"EMMA!!!"
My two brothers and one sister practically lunged at me when I stepped inside my house. My younger sister, Julia, clung onto my hand. She's twelve, but you could probably mistake her for eight years old. My oldest brother, Cooper, is twenty-one and is about six feet five inches tall, so he has to watch where he's going in our house so he doesn't smack his face against the top of doorways. He hugged my shoulders, having to bend down about a foot to do so. My second brother, Will, wrapped his arms around my own. He's the same age as myself, eighteen, and looks a lot like myself, with dark brown hair and silver eyes.
"Where were you?"
"Where's your friend?"
"I missed you so much!"
I pushed down the lump in my throat and pulled my affectionate siblings forward. "I missed you too. Now are you going to block the door all day so my friend can't come in?" I asked, raising my eyebrows. They all looked behind me at Caleb, eyes widening, and quickly moved out of the way. Caleb chuckled and hesitantly walked into the house. I saw this and said, "Don't be nervous. Come on." I led my sister, brothers, and Caleb into our massive living room, where my parents sat on the loveseat. They immediately stood up and began talking to Caleb and me.
"Emma! How are you? Oh, is this your friend? It's-"
"Mom, Dad, calm down. I'm totally fine. So, this is the friend that I was telling you about. Caleb, meet my mom and dad. Mom, Dad, meet Caleb," I said, my face getting a little red because, for some reason, it felt like when a girl introduces their boyfriend to their parents, not a friend. My mom and dad immediately warmed up to Caleb, and in the midst of their conversation, I excused myself to go pack a little bag for staying overnight at his house.
I walked from the room, checked that nobody was watching me, and then ran quietly down the hallway and up the stairs to my room. Sighing a breath of relief, I flopped on my bed, smiling as I saw the familiar blue walls, two filled bookshelfs, and the bay window that shows the large stretch of forest behind our house. As I began to feel less nervous and overwhelmed, I packed a little bag for the night at Caleb's and petted the head of my black-and-white cat, Toby, as I left my room and went back downstairs.
My dad glanced at his watch and then said,"Well, it's four o'clock, and I don't want you kids to walk in the dark. It's been nice meeting you, Caleb." They shook hands and my mom hugged him, and then, much to my embarrassment, my parents hugged me and kissed my cheeks. Just as Caleb and I were going out the door, my mom put her hands on my shoulders and whispered in my ear,"Emma, don't be afraid to take that first step. If you like him, tell him!"
I whipped my head around, feeling my cheeks instantly turn beet-red, and hissed,"Mom!" She just chuckled and waved goodbye with my siblings. I waved back and then caught up to Caleb, who was waiting for me on the sidewalk in front of the house. He smiled at me as the fire in my face cooled down.
"What did your mom tell you?"
"Um, nothing..."
He didn't press me on the subject any further, and he took my bag from me, earning a "thanks" from me.We strolled along, talking about all sorts of things. When we were halfway to his house, though, during a lull in our conversation, his hand brushed mine. Both of us blushed and looked away from each other for a second, but when we looked back, Caleb asked me a question that blew me off my feet.
"Um, can I...hold your hand?"
My mind stopped thinking for a minute, and then it started back up, shooting thoughts all over my head. Should I? Should I not? What if Lisa is near and sees us? I noticed that it was getting a little dark and thought to myself,"It's kind of dark, so nobody will see," and decided to throw caution to the wind. "Sure," I said, trying to cover the waver in my voice. Caleb hesitated for a moment, and then reached over, enclosing my small hand in his big one. He was warm, and, for some reason, I felt safe. I accidentally squeezed his hand, making him lightly blush and smile down at me. We continued to his neighborhood like this, hand-in-hand, and then I loosened my grip, indicating that I wanted to let go, though internally, I wanted to hold on to him forever.
Caleb got the point and let go, glancing down at my face, and he saw the conflict playing out on it. He misinterpreted it, though, and said to me,"Don't worry- I'm not offended or anything. I know you're really shy, so it's okay." Once again, Caleb looked down the street to make sure you-know-who wasn't coming down it, and then we sprinted down the sidewalk and up to Caleb's house. His mom opened the door before he did, and you could tell that she saw our mad run to the house because she was still giggling as she let us in. Caleb's parents greeted me again and said that there would be some time until dinner was done.
