Forever & Always

Three

Emma rolled into the Mickey & Friends® parking structure twenty-five minutes later.

When she started working at her cousin’s place, she purchased a premium annual pass with parking. It was such an easy drive, and she loved the park. Emma loved everything Dïsney and probably would her entire life. She used that pass often and got her money’s worth. Usually, Emma went alone to escape her family, but Collin had recently joined her since he also worked nearby in Irvine. She needed to find her own place soon, maybe somewhere near here, Long Beach? Who knew?

After stuffing valuable things out of sight in the car, which wasn’t much, she grabbed her Ewok backpack from the trunk and walked towards the escalators. She put on her sunglasses and plugged in her headphones as she went to their usual meet-up planter to wait for Collin if he wasn’t already there.

It looked like she had beaten Collin here as she descended from the fifth level, and she smiled gleefully. He was buying her a drink today. It was a bet they had going for the last few weeks. If he beat her, she paid for a round and vice versa. She didn’t mind the exchange one bit.

Emma was still smiling as she strolled over to the planter and set her Ewok backpack down to put away her headphones before she lost them again, getting through security. Sitting down, she looked up to see if Colin was there yet.

Her smile widened as she saw him approaching her from an escalator on a different level. His head was down, and he looked at something on his phone. His tall frame, leaning casually against the railing, one hand tucked into a pocket of his jeans, attracted the attention of a group of college-age girls, who blushed and tried to get his attention.

Collin was six feet tall, with caramel-colored skin and thick dark hair that was stylishly longer on top than on the sides. His Hispanic descent was apparent, but he was extremely handsome and fit the “Southern Californian Pretty Boy” vibe.

His parents immigrated from Mexico as children, became dual citizens, and raised their children in both cultures. This meant he was there every summer between school years, making him well-cultured and bilingual.

Emma had met Collin in church classes as kids and reconnected, funnily enough, back at Church when she moved home.

His bright green eyes were covered by aviator Ray-Bans, both of their preferred brands of shades.

Emma watched Collin as he dragged his eyes off his phone, finally slipping the slim device into his pocket and running his now free hand through his hair. His hand froze as he got to the back, and a sly smile crept over his lips, making the girls on the escalator beside him think he was staring at them. His hand left his hair as he lowered the shades to the tip of his nose. Winking once at Emma.

Emma’s gut tightened at the gesture, and she laughed. Despite having no romantic feelings for him, the move was panty-dropping, drawing an answering simpering smirk from Emma. The girl’s heads whipped back and forth, trying to find who he was winking at.

“Earth to Emma, you are crossing into dangerous territory,” she muttered.

He smiled even more breathtakingly as his gaze met hers, and she lowered her glasses to look at him, winking back. Her rich brown eyes crinkled in delight as one of the girls leaned over and said something to him, but he shook his head and pointed at Emma. Her excitement turned to defeat as he said something else to her and pulled his phone back out for the ten seconds they had left on the escalator to avoid looking at them.

The girl who had the courage to speak to Collin was beautiful, tall, blonde, and thin. Her sun-kissed skin shimmered as the light hit it. A shimmering moisturizer, most likely, glared at Emma as she walked past. Body glitter was not her thing, but she was envious of the leggy blonde who turned several heads as she headed to board the tram.

Emma was 5 feet 2 inches tall and had short brown hair with naturally lightened ends. Her eyes were dark, and her creamy skin was not nearly as tan as she would like. At least she wasn’t pale, but she wished she could tan like that blonde and be tall.

Collin finally got off the escalator and walked quickly towards her. She stood just as he swept her up into a hug and held her tight. Her eyes met the blonde, whose lip curled upwards, and she turned her back to Emma and Collin’s display.

“Hello, beautiful.” He said into her ear, and she blushed.

“Hi, Col. Why are you tormenting that girl? She was pretty, and I am pretty sure she will try to kill me, leaving my spirit trapped in Haunted Mansion forever.” Emma teased, pulling out of his embrace, but didn’t miss the look of hurt that had flashed in his eyes at her dismissal.

“You know I am not interested in dating right now, “ he retorted.

She thought, No, you want me to change my mind.

Her heart clenched painfully at knowing she could never give him her heart, and she looked away, gently slapping his arm.

“I know. Enough, let’s go.”

They made their way to the tram, her arm laced in his crooked one, and the blonde once more shot daggers at Emma, who only smiled apologetically.

Collin had confessed his feelings a few months ago, but she had immediately shut him down. He cried, and she did, too, when she apologized for not having those same feelings for him. It would never happen between them; she only saw him as a brotherly figure. She even had to say that, which caused the tears, but it was true.

They didn’t talk for two weeks until he reached out, saying he wouldn’t mind still being close to her if he couldn’t be with her. She hesitated at first, but he was as close to her as Ashlyn, who had been messing around with some guy and had been avoiding her to hang out with him. Some days, it felt like she was constantly giving Collin hope of more, but it was them.

They spent the next few hours laughing and enjoying the park; there was no sight of Blondie.

Around 8 PM, Collin and Emma said good night, and Emma returned to her car. Her phone rang in her purse as she was five vehicles away, and she fished for it until she grabbed it and saw Ashlyn’s name.

“Really? Now she calls?” Emma scoffs and slides the answer button to answer the call.

“Hey, Ash,” Emma said, unlocking and sliding into her car.

“Hey,” Ashlyn replied, obviously upset over something.

“I broke it off with Matt. He was getting needy.”

There it is, Emma chuckled. Ah, the end of another f**k toy.

“Really? Are you sure?” Emma asked in her supportive best friend tone, and Ashlyn sighed loudly over the phone.

“Ugh, I don’t want to mess with that anymore.” Emma started the car and pulled out of the parking spot.

“Where are you?” Ashlyn asked as the Bluetooth connected.

“Pulling out of the Dïsney® parking lot,” Emma said, and Ashlyn laughed.

“Let me guess, Mr. Tall, dark and handsome, supported your naughty habit while you talked and walked all over the park.” Ashlyn crooned over the Bluetooth.

“Enough, Ashlyn, he knows how I feel. Yes, I had one drink,” Emma said, and Ashlyn snorted.

“You ripped out the dude’s heart, and he still paws at your feet. He will wait forever for you.” She said, and Emma sighed.

“I know.” Pain ripped through her at her admission.

“Enough about Collin. What are you up to now?” Ashlyn changed the subject, and Emma was grateful.

“Headed home now. Why?” She replied, merging onto the freeway.

“Let’s go shopping tomorrow for your party.” Emma sighed at Ashlyn’s words. She hated shopping.

“Ash…” She said, and Ashlyn interrupted.

“Enough. I must look hot and make Matt mad since you invited us to your birthday party. His little friend group is looking forward to it,” She said, irritated.

How did Emma know Ashlyn would call it off after a few weeks? She doubted it would last long between them initially, though she had never met this particular boy toy of Ash’s. However, Ashlyn had been the one to beg her to invite them.

Ashlyn would more than likely go back if her talk about their s*x life were any indication of how much she enjoyed the dude’s presence. Emma shuddered. Ashlyn was very open about her sexscapedes with Emma.

"His hot friends are tagging along with him, so we both need to be hot as hell. Plus, I still want you to meet one of his friends anyway,” Emma grunted and only agreed to invite said “hot friends” because Ashlyn was eager to set Emma up on a date with this guy friend or whatever. Though she knew it would hurt Collin, she needed to move far away from that mess of giving him hope.

“Fine, Ash. I’ll go.” Emma grumbled.

“Yes! I’ll be at your house around one. Bye, bïtch.” Ashlyn disconnected the call, and Emma leaned against the headrest. Great.