Friends

sharing everything

being dubbed as double trouble

no matter the problem

having each others back

if we get off the beaten track

like a straight line that will not bend

friends stick together until the end.

Chapter Four

***

"Let's go, everyone in the van!" I hear my dad yell up the stairs.

I sigh. I don't want to go to the basketball game but my mom convinced me otherwise after I got home from school.

"Emma! Come on, we can't be late," my mom says, peering into my bedroom. She sees me still sitting on my unmade bed and sighs, walking over to me. Sitting down on the bed beside me, she wraps her arms around my shoulders.

"It will be alright," she tries to reassure me. "If you don't want to stay once we get there, you can go outside." My mom kisses me on the forehead and stands up, leaving the room again and calling for Joey.

I nod, standing up and following her out.

Downstairs is chaos and deciding where everyone is sitting is catastrophic. Quinn refuses to sit next to me, so that leaves me in the way way back between the twins.

"Every one ready to get this show on the road?" my dad asks from the driver's seat, eyeing my brothers and me in the rear view mirror. He gets a few yeahs and hums in response and begins the drive to the school.

An enthusiastic bunch, we are.

My oldest brothers, Jude, Logan, and Owen are meeting us there, and everyone but Daniel will be at the game. That's how we usually have to travel, with two cars.

The school parking lot is half full when we arrive. My parents park in a spot near the front and we begin to pile out.

Quinn gets out of the van, and I follow him. He doesn't look behind him and begins to slam the door shut in my face. I catch it in time.

"Asshole," I mutter. Quinn turns around, glaring at me.

"What did you just say?" he asks, spitting his words out. I open my mouth to spit out an insult but my dad stands between us, holding out his hands.

"Do not start a fight right now," he says in a hushed, serious tone. "I want you both to be on your best behaviour."

Quinn rolls his eyes and walks away, right into Jude but shoves past him.

My dad follows him and I see my mom talking to the principal.

"You going to be okay?" Jude asks, staring at me.

I nod. "I think so," I say. My brother looks uncertain but doesn't say anything more because my mom starts rounding everyone up.

"We're going to go in now. They have seats for us," she says, lifting Joey up into her arms.

The principal leads us into the gymnasium, and I follow at the back of my family. Jude walks beside me.

Entering the gymnasium is like stepping up onto a stage. Everyone is staring.

The schools gymnasium is large with bleach's on both sides. My family is herded to the left side, the side our basketball team sits on.

Andrea and her parents sit on the bench above us. She waves slightly.

I sit beside my mom and Jude, glancing all around me. Its loud and everyone is talking.

My hands are trembling and I hide my hands in my lap.

I don't want to be here.

The principal. Mr. McDonald says a quick word to my dad and goes to the center of the court. He stands in front of a microphone and clears his throat.

"Ladies and gentlemen I would like to thank you all for coming out tonight," he begins.

People begin to quiet, and focus on Mr. McDonald. "We're here tonight to honor a young man by the name Tyler Taylor. Many of you know he died this summer in a tragic accident."

He pauses, letting the words settle in. The mention of my brother sends shivers up my arms and down my spine.

My mom glances at me, no doubt to see if I'm okay. Joey is watching Mr. McDonald with sad eyes.

"Coach David, would you like to come up and say a few words?"

Mr.McDonald looks over to a tall, lanky man in a dress suit and tie. He stands up and walks over beside the principal, taking the microphone.

"Tyler was an amazing kid and never in my life thought I would be up here telling you this," Coach David stops, and I can tell he is beginning to choke up.

"When Tyler came to his first tryout, I thought if this kid is anything like his brothers, he's going to be trouble."

The crowd laughs and even I have to smile a bit.

"Tyler though, not only was he the rock to the team, to this school, but the entire community. Before we start the game, I would like to take a minute of silence in respect to Tyler and his family," Coach David says and bows his head.

The crowd follows his movement until everyone is bowing their heads and the gymnasium is silent.

Instead of bowing, I look around. On the bench, my brother Aidan and Ben sit with their teammates. Beside them is Austin.

His head is bowed, and I admire him from afar. He has been a great friend to my brothers, and my parents think highly of him.

I turn my head and search for his mom in the crowd. I don't see her anywhere.

