Perfect Match (7 page)

“I know
something
,” Monica answered proudly. “Even though it doesn’t look like it.”

Gabrielle laughed and shoved her iPhone back in her pocket.

“Look, when I was a freshman, I dated this guy, Sean…” she made a pause and sighed. So it still affected her? “He wasn’t as hot as Curtis, but he was. Anyway, I wasn’t like this, I mean as sophisticated as I am now. I guess I was quite boring and really did everything right, whatever you wanna call it. And out of the sudden he started dating the captain of the cheerleaders; only that he forgot to mention that detail. I found out after a long time, actually. And he chose her. Her name was Anna as she was as typical as every…”

“Gabrielle was the captain of the cheerleaders,” I whispered to her.

“Oh, yeah. Well, I’m not talking about you, hon,” she said, touching Gabrielle’s arm. “So for me high school wasn’t nice. No one forgot about me and Sean, because he’s still dating that Anna, although their relationship was more public than anyone would wish… And it was really hard for me to trust anyone in that high school.”

“Son of a bitch!” Gabrielle yelled. “Oh, boys… What’s the matter with them, seriously?”

“I don’t know, but I’m more than grateful for my Ben. He’s just great.”

“But there is still a “but”, right, Mon?”

“Cut it, Miss Lonely,” she said harshly.

“So, my dear Gabrielle, you don’t have to feel bad because an idiot didn’t appreciate what he had. Emma was completely bad-ass earlier!”

“Indeed she was,” Gaby agreed, laughing about. “Hey, while we’re still talking about guys… Or should I say men… What happened to the hot guy you brought to Prom?

Monica stared at me, without making a single sound, looking so eager to know.

“Ah, no… Nothing.”

“What do you mean by ‘Ah, no, nothing’? Emma West, from what I know, that was Matt and… I don’t know his other name, but…” she made a pause and she looked again at her phone, searching impatiently for something. “He was in our high school. OH! I remember him now! Oh my god, I had a serious crush on him on my freshman year! And then I met Curtis, of course. But Matt was delicious! And he was so perfect at Prom!

“Matt and I were just friends.”

“Yeah? Well, it would be nice for me too, to be “just friends” with someone as hot as he was who would kiss me like he did all night long.”

“It wasn’t like that…”

“It wasn’t? Then what’s your opinion about it, “just friends” Emma and Matt? Or should I say “Couple of the Year” Emma and Matt? I mean, if Curtis and I haven’t broken up, I would have hated you big time.”

“Couple of the Year?” Monica asked shocked. “And where is he?”

“I don’t know where Matt is, Monica, we haven’t spoken since Prom. He was… too perfect,” I admitted and sighed, gazing at the sky. “It wouldn’t have worked out. I haven’t allowed myself to want him and we were just friends. That’s it.”

Monica murmured something, then Gaby showed her something on her phone and her jaw dropped.

“Oh my goodness!” Monica yelled. “Who is this perfection?”

Gabrielle whispered something I couldn’t understand, and Monica’s eyes went even wider, if that was possible. It was really great that we shared some secret right in front of me!

“What?” I asked with a bored voice, although it sounded really shaky.

“Is… this… man… real?” Monica asked with big pauses. “I mean, look, Gabrielle, I told you, I’ve met so many celebrities here, in Los Angeles, I even danced with Shia LaBoeff…”

And she goes again with her lost memories with the cute Transformers’ actor. I rolled my eyes and moved closer to them on the sand.

“So what is it?” I repeated, now completely curious.

“Matt,” Monica whispered, and I had to repeat the name in my head a few times to realize what she had just said. Then I repeated that name on my mind again. Matt?!

“Matt?! Matt who?!” I asked feeling how my heart started pounding harder.

“Matt Nicholls,” Gabrielle told me in a boring tone. “So, he was Emma’s date at Prom. And she let him go away!”

“I don’t wanna say anything mean, but Em, this guy is painfully hot!”

Okay, I knew that, somehow. That was one of Matt’s particular features. But I wasn’t that sure that I liked the fact that my roommate and my high school colleague were staring at Matt’s perfect photo from Facebook.

“I can’t understand any of your reasons, Emma… I mean, I… I think you guys would totally look great together, Em.” Monica told me smiling.

