Page 6 of Call It Unexpected

Chapter 3

Emalee

Nearly a month had passedsince my first encounter with Zach. I didn’t have a lot of experience dating, but even so, I recognized there was a special spark between us. We’d spent every minute we could together, which wasn’t nearly as often as either of us wanted.

A couple of times, he’d brought me to the fraternity house where he lived. I’d cooked him a few meals there. But that always got the attention of his brothers, who would stop by the kitchen wanting to know what smelled so good, followed by puppy dog eyes and fishing for invitations to join us. Since I was never any good at telling peopleno, much to Zach’s dismay, we often ended up sharing our meal.

We spent most of our limited time in a quiet place, just the two of us. More than once, he’d put together a picnic we’d share in “our park.” Other times we’d sit in a quiet cafe.

Sometimes we studied together. At first, I had doubts about our ability to focus, but Zach was the most determined person to succeed I’d ever met. He was on target to graduate at the end of the year as Valedictorian.

We never needed the help of something like a movie or a party to coax our time together. We were enough, just ourselvesand the sharing of our dreams and other anecdotes we found interesting.

We talked about almost anything—except our families. From a tenseness I saw in his shoulders anytime his phone rang with “Dad” on the caller ID, I sensed their relationship was strained.

This weekend, we were doing something completely different. Zach had invited me to a formal fraternity social to celebrate its founding birthday, which was why I currently found myself in a cloud of silk, satin, and sparkles.

“This would be perfect,” Cameron exclaimed, holding up a classic black strapless dress.

When I lamented to Bristol that I had nothing to wear, she’d called her older sister, who came to the rescue, driving the five hours to get here with a carload of dresses, shoes, and jewelry.

Cameron had an eye for design, no matter the context. She had recently finished her degree in interior architecture and worked with her grandfather at his construction business, using her skills to add design work to their offerings. Her fine taste also ran toward clothing, and she had already been more than generous, having given me a bunch of clothes—way more fashionable than what I owned—prior to moving to Charlotte. She’d claimed they didn’t fit her anymore. I knew it was her way of dancing around my pride. Now, here she was again.

I looked dubiously at the neckline. Cameron had more “up top assets” than I did, and she was much more confident in using them than I guessed I’d ever be. “I don’t know.”

Her nose wrinkled as she squinted at me. “You’re right. Something with color would be even better.” She tossed it aside and swiped up another dress, a beautiful shimmery material that changed shades of blue depending on how the light hit it, reminding me of a peacock’s feathers.

“Oh! It’s beautiful!”

“It is. You should try it on.”

As I reached for it, I heard my cell’s garbled ring. I grabbed for it, careful not to swipe across the spidery crack near the accept button. “Hi, Mama.”

“Hi, sweetheart. How was your day?” Her voice sounded like she was talking through a tin can.

I briefly recounted my week. “I’m sorry I can’t come home this weekend. Lots of studying to do.”

One weekend a month, I made the five-hour trip home to help give my mom a break. It made for a very long weekend, leaving on Friday afternoons and not returning until late Sunday nights, but my mom was making her own sacrifices to help me.

Truthfully, I missed her and all the familiar faces of home, even some of the crazier ones. This weekend was supposed to be my weekend home. For the first time since I was a little girl and hadn’t known better, I’d lied to my mom and told her I had a project I needed to work on with a partner, and we needed the extra time over the weekend. My mom didn’t ask me any questions and said she’d pay Shannon, our one other part-time staff member, to help her over the weekend.

“Pst. Don’t worry about it. If you have that much studying to do, you need to do it. That’s what you’re there for.”

The guilt from the lie I’d told her was surely going to burn a hole in my gut.

“Thanks for understanding, Mama.”

There was a short pause. I wondered if she knew I was lying. “Is everything else all right? You sound strange.”

She sighed, and I didn’t have to be there to picture the furrow growing between her brows. “I just have one of my feelings, that’s all. Kind of like something big is about to happen or change.”

I bit my lip to keep from saying anything. I had the same feeling as well, but not because I had any kind of sixth sense like my mom thought she did. More because I had a feeling Zachand I weren’t going to stop at kissing and heavy petting after tonight. The event was being held at a swanky hotel, and Zach had arranged for a room to stay in afterward. Fortunately, Uncle Brock was out of town, so he wouldn’t know if I didn’t come home tonight, and Bristol had merely given me a knowing smirk.

“I know you think I’m crazy, and maybe I am, but after…well, you know, I couldn’t settle in for the evening without talking to you.”

I stared at the dress in my hand. “I’m fine, I promise. Everything is going great, just busy. And I always love talking to you. You know that.”

“I love you, sugarplum.”

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