What Would Emma Do? Part 6

"Do you have the TV on?" Colin asked as soon as I picked up the phone.

"I'm stretching. I'm going out for a run right now."

"Give it a break, Speed Racer, and turn on the TV. Wheaton's. .h.i.t the big time."

"Wheaton?"

"Call me after." Colin clicked off, and I turned on the TV. The anchor, a woman in a blistering bright red dress and perfect hair, was seated at the news desk, a photo of TES behind her.

"Tonight, a story out of Wheaton. More than half a dozen young girls have been stricken with a mysterious illness over the past three days, with five girls falling ill today alone. Local hospital staff declined to comment, but the family physician of one girl indicated that there is suspicion of foul play.

"All the girls have regained consciousness and are undergoing further medical testing. The afflicted girls attend Trinity Evangelical Secondary School, which closed early today to allow the remainder of the student body to go home. School officials were unwilling to comment on whether the school will reopen tomorrow. Police stated that the investigation was ongoing, but it appears as if someone is deliberately making the girls sick." The anchor-woman shook her head slowly, as if she were reporting on a tragedy of tsunami-type proportions.

"You have to wonder if there's any place our kids are safe today," the male co-anchor chimed in. "When small-town America's in the crosshairs, then it's a sad day for every town." He shook his head in tandem with the woman anchor. They looked grim and serious. Suddenly her head popped up with a huge smile.

"Now a story from our series on Nutty Neighbors! We're profiling a fellow in the Franke Park area who is such a Wizards fan, he's painted his house in the baseball team's colors, complete with a giant mural of the mascot on the garage door!"

I clicked off the TV and grabbed the phone.

"I don't believe it," I said when Colin picked up.

"I know. Who would paint his house like that? The blue and green is one thing, but the silver trim?"

"Ha ha. Seriously, I can't believe it made the news. And what's with everyone getting sick all of a sudden? There's nothing wrong with anyone. Aren't there real events happening in the world that the news should be paying attention to? War? Environmental issues?"

"Some natural disaster somewhere?"

"Exactly." I pulled on my ponytail while I thought it over. "Maybe we should talk to someone. Tell them what we saw that night."

"What about Joann?"

"We could explain to her that nothing was going on, that I just had to get out of my house. I mean, it's the truth."

"And we just forgot to mention it until now?"

I stood and paced the living room. I had too much energy to sit still.

"There was nothing to mention. I mean, you guys seem to be doing better than ever."

"What does that mean?"

"It doesn't mean anything. Just that you guys seem like things are going well."

"What do you want from me? You were crystal clear, you're not interested."

I sighed. Is there anything worse than having someone throw your own words back at you? As a woman, I thought I was supposed to have the right to change my mind at will.

"She's mad at me," I said, changing the subject and feeling like I was breaking some kind of secret vow. I never talked to Colin about Joann. It felt like cheating on her. When your best friend dates your other best friend, you have to have some boundaries, things that you lock in a vault and don't discuss. My problem was that Colin was the only one I could think of to talk to who might know how to handle the current problem.

"I know, she told me."

Apparently Joann does not have the same feeling about the vault.

"She talks about me?"

"Not all the time."

"So why is she so p.i.s.sed? Just because I want to move away?"

"She thinks you don't want to be her friend anymore."

"I don't? Then why is it that she's the one who won't talk to me?"

"Don't ask me."

"I would ask her, but she doesn't pick up the phone. Look, I want to move away, and I'm not going to apologize for that. This town isn't for me. I can't help it. I never meant to make her feel like I think she's a loser because she wants to stay in Wheaton."

"You didn't mean to make her feel like a loser, but you think she is."

"I do not!"

"Whatever."

"Now you're p.i.s.sed?"

"I'm not p.i.s.sed, but I'm not going to tell you something just to make you feel better. You do think people who want to stay in Wheaton are weird."

"You make it sound like this whole thing is my fault."

"Not everything is about someone being at fault."

"Thank you for that wisdom. Maybe you can become the first dairy-farming Buddha," I said. I could feel my breath coming more quickly, and I hadn't even started running yet.

Colin laughed.

"Dairy Buddha. I like that. Maybe I'll get real fat and get people to rub my belly for luck. Grow myself some udders." He let out a loud mooooooo.

"You're such an a.s.s."

"I think that's why you love me."

"Now you've discovered my real feelings," I said with sarcasm. "I can't stay away from you."

"Like Todd?"

"What!" I felt my heart speed up, as if I'd been caught doing something wrong.

"A bunch of people saw you guys hanging out today."

"Oh my G.o.d. I had, like, a ten-minute conversation with the guy."

"It's not the quant.i.ty, it's the quality. It sounded like you guys were quite chummy."

"We weren't being chummy." My face flushed.

"I figured if you were going to go out with someone, you wouldn't pick Todd."

"What's wrong with Todd?"

"Nothing's wrong with him, he just doesn't seem like your type." I could picture Colin shrugging, which he does whenever he's pretending to be indifferent.

"How would you know what my type is?"

"Fine, Todd's your type."

"He's not my type."

"Whatever."

"Were you always this annoying?"

"I think so. You want to get some ice cream?"

"Ice cream?"

