Page 21 of Wish Me Home

“Can we do video?” the question came out quickly and I could hear the surprise in Emmett’s voice when he responded.

“Uh… Yeah. Give me just a moment.”

I heard shuffling around and what sounded like a door closing before I got a notification that he was attempting to switch the call to video. I clicked on the little camera icon in order to answer. A grin split across my face when he popped onto my screen with disheveled hair and the teddy bear shoved into the shot.

“Hey,” I greeted, pulling my phone back so he could see me a little better.

“Hey—hey. You aren’t wearing a shirt. Glad I went to my room. I didn’t know this was going to bethatkind of call.“ His face turned pink, and I had to laugh.

“It’s not. I’m just being lazy today. See, still in bed.” I panned the phone around to show that I was in fact still sitting on my bed. I had on a pair of flannel pajama pants and nothing else. It probably didn’t help my case because when I brought the phone back up, his face was even more red.

“It’s five o’clock in the evening and you’re still in bed?” he asked.

Scratching the back of my neck with my free hand, I looked around my room. “Yeah, turns out I’m not so great at this taking time off thing. I don’t know what to do with my time.”

He nodded and then bit his lip. “Have you heard anything else from your parents?”

I puffed out my cheeks, holding a breath before releasing it. Of course I’d heard from them. Mom had texted me every day. She had no clue that I’d taken the time off, but it didn’t stop her from trying to convince me to come visit. She had an ally in Emmett.

“Unfortunately.”

Emmett dropped the bear and brought the camera closer to his face. “I’m not trying to be a pain about it. I just don’t want you to regret things. What if something were to happen? You’d feel bad that they went through all that trouble to reach out and you just kept pushing them away.”

My heart ached at his words because I wondered if he had things he wished he’d gotten to say or do. I knew that was where he was coming from, but it didn’t change the fact that I didn’t like the extra prodding.

“I already told you. It all feels like too little too late.”

“I get that. I really do.” He chewed at his lip nervously before he ran his hand through his hair, messing it up further. “Sorry. This isn’t what we should talk about.”

“It’s fine, Emmett. I appreciate that you’re worried. It just means that you care.” He visibly relaxed that I accepted his apology.

“So are you going to do anything for Christmas Eve tomorrow?” He cheered up a little as he asked.

“No plans. Might make a special TV dinner, watch a cheesy Hallmark Christmas movie, and even go to bed early.”

He laughed with a smile stretched across his face that I quickly learned was rare. “You sound like an old man.”

One eyebrow hooked up as I looked him down. “You forget, Iaman old man.”

He snorted and rolled his eyes. “So you’re telling me that in seven years I’ll be in your position? Laying in bed all day contemplating…” he paused to add air quotes. “Special TV dinners and going to bed early.”

“Well, they say everything falls apart at thirty.”

“But you aren’t thirty, yet.”

I smiled, because I liked the playful turn the conversation had taken. It was better than where we’d started.

“No, not there yet.”

We continued talking about nothing for what felt like forever until he yawned. I checked the timer on my phone and noticed that we’d been on the phone for nearly an hour and a half.

“You know, you said I sounded like an old man earlier, but look at you getting sleepy at six thirty.”

He chuckled, flipping off the camera.

“Promises, promises Emmett.”

His eyes shot up to the camera at that, and I gave him a playful eyebrow waggle.

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