Petals On The Floor

Petals on the floor

Chapter one “Are you ready to order yet?” I asked the old couple. That’s usually all we got a J’s, with home style food and our slogan, “all the delicious delights of home cooking, without the mess!” Just what you need to ensure that absolutely no one under thirty would come in here. ‘Oh well’ I sighed inwardly. A slight cough brought me back to attention, “Well, E-m-r-e-e,” The old man said looking at my name tag saying each syllable of my name separately. “What would you say is the best thing on the menu?” I had to think for all of three seconds, “The blueberry pancakes.”I said looking down at the menu I new by heart and pointing it out to him. “Well that does look delicious,” he said eyeing the picture with a hungry look. “That suuure does look tasty!” His wife remarked. I sighed. “We’ll get two of those,” she told me happily. I walked in the kitchen hung up my order then yelled loud enough for my Aunt Liz to hear that I was taking a break. She never let us call her Aunt Elizabeth, she called it an “Old fashioned silly name.” I sighed, as I do so often it would be impossible to count, my sighs could be famous someday, I sighed when I was amused, when I was embarrassed, when I thought someone was being silly or stupid, I sighed all the time, and it was impossible to know how many types there are. My best friend Ami always said her favorite sigh was ‘the cute boy sigh,’ I laughed remembering when she told me, “Emree you sigh all the time! Do you know how annoying that is?! It’s …. Like…. ANNOYING! There’s no other word for it. Annoying, annoying, annoying!” Then she had slammed herself on my couch and fumed, until I said I was SO terribly sorry that I sighed too much. “It’s ok, its part of who you are I’m just easily annoyed and have a short temper, you know?” “Yes I do know, I’ve known you forever, and your temper and easily annoyed problems… well they aren’t a recent addition to your many charms.” She laughed then said with a smile, “I do like some of your sighs though, like the one you get when you see a really cute guy. It tells me to turn in whatever direction you’re looking and admire the show.” She giggled. I had opened my mouth, then shut it several times, then had just given up, there was no arguing with Ami, and to her she ALWAYS won. I had been so caught up in my day dream I hadn’t noticed the wet sign standing right in front of me until it was to late. I felt my foot slide forwards and loose balance, and then I was on my back covered in whatever drink someone had spilled. It smelled like root bear... “Ohh Crap!” I yelled, which was probably the reason why everyone in the restaurant stopped what they were doing and looked at me

Ami turned from the table she was waiting on and yelled “HEY, ARE YOU OKAY?” “IM FINE, AMI!”I yelled, and then we both burst out laughing. “WHAT IS GOING ON OUT HERE?!” my Aunt Liz yelled, stepping into the dining area. “Nothing Liz, Emree just fell.”Ami said smiling. “Oh, honey are you okay?” Aunt Liz said rushing towards me to help me up. “I’m fine,” I mumbled. “Ami go help Emree get cleaned up.” My aunt said turning back towards the kitchen, then stopped and asked “Emree honey which table did you have?” “Six,” I told her looking towards the old couple again. “Okay honey don’t worry I’ll get someone on it while you get cleaned up.” Liz said smiling. “Ok thanks.” I said. Ami smiled and skipped to my side. I shoved the bathroom door open and went to the mirror. Ami sat down on top of the counter, pulled out her cell phone, and turned towards me. Before I had time to duck I heard the familiar click. “Delete it!” I said reaching for the phone. “Nope, this is going to be a great background for my phone.” She said solemnly, looking at me. “And there’s nothing you can do about it!” she said pulling her phone out of reach. Then she started laughing. “Fine, but you’re going to pay for this.”I said turning on the water. I was actually surprised she hadn’t figured out what I was going to do yet. We had water fights pretty much on a weekly basis. I let the water fill in my cupped hands, and then turned. “You wouldn’t.” she said eyeing the water. “I would.” I said smiling. I threw the water at her. She screamed as the water went all over her shirt. “It’s on!” She said scooping a handful of water from the sink next to her and tossing it all over me. A few minutes later both of us were hiding in the two separate stalls laughing until our stomachs hurt. “Do you promise not to throw more water at me?” I asked her. “Sure as long as you don’t throw any at me.” She replied opening her stall. I smiled and opened my stall too “Promise.” I said looking at her. She was completely soaked, form head to toe. I looked in the mirror and I could see that it would be a while before either of us would be able to step into the dining area. I sighed, and she smiled. “Well, at least I was already wet.” I said smiling as I took out my pony tail holder, and started to wring out my long, now soaked blonde hair. “Well I wasn’t,”she grumbled. “Liz is going to be pissed.” She said twisting her t-shirt sending a large amount of water to the floor. “Oh well, at least there are drains in here, so the water wont need to be dried.” I said twisting my own shirt. When we walked into the dining area, we were still soaked. “Hey, Liz?” I said peeking into the kitchen. “What, hun?” Liz asked, mercifully not looking my way. “Ami and I are going to head home is that okay?”We usually headed home about 6.00 and it was already 6:15 but sometimes we stayed longer than usual. “Yeah, that’s fine, see you two tomorrow.” “Bye,” I said grabbing my keys. Ami was already waiting outside, sitting on top of my car. “So, where do you want to go?” I asked. We usually always did something after work whether it was some party Ami

