Emmalee by Jenni James Page A

them.
               
“Do you need a friend?”
               
“Um…” I licked my lips.  “I was pretty
good with the knight thing, really.”
               
Chase laughed and stepped back, releasing me from the fragile hold he
had on my senses.  “Well, in that case, I guess you’re
happy I rescued you, then.” 
               
“Yeah—no.
Ugh.
”  I walked over to the
basement closet and pulled out the vacuum.  “For your
information everything was fine before you came.  And everything
would’ve been fine had you never come at all.”
               
He didn’t say anything as he collected the cord and plugged it
into the socket for me.  After a few more seconds of silence I
started the vacuum and irritably attacked the rug.  Chase waited
patiently while I finished my haphazard pattern, before gently taking
the machine away from me.  He turned it off and asked, “Better?”
               
Ugh.
  “A little.”
               
“So are you gonna be straight with me or what?”
               
“Or what.”
               
Chase grinned.  “Touché.”
               
I chuckled and shook my head.  “What do you want to know?”
I finally asked.
               
He shrugged and walked over to the wall and unplugged the cord. 
I watched him head back to the vacuum and slowly wrap it neatly up
before he answered.  “You were hoping Elton would go for
Hannah, weren’t you?”
               
I didn’t answer while I watched him load the vacuum back in the
closet and shut the door.  He turned around and I almost gasped
at how blue his eyes were. 
It’s so unfair the
Andersons’ have such pretty eyes. 
“By your
silence, I’m gonna take that answer to be a yes,” Chase
grinned as he walked back over to me.
               
“So what if I did want Elton and Hannah to get together, why
should it bother you?”
               
“A lot of reasons.  Emma, you really couldn’t see
that he liked you more than her?”  He leaned up against
the back of the couch and crossed his ankles.  “Even I
could see he liked you more than her, and I was only around you guys
once.”
               
I turned away from Chase.  My fingers ran absentmindedly around
the cover of a light switch.  I finally I gave up and sighed. 
“What am I going to do?”  With my back to Chase I
leaned my head up against the wall and still fiddling with the switch
willed myself not to cry.  “She’s my best friend—no
matter what you think about it—she is.  She doesn’t
deserve to have her heart broken like this.  It’s not
fair.”  I stood up.  “Ooh!  Elton
Bloomfield is such a jerk!”  I spun around to face Chase. 
For a moment I was caught by the unexpected sympathy in his eyes. 
“I-I…” I blinked and looked away.  “I
can’t believe I—for one minute—thought he deserved
Hannah.”
    Chase cleared his throat and then
added, “It’s true.  Hannah is a much better person
than he his.  I only wish…” his voice trailed off. 
The awkwardness of the silence hit home.  To his credit Chase
didn’t say I told you so, but I could tell it took effort.
               
I decided to give the offered olive branch.  “H-how is
Martin?  Have you seen him?”
               
Chase took a deep breath and stood up.  “Yeah, I’ve
seen him.  He’s not doing so great.”
               
“Really?  I hope Hannah didn’t hurt him when she
told him no.”
               
Chase shook his head and looked down at the floor.  “I
don’t think anyone could be more upset than Martin is.  He
uh, really loved her.  It’ll take a while to get over it.”
               
“Oh.”  I felt awful.  “I’m sorry.”
               
Chase looked up then.  “Me too.”
               
“Here.” I opened my arms