Emily woke up to the smell of coffee brewing, banishing the dream of Sophie and Katie swinging with her on a hammock from her head. Sophie had whispered something to her. Something important, yet it was just on the edge of her recollection. The girls had been happy. She’d been happy. She glanced at the alarm clock and saw that it was 10:45 a.m. I haven’t slept this well in who knows how long, she thought, stretching her arms up above her head. She glanced over and saw Nate’s vacant bed neatly made. Rising up, she put on her worn teddy bear robe that was starting to rip in the front.
As she walked out of the bedroom, she saw that Nate and her mom were both in the kitchen. She could heard the news playing on the TV and heard her name mentioned. As soon as Nate saw her, he clicked off the TV and turned up the volume on the compact radio in the kitchen, which was playing an old Taylor Swift song. Emily looked at the kitchen table and saw bagels, cream cheese, scrambled eggs, and bacon strips. Nate and Debbie both grinned at her eagerly and she grinned back, humbled by their effort.
“Juice?” Debbie asked as she reached into the fridge and pulled out an orange juice carton.
“Sure,” Emily said as she pulled a chair out and sat down next to Nate. “You guys didn’t have to do all this, you know. This is too much.”
“Yeah, we did, Em,” Nate informed her. Debbie shuffled over and handed Emily a glass of juice before serving Nate and her eggs and bagels. Emily reached across the table and grabbed a big, burnt piece of bacon, just the way she liked it. She closed her eyes and took an enormous juicy bite of the bacon, feeling a flood of heaven enter her mouth. She couldn’t remember the last time her mom cooked it for her. Nate, passing on the bacon, made himself a cream cheese bagel and took a big bite.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, hesitantly. “Do you want to talk about anything?”
Emily thought about it for a second. “No,” she admitted honestly. “I’m scared. I’m nervous. But what is there for me to do but wait? I just want this all to be over, no matter what they decide. If they find me guilty, at least I won’t have to worry anymore over what will happen.”
“We’ll fight it, hon,” Debbie assured her, trying to uplift her. Emily observed as her mom lifted her glass of orange juice with a shaky hand, almost spilling it. Nate must have asked her not to drink this morning. Emily grinned at her and took a bite of her eggs. She heard a knock on the door and glanced over as Steph walked in, holding a bound book in her hand.
“Steph!” Debbie said, excitedly. “Come join us! Have you eaten?”
“I ate early this morning, but I could eat a little something more,” she said as she took the seat on the other side of Nate. “I just wanted to stop by and say hi before your big day tomorrow,” she said. You mean you came here to say goodbye before I’m sent to prison, Emily thought.
“I made you this.” She reached over and handed Emily a scrapbook. On the cover she wrote the quote: A friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are. Emily opened it and found it was filled with pictures of them through the years next to magazine cuttings and quotes. She saw photos of them at The Pit, photos of them playing dress-up with Nate, photos at her mom’s bar, and photos on their first day of school each year. Emily’s eyes welled up in tears. When she flipped to the last page, she saw a final quote: When you follow the crowd you lose yourself, but when you follow your soul, you’ll lose the crowd. Eventually your soul tribe will appear, but do not fear the process of solitude.
“Thank you so much,” Emily said, holding the book against her chest. “This really means so much to me and it’s so good to know that I have a friend that’s always been there for me, even if we may have veered off for a little while there.” Steph blushed as she took a bite of her bagel. “There’s something I need to replace this with,” Emily admitted more to herself than anyone else. She got up and headed to her room, retrieving the vision board hiding underneath her bed. As she glanced at the cutouts of the celebrities she’d never met, she realized how stupid it was for her to want to be someone else. She lifted her knee and cracked the board in two and then headed over to place the board in the trash can. “Sorry about that,” she said to Steph. “I just realized I was searching for something I had here all along.”
The door opened again, and Charlie bounced in carrying a dozen donuts and a container of coffee. “What’s up, dudes!” he bellowed as he closed the door behind him. “Who wants some sweets?” He put the coffee down and opened the large container of Bayside Donuts filled with an assortment of delicious-looking donuts. Emily’s mouth watered looking at them. “I’ll cut each one in half so everyone can try a couple!” He passed out the various flavors: Oreo, maple, Reese’s peanut butter, and even Old Bay chocolate. Emily tried a bite of each one. Before she could say how full she was, she heard a knock on the door and Miss Jelly came in carrying her famous Berger cookie pie.
“Miss Jelly!” Charlie yelled from across the room. “Gimme a big ole piece of that pie!”
It was becoming clear to Emily what this was: a going-away party and last meal all in one. She decided to savor the day as she cut herself a sizable piece of Berger cookie pie.
As they sat around the table, reminiscing on old times, Debbie’s cell phone rang from the kitchen. Charlie glanced at it and hollered, “Looks like it’s Emily’s lawyer, Valerie. Guess you should get this.” He got up and handed Debbie the phone and she stood up and walked into the family room, away from their chatter. Emily scooted her chair out and looked over at her mom, who was pacing the family room with the phone to her ear and the other finger pressed to her opposite ear to cancel out the noise.
“So, at nine a.m. still? Uh-huh. Okay, we’ll be there.” She ended the call and headed into the kitchen with her eyes open wide. Nate and Steph saw her approach and slowly stopped their conversation.
“What’d she say?” Emily asked urgently.
“She said the jury will not be announcing a verdict tomorrow. Something happened. They have new video footage and will be showing it to us at nine a.m. She said they’ll explain tomorrow, but whatever it is, it’s big and has transformed the whole course of the trial apparently.”
Emily stared at her, trying to brainstorm what video footage the cameras could have possibly gotten that they hadn’t already seen and how it could possibly alter any outcome of the trial.
“Em,” Debbie said. “She acted like the case may be dismissed.”