Emmalee (7 page)

Her astonished eyes flew to mine for
an instant before she glanced back at him.  “Sure.”

           
Eeeh!  He’s getting her number.
  “Actually,
it’s probably easier if Hannah types it into your phone.” 

I smiled when Elton walked over to
her, and I actually smothered a snicker when he leaned over her
shoulder to watch her type. 
Oh my gosh!  They are such
a cute couple!
 

           
“Thanks.  Cool.  I’m glad I finally have your
number.  It’ll make things a whole lot easier.” 
My heart stopped when Elton took the phone from Hannah, his eyes
never leaving hers.  He grinned a totally flirtatious grin right
at her. 

           
Hannah giggled.  “You’re welcome.”

           
With a mock salute and, “Bye girls,” Elton was gone. 

           
I couldn’t shut the door fast enough to gage Hannah’s
reaction.  She didn’t disappoint.  With a girly
squeal she ran right up to me and we hugged.

           
“Oh my gosh!  Can you believe it?  Elton Bloomfield
just asked for my phone number.  Eeeh! 
Mine
.”

           
I laughed.  “And did you totally hear the way he asked for
it?  Hello?  Can we say pickup line?”  I
mimicked his deeper voice, “Oh, Hannah, can I have you cell
number in case I come up with any pickup lines?” 

           
Hannah giggled.  “I know—I was so thinking we’ve
got to get the book and add that one.”

           
“Definitely an original.  I don’t think many guys
use pickup lines as an excuse to pick up girls.”

           
“You were so right Emma.  I can’t believe how much
he likes me.  Did you hear him go off about that painting? 
It was
crazy.
”

           
I watched Hannah excitedly twirl around the entranceway and I gave
myself a mental pat on the back.
 Phase Three has begun. 

You know, I should seriously
think about starting my own matchmaking business.  Who knows
maybe one day I’ll have my own website.

           
“Okay, that’s the guy I’ve been telling you
about this whole time.” 

           
I tried to follow Hannah’s finger as she pointed to the
allusive Martin Roberts.  This time I had tagged along with her
before lunch when she went to meet the guy.  It became obvious
that I needed to when she mentioned this paragon of manliness usually
came and spoke to her then.  Since she seemed practically gaga
over him, I decided it was wise for me to check him out.
 I
mean, we definitely didn’t want anything to scare Elton
Bloomfield away. 

           
“Where?” I asked.  I still didn’t see anyone
remotely resembling her description of Martin Roberts, Farmington New
Mexico’s president of  Future Farmers of America.

           
“Are you kidding me?” she gasped.  “You can’t
see him?  That guy right there.  Look again.  I’m
pointing right at him.”

           
“Do you mean—?”

           
“Yikes!  He’s coming over.  He must’ve
seen me pointing.  How do I look?”

Ugh.  No wonder why I
didn’t see him straight away.  He wears a cowboy hat for
Pete’s sake.  That is so Coyote Ugly turn-of-the century. 
–I mean who does that nowadays?
   

           
“Good afternoon, ladies.  Hannah.”

           
I wasn’t impressed.  Okay, yeah, so he had an accent. 
I mean, who doesn’t love a little country twang every now and
then, but he definitely wasn’t as hot as Hannah had made him
out to be.  I glanced at my friend and stopped just short of
rolling my eyes.

           
She was lost.  Completely.  Utterly and hopelessly lost. 
It looked like male cowboy types are her thing. 
–Er,
were her thing!
 

           
 “Hi, Martin.” Hannah giggled at him.

           
I watched his grin grow as Martin bashfully dropped his eyes a moment
before he looked straight at Hannah.  “Man.  You’re
lookin’ real nice today, Hannah.  Prettier than I’ve
ever seen ya.”

           
“Thanks!”  She blushed.  “It’s all
Emma’s doing, actually.  She helped me fix my hair.” 
It was good to hear Hannah’s voice.  Apparently she had
managed to stay afloat better than I thought.  At least she
wasn’t speechless, or anything.

