Impatiently Patient

by Amelia Shea

  Well, this wasn’t going to end well.

  “Miss Kern, I think you need to come with me. Now!” Emory could tell she was biting back her anger. Mrs. Knolls was not a fan of Emory to begin with. This wouldn’t be the first time Emory would be seeing the inside of her office. Some people found Emory’s feistiness and smart mouth amusing. Mrs. Knolls did not.

  Emory turned back to Roxanne and took her backpack. Roxanne started to speak, “But Mrs. Knolls, she only did it because Nate was being nasty.”

  “Oh? Did he hit Miss Kern first?” Her tone was condescending. She knew he didn’t.

  “Well, no but…”

  “Do yourself a favor, Miss Barrett, do not get involved.” She snapped her fingers.

  Emory followed behind. She spent the next hour and a half listening to Mrs. Knolls’ speech about violence in the schools being unacceptable and scolding her. In the end, she received a week-long in-school suspension. Mrs. Knolls had given up trying to get a hold of her parents after an hour and sent her on her way.

  “We will not tolerate fighting, Emory,” Mrs. Knolls chastised one last time.

  Emory stood and nodded. “Got it. No fighting.”

  “That attitude will only hold you back in life, you’d be smart to straighten that out now.”

  Emory turned and walked out the door. She pulled her phone from her back pocket and looked at the time.

  “Great. Just friggin’ great.” She shook her head and started down the stairs. An hour and a half of her life she’d never get back. And now she was late for piano. She hated piano, despised it really. Back straight, proper finger placement, play with ease, blah, blah, blah. Her mom insisted she play. It was what girls did. Especially when said girl had been horrible at ballet, kicked off cheering for mocking the team, and sports well, she sucked. Piano it was, and when her mom found out she missed it, there would be hell to pay.

  “This blows!” she uttered, walking outside.

  “Emory!”

  Emory, completely engrossed in her disdain for piano, didn’t even hear someone come up next to her. Turning around she was graced with God’s gift to the world. Her smile crept on her face. There were few sights at the moment that could make her smile but Ethan Barrett was top on her list.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Roxanne told us what happened. You okay?” Ethan stood a foot away, hands dug deep in his pockets. He was beautiful. Usually boys were described as handsome or good looking, not beautiful. Ethan Barrett was the exception. The wind blew his hair in to his eyes. A quick shake and it fell back into place. That pretty much summed up Ethan. Things just fell into place for him. He was perfect.

  It was not often people could recall the exact moment when they fell in love but for Emory it was easy. The day she met Ethan. Most people would call it a crush but Emory just scoffed at that. She was one hundred percent in love with him and one day, when she was older, she was going to marry him.

  “Yeah, I’m fine. Took my lecture like a champ, you would have been proud.” She cocked up her eyebrows and nodded.

  Ethan laughed. That laugh was like friggin’ music. Not mushy, romantic, sappy stuff. No, his laugh was like the best song ever, the one that came on and you couldn’t help but smile and turn it up. The song you sing, even if your voice sucks. That was Ethan’s laugh, a sound she’d never grow tired of hearing.

  He jerked his head to the parking lot. “Let’s go.”

  “Where?”

  “Home. I mean, our house. Everyone’s worried, especially Mom and Rox. She wanted to come down here but John said it would be best if I did.”

  “Did she tell you what happened?”

  His eyes peered down at her as if he was trying to read her face.

  “Only that Nate was being a jerk and you clocked him.” His left brow spiked up in question and a small smirk played on his lips. He looked amused.

  “Yeah, that about sums it up.”

  “So, what did he say?”

  She looked over at him as they walked to the car. His eyes were curious with a slight amusement. She knew the minute she told him what Nate said, that carefree face would be gone, replaced by sadness then anger.

  “He said I was too ugly to get a guy, so I punched him in the gut.”

  Ethan barked out laughter. Ah, that sound. She smiled up at him, started to giggle and shrugged her shoulders as they came up to the car. Ethan unlocked the door and opened it for her. He did stuff like that all the time. His mom was usually the recipient of his gentlemanly gestures or his girlfriend, Courtney.

