Emerson's Fury : L.B. Pavlov (11 page)

“Wow. Cross, this is incredible,” Mr. Hollingsworth said.

Emerson turned to her parents. “What did he get you?” she asked, and she looked at me, surprised that I had given them a gift.

She walked over to see it, and she and her mom got misty-eyed looking at it together. I had gone back to the stadium after the new records had been posted on the wall to take a picture. It read:

Indiana All-Time Indoor Track Records:

1600 meters:

Charlotte Ford (2012) 4:41.2

Emerson Hollingsworth (2036) 4:41.2

I had borrowed my best friend John’s camera and then matted and framed the photo. I figured they could hang it in their office. It would be a nice memory to have.

Emerson and her mother hugged, and Emerson gazed over at me. “Thank you,” she whispered quietly, as if she was choked up.

Everyone passed it around and admired it. Emerson came over and sat on my lap, and she hugged me tightly. “I can’t believe you did that. That was so thoughtful,” she said, stroking my face.

I certainly had not expected this reaction from a photo. The Hollingsworths had been so generous since I had met them that I was pretty touched that they liked it so much. It certainly showed that price was not what mattered to them.

Indy got me a Notre Dame sweatshirt that I could wear when I attended the following year. I got him a vintage record by the Beatles that he had wanted. I had a neighbor who owned a vintage record shop, and I had cared for his sick grandmother the year before, so he did me a favor on the price.

Indy was really excited about it. “I can’t believe you found this. This album is impossible to find!” he said, smiling at it.

Finn got me a whoopee cushion and some fake poop. I fell over laughing. This was so Finn! I loved it. I would definitely have to use it on him in the near future. I had found Finn a T-shirt that said “Go Big or Go Home.” Everyone was laughing because Finn said that all the time.

“Wow, they quoted me on a T-shirt. How cool is that?” he said, laughing.

Then I gave Emerson her gift. She tore the paper off and opened the small box inside. She stared wide-eyed at the necklace inside and then gently pulled it out of the box. It was a silver cross with tiny diamonds on it. She had told me that she wanted one because the cross would remind her of me. She looked up at me and smiled, eyes brimming with tears and filled with emotion. “I love it,” she said fervently, and she turned to hug me tightly.

“Turn it over,” I said, gazing into her beautiful green eyes.

She turned it over, and inscribed on the back was the word
forever
.

“Oh my gosh. This is the most beautiful necklace that I’ve ever seen. I absolutely love it. Will you help me put it on?” she asked, lifting her hair up so I could clasp it in the back.

She ran to the mirror and admired it, and her mom came over to look at it as well.

“Cross, that is incredibly beautiful,” Mrs. Hollingsworth said, looking at it.

“I love how sparkly the diamonds are,” Emerson said, looking at it in the mirror again.

She hugged me tightly again, and then got out my gift.

She handed me a box, and when I opened it, I was floored. It was a laptop. I looked up at her, and the shock must have been evident on my face.

“You’ll need it for college next year,” she said encouragingly, clearly concerned that I didn’t like it.

“It’s too much,” I said quietly so that only she could hear.

“I only had to win one fight to cover the cost,” she whispered in my ear, and we both burst out laughing.

“This is incredible,” I said, opening it up to look at it.

“I’m so glad you like it,” she said with relief.

“I love it. And I love you,” I said, squeezing her hand.

“I love you too,” she said, and she hugged me tightly.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

I couldn’t believe how the weeks were flying by. Christmas break had been a blur; I had spent every day with Cross. We ran together, went to movies, hung out with friends, and hung out at my house. Cross and I could talk for hours, and when he would go home, I would think of ten things that I forgot to tell him. We shared everything. And I loved it.

The more time I spent with him, the more I loved him. I loved everything about him. Paisley and Mila always teased us because Cross and I couldn’t be around each other without being affectionate. We were always hugging, kissing, holding hands, or wrapped around one another. We had brought in the new year together along with a big group of friends, and I had never been happier in my life.