“Yeah, well…”

“You know, I can see myself married to someone
exactly
like him.”

I was really shocked by Monica’s affirmation, but after all she was so perfect and she could easily find someone as perfect as her anytime. I wasn’t saying Ben wasn’t perfect for her. It really bothered me to hear her say that.

“I thought you’d marry a… Ben?”

“Well, Ben is completely wonderful, we all know that, but he’s not husband material. You know, everyone has a perfect timing. Like Curtis was for Gaby in high school, Ben is for me now in college… And someone like Matt as a husband. Someone who could be good at business and could give you stability, you know what I mean, Emma, right?”

“Yes,” I immediately answered.

Maybe I had understood that too well.

***

In time I managed to forget Monica’s affirmation about marrying someone “exactly” like Matt. I focused intensely on exams, courses, going out, and I could let Matt slip out of my mind. Of course, it was not as easy as I would’ve liked. I still thought of him when I stayed in bed on rainy days, or when I was sad and tired, but I learned how to handle my priorities. And someone who you won’t get to see too soon is clearly not a priority.

Plus, Monica didn’t stop until she introduced me to Morgan.

And Morgan was… completely awesome.

When I met him I had no idea he was going to be there, and I looked really bad, with my hair in a ruffled braid, an awful skirt and a wrinkled shirt because of the terrible courses I had that day.

And he was there, at Destiny’s, with Monica and Ben, talking to them so confidently, and looking like he was on a gym magazine about how you can look completely edible for women.

I really tried to have a civilized conversation with him that night, but it was so not my best day and luck was running away from me. When I wanted to seat next to him, feeling uncomfortable because Monica didn’t tell me he’ll be there, and being so aware that I couldn’t date someone as hot as he was, I almost stumbled across the chair next to me. During a conversation about the United States’ political situation I almost spilled the coffee on his white, tight shirt, which looked so good on his muscles. And then I hit the bottle of wine. It fell on the floor, fortunately, but I hated myself in that moment.

On my way home, my right heel broke, and I knew I will never see Morgan again.

Only that’s not what happened.

He was attracted to me in an inexplicable way, considering every time I was with him I stumbled over something, or did something really crazy. But I wasn’t complaining for the fact that he liked me. I liked his company.

He was smarter than I thought, he played basketball at college, and he could have a civilized conversation, and make some lame jokes, too. And that seemed really comforting, considering college was getting completely irritating now.

We became a couple after we gone out about 5 times. I mean we only been out a couple of times, the rest of them we hanged out with our group, but we talked and laughed a lot every time, creating our private world. And I looked way better than the first time every time we went out. Presentable, I may add. And slowly I started to avoid my usual “accidents” that happen around him.

So I couldn’t complain at all.

I had no reason to think about Matt now, because after all he was someone I’d spent a few weeks with, and it was useless to wonder about “what if?”

That wasn’t important. Now I lived in Los Angeles, studied at UCLA, and had amazing friends and the past was just that, past.

Chapter 8

Private Emotions

~*~
E
mma
W
est
~*~

I looked into his deep, blue eyes, feeling my heart skip a beat as he smiled, so confident, and sweet, wrapping his hands around me while his lips met mine. It was the best sensation in the world, feeling how his hands slowly caressed my back, and his mouth was on mine, being as close as we could be. I managed to get on top of him, and he smirked but I decided to ignore that, while I felt the hairs of the back of my neck stand up in the moment his hot lips touched my neck. I moaned and Matt kissed me yet again. I was holding him so tightly, as if I let go of him, I would lose him. And I didn’t want that. No. I wanted Matt. Badly.

“Gosh, Emma, I missed you so…” he whispered, looking at me.

“I know,” I cut him, smiling shyly, and biting my lip.

I have never thought I could feel something like this. It was so strong and I felt myself melting in his strong arms, as he kissed me once more. I don’t want this moment to end.

My breath increased as he deepened our kiss, and I forgot completely about anything else, the only thing I could feel were Matt’s lips on mine, knowing that’s the only thing I needed, as he gently let me on the bed.

“Hey!” I felt the bed moving next to me, and my heart was still beating faster than normal as I reached out my hand to find Matt… What?! “Emma, wake up!”

I slowly opened my eyes, then shut them again when noticed the annoying light.

