Arc 2: Life With a Girlfriend

I woke up to a blade of light piercing through my eyelids. I groaned and blinked away the crust and bleariness. I glared at the gap between the curtains responsible for the unwelcome light. Sighing at my forgetfulness, I rolled over, half blinded by the bright morning light, I buried my face into my pillow trying to blot out the sun. My eyes shot open and I jolted upright as memories of the previous night flooded in.

I sat up away from the evil light and just… sat there. I still couldn’t believe it. I had a girlfriend. An actual, real-life girlfriend. Not only did I have a girlfriend, but she was also the hottest girl in school. Fuck what other guys said, Emma was by far the hottest girl in school. I would go so far as to say she was the hottest girl on the whole damn planet. No other girl came close.

But soon my smile faded and elation turned to curdled milk as memories of Owen and Ben tempered my happiness. I groaned and rolled back onto my bed, throwing the covers over my head. It didn't feel right to get a girlfriend this way. I couldn’t even enjoy the moment properly. How could I?

I let it happen.

I sighed into the silence.

The guilt was like a weight on my chest.

What if I could have done something differently? How could this be the foundation of a healthy relationship? The questions kept coming. I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind, but all I could see was Emma's face. That smile. That damn smile as she drank in my suffering letting Owen enjoy all the carnal pleasures of her body. Just the thought of Owen stirred up anger in me stronger than anything I had ever felt before.

I needed to see her. I had to talk to her. She would know what to do, how to fix this... or would she just pull me deeper in this dark despair.

Yet despite all that.

Despite all the anger, I felt myself settle. For all the shit Owen said and did to Emma. I still felt arousal. God, what was wrong with me.

A knock broke me out of my crippling introspection, "Oh - You're up" my mom appeared, peering through the crack in my door, her voice pulled me back from my dark thoughts as I poked my head out of the covers.

"What time is it?" I responded my voice thick with sleep.

"Almost ten. Your friend is here by the way."

I blinked, "Wait, what? Mike's here? This early?"

"Emma. She's waiting outside, don't keep her waiting," She sighed and raised a brow as I leaped from the bed tossing away the sheets onto the floor in a heap. I heard a quiet chuckle from my mom as I quickly threw on some random clothes and almost ran into the washroom.

"And Isaac, do try to keep it down next week," my mom said nonchalantly. I froze waiting for the pin to drop but I relaxed hearing her slippered feet slowly pad down the stairs. I ran through my morning rituals in a blaze and grabbed my phone and scrolled through it in a panic, sure enough, there was a slew of continuous messages from Emma from the early morning to a more recent one. A GIF of an annoyed looking cat poking at a sleeping human.

On autopilot I found myself at my front door. I opened the door expecting Emma, but instead bright light greeted me blinding my still sleep worn eyes. Rubbing at my eyes furiously trying to banish the sleepiness away, the smell of fresh cut grass and flowers filled my lungs as I looked through the doorway searching for her. The cozy morning cast a warm glow around the garden path leading down the side of my house. My heartbeat raced as I saw the familiar form of Emma waiting, her perfectly raven coifed hair swayed and bounced on her shoulders to an unheard melody. Unnoticed I crested the corner and Emma came into view.

I couldn't help myself but be rendered mute at the sight.

Her outfit was casual, muted, but it seemed like a perfect match for her. She wore deep blue jeans with wear marks that accented her shapely legs, a simple white v neck t-shirt with a plaid shirt that draped over her petite form unbuttoned. She leaned against the corner of the wall, upper back resting against the rough brick as if avoiding subjecting her entire back to the cold surface. A hand was shoved deep in her denim pockets, almost disappearing into the bright blue fabric, the other furiously tapping away. One leg was crossed over the other, ankle resting casually against the wall while she balanced the other on the toes of her feet. Beside her feet lay a simple navy blue fabric backpack muted from wear with the tell tale sign of a binder's corners pressing up against the seams. I felt myself grin a little as I hatched a plot to surprise her but my phone betrayed me as a chime rang out from my pocket.

Her head snapped up as a chime rang out from the phone inside my pocket, “Hey, Isaac,” she said, giving a coy smile as, her earlier annoyances forgotten. She pushed off the wall and stood in front of me awkwardly, "Took you long enough," She smiled, her eyes lit up, her earlier annoyances forgotten as she slung the backpack effortlessly over her shoulder. She sauntered over to me, her grin spreading from ear to ear. She crossed her arms and struck a pose. Emma arched a brow at me and gave a little shake of her head to my muteness. "Why hello lover, aren't you going to say hi to me?"

