Gem City

Chapter 9-1

“Anthem” –Good Charlotte

“One Step at a Time” – Jordin Sparks

Courtney awoke to the sun hitting her face rather violently. “Mehhhhh, why so bright?” she asked before fully opening her eyes.

“Ladies, time to get up,” Vanessa"s mother answered.

“Mom, have you gone insane? It"s gotta be like seven a.m. right now.” Vanessa yawned dramatically.

“It"s almost one in the afternoon.” The girls sat up with a jolt.

“Really?” Courtney asked.

“Really. Which makes me feel like you two need a plan. No more sleeping "till noon and staying up until god knows when with your boyfriends, so up! Get showered and I"ll find you something to eat. We are making plans today.”

“Ughhhhhh, "making plans" is never a good thing when it comes to my mother.” Vanessa groaned. “We might as well get ready or she"ll be back in five minutes.” The girls slowly woke up and made themselves presentable. Courtney hadn"t realized how hungry she was until she saw the spread Mrs. Roberts had set out. Sandwiches, soup, and salad all looked delicious to her.

“Alright, girls, I spoke to Courtney"s mom this morning when she called to check in-”

“She did?” Courtney interrupted.

“She did, and rightly so. She"s just being your mom, wanting to know what I thought of Ethan. Don"t worry, I like him just fine,” she continued when she saw worry cross Courtney"s face. “But we got to talking about how old you both are now and how this is one of the last breaks you have before you go out on your own. I know that sounds sappy, but we are mothers, so don"t roll your eyes, Vanessa,” she scolded. “I know you will both legally be adults by the end of the summer, and I have given you your space during this visit, but I"d like to propose a little road trip for tomorrow.” The girls exchanged glances and waited for her to explain. “Well, I thought maybe we could pick a few colleges and go tour them before you guys have to make your final decisions about school next year. We could just make a day of it, see some local schools, and stay in a hotel overnight, maybe with a spa? We can get breakfast and come home the next morning.” Vanessa looked surprised. She caught Courtney"s eye and shrugged her shoulders. They shared their mutual unspoken feelings. “That actually sounds pretty cool, Mom,” Vanessa replied slowly. “We"re in. Right, Court?”

“Definitely, that sounds perfect. I"ve been stressing over college; it would be really helpful to see the campuses in person and not on a virtual tour.”

“Excellent, it"s settled then. We will leave tomorrow morning bright and early, so you tell your men you need to be asleep at a decent hour tonight, got it? I"m not dragging your butts out of bed again. And maybe eat a vegetable now and then, huh? You need nutrition and exercise- Vanessa, why am I paying for a gym membership if you"re not going to go? Take your friends, and lift a weight or something,” she chastised, leaving the kitchen. Vanessa stuck her tongue out at her and filled her plate back up with food.

“Well, she"s not wrong. We have been lazy. I wouldn"t mind getting a workout in, if you wanna go,” Courtney admitted after chuckling at V"s stubbornness.

“Fine, fine. And I know you wanna take Ethan with, so just text him already. You can look longingly at each other while you work up a sweat; I"m sure it will all be very "National Geographic." It"s a good thing I think the two of you are cute together, or you might make me want to throw up.”

“Have I told you today what a kind, generous, and supportive friend you are, and how much I love you?” Courtney sweet-talked. She simultaneously pulled out her phone to text Ethan as Vanessa had said. She had never claimed she didn"t want him to go. Especially if she was going on a road trip the following day.

E: Sure, I"ll go. Will you let me try to bench-press you? :)

C: Will it hurt your manly pride if I say no because I don"t want to be dropped on my head? Lol.

E: Yes.

E: I"m just messing around with you. Maybe I can do more of that later? :) I can"t stop thinking about last night.

C: Me either. And yes to the previous question. LOVES you??! What the hell went on last night when Luke and I fell asleep? You didn"t…”

LOVES“No, no, we didn"t. I mean. There were things. Good things. Fun things.” Courtney blushed.

“Did you say it first or did he? I have to hear this story,” Vanessa gushed. “How did you not lead with this as soon as we got up?!”