Caleb went upstairs and put my bag in his room, and then he directed me into his living room to play a game. I knew my mouth practically hit the ground in awe as I took in the tall ceilings and massive bookshelves. He saw this and laughed. "You like this room a lot, don't you?" Unable to form words, I nodded, walking in a trance over to one of the shelves and gasping as I saw many great books. The Secret Garden, Little Women, The Telltale Heart... I could go on and on, spotting all of my favorites throughout this one shelf. I blinked, and then turned back to Caleb, hurrying over to the mahogany table he sat at, and joined him in a small game of cards, asking him questions constantly about the room that we occupied at the moment.
Soon enough, Caleb's mother called us for dinner, and, like last night, we all conversed politely as we ate shrimp, which was quite delicious. After supper was over and the kitchen was cleaned, Caleb and I went back to the library and played more games. At some point, Caleb excused himself to go to the bathroom, and I looked around the room in closer detail as he did so.
I noticed several family pictures, and in each, it looked like Caleb was a different age. In one, he looked to be around six, and in another, he was ten, and in a third, he was the same age as he is now, eighteen. I realized that in every picture, Caleb and his parents were there, and they looked genuinely happy. At my house, there's no picture of my family and I all together because every time I saw one, it would send me into an attack from depression.
As I thought that, I could feel one coming on, with tears starting to pool in my eyes and a lump to form in my throat. When an attack comes on, I can't stop it, so I have to ride it out. But why, why, why does this have to happen at Caleb's house, out of all places? I hate to see him all worried. I heard Caleb walking down the hallway towards the library. I felt tears starting to pour down my face and I covered my mouth and flew out of the room. I ran past Caleb, who saw that I was crying and started to ask me what was wrong, but didn't say it fast enough, and found the bathroom that I was in this morning. I quietly closed the door, as to not disturb Caleb's parents, and sat down on the tiled floor, shaking as I cried and went through the attack. I heard a knock at the door and Caleb said,"Can I come in?"
I managed to say,"Yes," and even though I said that at a barely audible level, Caleb heard me, and he carefully opened the door, his eyes widening as he took in the sight in front of him. Caleb went down on his knees, and, without saying anything, he hugged me. One hand rubbed my back as the other stroked my hair, and this somehow comforted me greatly. I hugged him back, relishing his warmth, and buried my face in his shoulder. We stayed like this for a few minutes, and then, without warning, Caleb picked me up, bridal style, and, after snagging a box of tissues from the bathroom, carried me to his room. He placed me on his bed and sat next to me, holding my hands as I calmed down completely. He held a tissue to my face, and after I wiped it clean, he said one sentence.
"Please explain."
So, for about an hour, I told him everything, from the depression to how it was triggered to pretty much anything about it, and he just listened, never interrupting me once. When I was finally done, Caleb looked me in the eyes and said,"You should've told me about this; I knew something was going on, but I couldn't place what it was. Now it all makes sense." He brushed a stray hair off of my face and slipped it behind my ear. "Well, I'm going to help you out with this, okay?"
"I'm sorry to drag you into my problems, Caleb. But first off, I don't know if you can actually cure people of depression, and second, why would you want to help me? I mean, I'm not cool or pretty or-"
"Stop it."
My head snapped around to look directly at Caleb. What did he mean, stop it? Caleb continued,"There is no need to apologize for anything. Also, never, ever, say you're not pretty or cool again-" He paused to take a breath, squeezed his eyes shut, and exclaimed,"-because you are the prettiest and coolest girl I know, and I care about you a lot, okay? So I'm going to help you be happy because I can't stand to see you so sad!"
I stared at Caleb, who now opened his eyes and blushed profusely. He... he actually feels that way about me? I thought back to the few times we spent together, how I thought he looked like a god, how I never wanted to let go of his hand, and it struck me that I felt the same way about him that he feels about me.
"I..." I formed my hands into fists, my nails digging into their palms. I need to tell him how I feel. At that moment, I remembered what Mom told me just a few hours ago, to not be afraid to tell Caleb that I like him, and that gave me the courage to say it. "I like you a lot, Caleb!" I finally said. Caleb's eyes sparkled and he hugged me again.
"Thank god, I thought you were going to say you didn't like me."
I laughed and we spent the rest of the night talking and hugging, and we eventually fell asleep on the floor, the comforter pulled off the bed around us.
What a day.
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Dear Readers,
I must apologize once more for not posting in forever and torturing you guys by waiting. :) So anyway, it was so awesome because I went to my first hockey game a few days ago; two fist fights occurred and it was quite fun to watch. So, I hope you guys had a wonderful Valentines Day and I shall try to post more as soon as possible! Bye for now!
-Levilove6289