Jude nudges my arm.

I turn around again and look straight ahead. This is the longest minute my life.

"Thank you everyone," Coach David says and everyone begins look up again.

My dad stands up, walking over to the microphone.

I glance at my mom in surprise. "What is he doing?" I ask, and she only pats my leg.

"Some of you may know me, a lot of you don't. I'm James Taylor, Tyler's dad," he pauses and I can see him breath in, taking a deep breath. "I want to thank not only our friends, but everyone in this room for being supportive while we go through this difficult time. "

My dad nods his head and hands Coach David the microphone again before taking his seat.

"So, I think its time to get this show on the road."

The head coach of the senior team does a speech too, reminding that this game is an honorary game and will not count towards the season.

The game begins, the boys scoring two points in the first minute.

"Hey mom," I say, poking her arm. "I'm going to take a walk, okay?"

She looks over, her eyes full of concern but nods her head.

I get up from my spot and begin to walk out of the gymnasium.

"Hey Em, wait up," a voice calls behind me. The voice of my best friend. Andrea catches up to me and we leave the gym and walk into the hall way.

I take a breath of relieve.

"It wasn't too bad, was it?" she asks, glancing at me.

I shrug. "No," I say, lying.

The truth is it was horrible.

We walk farther down the halls silently.

A throat clears and behind me is Austin.

"Andrea, do you mind if I talk to Emma for a second?"

My best friend turns and raises her eye brow.

"Sure," she says and smirks. "I need to use the bathroom anyway."

She leaves my side and walks past Austin, mouthing 'I want to know everything he says'.

I roll my eyes and turn to my brothers best friend.

"Why aren't you in the gym?"

Austin shrugs. "I saw you leaving and wanted to check up on you," he says.

I smile. "I'm fine, its just hard to be in there, with everyone staring and stuff," I say. "Where's your mom? I thought she'd be here."

He frowns a bit. "She had to work but I know she wanted to be here too. And no one is staring at you, if they are, its because they admire how strong you and your family is."

"I'm not strong," I say, snorting. "I've hidden in my room for the last three months."

"You are here, and that's all that matters," he says, stepping forward. "You are a strong person Emma, whether you see it or not, I do."

I close my eyes and feel arms encircle my body. I peek and realize Austin is hugging me.

"Thank you," I say and Austin pulls away.

I look over his shoulder and see my best friend walking toward us. Andrea stops behind Austin and winks.

"I should get back to the game now," Austin says, stepping back. "Are you coming?"

I nod. "Yeah, I'll be right there."

He leaves, and I'm interrogated by my best friend who refuses to believe I don't have feeling for him.

That night we go out to a restaurant after the boys win the game for Tyler.

***

After a long, tiring week of school, with teachers handing out endless assignments and mountains worth of homework, sleeping in on Saturday morning is a given.

My eyes are heavy and I can barely lift my head while I reach for my phone on my desk as it rings. Sleeping in is a luxury around here.

"What?" I snap, maybe a little too harshly after I managed to press accept on my phone. My eyes are still shut, and my consciousness pleading me to hang up and go back to sleep.

"Well good morning to you too," Andrea says, sarcastically. Her loud voice filling up the room. "What are you doing on this lovely morning?"

"What time is it anyway?" I ask, ignoring her, working up enough strength to open my eyes and stare at the clock on my night stand. It reads 7:35 in bright green numbers. I love Andrea, but at times like these, is when I want to strangle her.

"You do know what time is it right?"

"Of course!" Andrea says, laughing. "I hope you don't mind I woke you up, but If I Stay came out a few weeks ago and Mom's giving me her car. We can even go to Murphy's Cafe. I'll be picking you up around Noon."

"OK. I'll be ready. Wait, noon? Why the hell are you calling at seven thirty in the morning!" I whisper-yell, wanting to reach through the phone and shake my best friend.

"I was bored alright? And I figured hey, I should call my best friend. I mean she loves me right?" Andrea asks nonchalantly, and I groan.

"I do, but sometimes I just want to-"

"What? OK, I'm coming! Look at the time, I gotta go." Andrea hangs up before I can finish my sentence, leaving me wide awake. Although I'm glad she asked, or told me, to see If I Stay, because I read the book, and I'm excited if they make the movie to live up to the bountifulness of the book.