           
“Emma?” He turned his green eyes on me.  “Oh?” 

           
I still wasn’t impressed.  He definitely wasn’t
worthy of Hannah’s notice, not when she practically had Elton
drooling over her. My thoughts must’ve shown on my face,
because Martin gave me a funny look and glanced back at Hannah.

           
“Uh—well, your hair does look nice, I guess.” 
He shrugged his shoulders and worked a crooked grin. “Course,
I’ve always thought it was nice.”  He glanced away a
moment, careful not to look at me again.

           
“Really?  You’ve always liked my hair?” Hannah
blushed again.

           
The conversation had begun to get out of hand. 
She’ll
be in love with him before Elton’s even made a move. 
 
“Hannah,” I interrupted, “We’ve
got to get to lunch.” I smiled dismissively at Martin before I
tugged gently on her arm.

           
For the first time since he showed up, Hannah looked up at me. “Oh! 
Are you hungry?”

           
“Starved.”

           
Martin touched the brim of his hat. “Then I’ll leave you
ladies.  You two have a good day, ya hear?”

           
 
Why did Martin have to have that blasted southern drawl? 

           
“We will!”gushed Hannah. “You too!”

           
“Yes, ma’am, I’ll try.” The guy actually had
the audacity to wink before he took a step back and then with a
slight wave walked away.

           
“Isn’t he hot?” she asked as we made our way
across the courtyard to the English building. 

           
“Um…”
How to word this without hurting her
feelings?
“Yeah, he’s okay.”

           
“Okay?” She turned toward me. “Are you blind?”

“
No. 
He’s okay.  But honestly, there are a lot of better guys
out there.  Take Elton for example…”

Chapter Seven

“You remind me of a magnet,

because you sure are attracting me
over here!”

           
I had begun to worry a whole lot less over Hannah’s fascination
with Martin Roberts once Elton’s pickup lines started coming in
during lunch a couple of days later.  It wasn’t really the
pickup lines it was more the words that went with the texts that made
us so excited.

           
“Ooh!  I just got another one from Elton.”  Hannah
laughed as she fumbled with her phone.  She had set it with a
personalized chime so she would know when it was him.

           
“Well, what does this one say?” I asked.

           
Hannah scanned the text, giggled, and then handed the phone over to
me.

           
I no its lunch

           
couldn’t stop

           
thinkn of u

           
heres another 1.

           
Is there an

airport nearby

or is that my

heart takin

           
off?

           
“Eeeh!” I giggled with her. 
Phase three was
definitely working better than I thought.
 
Martin
Roberts will be toast after a couple more of these
.

           
“So what do you think?” she asked.

           
“Think?  Are you kidding?  Um, I’m thinking the
same thing I’ve thought all along.”

           
“And that is?”

           
“That the Senior Class President is seriously crushing on you.”

           
“Do you really suppose so?” she grinned.

           
I could tell she totally believed it, but just wanted to hear me say
it again.  I didn’t disappoint her.  “Hmm…
Let’s see?  ‘I couldn’t stop thinking of
you?’  Uh, yeah, obvious sign of affection right there. 
If a girl ever needed encouragement then this would be it.” 
I handed the phone back to her and smiled when she dreamily sighed. 
I had to hand it to her; she was taking it better than most girls
would have.  I mean, he is Elton Bloomfield after all.  I
was impressed that she didn’t faint, or something. 

           
Just then her phone chimed again. 

“What?  Another one from
Elton?”

           
“Yep,” Hannah laughed as she read it.

           
You’ve got to be kidding me? 

           
“Holy cow.  You have to read this one.”

           
I quickly took the offered phone and scanned the text.

           
Hey butiful must

           
b somthng in the

           
air jst thght of

           
another 1.

  U must b a broom

           
cuz you have

swept me off my

feet.

           
Talk about staking his claim.
  “Oh my gosh! 
Hello?  If this isn’t Elton hitting on you, then I don’t
know what is.”

