Crumbling Walls (Jack and Emily #1) (5 page)

▪▪▪

Given Dex’s nephew and Emily’s work schedule, the three took to spending their lunch hour in the library, eating stealthily while holding breakneck tutoring sessions for math because, as it turned out, Dex wasn’t that great at the subject either.

“Dude, what the hell is all this? Why am I learning it? And who decided math teachers were allowed to be so sadistic and get paid for it?”

“Dude, shut up and do the problem.”

Yes, Dex and Jack were definitely getting along just fine.

Suddenly the librarian was next to them and she set a carpet sweeper beside Dex’s chair, “Dude, if you’re gonna eat in here, at least clean up after yourself.” With a smile, she pointed towards the sandwich sitting on his lap, “as for that, put it on the table and eat properly. You’re not some green haired beast in the wild.”

With a sheepish look, “But we can’t eat in here.”

“I’ll bend the rules for you because you actually seem to be trying to learn something. Just don’t let it get around or else this place’ll go to the mice.”

Dex grinned at her, “Thanks.” With a last amused look, the woman walked away and Dex turned to Emily, “You womenfolk might not be so bad after all.”

Chapter 4

A week or two later Jack deposited Emily at her front gate, but didn’t leave as usual. “Can I ask a question?”

“Sure.”

“It’s still a few weeks away, but would you maybe like to go to Homecoming with me? I mean, I know it’s a silly dance but …”

Trailing off, he let the sentence hang there between them, shaded in nervousness, until Emily moved back towards him, standing closer than she normally would, “I’d love to, but I don’t think I can.”

“Oh. Okay.”

“It’s not that I don’t want to go with you. I just don’t have the money.”

He nodded, trying not to show his disappointment, “It’s okay. I just thought I’d ask.”

Tilting her head slightly so she could look him in the eye, desperately wanting to alleviate his saddened look, “If I could find the money, I’d go … in a heartbeat. But given I don’t have a dress, tickets or anything else, I don’t see a way around it.”

“You can’t ask your mom?”

She just shook her head, “I’m sorry.”

He continued to stand there for a few moments, thinking fast, until a grin spread across his face, “Well, are you working that night?”

“I assume until eight, like usual.”

“Okay, how ‘bout I take you out for an extremely cheap dinner after work, then maybe I can take you to the really cheap dollar show and we can watch really bad movies for as long as we can stand it?”

Not sure if there was sarcasm hovering somewhere in there, “Huh?”

Taking her hand and playing with the fingers, “I just want to spend the night out with you without worrying about school or anything else but having fun. And since I’m still unemployed, cheap is all I can really afford at the moment, too.”

“I can pay for myself you know.”

“Not on this date, girl. I’m going to give you the red carpet treatment for under 20 bucks.”

Taken aback by his wording, “A date?”

His lips curled slightly at the edges, his eyes lighting up, “Well, we should probably go on one eventually. Might as well get it out of the way.”

And with that, she moved closer and kissed him on the cheek, “How ‘bout I get out of work at seven-thirty?”

▪▪▪

In the interim before their date, Emily was assigned a project in art class; draw a classmate. With stipulations of course: use a medium not familiar to them, must be done outside the confines of the classroom, must not be posed and each person must work at least 3 hours.

Tim, of course, got the same project and given the two were friends, they chose to draw each other. Asking her after class, “When do you want to get this started?”

“I work until eight all week.”

“What about the weekend?”

“I’m free Saturday morning and most of Sunday.”

“Well, I have to work until seven-thirty Friday, so we could meet about eight-fifteen and start then, maybe?”

She nodded, “Your house?”

“Well, my house would probably be easiest. I can’t imagine your mom would want you to have a guy at your place without her home.” Her look of confusion made him smile, “Jack mentioned your mom works late.”

“Oh, yeah. Forgot. Sorry.”

“S’okay.” As they made their way out of the classroom, Tim asked “So, any idea what you’ll work in?”

“I’ve always wanted to try my hand at pen and ink but I think the size requirements will slow me down so I guess I’ll see how I do in pastels. I rarely touch those. You?”

“I was thinking either charcoals or crayon.”

“Crayon? As in Crayola?”

“Mmm-hmm. Never did a picture in those before.”

She laughed outright at this, “I’m gonna be rendered in crayon. How cool is that?”

“Very.”

▪▪▪

That Friday night, Jack, for a change, which he pointed out to Emily, walked her back to his house instead of her own. “You seem awfully tired. I’m sure Tim’ll understand if you don’t want to do this now.”

With another yawn, “Well, it’s due next Monday and I’m drawing him tomorrow so this is all we’ve got. I’ll be fine.”

“Well, at least you don’t have to deal with most of the posse tonight. Three of the four are at a camp out/birthday party kind of thing, so it’s only Mom, Dad and Sam tonight.”

“I don’t know that I’ve ever managed to see you all together. I’m gonna begin to wonder if there really are that many of you or you just make them up for sympathy sake.”

“No one could ever concoct these people out of thin air, trust me.”

Finally making their way inside, Mrs. Callaghan came down the hall, wiping her hands on a dish towel, “Hi. You must be Emily. Nice to finally meet you.”

Holding out her hand, “You too ma’am.”

With a smile, she gave a firm handshake, “Please call me Elizabeth. Ma’am reminds me that I do indeed have six children running rampant in the world.”

“Yes ma’am … I mean, Elizabeth.”

“Very good.” Turning to Jack, “If either of you are hungry, the leftovers are in the fridge. Tim’s in the living room, probably already finished and licking his plate hoping for more. Your dad and me’ll be upstairs keeping Sam out of your hair.”