Getting up, I stretch and find some cloths to wear to start my day. Since it is still quite warm out, I decide to wear a blue lace top, with a white tank underneath, and blue denim shorts.

My hair, as usual, is a mess and stubborn, so I put it in a braid and let it cascade down my back. When I'm finally satisfied with my appearance, I grab my blue flip flops and wallet, heading downstairs.

Nobody else is awake, though I don't expect anyone to be. Joey will soon be up, and Mom and Dad usually get up after him. Deciding on some Frosted Flakes, I get a bowl from the cabinet and pour some milk, venturing over to the living room and flop down on the couch to watch me some Good Luck Charlie on Disney Channel.

"Do you ever watch anything good?" Turning around, I see Quinn standing behind the couch, shovelling cereal into his mouth, eyeing the TV.

"Nope," I say, keeping an eye on Quinn from the corner of my eye. I wonder why he's even bothering to talk to me and when he will make a snarky comment. "Why are you up so early?"

"I went for my run like I do every morning." Quinn says, shrugging his shoulder, his eyes still focused on the television. I don't know he even woke up this early every morning. "What about you? You don't even get up most days."

There's the small dig I was waiting for. I focus back on the show.

"Andrea called, wanting to go to the movies at seven thirty this morning, who does that? Especially after a really long week of school? Even if they are you best friend?"

"Who in the hell are you talking to?"

Behind me, Owen stands looking down on me with his arms crossed, giving me a weird look.

"I was talking to...myself," I say, sighing. I realize Quinn is nowhere in sight. Owen grins, and reaches down to mess up my hair. Owen is dressed in a black Sons Of Anarchy shirt and red basketball shorts, keys dangling in hand.

"Where are you going?" I ask, nodding to the keys.

"Jude's car broke down, so I have to go give him a jump. By the way, Mom took Joey to a play date, and Dad got called in at work, in case you were looking for them." Jeez, what happened to sleeping in? I thought everyone was still in bed.

"Where are you going all dressed up? Are you going somewhere?" Owen asks, noticing that I'm dressed instead of being in pyjamas. I nod, and switch the channel to the movies.

"Yeah the movies with Andrea," I say. "What time do you think Mom will be back?"

Owen just shrugs and eyes me carefully. "So, there are no boys, right? Just you and Andrea?"

I roll my eyes at my older brother being protective. Why can't I do anything without being questioned?

"Yeah, we are going to see If I Stay. Andrea has her mom's car," I say and watch as Owen widens his eyes in horror. "Oh, don't look like that, she's not that bad."

"Do you not remember who ran over our lawn and mom's flowers?" he asks.

I wince at the memory and chuckle.

It is true, Andrea had just gotten her license and we went to the mall. That night, as she was pulling in my driveway, she was trying to change the music station, and wasn't paying attention, driving up over the lawn. Just as she was about to hit the house, she turned, destroying Mom rose bushes.

"I didn't drive with her again for almost a month," I say, laughing.

"It was scary, to say the least," Owen says, and cell phone buzzes. He rolls his eyes as he looks at the caller ID. "I got to go fix our idiot brothers car. Have fun at the movies." I wave goodbye as Owen leaves. Jude doesn't know anything about cars, ironic since Dad owns a mechanic shop. He never learned, no matter how much Dad tried to teach him.

I continue to watch the Disney channel, planted on the seats of the sofa until Andrea pulls into the driveway around lunch time.

***

"That was an awesome movie...it was so sad though," Andrea says, getting in her mom's black SUV. I open the door and laugh. "What?" Andrea asks, while I shake my head.

"I'm never seeing a sad movie ever again, especially with you, you blubbering fool," I say.

Andrea scoffs, but she doesn't say anything, knowing full well that she sobbed throughout most of the movie.

"Like you didn't," Andrea mumbles, turning out of the movie theaters parking lot, a horn honking behind us as Andrea cut in front of them.

Fine, I admit, a few tears did slip down my cheek, but I didn't wail like Andrea.

"You are going to get us killed!" I yell and close my eyes, trying not to panic.

"Oh, stop being such a chicken." Andrea laughs, then takes a sharp right turn, sending me flying against the car door.