wanted to go to, the beach, anywhere we wanted. That was the fun thing about being sixteen you could pretty much go where you wanted. “Why don’t we go to my house get and cleaned up, so we can go to Jakes party.” She said getting into my car. “Ok.” I said getting in the car and putting on my seatbelt. I didn’t really enjoy going to her boyfriends’ parties, usually Ami spent all her time either with him, or trying to see who she could pair me up with. I’d have boyfriends from time to time but I never got as crazy as she did. She would skip from boyfriend to boyfriend always trying to find the right one. Right now though she said she was in ‘love’ with Jason her boyfriend of a month and practically worshiped the ground he stood on. She’s insane. She’s still best friend. I thought smiling absently.

“I think I like the blue better” she said eyeing the blue top, it had sequins on the bottom and was the exact same color blue as my eyes, a nice soft baby blue. I didn’t necessarily like this top because of its low cut. But when I put it on and looked in the mirror I was surprised because today, it looked great, and it fit me perfectly. “Perfect.” She said. Then she turned and handed me a black miniskirt. “No, absolutely not,” I said. Looking at the short it was. “You said I could pick!” Ami complained. “Pleeeaaase….” She whined. “Fine,” I gave in. it was just a party I figured. But… I didn’t want to dress like a needy teenage girl… maybe this was a bad idea, I was smart, usually. “Yes! It’ll look soooo cute on you. Trust me.” She said smiling. Crap…. “Umm, Ami? I was thinking….” “What?” she said looking at me sharply. “Can I wear that pair of jeans that you let me wear a couple weeks ago, the light ones? Remember?” I watched her expression change from puzzled, to awareness, then watched as her eyes lit up. “Oh, I forgot about those! They would look sooooooo cute with this shirt! I can’t believe I didn’t realize that!” I let out a relieved sigh, thankful for once she’d seen my way. Okay, I personally didn’t think the jeans and shirt were absolutely perfect, and it was brilliant to put them together… but apparently Ami did. And that was fine with me. By 7:30 she was done with everything but my hair. I had dark makeup that she said made my eyes pop right out! I was wearing the blue shirt and the black mini skirt with a pair of black heels. ‘Almost done’ I thought happily. “How do you want to do your hair?” Ami asked eyeing the hair straightener. “I’ll just crunch it.” I said heading toward the bathroom. “Good idea, and that way I have time for my outfit.” She said heading for her huge walk in closet. That was one thing I used to envy about Ami, she was rich. Filthy rich, her parents bought her everything. If she felt like a cappuccino one morning, they bought a cappuccino maker. The only thing they wouldn’t get her was a car, Ami couldn’t drive very well, actually, she could hardly drive at all, at least without hitting something.

I sighed and put my head under the sink after getting it wet I put gel in my hands, put my head upside down and started crunching. Once I was finished I partially dried my hair with a towel careful of my makeup, Ami would kill me if I messed it up. Then I walked back into Ami’s room to find her completely finished with her outfit, with a new layer of makeup on, and working on her hair. “How did you that so fast?” I asked her confused. “I just hurried.” She replied thinking nothing of it. I just shook my head.

I slid into my car, then looked through the window to see Ami hiding her family’s key in the fake rock. I still couldn’t believe they owned a fake rock; it just seemed too weird to me. “Go to the left,” she said turning up my stereo.

The minute we stepped inside I couldn’t move, there wasn’t any room to move. It was packed; this had to be the biggest party Jake had ever thrown. “JAKE! Ami yelled looking for her precious boyfriend. I sighed; this was going to be a long night. “Hey, there hot stuff.” A tall guy with blonde hair said coming up to me. He is not talking to me; he is not talking to me. I chanted inside my head He looked exactly like the type of guy that thought of one thing and one thing only. “Hello,” I said rudely. I couldn’t help it, he was rude first. Guys do not walk up and call me hot stuff. My name is Emree and that is what they will call me. I thought stubbornly. Hey let his eyes go over me appreciatively, his head nodding. I wanted to slap him. So I was surprised when a hand came out of no where slapped his face. “Ami, what are you doing here?” I said in shock. “I’m making sure this asshole gets what’s coming.” She fumed. Then I started laughing, not just little giggles like girls sometimes do I was laughing wholeheartedly. Ami joined in, so did a few onlookers. The guy standing in front of us was standing with his hand on his face, sputtering. “Have you seen Jake?” Ami asked me after she was done laughing. “Right here Ami” Jake said pushing aside the still sputtering guy. “Jake! Where have you been? I’ve been looking everywhere for you!” She whined. “Oh I was introducing Nick here to some friends, he’s new here you see.” Jake said smiling stupidly. “Oh, well, that was so sweet of you!” Ami exclaimed jumping to give him a kiss. I sighed, Ami was so… Ami. Then I turned my attention to figure behind Jake. I felt my jaw drop and couldn’t quite remember how to close it, if I could close it. Nick was tall and lean,

