Cherry Red Summer (Emely and Elyas Book 1) (19 page)

It was quite reassuring that the Schwarzes had offered to help. My parents would be in good hands and not completely on their own.

I looked at the ceiling, trying to imagine whether my parents were really up to it. My father would be more agile with his cast off, that was true, but he would still need physical therapy. Could he run a whole household? I had my doubts. What concerned me most was that my mother would end up taking on way more than she was ready for.

“Are you two sure?” I asked.

They nodded, so I relented and agreed to head back to Berlin.

“But the second anything comes up,” I said, imposing my one condition, “even if it’s something small, you need to get in touch with me right away! I’ll catch the next train back. All right?”

“That won’t be necessary,” my mother said, smiling. “But, yes, we promise.”

“I’m counting on it,” I said, standing back up. “I’ll make one more dinner for you. No more meals on wheels after tomorrow! And remember it’s your own fault!” I made my way into the kitchen to set the table.

After dinner, I went to my room to buy my train ticket online. The only train was in the afternoon the next day, so I would have plenty of time to say good-bye to Alena and Ingo.

I thought about calling Alex and telling her I was coming back—she complained every day how much she missed me—but I was worried the phone call might drag on, so I decided to pack first. I found myself thinking about Elyas as I laid my things out and started putting them into my bag. I had him to thank that I even brought clothes.

Ingo was right: there were moments when Mr. Jerk was only a
little
bit of a jerk.

I set my bag next to the door and went downstairs to ask my folks if they needed anything. Then I came back upstairs and lay down on the bed with my phone. I held it away from my ear just in case. I expected Alex’s regular high spirits, but instead I heard a sad, thin-sounding “Yes?”

“Is that you, Alex?” I asked.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Emely,” she said. “He still hasn’t kissed me.”

I sighed.

“Why won’t he kiss me?” she asked.

I had wondered that myself. Based on Sebastian’s words and body language, as reported by Alex, everything suggested he liked her. My own observations bore that out as well.

They had been out five times since I’d left, but Sebastian wasn’t showing any signs of taking things a step further, and Alex was too timid for some reason to take the first step. There had to be some reason for Sebastian’s restraint, and that mystery had now piqued my interest, too.

“Hmm,” I said. “Maybe he hasn’t had a chance to kiss you yet.”

“What do you mean?”

“Maybe you’re just talking too much,” I said.

“Very funny,” she replied in a mumble.

“Have you talked to Elyas about it yet? He’s his best friend after all.”

“Yes, more than once,” she said with a sigh. “But he doesn’t want to get involved. He thinks we’re old enough to sort it out ourselves.”

“Couldn’t Elyas at least tell you how
he
sees things with you and Sebastian?” I asked.

“Well, yeah, he’s done that, indirectly. He dropped a
minimal
hint along those lines.”

“And what was that?”

“He said Sebastian likes me.”

“There you go! There’s no reason to mope.”

“If you say so.”

“I mean it,” I said. “But I can still see you’re in dire need of my help,” I continued, not knowing
how
to help her. Sometimes it was enough for Alex to know I was there to help, even if I didn’t end up doing anything.

Alex moaned. “But you’re so far away.”

“You can hold out until tomorrow, right?” I wished I could see the look on her face.

“What?” she asked, suddenly excited. “You’re coming back?”

“That’s right.”

“Really?”

“Yes!”

“Oh God!” she squeaked. “Why didn’t you say so? You’d have let me talk for five hours first! You’re not pulling my leg, right? You’re really coming?”

“Yes,” I confirmed for the third time, hearing another squeak at the other end.

“Have I ever told you I love you?” she asked.

“Yes, but you’re not getting a kiss from
me
either.”

“Smart-ass,” she giggled. “All right, so, we’re going to need a plan for Sebastian,” she started, her usual self once again.

I exhaled, leaned back, and waited to hear what crazy plan she was about to hatch.

C
HAPTER
14

S
WEET
S
MOKE

F
ive freaking stories. Step by step I hauled myself up and up. I had only been back in Berlin for one day and was swamped with catching up on everything I had missed. Of course Alex’s Sebastian “problem” was far more important—at least in her eyes—so I gave up my Saturday evening and headed to her apartment for the movie night she had planned.

