Old Soul

Chapter Twenty-Four: Home Run

Sunday afternoon, my phone rings with an incoming call from Emmett.

"Hey, babe!" He sounds excited, like a kid on Christmas.

"Hey. What's up?" I ask, my guard and suspicions up.

"We're going to play baseball tonight. You wanna come?"

"Isn't it supposed to storm tonight?" I ask.

"Exactly!"

"What do you mean 'exactly?' Isn't that dangerous?"

"Nope. I promise it's fine. Please?" I can't crush the hope in his voice.

"Fine. But if you aren't as good as Babe Ruth, I'll be disappointed."

"Oh, Quel," Emmett sighs. "I'm much better." I laugh and say goodbye, hanging up my phone.

I grab my purple umbrella and right before I can make it outside, my parents stop me.

"Where are you going, young lady?" My father calls out from the living room.

I wince, closing my eyes and taking a deep breath before turning around. "Emmett invited me to his family's baseball game."

"You've been spending a lot of time with him." My mother adds mildly.

"And we haven't met him." My dad frowns.

"Well, you haven't." My mom corrects him.

"You have?"

"Several times. He's a nice boy, Bryce." Here they go.

"Okay, good talk. I'll have Emmett come over at some point. 'Kay, love you, bye!" I hurry, shoving my feet into my shoes.

"But—"

"You can meet him when he comes to pick her up for prom, Bryce." My mom attempts to soothe my father.

"Prom?!" I slam the door behind me, getting into my car and making a smooth getaway.

I breathe a sigh of relief before dread creeps back in. I have less than a week before prom, meaning I have less than a week before my dad grills Emmett for all he's worth. I sigh. Hopefully, my mom can reign him in before he asks for a urine sample or any other invasive thing.

When I park my car and begin the short ascent up the front porch steps, I hear Alice's voice.

"She's going to be here in three seconds, pull it together and act natural!" I knock on the door which Esme opens too quickly, as though she knew I was there.

"Raquel! It's lovely to see you. Are you going to join us tonight?" I smile at her.

"Emmett invited me. Though I'm not sure if I'll be playing." She steps back to allow me into the house. My eyes immediately find Emmett, standing in the kitchen with Jackson and Carlisle. Alice is nowhere to be seen. Jackson and Carlisle are sitting across from each other at their dining room table, and Emmett is leaning up against the marble counter studying a newspaper intently. His brows are furrowed, and he seems to be almost ignoring me. I walk over to him and pluck the paper from his hands and turn it right side up, dangling the now readable newspaper from the fingertips of my right hand, my left hand on my hip.

"I believe this might be why you're struggling." I say, raising my eyebrows. Act natural, my ass.

"Oh, thanks! But I was reading the answers to the riddles. What can you catch but never throw? It really had me stumped. Turns out it's a cold! Who knew? Of course, it's been decades since I—or any of us really, have had a cold."