Close to Nothing

I don’t know which was worse: the cold way Rosalie stared at Emmett or the way Emmett and I couldn’t look at each other. I tried to act normal around him and even tried to joke a bit but he was always looking grim. He would give me one-word answers and in the end I gave up and we just didn’t talk.

I tried being friendly with Rosalie but I felt guilty. She didn’t accuse me of anything, she actually acted nice and we were almost normal but every time we started talking the feeling of Emmett’s arms around my waist or his lips against my skin kept coming up. As far as I could tell, Rose wasn’t mad at me at all and she didn’t know anything about last night. However I could see Edward staring at me sometimes. I had forgotten that he could read minds so I immediately tried to block him out.
Lunch was bearable because Alice kept on chatting easily. It was good to have her around sometimes. I didn’t know how bio would go though.

We walked to class together but we didn’t talk and when we got inside, we quietly started to do the assignment the teacher gave us. I was so absorbed in finding the right answers that I almost jumped a foot when Emmett lightly touched my hand.
“What?” I whispered to him, hoping the teacher wouldn’t hear us.
“Let’s forget about what happened,” he said to me. I was a little bit hurt. Of course nothing could happen between us but last night meant something to me. At least it showed me that Emmett cared and felt the same way about me. I suddenly remembered my mother.
“Remember honey, girls mature much more quicker than boys so what may be special to you means nothing to them,” she said once. I shook my head to clear my thoughts.
“Yes, of course,” I agreed with him and he grinned at me. I smiled right back.
“You still want a ride home?” he asked after a couple of minutes of silence. I nodded. I still felt a little strange inside.

We drove silently. I couldn’t find anything to say and neither could he. But for some reason Emmett was driving slower than usual.
“Can I turn some music on?” I asked him after a few minutes and he nodded. I pushed in a random untitled CD and turned the volume up. A calming beat started. A man in an unknown to me language began to sing and then a woman sang in English. I smiled and leaned my head against the headrest.
“What is this song?” I asked Emmett. He smiled at me.
“’Seven Seconds‘, you like it?” he asked and I nodded. The song put me into a good mood.
“You’re going to help me with bio homework, right?” I asked Emmett.
“But it’s easy, the teacher explained it,” he frowned. I pulled a face.
“I don’t pay attention to this stupid subject,” I muttered and Emmett laughed.
“Must be the only subject, huh?” he teased me. I punched him lightly on the shoulder. We got to my house and Emmett decided to come in. Just as I unlocked the door, my home phone rang. I ran into the kitchen swiftly to get it.

“Hello?” I said into the phone and saw Emmett close the door behind him and sit down on the couch in my living room.
“Eleanora, it’s Christopher, I’ve got some bad news,” he said in a pained voice. I’ve never heard it to be like that.
“What’s wrong? Christopher, are you okay?” my voice came out alarmed. Emmett was by my side in a flash.
“Eleanora it’s… it’s our-”