Unrequited - 2. Emily Mancini

Emily Mancini

Samuel woke up in the dark, more than a little confused and disoriented. He lay there for a minute, then checked his clock. The bright digital numbers stared back at him.

4:20

Shit, Samuel thought, remembering the party he was supposed to be keeping an eye on. He tossed back his blankets and stood up, his body protesting loudly. His ass, especially, was sore. He groaned as he remembered the encounter from earlier. He was still in his kilt and felt disgusting. He pulled the kilt off and went to his closet, felt around until he found a pair of sweatpants and a T-shirt. He ventured outside his room and found that almost everyone had left. There were a couple of people asleep on his sofa or on the floor and he roused them gently, calling a cab for them before herding them out the door. They had left one hell of a mess for him to have to clean up but nothing unmanageable. Jeannie had promised to stop by in the morning to help if he needed it. He went back upstairs and checked the bedroom the drunk girl had been tucked into. It was empty.

He stumbled back downstairs and grabbed a plastic cup, filling it up with water and drinking it. He wandered back into the living room and laid down on the sofa, kicking off some newspapers and plastic bowls. Dammit, Jeannie had better make good on her promise. His back was sore, his ass was sore...even his neck hurt where the guy had bit it. He reached back and touched it, the area tender under his fingers. He bet he would have a gorgeous bruise. He felt his face heat up. God, he felt like a slut. But the way that guy had touched him had been incredible, like nothing he had ever felt before. No one had ever touched that way, left him swamped by sensations that were so strong, so intense that they had left him brainless and a little frightened. And now he was gone.

Samuel settled back into the cushions. He would be more comfortable in his bed, but the bed probably still reeked of sex and he didn't really want to go back up there at the moment. So he closed his eyes and decided to sleep now and clean later.

* * *

The next time Samuel saw Jeannie was at school on Monday.

"Jeannie!"

Jeannie turned from where she was pulling books out of her locker and smiled. "Hey Samuel."

"Hey...um, I wanted to ask you something."

"Yeah?" Jeannie asked, slamming her locker shut.

"The party last weekend, do you remember the girl you invited, the one in the red dress?"

"The one that was whoring herself out to everyone there?" Jeannie asked. Samuel blushed and secretly wondered if he would fit into Jeannie's classification of a whore, since he had slept with someone and didn't even know his name. His name, on top of all that.

"The one in the red, yes," Samuel finally said diplomatically. "What is her name? Does she go to school here?"

"Yeah. She's Emily Mancini. Why?" Jeannie's eyes narrowed. "Did she steal something from your house?"

"No! Geez, Jeannie, it was your party. If you dislike her so much, why did you invite her?"

"If she's there, then guys are going to be there. It's, like, a universal law or something. I wanted lots of guys there. I knew eventually one of them would try to get her drunk and take her away somewhere, so once she was out of the way, there would be plenty of other guys for the girls to flirt with." Jeannie shrugged. "Recipe for a successful party.

"Jeannie, you can be really cold sometimes."

Jeannie shrugged again. "It's her own fault for acting like such a slut. She should develop some fuckin' morals." She slid her backpack onto her shoulders. "That being said, if you go out with her, I will never speak to you again."

"Why is that?" Samuel asked, driven by curiosity more than actual concern.

"Because if you went out with her, you'd probably end up with some kind of venereal disease or something. I'm not going to hang out with a walking STD." Jeannie smirked and turned away. "Later."

"Bye," Samuel said, watching her retreating back. He liked Jeannie, she was the only person in the school that had tried to befriend him when he first moved here--with mixed results--but he appreciated the effort and she was the only one here he could really talk to. But she definitely had a mean streak. Still...now he knew.

Emily Mancini.

She was the first step.

