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Chapter 13 — Invitation

last update Last Updated: 2025-10-28 14:45:53

By Tuesday afternoon, Manatee High felt louder than usual. Maybe it was the way everyone buzzed with the kind of energy that meant a break was close. The long weekend was coming, and most people already had plans. Emma didn’t—at least not yet.

The bell rang for lunch, and Emma followed the usual crowd to the cafeteria. She spotted Connor sitting at their usual table with Ethan, Liam, and Chelsea. Ethan was talking fast, excitement written all over his face, while Connor laughed at something Chelsea said.

Emma slid her tray onto the table just as Ethan turned toward her. “Perfect timing, Emma,” he said, grinning. “I was just telling everyone about my birthday plan.”

“Birthday plan?” she asked, opening her water bottle.

“Yeah! My eighteenth,” Ethan said proudly. “My parents are letting me use our cabin by the lake for the long weekend. There is no school on Thursday, Friday, or Monday. We’re all going up Thursday morning and coming back Monday afternoon like 12:00 or 1:00—bonfire, food,
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  • Emma & Connor   Chapter 13 — Invitation

    By Tuesday afternoon, Manatee High felt louder than usual. Maybe it was the way everyone buzzed with the kind of energy that meant a break was close. The long weekend was coming, and most people already had plans. Emma didn’t—at least not yet.The bell rang for lunch, and Emma followed the usual crowd to the cafeteria. She spotted Connor sitting at their usual table with Ethan, Liam, and Chelsea. Ethan was talking fast, excitement written all over his face, while Connor laughed at something Chelsea said.Emma slid her tray onto the table just as Ethan turned toward her. “Perfect timing, Emma,” he said, grinning. “I was just telling everyone about my birthday plan.”“Birthday plan?” she asked, opening her water bottle.“Yeah! My eighteenth,” Ethan said proudly. “My parents are letting me use our cabin by the lake for the long weekend. There is no school on Thursday, Friday, or Monday. We’re all going up Thursday morning and coming back Monday afternoon like 12:00 or 1:00—bonfire, food,

  • Emma & Connor   Chapter 12 – Two Worlds Collide

    Connor’s POV — SundaySunday mornings never used to feel like this. Usually, it was quiet, a little too quiet, with my dad off somewhere making speeches or working . But today, I was awake early, My phone’s on the nightstand, buzzing with texts from the group chat — Liam sending memes, Ethan begging someone to bail him out of brunch with his grandparents — but I scroll straight to Emma. staring at her number like it held the answers to something I hadn’t even known I was asking.Finally, I tapped it out.Connor: hey, how’s your Sunday?I waited. My fingers hovered over the keyboard like I was defusing a bomb, though it was only a text.Emma: hey :) it’s okay. helping my dad fix the bathroom tile.I laughed quietly. Bathroom tile?Connor: wait. like actually with tools? and… glue?Emma: yep. grout, hammer, the works. the tile was screaming for my help.Connor: damn. never thought I’d be jealous of a tile.Emma: you’re ridiculous.Connor: maybe. but secretly, you love being the hero, do

  • Emma & Connor   Chapter 11 — “First date “

    Emma’s POVSaturday evening arrived faster than I was ready for.I’d spent half the morning pretending I wasn’t nervous, cleaning my room and helping Dad fix the porch light, but by 6:00 p.m. I was standing in front of the mirror, staring at three different outfit options.Julie’s words from earlier in the week echoed in my head — “Guys like him don’t date girls like us.”I told myself I didn’t care. I told myself it was just a movie. But my heart had other ideas — beating way too fast as I slipped into a soft blue dress that used to belong to Mom. It wasn’t fancy, but it made me feel… like her. Confident, kind, and quietly brave.I brushed my hair down and added a touch of lip gloss. My hands trembled slightly, which made me laugh at myself. “It’s just Connor,” I muttered. “You’ve talked to him a hundred times.”Still, this was different.By the time headlights swept across our driveway, I nearly jumped. My dad called from the kitchen, “You going out, Em?”“Yeah,” I said, grabbing my

  • Emma & Connor   Chapter 10 — Confused Hearts

    POV: Emma By Thursday,the week felt heavier than usual. Every time I walked past Connor’s group, laughter bubbled up from the boys, and my mind went straight to that afternoon at the parking lot. The teasing glances, the grin on his face—everything replayed like a movie stuck on repeat. Julie hadn’t helped either. She’d dropped her words with that quiet, careful tone she always used when she was about to say something that would hurt but pretend it didn’t. “People like Connor… they don’t really date girls like you, you know? Not seriously.” She said it with a shrug, spooning yogurt like it was just gossip, not a jab to my chest. I’d laughed it off then, but it stuck. Every hallway glance from the other girls, every soft whisper when I passed, made it echo louder. By the time lunch rolled around, I was exhausted from pretending I didn’t care. Julie and Mia were already sitting at our usual table, with James half-leaning on the bench across from them, earbuds in but listening

  • Emma & Connor   Chapter 9 – Different Worlds

    Emma’s POVMonday mornings always feel too bright after a night that meant something.The sun coming through my blinds looked too golden, too loud — like it was mocking me for smiling in my sleep. I could still feel it — the soft press of Connor’s lips, the warmth of his hand brushing against mine, the quiet that followed. It didn’t even feel real.Dad had already left for work when I came downstairs. He left a note on the counter, written in his sloppy handwriting: “Lunch money. Proud of you, kid.” I smiled and tucked it into my backpack. The whole walk to school, I replayed Saturday night in my head like a favorite movie — every look, every laugh.By the time I reached my locker, my stomach was in knots. I hadn’t seen Connor yet. Would he act the same? Would I?“Hey, stranger.”Julie’s voice made me jump a little. She was leaning against the lockers, arms crossed, a perfect glossy smile on her face. Mia stood beside her, balancing her cheer bag on one shoulder, her ponytail high and

  • Emma & Connor   Chapter 8 – Day After

    POV: ConnorBy the time we got back from my dad’s charity event, I was ready to collapse.It wasn’t even that late — just one of those nights that felt longer than it was. Fancy suits, fake smiles, people asking about “the family business” as if I cared. The worst part was pretending to.Dad loved these things — the attention, the handshakes, the speeches that went on too long. Chelsea called them “performances.” She wasn’t wrong. Mom stayed quiet the whole night, smiling for the cameras, laughing when she needed to. We were all pretending.As soon as we got home, I ditched my tie on the living room couch and escaped to my room before Dad could pull me aside to “talk business.” My phone buzzed on the desk. One new message.Emma:Did you survive your fancy event, Mr. High Society?I couldn’t stop the smile that tugged at my mouth.Me:Barely. I think I forgot how to breathe somewhere between the shrimp cocktails and Dad’s third speech.Three dots appeared. Then—Emma:That bad, huh? Sh

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