Chapter 8 Emily
By the end of the day, Christopher became frustrated. He hasn't found Hazel. He is yet to find Hazel. He is really frustrated but he doesn't know why. He didn't even see her nor her friend Brooke at the cafeteria during lunch. Everyone eats there, don't they? He couldn't even concentrate on the conversation going on at his table. He didn't see her in any of his classes either but that doesn't surprise him because he guessed that they don't share any classes.
Little did he know.
When the school closed, he looked around for a bit in the hallways, and then a brilliant idea struck him. He went to the parking lot in hope of finding Hazel. Unfortunately for him, the girls he is looking for already left the lot before he got there.
As Brooke was driving her and Stephanie out of the school's parking lot, Chris was just approaching it. They drove past him but they didn't notice. Neither did he. He had his eyes trained on somewhere else. After staying a while in the lot, he entered his car and drove out of school.
Now, he is on his way to pick up his little sister who is in 4th grade from school. He loves her. He approaches her with his car on a bench outside the school. She grins when she sees him and stands up. He stops the car and hops out.
"Chris," his sister yells and jumps into his arms.
"Hello, Emily. Missed me?" He asks as he hugs her back after lifting her in his arms.
"Yeah. I missed you," Emily replies grinning with her tiny sweet voice.
"Chris missed you too. Now let's get you home," he says. He puts her in the passenger's seat and buckles her seatbelt. He shuts the door and gets in the driver's seat. Then he starts the car after buckling his seatbelt.
"So how was school today, Em?" He asks her giving her a quick glance as he drives them home.
"It was nice," Emily shrugs.
"Can you take me to the park on Saturday?" She asks.
"Sure. Why?"
"I have a play date with my best friend," she answers.
"Nora?"
"Yes," she smiles.
"Okay. I'll take you to the park on Saturday then."
"Thanks, Chris."
"You're welcome, Em." He smiles and reaches over with his free hand to ruffle her blonde hair.
She swats his hand away and he laughs.
They finally reach their house and Chris parks the car in the driveway. He gets out and walks over to the passenger's side. He carries Emily out and helps her with her lunch box.
They enter the house and Chris drops her down from his arms.
"Mum!" He yells.
"Yes honey," his mum replies from the kitchen.
"We're back," Chris says as if it isn't obvious.
Emily drops her backpack and runs into the kitchen.
Chris follows her slowly and finds her in their mum's arms when he enters the kitchen.
He smiles at the sight in front of him. He loves to see his mum happy because she has been through some tough times. His mum reaches out to hug Chris with her free hand. She pulls him towards her and kisses him on the cheek.
"Welcome Honey," she says.
"Thanks, Mum," Chris replies as they separate.
"How was school, pumpkin?" She asks Emily.
"It was nice," Emile smiles.
Chris turns around and heads up to his room.
"Want a sandwich, Chris?" He hears his mum yell.
"Sure mum. I'll be down in a few minutes," he answers and goes into his room.
He drops his backpack and sits on the edge of his bed. He brings out his phone and decides to check Facebook.
He logs in and sees a lot of friend requests with a lot of messages from girls.
Girls from school?
Not from school?
He doesn't know.
But he's pretty sure he has hooked up with most of them if not all.
And the rest might be trying to hook up with him.
Same old thing.
He logs out and locks his phone. He isn't ready to deal with all of that. And why the hell do they bother to send messages when they know he wouldn't reply?
He runs a frustrated hand through his brown locks and sighs. He drops his phone on the nightstand and walks out of his room.
He joins his mum and Emily in the living room as they eat some sandwiches while watching TV.
Chris wishes his mum finds someone and moves on. Someone who would love her till death so she'll not have to go through that heartbreak again.
Emily thankfully, doesn't ask about her dad. She doesn't ask to see him. Luckily for them, when they told her that dad left, she understood. She was upset at first but soon forgot about him. Her mum has always been there for her and Chris fills in as her dad though he's her big brother.
Seems she has heard about divorce from her classmates. She says some of her friends only have a single parent. Chris is really happy Emily doesn't bug them about her dad. If she does, he would hate his dad more than he already does - if that is possible.
Christopher's mum was heartbroken when she found out her ex-husband was cheating on her. But what hurt the most was when he filed for a divorce.
Many times, she actually forgave him to save their marriage. But he had different plans because eventually, he filed for a divorce. A freaking divorce.
She agreed but that doesn't mean she stopped loving him. She still does. Every time she remembers him, she can't help but feel nostalgic. She sees him in her son.
Instead of feeling bad and hating him for the pain he has caused her and her kids, she thinks about all the good times they spent together. She's grateful to him for one thing though - for giving her her two lovely kids. And she's grateful he didn't decide to take them with him.
She has the feeling that the divorce was hard on Chris but she hopes it hasn't changed him in any way.
Since then, Chris detests people that cheat on their partners. It didn't help matters when his girlfriend cheated on him in freshman year. Since then, she hasn't seen her son with any girl again. He has never introduced her to any girl again, and yet he doesn't bring any girl home. He seems to be sworn off girls but she hopes that is not the case.
There are genuine people out there. People who love with their whole hearts and do not cheat or intend to hurt others. She hopes he hasn't given up on love.
Unknown to Chris' mother, he is a first-class player in school. Truth be told, he has never brought any girl home since Ivy but he still hooks up with girls. He does it at a party or their houses but his mum doesn't know that. She doesn't need to know.
Whenever he's out, he tells her that he's at a friend's place and she believes him. The way he parties doesn't bother her cause obviously, he's in his last year of high school and she knows what she did during hers. As long as he stays out of trouble, she's fine with it.
"Mum?"
"Yes honey," his mum replies him.
"Has Emily told you about the play date with Nora?" He asks.
"Yeah. She has."
Emily isn't paying attention to them. The TV has her full attention without even asking.
Chris sits with them for a while before returning to his room.
When inside the room, he plops himself on his bed and stares at the ceiling. Images of the kiss with Hazel flood his head and he smiles unknowingly.
He must find Hazel.
He sits up, picks up his phone from the nightstand, and enters the passcode.
What if he tries to find her on a social media platform?
Yikes!!!
That can't happen because he doesn't even know her real name. But what if her name is coincidentally Hazel? Her parents could have named her that because of her eyes.
Well, he could try to find Brooke, her supposed friend. He just needs her last name.
He immediately dials Jason who picks on the second ring.
"Dude!" Jason exclaims. "I didn't see you after school today."
"Sorry. I had to leave. I was in a hurry," Chris replies pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Okay, man. What's up?"
"Well, I was wondering if I could get Brooke's last name from you?"
"Brooke?" Jason asks surprise evident in his voice. "Brooke from school? Our grade?"
"Yeah. Do you know her last name?" Chris asks hopefully.
"Wait. Lemme see," Jason says as if trying to remember something.
"Yeah?"
"I don't know man. Let me ask a few people from school."
"Sure. Thanks dude," Chris replies a little hopeful. The call ends and Chris exhales.
After a few calls to people by Jason, he finally calls Chris.
Chris answers immediately.
"It's Dawson. Brooke Dawson," Jason tells him.
"Thanks. See you tomorrow," Chris replies happily.
"Sure," Jason says before hanging up.