Chapter 4

Early the next morning, Emily slid into her turquoise green mustang, a gift from her father last year, and took the familiar route to Brian's house. Turning onto his street not far from Nick's house, she had a feeling of déjà vu. Nick and her had driven down the palm tree-lined lane thousands of times together. It was weird not hearing Nick talk animatedly about Journey or some new cheat codes for some game on his Sega Dreamcast in the passenger seat next to her. Emily tuned up onto Brian's driveway and pressed the red buzzer outside the gate in front of his house.
"Hello?" Brian's voice crackled through the speaker a few minutes later. Man, is this guy always so happy? Emily smiled. She could already see the smile that was always present on Brian's face.
"Hey Bri, it's me, Em," She replied through the intercom.
"Hey Em, what's up?" Brian asked, completely forgetting that she was waiting for him to open the gates.
"Hey Bri, you know, I'd love to chat but then you know, I'm still out here and everyone on the street can hear us," Emily replied sarcastically.
"Oh!! Hehe, sorry Em. I forgot. Come on in," Brian laughed. "Thanks Bri," Emily replied wryly.
The wrought-iron gates slowly opened and Emily drove through, parking in front of one of Brian's garages. Taking off her blue sunglasses and picking up her purse, she went up to Brian's doors just as he opened them.
"EMILY!!!!! I missed ya," Brian grinned, giving her a hug.
"Me too, B," She hugged back.
"So watcha doing here?" Brian asked curiously, closing the doors behind her.
"Discreet Brian, real discreet. Nice way of making a girl feel welcome, huh Bri? What, is Leighanne here?" Emily teased her friend's obliviousness.
"Hehe, sorry Em. You know me…I love having you here! Well Leighanne's here too - guess I didn't tell you she moved in with me," Brian grinned. As if on cue, Leighanne padded out of the kitchen, still in her bathrobe.
"Oh EM! If I knew you were coming I would have gotting dressed a little earlier. Sorry bout that girl," Leighanne smiled giving Emily another hug.
"Hey Leigh. I missed you! It sucks that we can never call each other. You're always at work and I'm always at school," Emily smiled - Leighanne was like a sister to her, if she needed advice, Leighanne gave the perfect ones, but then if you told Leighanne anything, the whole world would noe in twenty minutes flat. But it was those flaws that made Emily love her.
"Want some coffee? I just made some. And we totally have to catch up. Are you still dating that Drew guy from TBH? He was…." Leighanne began, leading Emily to the kitchen.

Once they had all sat down, Emily said, "Well actually I came here cause I needed tome advice, well, from Brian, as crazy as that might sound. Sorry Leigh…this one's sorta more in Brian's field," Emily gazed apologetically at her best girlfriend.
"Ya, that's ok Em. I still love ya. And you still get to be my maid of honour at the wedding," Leighanne smiled, "Well I'll let you two talk. I'm gonna wash up, see ya!"
"So, what's wrong?" Brian asked, concerned.
"Well…"Emily began, looking down at the black coffee in front of her.
"C'mon Em, you know you can tell me." Brian urged.
"Well, you promise not to tell anyone?" Emily asked, like a little kid.
"Promise. Just between you and me," Brian promised.
"Not even Nick."
"I promise. Scout's honour," Brian said, holding his hand up.
"Okay, well it's about Nick," Emily began, playing with her mug of coffee like it was the most interesting thing in the world, "I think I'm in love with him."

Emily felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She was so glad she had told Brian and Emily drove home feeling much lighter.
"Well I think you should tell him how you feel. I mean, if you don't, you'll never know if he feels the same way. And if you don't, you'll never be happy, and you'll live life thinking, 'I wonder what would have happened if I did tell him'. Think about it. If you don't tell him, you'll definitely lose. But if you do, you can risk it and you might win. Think about it for a while Em," Brian had told her.
Emily knew Brian was right. But that risk…she didn't want to take it. That risk was so high - her friendship with Nick…how could she possibly risk that? The one thing she treasured so much? It just wasn't fair. Why do teenagers get faced with the hardest decisions?


Chapter 5

Story Index