           
“I know.  He’s totally flirting with me, isn’t
he?”

           
“Yes.  Come on, let’s get back to school. 
Maybe we’ll see him.” 

           
There was positively no other definition for it. 
Elton was
head over heels.
  We hurried and tossed our food in the
trash and ran out the door—giggling like we were in junior high
the whole way. 

           
After school as I was heading out of the main building towards the
parking lot, I received my own text from Elton.  Surprised, I
stopped on the grass and read it.

           
Hey, could u giv

           
this 2 hannah whn

           
ur done readin it?

           
i wnted u 2 c what

           
i came up with i

           
thnk its perfct.

           
Thre u r… Ive

Been lookin all

ova 4 ya the

grl of my

dreams!

           
No way.  Elton, totally wants me to know how he feels about
Hannah.
  “Oh my
gosh
.”  This is
just too cool.  I couldn’t wait to share it with her. 
Quickly, I scanned the crowd exiting the building.  After a
couple of seconds I saw her.

           
“Hannah!”

           
She waved and jogged over to me with a massive smile on her face. 
“Guess what?” she gushed.

           
I chuckled.  Her enthusiasm was contagious.  “What?”

           
“I’m so excited right now, you have no idea.  I just
got asked out.”

           
“Are you kidding me?  No way.  That was fast.”

           
“I know.”  She twirled around almost hitting a
couple of other students with her bag.  “Oops. 
Sorry.”

           
Elton is so awesome.
  “So when did he ask you? 
How did he do it?” 

           
“With this!”  She beamed and held up her hand. 
For the first time I noticed she was holding a piece of paper with
folds and creases in it. 

           
Huh?
  “Elton asked you out with a note? 
You’re kidding me?” 
How junior high is that?
 

           
“No, silly!”  She laughed.

           
“Oh, for a minute there—”

           
“It wasn’t Elton who asked me out.  It was Martin.”

           
“What?”  I whipped my head around.  “Martin
Roberts just asked you out?  What did you say?” 
This
can’t be happening.
 

“Well, I haven’t
answered him, yet.  I just got it.”

           
“Thank goodness.”

           
“Why?”

           
Why?
  “I—uh,” I started, and then
closed my mouth.  “Nothing.”  Instead of
meeting her eyes I looked out into the parking lot.

           
Hannah stepped in front of me.  “Emma, is there something
wrong?  Do you think I should tell him no?”

           
Yes.
  I smiled my Bradford smile.  “Hannah, this
is your relationship.  If you like him more than any other guy
you know, then go out with him.  I mean, he’ll be
your
boyfriend, anyway.  I’m certainly not going to get
involved if you like him that much.”

           
“Oh.”  She looked a little upset.  “You
don’t think I should tell him no, do you?”

           
“I’m not going to say anything.  This is your deal.”

           
“Em-ma?”

           
“Come on, I’ll drop you off home, if you want.” I
smiled and hooked my arm through hers.  “Then you can have
a chance to think about it and decide if he’s the most perfect
guy for you.”  

           
She looked down at the letter, disappointed.  “I don’t
need to think about it.  I’ll tell him no.  I mean,
it looks like Elton’s going to ask anyway, right?” 
She crumbled the paper up and threw it in the trashcan ahead of us
and then started walking. 

           
In shock I looked down into the can as we passed.  “Are-are
you sure?  I mean, do you want to give it more thought?” 
I glanced back at the can. 
Ah!
 
What am I
saying?

           
She chuckled. “No, I’m good.  Besides, he’s
not anywhere as cool as Elton anyway.”

           
“Yeah that’s true—Oh!  I forgot.  Now,
that you’re going to tell Martin no, I guess I can show you
this.”  I handed over my phone.  “Read the last
text.  It’s from Elton.  You’re going to die.”

           
She quickly devoured it and then threw her hands in the air and
shrieked.  “Wahoo!  I knew it!”