The Problem with Emerson

10 | The Problem with Kissing

THE PROBLEM WITH KISSING - specifically, the problem with wanting to kiss her best friend - was that she wanted to kiss her best friend.

Damn that Tran, she thought.

If Erica hadn't put the notion in her head - the idea that she could be in love with her best friend - then she wouldn't be daydreaming about Emerson's lips. At least, that's what she was going to keep telling herself.

The way Emerson comforted her after the fiasco with Christopher didn't help her pining either. Although she had mostly gotten over that (at least on the surface), she couldn't shake the way he had made her feel.

In that moment, she hadn't been thinking about kissing him, but looking back, she wished that she had. Okay, maybe not actually, because she had been in a horrible place emotionally and that was no state to be kissing people in. But thinking back to the warmth she felt from his hand simply holding hers, she felt inclined to kiss him.

Maybe Erica had a point.

In order to procrastinate studying for her exam and distract herself from her obsessive thoughts, Brie opened her ancient laptop and pulled up her school email. Nada. She then turned to her personal email. There were a couple pieces of virtual junk mail that she immediately deleted, but there was also an email from Emerson.

From: embhandaribishop@mail.com
To: BrieReinhardttt@mail.com
Subject: Valleyhale Chronicles Book 1

1 attachment

Hey, Bee.

I know you're bummed that you haven't gotten to read my work yet. I promise you will soon. But I thought I'd attach a little excerpt in the meantime.

Let me know what you think.

-E

Brie had never clicked on an email attachment faster. She hadn't even been that excited when her acceptance email came in from Waverley University.

Brie took out her earbuds and placed them in her ears. They were hardly noise cancelling, but they helped to block out some of the racket so that she could fully concentrate on what Emerson had sent her. She focused on her screen, immediately getting immersed in the world that Emerson had created.

Her eyes were glued to the screen, taking in the chapter that seemed to be from somewhere in the middle of the book, when the kids from Valleyhale High School were busy fending off the monsters that had been unleashed due to a curse.

She wasn't much of a reader, and even when she was, it was mostly contemporary. But there was something about Emerson's story that sucked her in anyway.

"Mila!" Cooper cried. "Are you okay?"

Mila had been Cooper's best friend for years. Their parents had thrust them together at a young age, and although they had a rocky start, they had been stuck together ever since. And because of that, he couldn't imagine a world without her in it.

Mila nodded, brushing herself off. To her, Cooper was being dramatic. She was totally fine.

Cooper tilted her chin to the side, examining the gash that ran down the length of her cheek. It was long, but not too deep. Hopefully it wouldn't scar. Either way, she would still be beautiful.