Assuming I made it all the way up the stairs!

She had initially asked Sebastian over alone, as her guest of honor. But then she worried that would seem forced, so she convinced Elyas and me to join them to make it seem more casual.

Why had I agreed to do this again? Oh, right. Helping Alex finally get her kiss!

I continued my upward climb, panting harder and harder as my thighs burned more and more. The farther up I got, the queasier my stomach felt. I would have loved to think I had food poisoning, but in the end I knew I was feeling this way because of one single person. The mere thought of seeing him again made me nervous. And I justly hated myself for it.

I finally reached the fifth floor. Knowing the apartment door would open soon, I dreaded the stupid, inevitable commentary about what bad shape I was in. There was no way Elyas would be able to bite his tongue. I wanted to keep my windedness from reminding him of other situations, such as my humiliation in the park two and a half months ago. I turned red at the memory.

I took a moment to catch my breath. It then took me three tries to press the doorbell. Once I finally mustered the courage, the feeling in my stomach reappeared, twice as bad. How was he going to act toward me? Had anything changed between us? Why hadn’t he been in touch?

I would have preferred to spin around and head back to my dorm room, but the apartment door opened faster than my feet could move. Two brilliant, turquoise-green eyes greeted me, not the least bit surprised to see me. With a distracted smile on his face, he sighed, leaned his head against the doorjamb, and studied me.

“Lovely to see you, as always,” he whispered.

No, nothing had changed at all. Realizing that, I rolled my eyes.

“Silly me, here I was thinking you’d have given up by now.”

“Given up? To the contrary, my little bunny,” he said with a smirk. “It’s just that I know the best time to annoy you and the best time not to.”

I raised one eyebrow. Maybe that explained why he’d suspended his stalking operation while I was gone.

“You know when the best time to annoy me is?” I asked. “That’s news to me.”

“Well, there are a few things about me you don’t know.” His smile left me believing him. Whether I wanted to know such things was another issue.

We maintained eye contact until Alex hollered from the background, “Elyas, stop giving Emely the runaround, and let her in!”

“You heard Her Majesty,” I said, grateful for the interruption. I wriggled past him into the apartment and ignored the sigh he made behind me. The night’s star performer was waiting in the living room. “Hi,” I said, thrusting my hands into my back pockets.

Alex sat cross-legged on the sofa, eating pretzel sticks. Next to her, but a comfortable distance away, was Sebastian, who waved at me.

Alex had asked me to keep an eye on Sebastian and take in every detail. I was supposed to determine whether he was leading Alex on, which is why I immediately noticed the space between them. Upon closer inspection I decided it didn’t necessarily mean anything. Maybe he was just uptight about pretzel crumbs.

“I heard about your parents,” Sebastian said. “I’m so sorry. I hope they’re doing better now.”

“Thanks,” I said. “They are. In fact, they were back to their old selves faster than I would have liked.”

He grinned. “That sounds like it means a good prognosis.”

“What can I get you to drink, dearest?” I looked to my right, where Elyas was now standing.

Dearest, bunny rabbit
—all his stupid nicknames! I had hoped he would eventually stop if I ignored him long enough, but so far my strategy had had little success.

“Whatever,” I shrugged.

“Wine?” he offered.

I nodded. “But only if you have something on the sweeter side.” Anything remotely tannic would make me purse my lips.

“Sweet?” he repeated. “I’ll have to go check; I can’t promise.”

“Water is fine, too,” I added before he went to look in the fridge. I looked toward the big sofa. One detail suddenly stood out: Alex was sitting at the far left, and Sebastian was next to her. That meant I would have no choice but to sit next to Elyas. I moaned inwardly, remembering all too well how things had gone the last time I sat with Elyas on this very sofa.

I considered asking Alex to scoot over, but if Alex and Sebastian sat in the middle with Elyas and me at either end, that wouldn’t help Alex. Fine. Was anyone interested in what would help me? No.

