of her backpack.

"Not much. Well actually, I just accepted a summer job teaching day camp at the YMCA" I told her.

"No way!" She exclaimed, putting down her stuff to look at me, "That's awesome, Luke. Congrats! That sounds like it'll be a lot of fun!"

I ran a hand though my hair and leaned back in my chair, "Thanks, yeah I'm really excited. What about you? Do you, do you know what you're doing this summer?" I asked. I hadn't really thought about it, but I guess she might not even be here this summer. I was hoping she would stay in Wisconsin, but had a looming feeling that she might go back to California to see her family and other friends, but her boyfriend was here too. Sometimes I forget she's still dating Steven; she doesn't talk about him often, usually only if someone else brings him up.

"I'm not completely sure yet. I might try to get a summer job here or go to California to spend some time with my parents. I haven't decided" she explained while playing with her bracelet nervously.

"That's okay, you have time to decide," I reassured her, but couldn't help include some personal motive, "And not to sway your decision, but... I'd miss you if you left and-"

I was cut off when David and Anna came in and took their seats behind us. Emma gave me a grateful smile, acknowledging my comment before greeting our friends, "Hi guys."

Class started and unfortunately it was a lecture day so we spent the entire hour taking notes.

Spring break was coming up and my parents had been asking me if I had any plans. After all my trips this year, they were probably surprised that my friends and I didn't have anything planned yet. My parents wanted to do a family trip, but Roosevelt middle school and high school hadn't coordinated vacations and my spring break was a week earlier than my sister's vacation. It wasn't until about a week before spring break that Anna suggested we all go to her parent's lake house a few hours away.

"Guys, you have to come! There is a cute downtown with tons of shops and restaurants. We can go hiking, sit by the fire, watch movies, drink and my parents have a hot tub! Oh, it'll be so much fun!" Anna convinced us at lunch.

"I'm in!" David agreed while cramming a huge bite of sandwich in his mouth. Jack, Samantha, and I also nodded in agreement.

"Emma? Are you and Noah in?" Anna asked.

"I'll come, but Noah can't make it. He's been pretty busy at work lately" she explained.

"What about you, Chloe?" Anna asked.

"I can't, my parents and I are going to Ohio to visit some friends and family, but that sounds like so much fun!" Chloe replied, pouting.

Anna nodded understandingly and turned to the rest of the table, "Well it's settled then! It'll be me, David, Emma, Luke, Jack and Samantha. We'll drive up on Saturday morning and stay a few nights. It'll be so much fun!"

"I'm so sad that I can't come to the lake house with you guys" Chloe told me after school while we were talking at her locker.

"Yeah, me too. But you'll have fun with your family and catching up with friends in Ohio. You were really excited about it before" I tried to reassure her. Chloe nodded and set her backpack on the ground while she put her jacket on.

"I've been helping Amber plan the prom theme" Chloe commented.

"Oh yeah, I think it's coming up soon. That sounds like fun to help plan it" I answered. I had been hearing that people started asking each other to prom, but hadn't really thought any more about it. I assumed that we were going together because we were dating, but hadn't officially asked her. I don't know what was holding me back, but my gaze shifted past Chloe to find a certain blonde standing at her locker down the hall, reminding me what, or rather whom, was the root of my hesitance. It was unfair to Chloe, but I couldn't help my lingering feelings for Emma. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair as Chloe closed her locker and turned towards me.

"So? Are we going together or not?" Chloe asked, sounding annoyed that I hadn't asked her yet, especially after her prompting.

"Okay yeah, let's go together." I replied, trying to sound enthusiastic. I know that I should have said no because it just didn't feel right, but all I could imagine was Emma there with Steven.

"Okay..." Chloe said while rolling her eyes. I sighed, feeling frustrated. I hadn't even seen that much of Chloe recently, she's been too busy with her other friends to make any time to hang out with me. Something just felt off about our relationship, but I couldn't pinpoint if it was because of her, or me, but it was probably a little of both.