Figuring out who his mystery lover was had turned out to be more difficult than Samuel had planned on. First off, he was usually not paying much attention to things going on around him, so he didn't know a lot of the students at the school. The only thing he knew was that his mystery lover knew him, had called him by his name, so he had to be in some of his classes. The mask and hat he had worn during the party had hidden most of his face and the experience in the bedroom hadn't revealed much...it had been too dark to see anything properly and even then he wasn't sure if the person he was with had even bothered to take the mask off. He had taken off the hat and belt...Samuel found them both in his room later. So all he had to go on was dark hair, brown eyes and height...he had been taller than he was. Which ruled out practically no one. There were plenty of dark haired, dark eyed guys in his classes. He thought maybe he could recognize him by his voice but his memory wasn't the greatest and it was several days ago. And there hadn't been that much talk between them, even before the sex.

He had carefully scrutinized all the guys in all of his classes. Not that it wasn't a fun pursuit in it's own right, but was left with several open possibilities...eight of them as a matter of

fact, two that he was uncertain about and no way to narrow them down.

That left him no choice but to ask someone.

So he was going to ask his mystery lover's date.

How fucked up was that?

Probably too much so. And his mystery lover would probably deny the entire encounter. But Samuel had to know who he was...had to.

So he approached Emily, who he could recognize on sight and that everyone knew about on reputation alone. He had his best chance during lunch. She was sitting at a table with a

couple of other girls, all of them wearing loud makeup and outfits that barely made the school's dress code regulations.

"Hey...um...Emily?"

Emily, who had been leaning over the table in a way that showed off her derriere to anyone who happened to want to look, shot him a surprised and somewhat coy look over her

shoulder. "Yes?"

"Um...can I ask you something? Please?"

She arched an eyebrow and stepped away from the table.

"Later guys," she said, picking up her drink and walking away from the table to where Samuel stood nervously, his hands in his pockets. "What's up?"

"Um...I was wondering... um..." Oh God, how was he supposed to phrase this? Emily was looking at him, pulling on the straw in her drink, regarding him with a kind of amusement. "You

were at Jeannie's party last weekend right?"

"Yeah."

"You were Elektra."

She released the straw and smiled at him... rather genuinely. "That's right."

"Um...I was wondering about your date."

Emily's smile faltered. "What?"

"Your date to the party. I was wondering who he was."

"I didn't have a date to that party," she said, regarding him curiously. Samuel felt his heart sink. She wasn't going to tell him. She was his only lead and she wasn't going to tell him. She

must know. Must have known what they did and was now going to stonewall any attempt for them to get back in contact with each other.

"But I saw you come in with someone," he protested even though he was fairly certain it would be a futile attempt. "At the party you came in with a guy dressed as Zorro."

"Oh, you mean Anthony," Emily exclaimed, smiling again and Samuel felt himself breath a sigh of relief. Finally! He at least had a name. "He wasn't my date. He's just my brother."

"Your brother," Samuel repeated.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Um...he left some stuff at my place. From the party. So I wanted to give it back to him."

"I see," Emily said. "I just wanted to make sure he didn't read you the riot act. He does that with the guys I like to date sometimes." Emily rolled her eyes. "It's so annoying." She smiled at him. "But if you want to return some of his belongings, I'll be happy to take them with me."

"Um...they're in my car," Samuel said, thinking frantically. Returning those items was only a front, an excuse, and if he gave them to Emily now he wouldn't have a reason to go over there. "How about I give you a ride home after school and I can return them then?"

She smiled again, a little coyly. "You just want an excuse to come over to my house, don't you?" she asked and Samuel blushed, embarrassed at being found out so easily. Emily giggled. "That's cute. Well, since Anthony has practice this afternoon, I could use a ride home. Meet me here after classes, 'kay?"

"Sure thing," Samuel said and as he walked away he couldn't keep the smile off his face.

* * *

"I like your car," Emily said that afternoon as Samuel drove her to her house. She had her feet propped up on his dashboard and her head was tilted back, sunglasses on. Despite the cool weather she was wearing shorts and flip-flops, showcasing her bright red toenails and toe rings.