  Emory rolled her eyes at the thought of Courtney. She was a senior like Ethan. They had been dating for a few months. Roxanne and Emory hated her on principle, after all, they both knew that Ethan should be with Emory. It would just have to wait a few years.

  Emory climbed in and looked over at him when he didn’t close the door. He just stood there staring at her.

  “What?”

  “You know he’s wrong, right, Em?” He gazed at her.

  Now, it was her turn to stare. Nate was wrong? Not really, she certainly wasn’t gorgeous like Roxanne. She was okay. She didn’t send guys running away but she knew what she was. An average, awkward preteen, with crazy red hair that always looked a mess, bigger jeans size than most in her grade, and boobs that were a curse. She snickered at the girls who were jealous that she wore a bra. Crazy! She’d give anything to swap breast size with a flat chested girl. Ugh!

  She knew what he was doing. He was being Ethan. Nice and sweet. Never mean, or crass and crude. He was being the good guy.

  She looked down at her feet. “Yeah, I know. He’s wrong, I’m not ugly.” Her tone was mocking. She knew that’s what Ethan was going to say. Not necessarily because he meant it but because it was the right thing to say. Ethan always said and did the right thing.

  “Emory?” She kept her head cast down but looked over at him through her lashes.

  “You’re not ugly, Em. You’re very pretty and someday, that jerk Nate is going to wish he never said a mean word towards you. Trust me, he’ll regret what he said.”

  She snorted. “Yeah, right.”

  “It’s true, Em.”

  She heaved a big breath and deflated into her seat. “You don’t have to say that I’m pretty, Ethan, I got a mirror, I know what I look like.”

  “Really? What exactly do you look like?”

  “Uh, hello?” She pointed at her hair. “Curly red hair? That’s not pretty! It’s always a mess and these,” she pointed to the freckles that scattered her nose, “these are so not pretty. I have to get braces next year. I’m fat and I’m having trouble seeing the board so chances are I’ll be in glasses before I hit the seventh grade.”

  He cocked his head and his eyes squinted, “Is that really how you see yourself?”

  “Yeah,” she whispered, feeling awkward and uncomfortable under his stare. Way to go, Em, as if he couldn’t already see your flaws. You put them all out there for him to inspect. Her fingers played with the seam of her backpack on the floor of the car.

  “It’s weird how two people can look at the same exact thing and see something totally different.”

  Her eyes peeked past her hair. He was looking down at her with a soft gaze. He rarely had a hard glare. T and Stone, his brothers, had mastered the glare, but not Ethan. He always looked at ease and relaxed.

  “You may not see it now but someday you will. Just because you aren’t a stick figure doesn’t make you fat. And those braces?” He snorted. “You won’t have them forever. Lots of girls have long straight hair and no freckles, you’re right. You don’t look like the rest of the girls, you’re different.”

  Emory’s eyes averted back to the floor and her heart sank. She knew it was true but somehow coming from Ethan, the truth stung. Hard.

  “Your different, Em. And that’s what makes you special.”

  She whipped her head to the side, eyes widened in shock.
Ethan Barrett just called her special. His eyes were soft, set on her with a small smile, draping his arm over the door.

  “You think I’m special?”

  He nodded. “Very special.”

  Emory watched him close the door and trailed his every move when he walked in front of the car, around to the driver’s door.

  Ethan Barrett thought she was special? A smile crept onto her face. Ethan Barrett thought she was special. She didn’t even realize it was possible but she had just fallen in love with him a little more.

  *

  Ethan drove back to his house, aware of the side glances Emory was sending his way. Every once in a while, he’d catch her staring at him. It was usually followed by her face turning bright red when he looked over at her. His brothers teased him about the not-so-secret crush she had on him. Though they were very cautious not to tease when she was around. Emory was a part of their family and no one, including his brothers, would want to embarrass her.

