"I'm so happy that we both get to work the first shift at the door. We can get our service hour out of the way and then just enjoy ourselves," Emily said to Jenny as they left the dance committee meeting after school.

They walked down the winding driveway toward the back gate surrounded by the other volunteers who were also dismissed from the meeting.

A horn began to honk down on Victory Boulevard, where multiple cars double-parked waiting on various girls. The closer the group got to the exit, the louder and more obnoxious the sound grew.

Someone's boyfriend is impatient... Or excited... Oh God! What if it's Kelly? Maybe that's what he meant when he said he would get in my sight soon...

As she scanned the line of automobiles, Emily allowed herself a minute to imagine that he was waiting for her at the gate. She thought about how good he would look. Her stomach flip-flopped with each step she took down the hill.

But soon her romantic daydream was crushed as she spotted Geoff in the passenger side of his friend's car. He leaned past his friend's chest and blasted the horn again.

Apparently this was my fantasy from last month that I'm stepping into...

Geoff stood on the seat and stuck his head out of the sunroof. "Jenny!"

"Geoff!" Jenny yelled back as she waved and grinned from ear to ear.

Which is now Jenny's reality...

Emily looked at Jenny and gritted her teeth as they continued down the driveway.

Jenny whispered, "I'm sorry. I hope this is okay. I told him we were staying late for the meeting and he and Peter were staying late for something at Farrell. I wasn't sure if he was going to come or I would have told you."

Geoff continued to hang out of the hole in the roof. "Get in and we'll give you and Emily a ride home."

Emily noted that Geoff made no move to get out and open the door for Jenny.

It spoils the effect of Geoff's gesture... Both Evan and Kelly would be gentlemen in this situation...

Emily questioned, "Don't you want to sit in the back with Jenny?"

It will be convenient for me if he sits in the back because then I won't have to look at him... Hopefully, I can stare straight out of the front windshield and ignore where I am entirely...

"Oh yeah, sure. That's a great idea!" He climbed out and then finally held open the door for Jenny.

Emily rolled her eyes at her beaming friend and opened her own door. They allgot into the car.

The driver turned to her as she shut the door. "Hey. I'm Peter." He looked her up and down.

"I know. I've ridden the same bus as you for the past two years and met you at least three times." She put her books by her feet and buckled her seatbelt.

Peter continued to sweep his eyes across her body. So Emily opened her eyes exaggeratedly wide at Peter and swept her head up and down in a pantomime that made it obvious that she could rudely ogle him too.

He blushed and cleared his throat. "Sorry. I wasn't sure if you would remember," he mumbled as he turned his eyes to the road.

Once his scrutiny was turned from her, Emily could now genuinely look at Peter. It shocked her to realize that she'd never paid him much attention before because she was always so focused on Geoff.

Now I can see that he isn't entirely bad looking... He has very nice wavy blonde hair and sleepy brown eyes... But he does have a bit of a slack-jaw... And a lazy tongue that makes him sound like he has a mouthful of marbles... I was probably too harsh on him just now...

"No, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be so... nasty."

Peter took his eyes off the road for a moment as he risked another small look and smile at her. Emily looked over her shoulder at Jenny in the backseat. Jenny was leaning against Geoff and gave Emily a devilish grin.

I have that sinking feeling... And my hands are starting to sweat...

When Peter said, "So you're going to the dance on Friday," she suddenly knew what was going on.

Is this seriously happening right now? Is Jenny is trying to set me up with Peter?

"Well since you're picking us up from the dance committee meeting, it's safe to say I will be attending the dance," she mumbled back.

"My parents are letting me drive and Geoff and Jenny are coming with me. Do you wanna ride too?" he asked.

Emily felt her heart rate pick up. She did not want to answer this question.

What the hell is Jenny thinking? I cannot handle another boy at the moment! My hands are full with Evan and Kelly... Plus I might still go away to camp in a few weeks...

"Umm... I don't know. My Mom probably won't let me get into the car with a boy she doesn't know," she answered.

"Well you're getting a ride from me right now," he said.

"Yes but she doesn't know that and she won't ever know it if I can avoid it," she explained.

Peter laughed. "So gimme your number or I'll give you mine. And you can ask your Mom and lemme know later."

Before Emily could come up with another excuse, Jenny said, "That's a great idea Peter! Give him your number Em."

Emily took out her phone and realized she hadn't turned it back on when they left campus. "What's your number? I'll text you mine. I just have to turn my phone back on first."

As it came back on, she could see texts from Evan, her brother and her mother.

"Popular," Peter joked as the chimes notified her of the waiting messages.

"Very," she said as she entered Peter's number. Then she texted him hers. "There. Done."

She looked back at Jenny who was being groped by Geoff. She quickly looked forward again and silently glowered as they drove over the bridge back into Bay Ridge.