I surrendered to my fate, and sat down in the middle next to Sebastian. “If Elyas gets too close, you’re going to have to let me sit on your lap, OK?”

Sebastian laughed. “Got it.”

Although any lap-sitting would have been purely platonic, Alex still shot me a menacing glare.
Obviously I won’t trespass on any previously claimed laps
, I almost added to reassure her.

Elyas soon returned and handed me a wine glass filled with golden liquid. “Eiswein,” he said. “A classic German dessert wine made from grapes harvested after the first frost. I tried some, and it’s good.”

“Thanks,” I said. I took the glass and sipped.

“See? I knew you’d like it,” he said.

“Amazing what all you know,” I said, rolling my eyes. “Why don’t you make yourself actually helpful and tell me what movie we’re watching?”

“
Fight Club.
Is that OK?”

I nodded. Even if the circumstances weren’t ideal, at least they had picked a good movie. As the screen brightened with the pretitle sequence, Elyas turned off the lights. His grin as he sat next to me was an ominous sign. Then he rested his arm on the back of the sofa behind me. I growled, slid farther away, and crossed my arms. Taking things slow was a concept Elyas was evidently unfamiliar with.

He leaned over and whispered, “Did you miss me?”

Yes.

“Elyas, the world doesn’t revolve around you,” I said, looking at the TV.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” he said smirking. “I missed you too, dearest.”

I had to take three deep breaths to keep my cool. In the end I decided to ignore him, which worked for about half an hour, but it got harder and harder as the movie progressed.

The noises from the movie were continuously accompanied by Alex’s soft crunching. Whenever Alex was nervous, she had to eat, and apparently she was
very
nervous right now. Sebastian and she hadn’t moved an inch closer, whereas Elyas scooted a millimeter closer with every passing minute.
How subtle
, I thought.

In fact, had I turned my head to look at him, my nose would have touched his cheek—but only if he had been looking at the screen instead of at me.

I, in contrast, hadn’t changed how or where I was sitting, apart from growing increasingly tense. Reading other people’s body language was apparently not one of Elyas’s talents.

I was running out of options. Pretty soon I would have to move away and I actually
would
be sitting on Sebastian’s lap. I felt warmth from Elyas’s body, he was so close. First just along my side, but then it spread. Just like the smell. I’d hardly noticed it at first, but now Elyas was all I could smell. If he scooted toward me once more and bent his head so I could feel his forehead in my hair, I was going to lose it.

“If you’d like to sit closer to Sebastian, I’d be happy to change seats,” I told him.

Elyas smirked. “I feel very cozy just like this.”

“Yeah. I can see that. And smell that.”

It was time to take matters into my own hands. I stood up. Elyas’s eyes followed me as I stepped over his legs and sat down on the other side of him, where there was quite a lot of space now. Not enough space for my liking, but at least now there was a foot between us.

Elyas’s forehead wrinkled, then he sighed. “Well, Sebastian,” he said. “It looks like you and I are going to have to cuddle.”

“Dude, if you’d just scoot a little closer!” Sebastian said, and I laughed. More relaxed, I leaned back, finally able to watch the movie in peace. Elyas didn’t make any moves to close the gap, but the movie seemed to interest him as little now as it had before. He kept glancing at me, and he wasn’t even trying to be subtle.

How could he just flaunt his self-confidence like that? I’d never be able to summon the courage to watch someone so obviously, but he just did it and wasn’t the least bit embarrassed.

Given his looks, this was probably par for the course for him. The proof that his confidence was justified was the endless line of fashion model-types leaving his apartment every morning. Men competed with each other in three categories: the length of their penises, the hotness of their women, and the status level of their possessions. In exactly that order.

Even with Elyas constantly looking at me, I liked my new location miles better than the old one. The downside, however, was now it was harder for me to keep an eye on Sebastian. I had to squint past Elyas, who seemed to misinterpret what I was doing, because he would give me a big smile. As I peered past him yet again, I witnessed one of the sweetest things I’d ever seen. Sebastian slowly shifted his left hand off his thigh, and moved it inch by inch, eventually ending up with his arm around Alex. It took him a while to complete the maneuver as I cheered him on in my head.
It’s OK! You can do it! Attaboy!