I narrow my eyes at her.

"OK, that was on purpose," she says, cackling like a witch.

When we finally arrive at Murphy's Cafe, it is about four o'clock in the afternoon. Murphy's Cafe is a fast food place, but really good. Inside, the lighting is dim, and there are booths to the sides and tables in the center. What I love about the place is that it is decorated with paintings all around the room.

"Where can I seat you two ladies?" The waitress greeting us asks. I tell her a booth will be fine. The waitress, whose name is Kelly, leads us to the back of the restaurant and seated us, giving us both a menu.

"What can I get you to drink?" she asks, once we're seated.

Andrea orders a water, and I order a lemonade.

"So, what are you getting? Wait, don't tell me, a Chicken Quesadilla, right?" Andrea says, guessing my order.

Andrea knows me well. Though it's what I order every time we come. Andrea on the other hand gets something different every time.

"Here you girls go. Are you ready to order?" Kelly asks, coming back with a notebook and pen. I order first, giving Andrea a little bit more time. Finally she decides on a nacho plate with a side of fries.

The waitress leaves again, saying it won't be too long.

"So, did you know that Whitney had to do community service over the summer for stealing a gold necklace?" Andrea is talking about the quietest girl in our grade, Whitney Price. I can't imagine that she would do something like that.

"Well didn't Carla become friends with her last year? She probably made her do it."

Carla Dean will steal, lie, cheat, and do anything to get her way.

"Yeah, I know. Whitney told Henry she did it to pawn it for money to give to her boyfriend," Andrea says, taking a sip from her water.

Kelly comes back with our food, the smell of it making me want to drool.

"Henry?" I ask, raising my eyes brows.

"Oh, yeah. We've been talking a lot this summer." Andrea's face reddens a bit and won't meet my eye.

"Do you like Henry?" I ask, singing his name. Andrea glares but her lips turn up into a knowing smile.

"As much as you like Austin," Andrea says, grinning.

She won't shut up about Austin and me since she saw us hug at the game on Tuesday.

"I do not like Austin," I snap. But I can feel my cheeks redden, and Andrea laughs loudly. "Stop that! Austin is my brother's best friend, he'd kill me. I don't like him." I growl at my best friend and she grins.

"I see the way he looks at you, plus you need a guy in your life," Andrea says with confidence.

I stop chewing my food and groan. I've heard this so many times before.

"I'm perfectly fine without one."

"But you two would be so cute together," she gushes and she pokes a fry in my face. "And you know it, you just don't want to admit it." Before I can tell her to stuff it, her eyes float away, glancing behind me. Her eyes widen. "Oh, shit."

Curious to what is happening, I glance over my shoulder to see my brother Logan, and Andrea's sister Cassie sitting together at a booth. They are best friends, so I don't think nothing of it until I see there hands. And your right, that doesn't say much, so what about when Logan kisses Cassie on the lips?

That's not something just friends do.

"Oh, my, God! Do you see that?" Andrea squeals, clapping her hands together. I hush her, not wanting them to hear us.

Are they together? Why not tell us?

Logan hasn't been around much, I wonder if he's been spending more time with Cassie.

"They always were cute together," I say still staring at them.

"Just like you and Austin," Andrea says, smirking. I mentally groan, knowing she isn't going to give up anytime soon. We finish our food and sneak out the backdoor to the car so Logan and Cassie won't see us.

We burst into laughter in the car, driving away and to Andrea's house. I spend the night, snd together we eating mountains of junk food and watching movies until early morning. Forgetting about my hectic, chaotic life for a moment.

***

"Bye, my love!" Andrea calls as she backs out of my driveway, almost hitting the mailbox. I wave to her before running into the house where it is surprisingly quiet. I slip off my shoes in the mud room and walk into the kitchen.

"Is anyone home?" I call.

Nobody answers, but the front door is unlocked, so someone has to be home. Nobody is in the kitchen or living room, but when I reach the stairs, I see the basement door ajar, and music coming from up the stairs.

I have to bite my lip to cover a laugh when I see whats going on. Logan, Jude, Owen, and Aidan are all dancing in sync to Uptown Funk. Joey stands in front of them, laughing. When the music switches to a different song, I take out my cell phone