And then she was gone, running up the stairs yelling, “If you started that movie without me, there’s going to be tickling involved.”

“I think I like your mom.”

As Jack walked her into the kitchen, “Yeah, I think I do too.”

▪▪▪

Moving to the living room, she asked Tim, who was indeed nearly licking his plate, “So, where do you want me?”

“Anywhere I guess. What would you normally be doing if you weren’t here?”

“Probably sitting on my couch, doing my homework.”

“Then why don’t you do that. You won’t be moving too much and you can still get something done.”

Jack immediately went to retrieve their book bags from the front hall, dumping them on the coffee table, “Might as well get some of my own stuff done.”

As the pair dug up the proper books and settled in, Tim sat himself against the wall, a brand new box of 128 Crayola crayons on the floor beside him and a piece of laminated counter top on his lap, “Found it years ago in the garage. Perfect size for holding paper.”

Before cracking her history book, “I’ve got an old slab of Formica I found in the trash one day. It’s a bit awkward, but it’ll do for now.”

“Well, ignore me and try not to move too much, but talking’s fine.” Taking up his first crayon, “Here we go.”

▪▪▪

At first he was having some trouble with the picture, but about twenty minutes later, an odd thing happened.

Emily fell asleep.

She was sitting beside Jack and the combined warmth of him and the quiet of the house took its toll. First her eyes began to get heavier, then her head tilted to the side and finally, she leaned a little more, resting her head on Jack’s shoulder. From there, she was out in a matter of seconds.

Tim finally saw his picture. Whispering to Jack, “Don’t wake her up.”

Jack, in his own glorious heaven at the moment, “Are you kidding? I’m not going to breathe if I can help it.”

Giving his brother a grin, Tim moved to a new sheet of paper and began working quickly and confidently.

He worked diligently for the next two hours while she slept peacefully on his brother’s arm. Jack, in turn, took his own nap, head resting gently on hers.

Eventually, Tim’s hand cramped up and his neck screamed for movement. Sitting back, he studied his paper with extreme satisfaction, only looking up when Jack asked quietly, “Can I see it?”

“Nope. Not until after class. You know nobody sees my stuff early.”

“Like that's ever gonna stop me from asking.”

“I’m just gonna run this upstairs.” Gathering up the worn down crayons, “Think we should wake her up?”

Pushing a fallen piece of hair from her cheek, “I hate to but I probably should.” Gently tapping her cheek, “Emily? Hey, Em, time to wake up.”

Tim left him to the task and went to stash his supplies upstairs. Coming back into the living room, he found Emily squinting at his brother in confusion, “Jack?”

“Yeah?”

“Did I fall asleep?”

As she sat up, he was able to shift, get off the couch and finally stretch his arm out, “For a couple of hours actually. It’s about ten-thirty.”

She sat bolt upright, “What about Tim’s picture? Why didn’t you wake me up?”

Tim picked up one of his stray crayons, “I’m all done. Well, mostly done. I’ll do the finishing touches tomorrow or Sunday.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to fall asleep.” Letting off a yawn that nearly split her head in two, “The picture’s okay though?”

Tim nodded as he slipped his coat on, “More than okay, trust me.”

Jack grinned at him, “You going out?”

“Yeah. I called Sarah while I was upstairs to let her know I was done. I’m gonna go get her and maybe see a late movie.”

Emily looked at him with interest, “Sarah Wheaton? When did that happen?”

Heading out of the living room, “’Bout two minutes ago. She finally said yes.”

Emily shook her head with a smile, “How long’s he been working on her?”

“Since our first day.”

“Wow, most guys would have given up by now.”

“You’ve gotta know Tim though. He’s a persistent pain in the ass when he wants to be.”

“Are there any Callaghan’s who aren’t persistent?”

“Not that I know of.” Moving to stand in front of her, “So, we have a few choices. We can do some more homework, I can walk you home or we can watch a movie or some TV?”

“What do you want to do?”

“Well, I don’t want to do any homework and I definitely don’t want you to go home, so how ‘bout we dig us up a movie and make some popcorn?”

Hoping he would decide that, she kept her happiness in check, “Works for me.”

“Then why don’t you find us something to watch while I get the food and tell Ma and Dad we’re staying here for awhile.”

Looking around dumbly, “And I would look for movies where?”

“The door on the side of the TV.” After he left, she got up and opened the correct door. She was immediately engrossed in reading titles and examining covers. Jack came back about five minutes later, a large bowl of popcorn in his hands, “What’re we watching?”

“I have no idea. I’m still in shock at how many you have.”

Sitting the bowl down, then dropping next to her, “Are you reading each one?”

With a nod, “Yeah. How else will I know what they’re about?”

“You mean you haven’t seen any of these?”

Emily shook her head, slightly embarrassed at this point, “I don’t have a TV or a DVD player.”

Now Jack was just shocked, “Are you serious?”

After shrugging, she changed the subject, “Which one will I enjoy?”

Knowing when to follow a topic change, he went along, “Well, do you like being scared but in a sciency, serial killer kind of way?”

“I have no idea.”

Pulling out a box from the bottom of the shelves, “I think it may be time to introduce you to a little something we like to call the best scary show on TV. Or, at least used to be on TV.” Holding up a DVD, “The X-Files.”

“Am I going to wake up screaming?”

“Hope not, but if you do, call me up and I’ll come chase away the monsters.” Finally standing and turning off the living room light, “I may be forced to show up in my pajamas and beat them away with a Mag-Lite, but I’ll be there nonetheless.”

As both settled down on the couch in the now partially lit room, the bowl of popcorn between them, “Thanks.”

With a grin, he hit the play button, “Welcome.”