February brought the best gift of all: the Colts made it to the Super Bowl. My dad had invited Cross and Bella to come with us to the Super Bowl. He flew all of us to Dallas for the game. Cross shared a room with Indy and Finn, and Bella and I shared a room. It was an incredible weekend. My brothers really bonded with Cross, and we all had such a good time. My dad had played his final game of football, and it was very emotional for all of us. I cried when the game ended, which confused everyone, considering that the Colts had just won the Super Bowl. My dad had ended his career with a Super Bowl win, and everyone was celebrating. I was crying uncontrollably, and my mom and Cross were trying to comfort me. I was so proud of my dad. He had had such an amazing career, and I couldn’t comprehend that it had come to an end. I kept thinking about how final that must feel for him, and it just brought up so much emotion.

My dad didn’t have half the emotional breakdown that I did. He seemed completely content with the way his career had ended, and he seemed excited about the next chapter of his life. He had been offered several different opportunities as a commentator on TV, and he had been offered a couple college-level coaching positions, but ultimately he felt like he needed some time off to decide what he wanted to do. He and my mom were looking forward to time off together.

When we returned, Cross and I got back to our busy schedules. We were both swamped with school and the workload that came with being seniors. I was fully submerged in my track season by then, and Cross and I saw each other as often as we could. We tried to have dinner one or two nights a week, and then we always spent our weekends together.

Cross hadn’t fought in weeks, and I was so happy about it. There had been no word from his mother in weeks either. I felt like it took a lot of pressure off Cross. I wore my cross necklace every single day and only took it off for races. Cross had come to all of my races so far, and he had forced himself to get used to me collapsing at the finish line. I made an effort to peel myself off the ground as quickly as I could so that he wouldn’t panic. He always waited for me at the finish line, but he promised not to jump the gate again. My season was going really well, and I was on track with the goals that I had set.

Poor Cross was such a trooper. I had a really tough workout on Valentine’s Day, and so he agreed to just come over to my house, and we shared a pizza and watched a movie. I was way too tired to go out, and I loved how we could just
be anywhere as long as we were together. We had made a deal that we wouldn’t exchange gifts because we had both gone overboard at Christmas. Instead, we had agreed that we would each write the other a letter. I ended up loving the idea. We told each other what we loved about the other, and we read them to one another while we ate pizza. I cried the entire time he read his letter to me. I had really become one of those weepy, emotional girls since I had fallen in love. I made a mental note never to make fun of sappy, emotional people again because I had become one of them.

I had made each of us a copy of both letters to keep. I sat down on my bed, pulled the letters out of my keepsake box, and read our letters again to myself. Cross’s letter was so touching. It read:

Dear Emerson,

      
I love so many things about you. I love the way you look at me, and I love the golden speckles in your perfect green eyes. I love watching you race (now), even after you traumatized me at the first race. I love how hard you work and how much of yourself you give. I love running with you. I love you when you are all sweaty. I love how much you love your family. I love watching football with you, and I love that you yell louder than I do. I love how smart you are. I love that you worry about me. I love that you make me a better person just by knowing you. I love that you are always honest. I love that you don’t care about what my home looks like. I love that you want to ride on my bike even though you aren’t allowed. I love that you wear the necklace that I gave you every day. I love that you would charge into a pack of football players and not be afraid. I love that you text me before you go to bed at night. I love your voice. I love your smile. I love your soft lips. I love everything about you.

Cross

I lay on my bed reading his letter over and over. I had the most romantic boyfriend in the entire world. I couldn’t believe that his letter was better than mine, I thought, laughing to myself. What he wrote about me was exactly how he always made me feel. I pulled out my letter and read everything that I loved about him.

