Page 27 of Beauty and the Nerd
She thought it over before reaching up to kiss him softly. “How about you take me to your place, or school since that’s probably where your car is, and then you can follow me home?”
He nodded, making her heart flutter wildly. It was sweet of him not to want her out late and she parked in the garage, waiting until he got out of his car to turn hers off. She hit the garage door-opener to shut it as he slipped into the space, and they headed into the house.
“So, what would you like to do tonight?” He asked, pulling a little laugh from her as she pointed out the time. “We still have three and a half hours before my parents start to wonder whereI am, that’s enough time for one of those movies or mini-series you love.”
“Well, I’ve really wanted to watch something lately, but the movie is probably not one that you’d want to watch.” She headed to the cabinet to get it.
“Why is that?” he asked as she grinned fully, hiding the movie behind her back.
“Because it’s from the like the eighties, is based off a book series and is like three hours long,” she warned, and his brow lifted in question. “If you don’t want to that’s fine, I’ve watched this probably about a dozen times, so what do you say?”
She withdrew the movie to show him the case. “Anne of Green Gables?”
“What can I say, Anne is fearless despite being an orphan, she’s headstrong, determined and just a little out there and there really is nothing like this version of the stories. My mom loved them when she was younger and put it on one day, I’ve loved them ever since, and while there are newer versions of the stories, these still kick ass.”
Ben took the case from her hands, giving her a soft kiss as he reached over to turn on the dvd player.
“Only for you Emmy,” he said letting her go make some popcorn while he put the dvd in to start it. She grabbed the blanket and pillows from the other chairs, settling down into the cushions letting him stretch out his legs on the recliner part of the couch, the popcorn bowl on his lap.
Her heart bloomed when she found him laughing along to her favorite parts and she grinned at him as it ended, seeing the look in his eyes. “So, was it as horrible as you expected?”
“No but now I want to know how it ends,” he stated, making her laugh.
“There’s always ‘The Sequel’, it goes through several parts of the other books,” she said, and he nodded thoughtfully as he watched her face.
“You have it, don’t you?”
“Yup but it’s even longer and I’m sure your mom will be calling any minute to see if you’re on your way home or not.”
She stood up to stretch then moved over to the door with him knowing she was right, and he leaned down to give her a kiss.
“I’ll stop in bright and early with breakfast and we can watch it if you want,” he suggested and there was no way that she could say no to that offer.
“Just not at six-twenty in the morning, okay?” She wrinkled her nose up at him and he left, pausing at the end of the driveway to make sure she shut the door. She smiled as she turned the security alarm on, taking the popcorn bowl to the kitchen before heading upstairs to get ready for bed. The letter from NYU sat on her desk and she gave it a pat with a bright smile so ready for it, then crawled under the covers slipping to sleep quite easily.
It was pitch black out still when she bolted up in the bed, the alarm pealing loudly, and she grabbed her cell phone moving out to the hallway to grab the cordless as well. It rang the second she picked it up and she nearly jumped out of her skin before seeing the name of the alarm company on the caller id. She crept back towards her room answering it softly as she sent Ben a text message, her heart pounding when she saw it was only four a.m.
“No, my parents are out of town, I’m home alone,” she said quietly in response to the caller’s question of if everything was alright, listening for the sound of anyone downstairs.
“We’ll send the police to come check things immediately,” the woman on the phone assured her as her cell phone buzzed in her hand.
Ben’s text calmed her the tiniest bit, and she let him know that the alarm company was calling the police. She kept textinghim as she waited, letting out a slight yelp of fright when someone tried to open her door as the house’s phone line went dead. She slid over to her bathroom and moved into it as her bedroom door continued to rattle and she waited for a reply from Ben, needing him to answer her to keep her calm.
A flash of color through the window caught her eye and she slid over to it, finding a cop car pulling into the driveway as the rattling continued. She sent Ben another message before calling 911 unsure of the number for the woman she was talking to from the alarm company.
“Miss Watkins, two officers should be at your location now,” the dispatcher said when she told him her name and address. “The alarm company alerted us that the phone line disconnected, and they hadn’t been able to get back in touch with you. Where are you currently?”
“In my bathroom, I think someone’s trying to get into my bedroom.”
“I’ll let them know where you are, which part of the house specifically is your room?”
“Up the stairs, the last door when you take a right. I can see the police car in the driveway from the bathroom window.”
“Is there a small light you can put in the window to let the officers know from the outside? Don’t turn on the room light, let the officers clear the house first, but if there’s a way to highlight which window they’re looking for it can help.”
“Yeah, I have a flashlight in the cabinet.” She turned it on praying that whatever was going on would be finished quickly.
“Someone will be up there very soon Emma, just stay where you are and stay on the phone with me,” he said, and she wasn’t about to go anywhere.
