Forever & Always

Four

The drive home was easy, as the traffic was light. Emma crept through the side gate, not wanting to alert the tiny terrors to her presence. She unlocked the casita, quickly performed her nightly routine, and plopped into bed, falling asleep immediately.

Emma rolled over in bed as the sunlight flooded in and grabbed her phone. 11 AM. She had slept in, but it still felt like it wasn’t enough.

Groaning, she rolled back over, covering her face with her pillow. She heard the door unlock and groaned again.

“Em,” her little sister’s voice sounded from outside, and Emma looked towards the semi-shut bedroom door.

“Yeah, Carter?” Emma called out. She heard the door close, and her littlest sister, whom she adored, walked in. Thankfully, there was no sign of Ariana, the middle sister.

“Hey, can you drive me to the mall later?” Carter looked at her with pleading eyes. She was a year away from her license, and Emma chuckled.

“You are in luck. Ash is taking me at one,” Emma replied, and Carter squealed.

“Thanks! I’ll text Mick,” She said, and Emma turned to look closer at her sister.

“What do you need at the mall?” Emma asked, looking at her sister through narrow eyes. Carter blushed.

“I am watching a movie with Mickey,” Carter said in a tone that Emma knew was an outright lie.

“Mickey and who else?”

Carter looked away; her avoidance only made Emma more curious.

“She invited some boys, okay?” Carter yelped out, uncomfortable lying to her, and Emma chuckled, sitting up and tossing a pillow at Carter. Emma got up and headed towards the bathroom to relieve herself and brush her teeth.

"I know, Carter, I was teasing you,” Emma said, and Carter threw a sock at her, the only ammo available after batting the pillow away.

“Really?” Emma asked, feigning shock, and Carter shrugged.

“You have nothing else to chuck at my head?” Emma laughed and hugged her sister.

“Come on, I’m hungry,” Emma said, guiding her out of the casita and towards the main house.

Her parents’ beautiful home had French doors around the whole first floor. The back doors were wide open as usual, with no sight of the two yapping mutts her mother loved so much. College football was playing, and Emma’s mom was dancing in the kitchen. She was baking something heavenly from the smell, which meant the two toy Yorkies were with her.

“Mmm, smells delicious, Mom,” Emma said as her mother, Shannon, smiled.

“Your Grandma Grace requested an Almond Pastry. What she wants, she gets.”

Emma chuckled. Her Great-Grandma Grace loved her other Great-Grandma, Ilse’s Swedish pastry.

Emma moved towards the espresso machine, put a pod in, and grabbed a bagel from the pantry.

“What time did you get back?” Her mother asked, and Emma yawned while waiting for the toasted pastry.

“Around nine, it was busy last night, and we both decided to head out early,” Emma said, and her mother looked at her.

“How is Collin?” her mother asked slowly, hoping for the same result Collin had. Emma didn’t have the heart to tell her mother what had happened between them. Her dad, Mark, interrupted the conversation.

“Em’s come to watch the game with me,” he called, ever her knight in shining armor.

Emma smiled at her mom as she dashed into the living room with her bagel and coffee. Emma chuckled when he turned on the surround sound and plopped on the recliner seat beside him.

“How are they looking?” she asked, looking at the score while taking a massive bite of her bagel. USC had 21 points to 6 against Arizona, and it was almost the end of the half.

“Good so far, who knows, though.” He muted the TV as commercials came on, and she smiled, sipping her coffee. He hated commercials and complained they were always louder than the show you wanted to watch.

Her dad leaned over, looked at Emma, and whispered, “I can’t keep covering you forever. You need to tell your mom what happened with Mr. Rodriguez,” he said, patting her head.

“I know, Dad, I know,” She replied.

They settled in for the last few minutes of the game and yelled when the referees ignored clear calls against Arizona that hurt the Trojans. She walked out to get ready to go to the mall at halftime. Glancing at her phone, she saw Collin had texted, but she ignored it and got ready. When she was almost done, she called Ashlyn.

“Hey you,” Ashlyn said, “I am down the street.”

“No worries, I just have to do my hair. Hey, Carter needs a ride,” Emma said, and Ashlyn giggled.

“Mickey roped her into a movie date, right? She left before me.”

Emma laughed at her guess.

“How do you know?” Mickey was Ashlyn’s little sister and was the same age as Carter.

“Um, who is her sister?”

It was Emma’s turn to laugh at that.

“Right, Which is why you are dragging me to the mall,” Emma sighed as she heard Ashlyn’s car shut off.

“See you in a sec,” Ashlyn said.

Emma hung up and finished waving her thick brown hair. She loved its natural wave but hated how it was frizzy without styling tools. Ariana got the better deal, with wild, beautiful curls. She heard Ashlyn yelling and sighing. As Emma was shutting off the waver, Ashlyn pulled open the door.

“I am going to kick Ariana in the shin!” Ashlyn said, looking pissed. Emma laughed.

What did she do to you?” Emma asked her.

“She told me I looked like a stripper.” Emma looked at her friend and snorted.

“I mean, she’s not wrong,” Emma said, and Ashlyn twirled laughing.

“I know, but she didn’t have to say it in front of your dad,” Ashlyn said, and Emma rolled her eyes.

“Stay away from my dad,” Emma said, and Ashlyn smirked.

“Make me.” Ashlyn purred.

Emma rolled her eyes, putting everything away. Even though it was her space, her mother hated a mess.

“Let’s go.” Emma grabbed Ashlyn’s hand and pulled her out of the house.