When they pulled onto Third Avenue, she turned to Peter. "Um you can just drop me off here."

Jenny detached herself from Geoff. "But we aren't anywhere near your block Em."

"I don't want one of my neighbors ratting me out to my Mom that I got out of Peter's car. You know how all the old ladies on my block gossip Jen," Emily reasoned.

"True. I hadn't thought of that," Jenny grumbled.

"There's a lot you didn't think of Jen. I'll talk to you later." Emily unfastened her seatbelt and opened the door before the car even fully stopped.

"Thanks for the lift Peter," she said as she climbed out.

Peter leaned toward the passenger window and snapped the fingers of his right hand four times in rapid succession. "Don't forget. Lemme know about Friday."

"I won't and I will." Emily shut the door.

As she walked away down Third Avenue she checked her messages. The first one was from her mother.

Working tonight. I got you a job cat and plant-sitting for Mrs. Rebenstorf. She's going to visit her sister in Minnesota until Sunday. Pays $75. Her keys are on the hall table and she left instructions written out on her kitchen table. Xo.

Next she read the message from her brother.

What's up for the weekend? Coming back this way? Want to see you for your birthday.

So she wrote back.

NDA dance Friday. Working the door for service requirement during the first hour. Not sure yet what the plan is for Saturday.

Then she took out her earbuds and opened the link from Evan. Emily listened to the distinctive eight-beat introduction followed by the sharp snare drum hit that signified the opening of "Wouldn't It Be Nice."

She strolled home while the Beach Boys sang to her about the disappointment of being too young to be with the one you love.

The melody and harmonies are so upbeat and hopeful... They make her want to skip down the street... But the lyrics are actually heartrending...

This kept her feet pounding the pavement instead.

This song is bittersweet torture... Pretty much like any moment with Evan is... No matter how much time I spend with him whether in person, on the phone or even by text, I'm always left wanting more...

When the song ended, she recognized that empty pit in her stomach again.

There's that hollow feeling that comes whenever I leave him... Fill it Emily... Fill it with thoughts of other things... Think of schoolwork... Or the dance... Or even that ridiculous ride home from Peter...

But it didn't work. The only thing that eased some of the cavernous ache and felt like being with him was to listen to the songs he sent her over the past eleven days.

Of course it's been eleven days!

Emily laughed to herself as she walked up the brick steps to the front door of her building. She unlocked the door to her apartment and froze in the hallway as a thought fully sunk in.

"I think I'm starting to fall in love with Evan," she confessed to Max as he rubbed against her legs and purred. She bit her thumbnail.

I wonder if today's song choice means that he is developing feelings for me too...

She put her bag down and picked up the keys for Mrs. Rebenstorf's house and then ran back out the door to go use them.

The note on the table was written in the beautiful old-fashioned handwriting that Emily remembered fondly from the piano lessons when she was younger. While she went through the house and completed the tasks from the list she reminisced about the many happy hours she spent there when she was playing.

To say Emily was always a curious child was to put it mildly. When she started her tutelage with Mrs. Rebenstorf she questioned her ceaselessly, not just about music but also on personal matters, to the point of nearing rudeness. So she knew that the Rebenstorfs married in 1964 and bought the house that same year.

They had also invested in beautiful solid wood furniture of the era. It was obviously built to last. The house was like a time capsule or a set from Mad Men. Emily looked around now, through older eyes.

The Rebenstorfs didn't throw things away... They didn't redecorate needlessly with the changing trends... They cared for their things and mended what was broken... They maintained their belongings the way they maintained their marriage... They took their vows seriously and proved it because it was only the death of Mr. Rebenstorf that parted them two years ago... 

After Emily finished her house-sitting duties, she sat on the familiar piano bench in the silent house. She started the metronome on top of the piano and listened to it steadily count out the seconds.

Tick, tick, tick...

She tried to synchronize her pulse with its steady beat.

It's like the telltale heart though... Reminding me that I've got something weighing on me... A prompt to action... You've procrastinated long enough Emily Louise!

Emily spoke to the brass pendulum as she stopped it.  "Alright! Enough! I get it! I need to consider which song to send back to Evan."

Dust flecks floated in the sunbeams streaming through the bay window, she watched them and mentally scrolled through her brain vault of songs from the sixties. It was easy to access that part of her mind while sitting in this living room.

She only broke the silence again to listen to the song she decided upon. "Here, There and Everywhere" was one of her favorite Beatles' songs and was inspired by the Beach Boys' work on Pet Sounds, so it made sense as a response. It was simple and slow, sweet yet sultry.

But more importantly, it speaks of love as a need that encompasses you and is only made better when you can be around each other... That is exactly how I feel about Evan...