  As part of his family, no one was allowed to mess with her, either. He made a mental note to have a chat with Nate’s brother, Chris, tomorrow at school. He was a year younger than Ethan. He would make it clear that if his little brother caused any more problems for his sister or Emory, then Chris would have a problem with Ethan and his brothers.

  “Are you going t-to the p-prom?” she asked in an anxious stutter.

  “Yeah, just got fitted for my tux.” He turned into the driveway heading up to his house. He smiled over at her watching her bite her lip as though she was deep in thought.

  “Who’s your date?”

  He squinted. “Courtney.” He had been dating Courtney for the last three months, something Emory was well aware of.

  “Oh. You must like her a lot, huh?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Think you’ll marry her?”

  Ethan choked out a laugh. “Marry her? Em, I’m only seventeen. I have no plans to marry anyone for a very long time, if ever.”

  “If ever? What does that mean? Don’t you wanna get married?” Her voice was shocked. Ethan glanced over to see she had turned around in her seat to face him. The look on her face made him laugh. Her eyes were wide, almost panicked and her mouth gaped open.

  Ethan shrugged through his chuckle. “Maybe, maybe not, don’t know.”

  “Oh.” Her tone was low and she slumped back in her seat turning to face the front again. She looked defeated. He watched her sigh heavily from the corner of his eye. Her mouth twitched and she looked as though she was chewing on the inside of her bottom lip.

  He pulled in front of the house and parked.

  “Thanks for picking me up.” She mumbled reaching up to open her door.

  “Anytime, Em.” He grabbed the handle but stopped when he heard Emory call his name.

  She wasn’t looking at him and her voice was low, almost a whisper.

  “If you do get married, I don’t think it should be Courtney.”

  Ethan tightened his lips, holding back his laugh. “No?”

  She shook her head, not making eye contact with him. She kept her eyes down, looking vulnerable and unsure. Ethan thought of her as another little sister but he was aware that she saw him differently with her little crush. Girls’ hearts were fragile, especially at her age, he needed to make sure he was very careful with Emory’s.

  “Yeah, I think your right.”

  Her head jerked and her eyes landed on his. He saw the surprise and again he was biting back his laughter.

  Ethan nodded. “The girl I marry, she’s got to be special.”

  Ethan watched the corners of her lips curl into a smile that spread across her face. Her eyes crinkled as she nodded then jumped out of the car. His eyes followed her as she walked up the stairs. He chuckled thinking, he might just have insinuated that he’d marry Emory Kern someday.

  * * * *

  8 years ago

  Emory had been sitting on the Garrison’s porch for the last forty minutes. Her dad was late picking her up, as usual. She bundled her thin jacket around herself. Texas never really got cold but for a true Texan, January at fifty degrees was harsh.

  Pulling out her phone from her bag, she glanced down at the time. Forty-one minutes late.

  She had her own car, which was currently in the shop for the third time since school started. To say she was a bad driver would be a slight understatement. Her parents had given her a brand new Focus for her sixteenth birthday. It was gorgeous, bright shiny red. It was amazing the difference a year could make.

  Quickly punching at her key pad, she held the phone to her ear and heard the ring. Three times then to voicemail. Her dad never answered. Thank God she wasn’t stranded on the side of the road. She once mentioned that to her dad. He said, “What would I be able to do? You’re better off calling road side assistance anyway.”

  Wise words for your stranded teenage daughter. There would be no “Father of the Year” award in her dad’s future.

  Her head perked up from her phone when she heard tires on the gravel driveway. A smile crept onto her lips. The black Mustang pulled around the circle and parked by the garage. Emory watched him get out and close the door before his eyes made contact and he smiled.

  “Where is everybody?” Ethan called out, making his way to the porch where Emory sat on the steps.

  “Your mom and Rox went to some painting thing. Your dad is over at the Fuller’s, helping with a crane or something, and Bogs is out probably trying to get laid. Trying being the operative word.”

  Ethan snickered taking a seat beside her on the porch. His knee was so close to hers they almost touched. If she just leaned her leg a little to the right…jackpot. His leg rested lightly against hers. Who knew she could get so excited over a knee swipe.

