Close to Nothing

I watched with surprise and delight as Emmett pranced around my kitchen. He had put on Sinatra’s ‘I Won’t Dance’ and was lip-synching and dancing to it. He did a little twirl, stumbled a bit and regained his balance. I started to laugh as he mouthed the words.
It’s been a week since Emmett’s been picking me up and driving me home. And every morning was the same routine. He’d search through my music and find a particularly good song and start dancing to it. I never realized how much of a child he was.

“I won’t dance, don’t ask me, I won’t dance, don’t ask me, I won’t dance….Madame with you,” he crooned and my laughter rang through the house. He took my hand and pulled me out of the chair and we started to dance together.
It was easy with Emmett. He never made things complicated. Nothing was ever awkward to him and he didn’t care if he looked like a fool.
I giggled as he dipped me back once the song ended.
“This song really suits you,” Emmett said conversationally as he brought me up. We were standing so close together that I tipped my head back and looked at his face. His eyes were always the first thing that caught my attention. Today they were the color of molten gold. I realized that I had been staring.
“My hair’s a mess,” I said suddenly and tore my eyes away from his. I turned around and walked a couple of steps away from him. It was unbearable to be so close to him.
I took my hair out of my ponytail and let it fall over my shoulders. I started to comb through it with my fingers and realized that my hands shook slightly. I couldn’t even make a ponytail. Emmett walked up behind me.
“I’ll help,” he said lightly and took the scrunchie from me. I felt a bit like a child as he combed through my hair and made me a high ponytail.
“All done,” he said and tugged at it lightly. I nodded in thanks and rushed to my room to get my bag. I felt so….exhilarated. I knew it was strange and wrong and awkward but I liked….whatever was going on between us. I walked outside and got into the car and we sped off toward school. The ride was silent. But occasionally we’d meet each other’s eye and start grinning like two idiots.

* * * * * * * * * * *

“I won’t do it,” I stated flatly.
“But you have to, this is class work that you get graded on,” Emmett said and took a scalpel in one hand.
“I wouldn’t dare if my life depended on it, it’s horrible,” I declared and eyed the scalpel with distaste. Emmett laughed.
“You amaze me, Ella, you could-” Emmett lowered his voice “-rip open an innocent doe’s throat but you can’t cut open a frog?” I shook my head. Emmett grinned and poked a poor frog with the end of the scalpel.
“No!” I cried out and grabbed the animal. Emmett burst out laughing. The teacher frowned and walked over to us.
“What’s all this commotion?” he asked.
“Eleanora doesn’t want to dissect the amphibian, sir,” Emmett said promptly. What a suck-up.
“Is that true, Eleanora?” the teacher asked me. I nodded and pressed the frog to my chest. The teacher rolled his eyes and muttered something like, “We always get one.” He allowed me to wait in the hallway until the end. I held my head high and walked out of the classroom, the frog still held tightly in my hand.

The bell rang and Emmett walked out of the classroom. He grinned when he saw me waiting for him. He started to talk about guts and blood and slime so I clamped my hands over my ears. We went to the lunch line in the cafeteria and he still wouldn’t stop talking about it.
“Shut up Emmett!” I yelled suddenly and several heads turned in our direction. Emmett grinned at me as we walked toward the table. I sat down next to Rosalie.
“What was that about?” Rosalie asked, inquiring about my outburst.
“This idiot wouldn’t stop talking about dissection,” I grumbled as Emmett laughed. I threw an apple straight at his face which he caught easily, obviously.