Dear Cross,

      
There isn’t enough time to ever tell you how many things I love about you. I love your amazing blue eyes and how when you look at me I feel like I’m floating. I love your tattoos, and while we are at it, I love the muscles underneath your tattoos. I love watching you play football. I love that you are smart, kind, and always considerate. I love that you love your grandparents so much. I love how open you have gotten with me. I love your home. I love what a gentleman you are. I love how strong you are, but I love how gentle you are too. I love that you open my door for me. I love that you love my family, especially Finn (ha ha). I love that you jumped a gate to help me up after my race. I love the gift that you gave to my mom and dad, and I especially love my “cross” necklace because I have you with me all the time. I love holding your hand. I love hugging you. I love kissing you. I really, really love kissing you. I love your voice. I love your smile. I love your heart. I love every morsel of you.

Xoxo, Emerson

I felt my face turn red when I read what I had written. But every word of it was true. I loved him so much.

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

c h a p t e r    n i n e

My races were exhausting for all of us, I thought. I was racing two or three times a week. Cross never missed a race and neither did my parents. The three of them had grown very close because they were spending so much time together. I told Cross many times that he didn’t need to be at every race, but he insisted on coming. I loved him being there. He was always standing at the finish line. By then he was used to calling out my splits, and he was becoming quite a pro when it came to my times. We were both looking forward to spring vacation the following week and having some down time together.

We had gone with my parents to dinner, and Cross was driving me home when he received a call from his grandmother. I could immediately tell that something was wrong by the tone of his voice. I felt my heart start to race. Cross turned the car around and headed in the other direction as he hung up the phone.

“What’s wrong?” I said with panic in my voice.

“My mom went to speak to my grandparents, and she and grandfather got in a fight. They think my grandfather had a heart attack. They’re at the hospital,” he said, and I could hear his fear in his voice.

I squeezed his hand. “OK, everything is going to be OK. Let’s get to the hospital,” I said nervously.

We rushed through the doors of the hospital and found Cross’s mother and grandmother pacing in the waiting room. Cross rushed over to his grandmother. “What’s happening? Is he OK?” he asked frantically.

Mary started to cry, and she hugged Cross tightly. She looked up and saw me and rushed over and hugged me as well. Cross and his mother were having a tense conversation, and he didn’t seem happy with her. I tried to comfort Mary, and she told me that they were waiting to hear from the doctor.

When the doctor finally came out, he told us that Bob had had a heart attack and that he was not in great shape. They wanted to take Mary back to see him, but there were some financial issues that needed to be dealt with. Cross went to discuss the financial situation with the woman from billing while I sat quietly with Cross’s mother in the waiting room.

Suddenly, someone shouted, “Emerson Hollingsworth?” and I turned around to see that it was a friend of mine, Kristin. I jumped up to give her a hug.

“Hi, Kristin! How are you?” I asked. Kristin and I had gone to school together since kindergarten, but she had moved two years ago and transferred schools, so I hadn’t seen her in a while.

“Great. I’m just interning here for this science program at my school. What are you doing? Is everything OK?” she asked kindly.

“My boyfriend’s grandfather had a heart attack, so we are just waiting,” I said sadly. I introduced her to Shari, Cross’s mother, and Shari barely acknowledged her. She was staring at me like she had seen a ghost.

Kristin had to get back to work, and I sat back down and looked at Shari, who was looking at me with an intensity that made a chill run through my body. “Your last name is Hollingsworth?” she asked, her face stone cold.

“Yes. Why?” I said, surprised that she was asking this now.

“Is your father’s name Daniel, and your mother Charlotte?” she asked, continuing to stare at me with a stern face.

“Yes. How do you know my parents?” I asked. I didn’t like the way that she was looking at me. It made me very uncomfortable.

“I’ve just seen them in the paper. I didn’t realize your dad was a big football star,” she said with absolutely no emotion.

I looked up and was relieved to see Cross coming toward us. I jumped up to find out what was going on.

“My grandfather needs to be admitted, but he doesn’t have insurance. They need $1,500 within the next four days or they are going to discharge him. He is going to need surgery, and he needs to stay,” he said in a complete panic.

“Oh, my gosh,” I said, shocked that they would send him home when he needed medical attention.