I jerked at the noise, quickly regaining my speech. “Uh, hey Emma," I said giving her a small smile, faltering, I felt a frown form as I caught the meaning in her words "Well technically we're not lovers... yet"

Emma's grin wavered for a moment, wincing, "I will admit that sounded a lot more debonaire in my head - sorry"

"For what," I smiled, forcing a courage I didn't feel, "I knew what I was getting into, You could have come inside instead of waiting"

"Never mind," She waved it off with a shrug, "It's fine I was just chatting with your mom while waiting. I would have come up to your room but well..." Emma trailed off and gave a small shrug, "Not sure if you could handle any more surprises... especially after last night, so I decided to wait out here. Pretty sure you would have died of a heart attack if I shook you awake."

My eyes narrowed, "What were you guys talking about, colluding against me were you?"

Emma giggled lightly, "Nah, mostly complaining about your sleeping habits. And. She wanted to know everything about me. I'm pretty sure she was ready to set us up on a date, but I managed to get away."

I coughed in surprise, "You're joking right?"

"Of course I am, - why are you so red?" Her head tilted to one side as an impish smile grew on her face.

I let out a sigh of relief, "It's nothing."

Emma smirked, "So, did you have a good night. I hope you didn't spend all of it jerking off."

"Hardly," I rolled my eyes.

"Is that a lie Isaac? I thought we were gonna be truthful to each other from now on"

I bit back a retort and I shook my head. I knew that she was goading me. The problem was that it was absolutely working. I don't think I would ever get used to it.

"Well, for the future, don't stay up too late, try not to dream about tying me up and having your way with me,"

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind," I said with a roll of my eyes, but she pulled me into a tight hug before I could say anything else. She was so warm and soft, and that familiar soft scent of her perfume was so intoxicating, that I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her tightly.

"Sorry," Emma said quietly, "About last night" She looked up at me with those bright blue eyes doe eyed and tinged with sadness.

"Sorry for what" I asked, confused by her sudden change of demeanor.

"You know" Emma looked away, her blue eyes became somber and pensive. "I wanted to start fresh today. Clear the air. Just us," She looked hopeful, even embarrassed, there was little pink in her cheeks as her arms tightened around me. But the moment was fleeting as she stepped back away from me awkwardly with her hands locked behind her back, "I was thinking... maybe we could go on a date, not like a date date, but just like a hang out kind of thing. Just to see how things are?"

I found it strange to hear those kind words offered by Emma without a trace of guile or smugness. "What did you have in mind?"

"Maybe we could go to the movies, or if you like we can go to Nina's cafe," Emma tilted her head expectantly, "Her fam has the best doughnuts around"

"Doughnuts - Which one's Nina again...?"

"The brunette"

"Huh"

"The petite one with the boobs too big for her frame" Emma offered to my chagrin, "The one I showed you eating the doughnut last night"

"Nope, I got nothing"

"How are you this bad at remembering my friends, I thought a nerdy pervert like you would be good at this sort of thing"

"Nope! Horny and studying cancel each other out, but yea we should go, what else do they have?"

"They do an amazing brunch, but the doughnuts," Emma's eyes seemed to sparkle at my suggestion, " The doughnuts are fucking amazing - Sorry I've been dying to get them again, but no one would ever go with me - god, they're so bad for you, but they're so fucking good"

I paused and made a face as Emma was positively bouncing with excited energy. With a grin she turned and practically skipped away, I glanced around looking for her blue Toyota, "Uh, Emma how did you get here anyways?"

She did a little twirl to face me, her dark raven hair whipping through the air. "I walked" She tilted her head slightly, a grin quickly bloomed seeing my expression, "What's the matter Isaac, you've never gone on a walk?"

"Are... you serious? You walked all the way from your place? That must have taken ages"

Emma scoffed as if I was saying something silly and continued walking down the driveway. "How do you think I keep this figure anyways?"

"I thought it was from all the sex" I blurted out without thinking.

"This again?" She shot me an amused look over her shoulder, paused mid step, she spun around to face me, she seemed surprised for a moment before she let out a loud laugh, "Ha, I mean - you're not wrong" Emma paused, leaned her shoulders on my car and tilted her head to the side as she studied me, "So you coming or not?

"Do we have to" I said weakly," I mean the Audi's right there"

"Cardio is an important part of sex. Don't you want out first time to be good?" Emma tutted, disapproval coloring her tone. "You won't get any exercise sitting at your computer jerking off all day" She made an obscene jerking motion as her smile turned smug. Bristling at the smug superiority she was displaying, I was about to fire back a denial when I caught myself, I could probably use the exercise. Right? Couldn't hurt, but then I'd have to go into the shudder the outside.

Emma's expression softened seeing my ****. She skipped up to me and leaned in close with a bright smile, "Come on Isaac, it'll be fun I promise"

I let out a sigh and nodded, "I guess so"

"Oh Isaac," She giggled at my despondent tone, "I'm only messing with you. Give a girl a ride?"

Author's note:

Hope everyone had a good Christmas and Happy New Year! More to come soon...sometime...eventually...?