not skinny or scrawny, muscular and fit. Like he could run miles and not break a sweat. And when I got to his face, something fluttered on my chest. I could feel my stomach dropping away. He had the most gorgeous face; his hair was a dark brown and a little long, not to his shoulders just long enough not to be a crop cut. And his eyes, his eyes alone could win over any girl. They were bright green, the kind that let you know he was exciting. Every girl liked a little excitement, I thought. But Nick, he didn’t have just his eyes to make his face a girls dream; he also had to have the most perfect features I’d ever seen. Here it comes I thought warily the cute boy sigh. Ami ought to be entertained. And I did, almost. It was stifled when he turned and looked at me. I couldn’t breathe. I think my heart stopped beating. I realized my mouth was still open and I forcibly remembered how to close it. I was going boy crazy. No, I would not; I will not be affected by this boy I thought angry at myself for being so heavily affected. I was not Ami. I will not be affected I chanted again. “Hey,” he said to me. “I’m Nick.” “Hello,” I forced through my lips. “I’m Emree.” “Emree,” he whispered. “That’s a cool name; I’ve never heard it before.” He said smiling. I will not be affected, I will not be affected, the chant rang in my head. “Really?” I mumbled. He seemed to have heard me. I didn’t see how. “Are you new here?” I said before I gave any it any thought. Wait, Didn’t Jake say he was new already? Crap, I must have forgotten already. “Yeah, I just moved in by that restaurant…. Um, I think it’s called J’s.” He said glossing over my awkward sentence. I was so relieved I didn’t process what he’d said yet so I was staring at him dumbly for about five seconds before I blurted out quickly, “My Aunt owns that place, that’s where I work.” I of course forgot to mention that I live in the house right next to J’s “Really, that’s cool; maybe we’ll see each other sometime. Is that place any good?” He said smiling. I was staring. Stop staring Emree, he’s just a boy. A really cute boy. I argued with myself. The silence was considerably longer this time lasting at least thirty seconds. Then I remembered I had to respond. “Oh, J’s yeah it’s pretty good but usually we only don’t get anyone under thirty in there.” Just then someone turned some music on and talking would have been impossible even if Nick wasn’t suddenly pulled by a girl I had seen out of the corner of my eye shooting me dirty looks, where everyone was dancing. “Why don’t you dance with me.” She said shooting him a suggestive glance. Again the urge to hit someone (specifically her) rose up inside me, but I restrained it. I just met him! I thought angrily. As he was being pulled along he tried to stop and apologize to me, but I was already moving towards Ami who had waved to me from across the room where she must have moved, and I ignored him, with great restraint on my part. “Hey Emree, did have fun talking with Nick?” She said in a baby voice. “Shut up” I said under my breath. “Oh please, he’s the cutest boy in here,” She said then tacked on as an after thought, “Excepting Jake of course.” Personally I agreed with her (not excepting Jake) that Nick really was the cutest boy in here. “I mean Emree,

I’m proud of you! You actually found a really cute boy today, you should date him, I mean you’re probably the prettiest girl in here. That way it would be a perfect match! Oh, I’m so excited for you!” Ami gushed. “Ami would you please stop trying to find a perfect match for me?! I mean just because Nick and I talked for a couple of seconds does not mean I like him or would like to date him!” “And I am not the prettiest girl in here.” I tacked on as an afterthought. Why did she always have to make sudden conclusions? It was so aggravating! And it didn’t matter that I already liked the idea of spending more time with him… No. I banished the thoughts from my head. “Oh, please, like you couldn’t get any boy in here with a snap of your hand.” She said with a roll of her eyes. “Your right I couldn’t, plus you’re the one with the history of many boyfriends, not me.” I told her walking to the drinks. She kept right along with me. “Ignoring your comment about me. You know the reason you haven’t dated many guys is because you turn them all down, only accepting very few of them.” Ami said smirking. I ignored her as I pored myself some punch. Then as soon as I had taken a sip, I spit it out in my cup coughing. “Jeez Ami doesn’t your boyfriend have anything without alcohol?” she acted as if I hadn’t said anything and then left to find Jake. I sighed, now Ami was probably ticked. Just then I felt my cell phone buzzing in my pocket. I looked down at my phone it was my mom. Another sigh, I needed to get somewhere quiet. But, Where? I looked around, the bathroom? Buzzz, I felt my phone, reminding me to hurry. Bathroom it is. I rushed in slamming the door. I picked up my phone, “Mom?” “Well? where are you?!” she nearly screamed. Crap, crap, crap, and crap. Tonight was my little brother’s birthday, how could I forget something like that? Major oops. “Ummmm.” I muttered. “Get your butt home NOW!” she yelled into the phone. “Be right there.”I said. She hung up. “AMI!” I yelled. I couldn’t see her anywhere, and I was her ride home. Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap and CRAP! Where the heck was she?! I was so focused looking for Ami, I apparently couldn’t see a foot in front of me and walked straight into Nick, who was holding a glass of coke. After I bumped into him, the coke was empty, and I was for the second time today covered in some type of pop. That could just make my day! I thought sarcastically. “Sorry!” Nick said, he was frozen apparently at loss for how to help. “It doesn’t matter,” I said brushing past him.