“C’mon, Emma, I have something to tell you!” Oh, someone was jumping on my bed…

Then it all made sense. I opened my eyes and looked around the room.

Matt?! I just had a… dream about Matt? Kissing… Matt? No! That can’t be. I jumped out of bed, Gabrielle yelling at me while I got out the room, heading towards the bathroom. I turned on the water and I bended over the sink, running my hand through my hair.

I was still trembling like crazy and I hated myself for that.

How could I dream about Matt? I haven’t even been thinking about him lately. It’s been almost six months since I last saw him, so why should I think about him now? Or better said, dream about him?

C’mon, Emma, get a grip, it was a dream. Just that, a dream!

What I hated the most was the fact that I seemed to enjoy this. Kissing Matt, in my dream. Because was just a dream. Matt lives in Connecticut, and I’m in freaking Los Angeles! I mean, I love it here! I have Monica, and Gabrielle, and all our friends and… oh, Morgan! I can’t believe it!

After calming down, about 15 minutes later, I took a shower, and headed out to find Gabrielle with a magazine on her lap, looking at me with an angry face.

“Hey, I’m… sorry I acted like that, I…”

“Yeah, it doesn’t matter,” Gabrielle cut me off harshly. “Where is Monica?”

“I have no idea…” I started, just when the door opened, and a fresh Monica in sports outfit walked in.

“Gosh, I hate how Ben always lets me win!” she complained, throwing away her tennis racket. “He’s terrible, he doesn’t suck at it! Oh hey, Gaby!”

“Finally, you’re here!” she rolled her eyes. “Okay, so I have this huge news!”

“Bring it out,” I said, not truly curious about it. I can’t believe I dreamt about Matt!

“I have to tell you who I met yesterday in the club!” she said, showing the cover of the latest Okay! Magazine.

And there she was, in her strapless, blue dress, looking incredibly sexy and better than most celebrities nowadays. Next to...

“Shia LaBoeff?” Monica yelled. “Oh, I met him, too. He’s such sweetheart, right? Dude, you look good in that dress.”

“I know he’s amazing!” she yelled, bumping up and down around the house. “And I’m in a magazine! Can you believe it? Have you ever been on a magazine, Emma? Or you, Monica? No! Well, I am!”

“Oh, she’s such bitch” Monica giggled. “I’m happy for you, Gabrielle. Seriously.”

“So, after spending the night clubbing, he invited me to have…”

“Breakfast?” I interrupted her and Monica bumped her fist to mine and burst out laughing.

“You can definitely ruin a man’s mood!” Gabrielle complained. “No. I mean, we could’ve had breakfast, if you know what I mean…”

“Of course we know what you mean, we’re not 10!” Monica laughed.

“You two are just mean. But it doesn’t matter, I just need someone to brag to,” she smiled and sat next to us, looking at the magazine. “So, he asked me out! For real, like… on a date! Shia LaBoeff!”

“Yeah, I know, it’s awesome. He was terrific in Transformers!”

“I know, right?” she paused only to stare at her picture on Okay! Magazine. I was so happy for her. “By the way… There are only two weeks left for Christmas! Are you going home or staying?”

“No idea. I haven’t thought about it. I…”

If I went home, I would have the opportunity of seeing Matt again. Maybe I could just drop at his house and… ask him how he’s been or something. Yeah. That would be nice.

“I think I’ll go home, but I don’t know what to do…”

“About Curtis? Or do you have problems with your folks?” Monica asked, unwrapping the ribbon she had in her hair.

“No, my parents are all cool,” she sighed and looked at me. “It’s not just about Curtis… It’s about everyone! It all happened during Prom! I mean… Everyone knows about it! I’m not invisible like you are, Emma, people would remember these kind of things.”

I gasped and wanted to say something, but, of course, during these months I got used to Gabrielle’s ironies and her stupid comments.

“What?” she asked confused. “Oh! I’m sorry, Emma. I have a big mouth, you know that, right?” she asked, wrapping her arms around me. “You’re not invisible now, you’re like a social butterfly, you know? But in high school everyone is just mean and they will remember 20 years from now…”

“You
are
mean, Gabrielle, and I bet no one even remembers what happened!”

“No kidding?” she asked, glaring at me. “Okay, check this out!” she hissed, placing the laptop in my lap.

“And what should I…”