"Thank you," Samuel said. He drove a Jetta GLI that his Mom had bought for him and while he appreciated having a car, he had never thought that much about it. He found himself oddly happy that Emily liked it however. If Emily liked it, then Anthony might like it too...might like going for a drive with him in it.

Anthony, Samuel thought to himself. Anthony Mancini. Yes, he liked that name.

He pulled up to the house that Emily pointed out, turned off the engine. Emily reached into the backseat to grab her bag, causing her already short shorts to ride up her backside, but Samuel didn't notice. He ran a hand through his hair nervously and pushed his glasses up on his nose. He hated his glasses. He wished he had contacts. He should get out of here. He was crazy.

He opened the door and got out of the car, followed Emily inside the house. He smiled as a slinky Siamese cat trotted up and wound herself around his ankles.

"Miss Suki," Emily crooned, kneeling down and picking the cat up while depositing her backpack on the ground. "Come on in," she said, smiling over her shoulder at Samuel who was lingering in the doorway. "I don't bite. Do you want a soda?"

"Sure," Samuel said, following her inside. Her house was smaller than his, with narrow hallways and cozy rooms. Instead of feeling small and stifling, it felt warm and welcoming. He sat down at the island in the middle of the kitchen as Emily pulled open the refrigerator.

"Um...I have Dr. Pepper, 7-Up and root beer," she offered.

"Dr. Pepper is good," Samuel said. His heart was pounding in his chest in a rapid, excited rhythm. Emily pulled out two sodas and passed one to him. He popped the tab and took a drink, grateful for the splash of cold in his dry throat.

"So when does your brother get home?" he asked.

"Around five," Emily answered, rummaging in a cabinet. She pulled out a can of cat food, pulled the lid off before depositing Miss Suki down on the ground and dumping the food into a bowl. "My parents both work until about 6, so..." She shrugged and threw the empty can into the trash. "I guess we have the house to ourselves."

Samuel took another drink of soda. It was getting harder and harder for him to swallow. Maybe this was a bad idea. Maybe he should just dump the parts from the costume here and leave. Forget about all this. Forget about Anthony. Forget about the way he had made him feel, the way his hands had roamed over his body, forget the sharp pain of his teeth biting into his skin as he rode him to orgasm, hard and fast.

No. He couldn't forget all that, not even if he wanted to.

"So what do you want to do?" Emily asked, leaning forward on the island and crossing her arms against her stomach in a manner that pressed her breasts up and out, having the same effect as a push up bra. "Do you want to see my room?"

"Um...that's all right. I'll just-"

"You're pretty shy, aren't you?" Emily said. She walked around the counter and lifted herself up onto the island next to him. "Are you scared of my brother or something?"

"A little bit," Samuel answered truthfully.

"You shouldn't be," Emily said. "He's all bark you know."

Samuel shrugged; a bit unnerved by the way Emily was leaning in, getting closer.

Fuck this, Samuel thought. This was stupid. Now that he knew his lover's name was Anthony he could just find him at school. He had no idea what he was going to say to the guy anyway.

"Look, I-" He started to say but was cut off by Emily leaning forward and placing her mouth firmly over his. Samuel startled and leaned back, but Emily's hand came up behind his head, holding him firmly against her mouth. It reminded Samuel vaguely of how Anthony had done the same thing, held his face still as he kissed him.

Samuel heard the sound of a door flying open and a cheerful masculine voice.

"Hey, Em, whose car-"

Samuel jerked away from Emily as he heard that voice and turned his head. A guy he recognized from class was standing in the doorway, staring at him. Anthony. It had to be him.

"What the hell?" Anthony said softly.

"What are you doing here?" Emily said quickly, moving away from Samuel and sliding off the island onto the floor. ""I thought you had practice."

"It was cancelled," Anthony said, tossing his bag onto the floor. "What are you doing?"

"I-"

"You know the rules. You're not supposed to have boys in the house while you're here alone."

"But he was here to see you. Not me."

"Then how come you were sitting here, kissing him?" Anthony's eyes were hard and cold and Samuel stood up.