“He said it first. I couldn"t believe it. I mean, do you think it"s too much, too fast… does it sound ridiculous to say that I"m in love with him?” Courtney questioned earnestly. She didn"t want to be that girl who just spouted off feelings before even knowing she had them. This just felt… surreal. Like he got her. No one had ever made her less nervous before. People in general just… well, she didn"t like them looking at her unless she was cheering. But she really liked it when he looked at her.

gotless“Is it shocking? Yes. But that is because I know both of you. I can"t believe he told you he loves you. That is like a HUGE deal. Holy crap. I mean, I knew you guys would hit it off, I just didn"t imagine… And to answer your question, yes, it"s fast. But who"s to say what"s too fast? Don"t let anyone make it seem like you"re not allowed to feel what you feel.” Courtney breathed a sigh of relief. She just needed to hear someone else say that it was ok. “But Court, I gotta ask. Have you guys really talked about what happens next week when you leave? I mean, high school and long distance, is that even something you want? I don"t want to be a buzz kill, I"m just worried that there"s a crash and burn in the future, and I don"t want to see it happen, not to either of you.”

really“I know. I know the conversation is coming and I just don"t want to deal with it. I"m avoiding it.” Tears started to well up in her eyes. “Like, how can I just walk away? This doesn"t feel like a summer fling, but maybe it is, what do I know?” Do. Not. Cry.

Do. Not. Cry.“Well, maybe you just avoid it until you can"t, and ride the wave until it"s done. I mean, you"ve already been accepted to college here, maybe you guys can just make it work until then? Like, you could fly out for prom or something! That would be so fun, and we could go together!” As usual, Vanessa was getting ahead of herself. “I guess you won"t know for sure until the two of you decide to get real with each other about it.”

Courtney got herself together, but knew Vanessa was speaking the truth. She didn"t have much longer to delay. Her friend had opened a tiny window of hope in reminding her that college was only a year away, but her gut warned her she might be in for an epic heartbreak.

“All right, well, buck up, little pup, it was your idea to go and sweat our butts off at the gym, so get ready.”

“I did think that was a good idea, didn"t I? Ah well, it can"t hurt. It just means we get to eat pizza and cake tonight, right?”

“Duh. But speaking of cake, do you wanna do something like a party for your birthday while you"re here? It wouldn"t be as crazy as the last because my parents are back, but I can put something together if you like.”

“Huh, I hadn"t really thought about it. I"m allowed to vote at the end of next week. Is there anything else exciting that comes along with eighteen?”

“Ummmm, you can legally sign contracts and, like, own stuff, I think.”

“Well, that doesn"t sound all that enticing, but let me think about it. I do want to celebrate, but I"m not feeling like a big party if that"s cool.”

“No prob, Bob. You just let me know.” They got ready quickly and headed to the gym.

* * *

“Hey, beautiful,” Ethan called as he walked up, kissing the top of her head. She thought it would be odd seeing him in gym clothes when he normally had a whole rocker-vibe going on, but it gave her a whole new appreciation for his tall, lean frame.

“How does a boy who plays guitar get a body like yours?” she asked him playfully.

“Okay, well, the two of you are obnoxiously adorable right now, so I"m going to go hop on the treadmill while you fawn over each other"s perfection, "k?” Vanessa smiled snarkily.

“I"ll catch up with you in a second, V,” Courtney promised as she walked away.

“Well, to answer your question, I used to be a swimmer before I moved here. I didn"t want to join a new team and be the low man on the totem pole as a junior, so I just focused on finding a band.”

“A swimmer, huh? Like in a speedo?” She imagined and grinned.

“Yes, in a speedo. You can just save that mental picture for later.”

“Speaking of your band, don"t you need to… practice? Or play somewhere. Do you call it a "gig," or is that, like, not a term people use anymore?”

He grinned at the question. “Yeah, you can call it a gig. One of my band mates has been out of town for a couple of weeks on vacation, so it hasn"t been much of an issue, but they have been getting on my case to practice the past couple of days. No worries, though, you take priority,” he assured her.

“Well you may be able to satisfy them,” she explained, starting to stretch. “V and I are going on a quick college tour road trip with her mom tomorrow, and we"ll be back the next morning.”

“Really? That"s cool. Do you, um, do you really think you"ll come out here for school?” His interest was transparent, but it gave her a chill all over again.

“I don"t know. It"s one of those things that sounds great, and in my head I just want to do it and send in my paperwork, and then I have a stroke and flip out about the implications of leaving home and being on my own. I"m hoping actually being on campus will help me decide.”

“I get that. Well, for what it"s worth, I hope you like them.”