"Yes, it's a frozen dairy product. I know I'm the dairy farmer and thus perhaps smarter than the average person on the items that can be created with milk, but most people have heard of it."

"Do you really think we shouldn't tell anyone about Kimberly and the booze?"

"I don't think it's a good idea."

"Because you don't want Joann to be mad at you?"

"What makes you think she's going to be mad at me? You called me and asked me to go out."

"I did not ask you out. I asked you to do something with me. There is a huge difference." I felt my face flush red-hot. "You're making this sound like it's my fault."

"It's not about blame, I'm just pointing out that Joann is going to be mad at you."

I didn't say anything for a moment and instead picked at the fringe on the pillow. After the great Christmas kiss incident there had been no doubt that Joann was more ticked at me than at Colin. I guess the theory that friends are forever, but boyfriends come and go, doesn't hold the same weight when the friend is planning to move away at the end of the year.

"She'd be mad at you, too," I said, trying not to sound like I was sulking.

"I know. That's why I don't want you to tell. What's the point? Do you want us to break up?"

I swallowed the urge to point out that I hadn't been the one to make the big "I've always loved you" declaration. All I wanted was to get out of the house, and look what had happened. I should have stayed home and reread The Princess Diaries. Meg Cabot never let me down.

"Besides, it isn't just about me. Have you thought about track?" asked Colin.

"What about it?"

"You admit to being at a party with liquor, and you're off the track team. It's a violation of the TES moral code that you signed. Off the team, and there goes your scholarship."

I sat down with a whoosh. I felt like I had suddenly belly flopped into an ice-cold lake. I could picture the whole thing. TES has this form you have to sign where you pretty much vow to be absolutely perfect. You even have to promise to keep your thoughts pure. How they would know if you kept that one I have no idea, but I knew Colin was right. Even though we never went into the party, the fact that we were there and didn't turn anyone in would be enough to pull my track team eligibility. No track, no scholarship. No scholarship, no out-of-state tuition. No out-of-state tuition, and I would be staying in Wheaton.

s.h.i.t.

"I think I'm going to go for a run," I said finally. I clicked off the phone without waiting for him to say anything else. I sat on the sofa for a minute. I started chewing on my fingernails, something I hadn't done for years. It wasn't as if I wanted to be involved in the whole mess, but I felt like I had an out.

What the h.e.l.l would Jesus do in this kind of situation? I paused to see if any heavenly advice was forthcoming. Nothing. Jesus had a knack for staying out of these kinds of situations.

I wasn't sure what Jesus would do, but I was going to run.

14.

G.o.d, I just wanted to take a moment and thank you for having a huge zit erupt on my face. This zit is so large, so ginormous, so freakishly huge that I know it must be your doing that brought it about. Zits like this don't occur in nature. It is a facial miracle of sorts. I know you work in mysterious ways, so I'm not even going to try and figure out why you add acne to the fun that is already my life. As if my mom, my friends, exams, and generally freaking out about what I'm going to do with my life wasn't keeping me busy enough, having a meteor on my face to draw attention is REALLY helpful. You'll have to let me in on the joke at some point.

They say you can't run from your problems, but that's a lie, one of the many lies that adults tell you when you're a kid. Other lies include (but are not limited to): Having dessert first will ruin your dinner.

No one else is paying attention to how you look.

Santa knows if you've been good or bad.

Parents and teachers understand what you're going through.

These are the best years of your life.

I want to go officially on the record that if I ever say high school was the best time of my life, you have my complete permission to take me out back and shoot me. And as for running from your problems, it works great.

Running is funny. When I start, I hate it. My legs are heavy, and when I breathe in, the air feels like it's caught. My nose runs, and sometimes I get a weird st.i.tch in my side. My shoes always feel either too loose or too tight. Then somewhere along the way everything falls into place. My feet find their rhythm, it gets easier to breathe, and it doesn't hurt, it just feels clear. My arms pump back and forth like they're pistons moving me forward. I can't think when I run, because my brain empties out. I must need the oxygen to keep running. It works like a charm.

When I have a problem, something I can't figure out, I go for a run and almost every time the answer comes to me. Today was no different. I needed to talk to Joann. I could tell her everything, explain how there was nothing between Colin and me, and stop having this secret between us. I could feel the secret as if it was some kind of tumor, growing more dangerous the longer I tried to ignore it. If we could be on the same side again, laughing at Darci and her friends, then somehow the whole situation wouldn't seem so foul.

I ran over to Joann's and jogged past. Then I circled around and jogged past again. I could see her mom in the front room, looking out the window. To be honest, she sits there almost all day. She's a one-woman neighborhood watch. I saw the curtains in Joann's room twitch, so I ran past again, this time stopping to do a series of cartwheels. I tossed my arms in the air like an Olympic gymnast. The curtains gave another twitch. I let loose a full set of dance moves that would do Beyonce proud. Still nothing.

I jogged up to the front door and rang the bell. Joann's mom opened the door almost instantly.

"Oh, Emma. How unexpected," she said in a flat tone. I had the sense I wasn't what she would consider a pleasant surprise.

"Do you mind if I run up to Joann's room?"

"Joann's busy. I'll let her know that you stopped by, and she can give you a call when she's free."