  “How’s school?”

  Emory shrugged. “All right, I guess.”

  “Still thinking about Rice?”

  “Well, as you know, it is their Alma Mater.” She plastered on a ridiculously happy face and rolled her eyes. “Forget school, let’s talk about something else. Anything else, please? Like why are you here? Get tired of the freedom of being on your own?”

  “Never get tired of that. No, Dad asked me to help with a delivery tomorrow, figured I’d come over and stay the night.”

  “No date?” She mocked.

  He tilted his head, his eyes crinkled. “I could ask you the same. Aren’t you dating someone?”

  “We broke up.”

  “Oh. Why?”

  “’Cause he told Ed Turner that he was only going to date me long enough to find out if the curtains matched the drapes.” She scrunched her face in annoyance. She had completely lost it when she heard. There was no creature grosser than a seventeen-year-old horny boy.

  “He’s an asshole.” Ethan sneered.

  “Yup, that’s what I told him, right before I poured my Big Gulp down the front of his pants.”

  Emory’s face transformed into a sly smile and Ethan burst out laughing.

  “Well played, Miss Kern.”

  Emory shrugged still smiling from the memory. “I thought so.”

  Ethan nudged her shoulder and she looked up at him.

  “Seriously, Em. That guy’s a jerk. Want me to talk to him?” He winked.

  “Bogs beat ya to it. Don’t know what he said to him but every time I see Eric, I swear he trembles and runs the other way.”

  Ethan snickered. “Bogs is good like that. You need brothers like us to have your back.”

  “You’re forgetting, you’re not my brother.” She cocked her eyebrow up reminding him that they weren’t related so she was available for him.

  “Well, not technically, but that’s how we see you.”

  Emory could feel her jaw drop and her mouth hang open. No! No! No! She wasn’t his sister. He couldn’t see her that way. He was supposed to see her as pretty, or even average with the possibility of dating. Sister? That would be the kiss of death or in her case…
no kiss! Dammit!

  “Is that how you see me? Like a sister?” Her voice was shaky.

  “Yeah, we all do.”

  With those four words, her heart sank and she faced forward. He saw her like a sister. Not a woman or a chick or even a girl. He just saw another sister. Her stomach started to turn and she blocked out the idea of puking on her new brother’s shoes. Oh God, why her? Years of being in love with Ethan Barrett and he just gave her the worst compliment a girl could ever get.

  She had spent the last two years doing everything in her power to make him notice her. The makeup, the clothes, her extra effort in flirting, or trying at least. All that time, thinking of new ways to get onto Ethan’s radar, and for what? She thought maybe the age difference was the problem. In a few years or less, hopefully, he’d notice her. But he wouldn’t, would he? Because no matter how old she was, he’d still see a sister when he looked at her.

  “Your dad’s here.”

  Emory peeked through her curls that hung past her face. Her shield. The lights got brighter as the car got closer. She had never been so happy to see her dad in her life. She needed to get out of here, away from Ethan. She needed to go home, crawl in bed and just cry.

  She grabbed her bag from next to her and stood up. She started down the stairs and murmured, “Bye.”

  She was almost to the edge of the driveway when she heard Ethan call out her name. Slowly, turning her head over her shoulder she saw him standing on the porch, arms folded and a look of confusion in his eyes.

  “You okay?”

  Was she okay? The boy whom she loved for more than half her life just told her he saw nothing more than a sister. All the dreams of him being her first burned up in flames. The idea of kissing him, loving him, giving him her virginity and marrying him was just crushed. Her sixteen-year-old heart just shattered into a million pieces and actually physically hurt. And he wanted to know if she was okay?

  She did what she always did, she put on her hard outer layer. She gathered herself and took a deep breath. “Yeah, just perfect. See ya, Ethan!”

  She rushed to her dad’s car and quickly hopped in. Staring straight ahead, she didn’t dare another look to the porch to see if he was still standing there. No way. Her heart had taken enough of a beating. Time to wrap that shit in Kevlar.