Sweetness (Bold As Love 1)

I had a sinking feeling in my stomach. Something bad was about to happen.

“Hey, Emily.”

Speak of the devil. I glanced up and looked just to the right of Jake’s head. I waved. My dad spoke up since I wouldn’t.

“Hey, Jake, I’m Emily’s dad. You can call me Mike.” He held out his hand, which Jake promptly shook, and said hello. “Who might this be?” my dad asked turning his attention to his little brother.

“I’m Drake!”

“Nice to meet you, Drake.”

“Hey, Drake,” I said quietly. I wished they would leave. Why did he even have to say hey anyway?

My dad made it worst. “Would you guys like to sit with us?”

I glanced up at Jake and saw him contemplating me. He was probably trying to figure a way out of having to eat with the weird girl. Drake looked up at Jake and pleaded, “Can we please?” His eyes flickered over to me and then back to Jake who smiled and nodded. Drake scrambled over to sit beside me while my dad moved over so Jake could sit beside him.

“What’s your name?” Drake asked, shoving fries into his mouth.

“Drake, one fry at a time and no talking with food in your mouth,” Jake said in a fatherly tone.

“Sorry,” Drake mumbled before turning back to me and asking again.

“Emily,” I said. It was easier to look Drake in the eye than the others. He had such a sweet face and cute, slightly chubby cheeks.

“You’re pretty, Emily.”

I couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Drake. How old are you?”

“Seven. But I’ll be eight in two months!”

I was starting to relax. I laughed at Drake’s expression. He was definitely excited about turning eight. “That’s pretty cool.”

“Can I tell you what I did in school today?”

“Sure.”

Drake began to tell me how he got to hold a big snake. “Want to know a secret?” He whispered, covering the side of his mouth.

I leaned down and asked, “What?”

“I was scared at first. It was a big snake. But I knew Jake would think I was brave, so I held it.”

I smiled down at him. “I wouldn’t have the guts to hold a snake, big or small.” The voice that came out didn’t sound like me. I was talking in a normal tone instead of my usual quiet one. It scared me. I couldn’t think about it long though, Drake was soon after my attention again.

I was taking a sip of my drink when Drake asked me a question. “Are you Jake’s girlfriend?”

I choked on my Dr. Pepper and started coughing. I shook my head vehemently and tried to quit coughing. Drake patted me on the back and asked if I was okay. Soon the question echoed from Jake and my dad.

Finally, I quit. “I’m fine,” I croaked.

With the choking over, Drake started to giggle. Jake and Dad had been caught up in their conversation because they did not know why Drake was laughing. “What’s so funny, Drake?”

I nervously looked over at Drake, he was sure to tell Jake. Sure enough, he stopped giggling long enough to say, “She started choking when I asked her if she was your girlfriend.” The look of surprise on Jake’s face sent Drake into another fit of giggles. I shook my head and tried to be invisible. Soon everyone at the table was laughing, except me. I didn’t think it was that funny. In fact, I didn’t think it was funny at all.

“Well, Drake. We need to head home.” Drake started to gather up his trash.

“We should get going too, honey,” my dad said. I nodded and placed my trash on my dad´s tray.