Heartbeat

Sixteen

Here's Sixteen... Enjoy. Sarah, xx.

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EMMA

I text Zoe on the way home asking if she had a dress I could wear for Jordan’s party tonight, and as Jordan pulled up outside his house I saw Zoe leaning against her car parked in my driveway. She was beaming from ear to ear as she held a garment bag and her vanity case excitedly for me to see.

I should have known better than to think that all she’d do was lend me a dress. She was going to give me a whole make over for the party tonight, and noticing a second bag I guessed that she was getting ready at mine.

“Thanks for today, Jordan,” I smile as I exit the car. “And you too, Jess.”

Jess waves at me as she runs up to the door of their house, her pink ballet skirt blowing in the wind as she goes. Jordan is at my side instantly and his blue eyes, almost non-existent in their pale color, melt into mine.

“You’re welcome,” he whispers, a smile tugging on his lips. “I’ll see you tonight, right? I’ll be at Adam’s from eight onwards so whenever you two are ready, come on over.”

I nod lightly, too lost in thought to really hear what he was telling me. Since the park I had spent most of the drive home thinking about Jordan and how sometimes we might have more in common than I first believed.

I side step Jordan, my eyes on the ground; I was too scared to look at him just in case I never stopped staring. Zoe waited almost impatiently for me, and as she pulled me up the steps to my front door she gave Jordan a polite smile and wave goodbye.

As soon as we were through the door, I knew she was going to quiz me on everything that’s happened. Since she’d heard about how Jordan professed his love for me she’d taken a step back in her obvious desire for him. She shrugged on Friday after I told her and Holly about Jordan climbing through my bedroom window and declared that she no longer found him attractive.

“He’s only hot when you know he’ll never want you,” she mused.

I never thought of Jordan like that. He’d always been a bit of a player and left parties with different girls each weekend, so I’d never seen the appeal. Then he tells me he loves me and turns my whole world upside down. How can you not like the guy who is in love with you?

“So,” Zoe grabbed my arm, bouncing up and down as she shut the front door. “Tell me everything.”

I noticed her fists clenched and shaking as the excitement threatened to spill over. When Zoe gets this worked up about something you just know she’s going to have a major ‘moment’. When her mother announced that she was getting re-married, Zoe went so crazy for the idea she almost trashed their house while running around screaming from happiness.

“We went to watch Jess swim,” I begin to tell her, hoping that my house will still be in one piece if I give her all the details she wants. “Then we went and hung out at a park in Bridgestone. Then he invited me to his party tonight, so that’s why I text you. And now you’re here.”

I had to blink a couple of times to be sure that I was indeed seeing Zoe jump around in circles at the news. She was way too happy for me and I felt a little uncomfortable with the overreaction.

“What are you doing?” I asked her, my eyebrow rose on one side. “Jeez, Zoe, calm down.”

“I’m sorry, Emma,” she managed as she began giggling. “That guy has the major hots for you, girl. Just a shame you don’t like him back.” She freezes for a moment and scrutinizes my face. I feel my cheeks burning, and suddenly, for no real reason, I start to smile. “Oh my God, Emma. Do you like him?”