“Well, it"s worth a lot.” She smiled. “Now come work out with me.” She grabbed his hands and went to find Vanessa. Courtney put in her ear buds and started to run. It had been a while since she"d been able to tune out everything else and just sweat. Ethan, senior year, college, leaving to go back home, she let it all fade away as she got going. Breathing in and out, that was what she liked about being in the zone. While running wasn"t her typical workout of choice, she did like that it simplified her perspective.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him lifting weights and unknowingly moving his head to whatever was playing in his ears. Without giving her brain the option to overanalyze, she knew in that moment that she really did love him. Whatever she chose to do next would be with that in mind, and it didn"t matter if it was silly or rushed or unbelievable to anyone else, because she knew that what existed there was real. Even in understanding that the likelihood of having a happily-ever-after scenario with a boy she had met at seventeen was not good, her heart didn"t really care. She was going to do exactly what Vanessa had said; ride the wave as long as it lasted, even if that meant it would pull her under.

Five miles later, she went to cool down and stretch, and found Ethan and Vanessa conversing.

“So, okay, I"m sorry, but my good friend Vanessa here was just telling me that it"s your birthday next week? And you were planning on telling me this…”

“Ah, yeah, well. I"m sorry, I didn"t want to make a thing of it. It"s just a day. You don"t have to, like, buy me a present or anything, I"m not eight.”

“Shut up, you love presents. Ones with sparkly wrapping paper and bows,” Vanessa said, calling her out. Courtney scowled at her as menacingly as she could.

“Well, I"ve got an idea brewing, but it"s going to be a surprise. Vanessa? Not a word,” he made her promise. “However, for now, I"ve gotta shower and go to work. Can I stop over and see you for a minute tonight? I know you guys have to turn in early; it"ll just be for a second.”

“Of course, just let me know when.” She kissed him longer than what may have been appropriate in a gym full of people, but he didn"t seem to mind. “See you tonight.”

“And thanks, V, for the heads up.” He smiled as he walked away.

* * *

The girls went home and got cleaned up. They decided to continue their healthy trend for the day and made a big salad for dinner, but eventually baked a batch of brownies as well. Ethan did stop by for a moment, but it wasn"t long enough.

“I don"t think I have gone an entire day without seeing you since you got here. I might actually see my band tomorrow, which is great because another band dropped out of the festival this weekend, so we sort of agreed to jump in. It"s been a while since we"ve been over our set. Hopefully we haven"t forgotten how to play.”

“Really? Like, I can come and see you?” she asked, dreamily envisioning him singing to her on stage. “Well yes, go and practice. I don"t want them to hate me because you ditched them all month. I realize I just sort of just invited myself to the festival, but I need to meet more of your friends. Or perhaps you are so ashamed of me that you want to keep me hidden away,” she teased dramatically.

“You can meet them, and of course you"re coming to the festival. For the record, I want everyone to know that you"re with me. So if you want me to wear a label or a sign or something that says "I love this girl," you just let me know. It can spice up my wardrobe.”

“I"ll get right to work on bedazzling something special for you.”

“Bedazzling? I"ll really have to up my game then.” He bent down to kiss her. He seemed more serious tonight despite their banter. He held her longer than normal and didn"t seem to be able to make himself leave. “If this is a taste of what saying goodbye to you feels like, I"m really not looking forward to next week…I know we agreed not to talk about it yet,” he insisted, anticipating her protest, “I just need you to know that I want to work this out. Okay? Whatever that means.” He kissed her once more and made her promise to call him while on her college tour.

“Of course.”

“Goodnight, sprinkles.” His grin made Courtney sigh as she shut the door. This boy could be the end of her.

Courtney and Vanessa tried to go to sleep at a reasonable hour. About thirty minutes after turning in, Courtney heard Vanessa whisper, “Girl, are you asleep?”

“Not even close,” she admitted, turning on the light.

“Let"s go for a drive.”

“That sounds awesome, actually. Anywhere in particular?”

“Wherever. Back roads. I wanna drive fast. We"ll just say we"re going out for road trip snacks.”

“In our pajamas?”

“Sure, why not?

“Okay, then, let"s do it.” The girls executed the plan and hopped into Vanessa"s car. She chose a playlist and plugged in her phone to the audio system. Courtney laughed when she heard the first song. Apparently they were going to rock out to some old school diva anthems. They waited until the car was off of the main road, but they belted some Celine Dion to the best of their abilities. The cool, humid night air felt cleansing as her hair whipped around her face. God, I love this place.

God, I love this place