A few hours later Emily walked into Samantha's backyard, carrying a watermelon.

Samantha skipped over to her, dragging Evan along by the hand. Emily watched them make their way across the deck.

Are they dating? From my conversation with Samantha earlier I didn't get the impression they were, but now I'm not so sure... 

When they got to her, Samantha said, "Evan this is Emily, Emily this is Evan." 

Should I mention that we kind-of, sort-of met last night in the dark?

But Evan didn't say anything about it and that made her keep her mouth shut.

Emily held up the watermelon. "Just call me Baby."

Samantha and Evan just stared at her.

Oh no they're not laughing! My joke is a total fail...

Emily gave a nervous laugh. "You know... 'I carried a watermelon'... it's from Dirty Dancing."

Samantha started to crack up. "Now I get it! That's funny!" Then she actually snorted. 

Evan took the watermelon from Emily."Thank God... I thought it had something to do with that horrible 'Call Me Maybe' song."

Samantha stopped laughing and punched his arm. "Hey I happen to like that song."

He rubbed the spot on his bicep. "You would." He flinched as she punched his arm again. He turned to Emily and asked, "Can I get you something to drink, Baby?" playing along with her joke.

Usually, I find it gross when couples called each other "baby" or "bae" but Evan's voice is deep... It certainly wouldn't be terrible to have him call me that regularly... It actually sounds likeable from his lips... Plus they're quite nice lips to look at... I'm kind of an authority on the subject since I usually look at mouths when people talk instead of eyes...

"A Coke would be great, thanks," she answered with a smile.

Evan left to bring the watermelon inside and get the soda. Emily watched him leave and remembered her earlier promise to herself.

She turned back to Samantha to ask, "So are you and Evan together?" 

Samantha smiled and took off her sunglasses. "What? No way! Don't get me wrong, Evan is gorgeous and I did have a crush on him once a long time ago, when we were in the fifth grade. But we've known each other forever and we're more like brother and sister at this point. We would never like each other like that."

Emily exhaled a deep sigh of relief. Unable to hide her obvious pleasure she blurted, "That's great!"

Samantha laughed and snorted again. "That was a brutally honest reaction! And since we're being honest and speaking of siblings, I'll confess to you that I have a crush on your brother."

Emily frowned. "Oh okay."

Samantha grimaced then put her sunglasses back on. "Well that wasn't the reaction I wanted."

Emily realized she made Samantha upset and struggled to explain, "Oh it's um... not you... I mean... It's just that, I... I don't know how much I can help you out. John and I have barely spoken this year." 

Samantha didn't seem surprised and spoke slowly, "I understand things have been tense between you two. But I wanted to be honest with you about my feelings toward John. I don't want you to think that I'm trying to use you to get to him. I hope we can really be friends." 

I like this perky and candid girl, she reminds me of Jenny... Come to think of it, Jen hasn't called me today or even texted back...

Evan walked over with the proffered drink and interrupted her thoughts.

Samantha patted him on the back. "Well I should go and spend some time with my cousins. Talk amongst yourselves." She offered Emily two thumbs up behind Evan's back as she left them alone.

He looked down at Emily's shirt with eyes that were almost indigo blue, and started to smirk.

Emily glanced down at her own chest and then back up to Evan's face. She challenged him to say what was on his mind with a tilt of her head and a squint of her green eyes. 

He met the challenge. "Lovin Spoonful." He nodded towards her shirt.

Emily sipped the soda. "Yeah, so? It's a band. I like them."

He chuckled. "No... I mean yeah, I like their music too... it's just that...the shirt..."

"What about my shirt?" She took another drink to hide her frown behind the can.

Then Evan lowered his voice. "It's more like Lovin Handful" He ogled her chest and made a hand motion like he was cupping something.

Emily choked and coughed on her mouthful of soda. "I can't believe you just did that with my Dad standing ten feet away!" she sputtered out.

He laughed. "Me either! I'm a cocky ass a lot of the time but not usually straight up vulgar."

Emily continued to ignore the butterflies in her stomach and pretended she was playing a role in a school play, one in which she was the vamp and not the ingénue.

"Well, I've heard much worse. I'm from Brooklyn after all," she said suggestively.

Evan put his left hand up and rubbed the back of his neck.

Look at that bicep... And the tiny beads of perspiration on his forehead...

Hoping they meant she was having an effect on him, she continued to talk. "Do you often rescue damsels in distress, or girls that fall out of windows, in the middle of the night?" Then she actually batted her eyes at him. 

Evan leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Only if they are scantily clad." He stood back up and tasted his drink, although his smile was not nearly concealed behind the soda.

It's my turn to say something... but it's hard thinking when my heart is thumping wildly and directing blood to places other than my brain...

Trying to gain control of her pulse and regain the upper hand she said, "I noticed you didn't mention our midnight encounter to Samantha."

He kept his voice low. "Neither did you."

She crooked her finger at him, so he leaned down again, but this time it was her turn to whisper in his ear.  "Because that's our little secret."

Just then her father interrupted, "What are you two talking about?"

Evan blushed, but recovered quickly as he stood up straight and shook her father's hand. "Chess, sir. We were sharing strategies," he answered.

That's not too far from the truth... Pretend it's the 'Yes, And' exercise from Improv Club...

So Emily she went with it. "Yep, we were discussing what makes an opponent worthy and how to capture the queen."

John Sr. looked back and forth between them as though he didn't believe a word they said but he played along too.

"My Emily here is wise beyond her years.  You would never know she is just fourteen years old," he said pointedly.

"Fifteen in two weeks Dad," she sweetly reminded her father. "Touché," he said and put his giant arm around her tiny shoulders. "Come over and meet some of the other neighbors. Excuse us Evan." He guided her away and effectively kept her from Evan for the remainder of the party.

When they were about leave the barbecue, Samantha swooped in to grab Emily back from her father's clutches for a few minutes.

"So give me your phone and I'll put in my number. Be ready to go by eight. Okay?" Samantha entered her contact info.

Emily took back her phone. "No problem. I'm good at sticking with a plan. Hey, what are you going to wear tonight? I didn't pack a lot and I don't know how big this party is and if it will be casual or..."

Samantha grabbed Emily's hand, tugged her towards the house and ordered, "Come up to my room."

They climbed the stairs while Sam continued, "I think I'm gonna wear skinny jeans, a slouchy tank top and sandals. I bought this cute bodycon dress last month and I don't exactly fill up the top of it the right way, but I lost the receipt so I can't return it. I bet it would look great on you."

Samantha opened her closet and pulled out a black and white striped dress that had a deep scoop neck and three quarter sleeves.

What's the rule about accepting a gift from someone you've only known for half a day?

"Are you sure?" Emily asked.

Sam held it up against Emily's body. "Oh yeah, this will look so much better on your boobs."