Finding Emily

{Chapter 1}

    It's a quiet morning, and for once Becca felt ready for the day. She wasn't in bed and claiming to have a stomach ache. She was sitting out on the porch with a blanket wrapped around her legs and a cup of coffee in her hands. She did this once every six months even though she always told herself she wanted to watch the sun come up more often. It was so beautiful, and it gave her hope. She didn't like sunsets. She thought they were too final even if they were equally if not more gorgeous than their counterpart. She liked the optimism of a sunrise. It was a new beginning. She smirked to herself; recognizing how ridiculous she was being as she wrote down her thoughts in the little pink and plaid hard-backed journal her best friend Star gave her for Christmas last year, and Becca was now using as a journal.

  It really wasn't the beginning of an amazing day or a new start. It was just another Tuesday, and she was about to go get ready for school. There wasn't anything fun happening, and there wouldn't be anything even remotely interesting. No concerts, no trips; just the homecoming dance she wasn't even sure she wanted to attend. She'd been to every single one since she started high school, and now she was a senior. Wasn't she finally too old for that kind of thing? She hoped her friends agreed. She didn't want them to have fun without her even if it was just a stupid school dance.

  She did have something small to look forward to. It was embarrassing to even admit it, but she looked forward to World Geography now because she sat diagonally from Thomas Harrison who she'd known since the seventh grade, but she recently started to notice. She always thought he was pretty cute, but she never had a crush on him. He was nice, and he was popular so that already set him apart from most boys, but she'd never given him much notice. Then he was assigned the seat next to her in study hall last year, and they started talking every day. 

  He was really funny, and they shared a lot of the same favorite bands. It surprised her since he was a basketball player, and he was the president of the golf club. He was super sporty and always wore expensive shoes that she was sure cost more than most of her wardrobe, but he wasn't like most of the guys their age. He was sweet, and he liked talking to her. Now they talked all the time in World Geography, and last week he caught her after school to ask if he could borrow her American History book just for the day. She had said he could, and he returned it later with a soda and a candy bar in thanks.

 "You are a life saver," he had told her and gave her a hug.

  She felt so silly having this intense of a crush. She never had crushes besides thinking this actor or that actor was attractive or some guy in some stupid band. She didn't like having crushes on people. She had a boyfriend for six months when she was a sophomore, but he moved to Rhode Island. She liked boys, but it usually fizzled before she even thought to confide in her friends. It never got out of control like her best friend Star's crushes tended to do. She would put notes in their lockers, find out where they lived and occasionally drive by to see if they were home. She would go out on dates with them after she got the courage to ask them out, and it rarely worked out, but Star was out there and trying at least. 

   Becca barely attempted, and she felt immature, but her friends never bothered her about it. She had a suspicion that they thought she was still pining over Aaron – the ex who was now in Rhode Island and who was dating a very tall blond girl who he was making out with in his Facebook profile picture... not that she checked out his page that often or anything.

  So liking Thomas was new, and she liked it. She didn't have any expectations, and she certainly didn't think he would be her boyfriend. They were in two very different groups in school. Even though they were seniors cliques still existed, and she was certainly not friends with the people Thomas hung around. She had her own small group that wasn't popular, but they weren't unpopular.