He had mustered the courage. Finally. Then he moved his other hand, step by step, toward Alex’s hand, which was in her lap, and took it gently into his. I could hardly keep from squealing aloud. So cute! Alex spread her fingers to gingerly interlace her fingers with Sebastian’s, and I sat back with a smile on my face. My final doubts about Sebastian’s feelings had been cleared away. I watched the whole thing on pins and needles; you don’t usually get to see twenty-four-year-olds acting so cute.

Why couldn’t Elyas be that way, too? Well, apart from the fact that he’d never have a chance with me, even if he did act that cute.

No way.

No how.

Period.

No, not period. Exclamation point!

I silently appealed to Sebastian not to backtrack and to just kiss her. I crossed my fingers and rooted for him. Elyas didn’t get what was going on and looked to see what had made me smile. Once he realized why I was so happy, he smiled as well.

I picked up my glass of wine and enjoyed sipping it in my cozy spot on the sofa, completely at peace with the world. I felt wonderful. Until Elyas rested his arm behind me again with a seductive twinkle in his eye.

Oh God.

At least he had left a
bit
of space between us for once. That was a tiny bit of progress.

He wasn’t the only one making progress. Sebastian’s maneuvering had clearly given Alex courage. After a little while, she bent forward to get her wine glass, only to lean back much closer under Sebastian’s arm.

This would have been the perfect time to leave, but the clock on the DVD player said it was only a few minutes past ten. I’d promised Eva I wouldn’t be back to the dorm room until midnight, and since I didn’t feel like exposing my eyes to fresh trauma, I resolved to stick to our agreement.

But what now?

I was busy trying to figure out what to do when Elyas tapped my shoulder. I turned to him with a sigh. He motioned with his head toward the hallway where his bedroom was. I rolled my eyes at him. Dream on, dude!

Elyas made a face, as if to say “Get your mind out of the gutter.” He glanced at Alex and Sebastian, meaning he thought we should leave them alone, too.

We agreed on that point, just not our destination. He gave me another look, as if to say “Well, shall we?” but I wasn’t remotely interested in his suggestion.

“Oh, Emely,” he finally said aloud. “I just remembered there’s something I wanted to show you.”

My mouth fell open. What a dirty trick.

“Believe me, Elyas, I do not want to see ‘it,’” I replied, making Sebastian laugh.

Elyas grabbed me by the wrist and dragged me into the kitchen, where he opened the fridge to use as a screen so we could talk. He ignored my nasty glare and started explaining.

“Because of you,” he whispered, “I’ve had to put up with three weeks of Alex’s crying. I’ve watched countless annoying romantic movies with her as she painted her nails. She’s been treating me like one of her girlfriends in your absence. She even tried to talk me into letting her perm my hair!”

“A perm?” I repeated in disbelief.

“Yes,” Elyas snarled. “I’ve been consoling her nonstop! She has gotten three of my T-shirts sopping wet with tears.” I grabbed his shoulder in solidarity. No one understood better than me.

“Oh God, Elyas,” I said, shaking my head. “Welcome to my world!” How often had
I
ended up holding Alex’s hand through her meltdowns, which sometimes lasted for weeks? I was lucky to have missed it this time. It was almost cute how Elyas had taken such good care of his little sister.

“Yes, I’m sure you know what it’s like,” he whispered. “And now that you’re back in Berlin, you also know who she’s going to call if he doesn’t kiss her tonight!”

My mouth formed an O.

“Good, I see that now we understand each other,” he said. “So, the way I see it, we have two options right now. The first is that I pay Sebastian to finally kiss her. The second is that we leave the romance to them and clear out of their way!”

I rubbed the back of my neck. He was right. If Sebastian didn’t kiss her tonight, I was in for a massive amount of drama, and with all the catching up I needed to do for my classes, drama was the last thing I needed. After hemming and hawing, I finally gave in.

“If you touch me even by accident, Elyas, I’m going to slice you into five pieces.”