"I'm sorry, I'm just going to go-"

Anthony caught him by the arm as he was trying to leave. "Did you come here to see me like she said? Tell me the truth."

Samuel nodded.

"Why?" Anthony asked.

"I---uh--I have some stuff that belongs to you. You left it. At the party last weekend."

Anthony looked him up and down. "Oh really. And where is this stuff?" Anthony's tone made it quite obvious that he didn't believe him.

"In my car."

"Okay." Anthony turned and addressed his sister. "Stay here. I'm going to walk this guy out and then you and I are going to have a talk."

"Fuck you," Emily spat out and turned away, flouncing out of the room with a dramatic flair. Anthony rolled his eyes and pulled Samuel outside.

"Did you come here to see my sister?" Anthony asked as soon as they were outside in the sunshine.

"No. I told you, I came to return some stuff you left at the party. Emily invited me here since she didn't have a ride home because you had practice. I was just going to wait for you to come by so I could give you the things you left. I didn't know I wasn't supposed to be here."

Anthony shook his head. "Don't feel bad about it. That was Emily's responsibility and she flaked out as usual. I don't think she would be unsafe with you at any rate." He smirked at Samuel. "I think she would be more likely to get you in trouble than the other way around."

Samuel smiled a little. "Maybe. Here." He walked over to his car, popped the trunk and handed Anthony the random bits and pieces from his costume. Anthony took them

"Thanks man. I was worried I wouldn't be able to get my deposit back from the costume place."

"Sorry it took me so long. I had some trouble trying to track you down.

"I appreciate the effort."

They stared at each other for a few minutes.

"Um...I wanted to talk about the party," Samuel finally said.

"I know. Not here, okay?" Anthony instantly replied. "I don't want my sister around to overhear us, she's pretty nosy. Maybe this weekend?"

"Sure thing. I can stop by Saturday. Around noon?"

"Sounds good. See you then."

"Bye," Samuel said, getting into his car. He started it up and pulled out of the driveway. As soon as he got home he leaned his head back in the seat and let out a nervous, shaky laugh. That had not gone the way he had planned. He had expected Anthony to deny that anything had happened, or to at least play dumb. But he hadn't. That had to be a good sign...right?

* * *

Samuel sat in class on Friday as his teacher went over a complicated equation on the board. Samuel had already worked out the equation in his head and was just waiting to see if his answer matched the teacher's. He was painfully aware of Anthony's presence in the classroom, and the very thought that they were both sharing the same small space sent an odd thrill through him.

He cast a careful glance back towards Anthony who sat a couple rows over, near the window. Anthony wasn't paying any more attention to the professor than anyone else was, staring out the window, looking bored, tapping the eraser of his pencil against the paper of his notebook. Samuel couldn't believe he had sat through this class so many times, oblivious to his presence there.

Anthony looked perfect sitting there, weak sunlight coming through the dirty glass to cast pale planes of light and shadow over his face.

Samuel glanced back at the board, not wanting to be caught staring. He fantasized about picking Anthony up tomorrow, as if it was proper date. He would drive Anthony out to the next town, where the leaves would be changing colors and they could have a picnic, there among the falling leaves in their shades of orange and red. Then maybe they could have sex again, rolling around out there in the grass and the leaves with the chill of the coming winter biting against their skin and then when it was over, they could lie together wrapped in the blanket to ward off the cold and the outside world, their own body heat keeping each other warm. And then they would kiss and -

"Samuel!"

Samuel jumped slightly, feeling his face heat up at being caught daydreaming during class.

"Sir?" he asked weakly as his teacher glared at him.

"Since you have better things to occupy your mind other than the subject matter I am covering, would you care to share your solution to this equation?"

"Um...sine x over three equals negative one?"

His teacher stared for a moment, then scowled.

"I don't know how you pulled that one out of your ass Adams, but from now on pay attention."

"Yes sir," Samuel said as the rest of the class giggled.