43 The Girl That Justin Likes

To his family's chagrin, Justin had to drive back the day after Thanksgiving because Emily had only gotten two days off work and had an evening shift at the gas station. After many hugs all around and being handed several containers of leftovers they began their journey back to L.A.

Emily glanced at Justin in the driver's seat. He had been very quiet since they had gotten in the car. She couldn't help but wonder if he was still embarrassed about what had happened during the Turkey Games.

When it first happened he had been so distraught that he actually joked about dying, the way people on Blogr tended to do when something mildly inconveniencing or embarrassing happened. Was he really such a drama queen? She had never seen such a wide range of emotions on him as she had that day.

Justin had been embarrassed in her presence plenty of times before, including the day they met on the stairwell. He always looked so sweet and awkward but he had never cracked up over being embarrassed before.

What exactly had caused him to snap? Had he injured his head?

He did have a concussion before…Should he even be driving right now? They hadn't taken him to the doctor but he had said his head didn't hurt and he didn't feel nauseous like last time.

"Are you sure you feel well enough to drive?" she asked nervously. If he got in a wreck they would both be toast.

"I'm fine," he said in his usual voice, alleviating her worries a bit. If he said it faintly she would suspect he was lying. "I was just thinking about something."

"What?"

"It's nothing important."

Her curiosity burned but she knew not to pry. She had learned her lesson about asking about his personal business after their fight in the car months ago.

Besides, being too invasive was how she lost RoboCat. Emily may never ask another overly personal question for the rest of her life. It only gave her grief.

RoboCat. She hadn't thought about him the rest of the day after dinner because she was too preoccupied with Justin.

He had such bizarre reactions yesterday. Bizarre for him, anyway. Emily tried to fit the day's events into everything she knew about Justin's personality and it was like trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

What did she know about Justin's personality? They had similar senses of humor. He was shy and easily embarrassed. He was quiet and kept things to himself.

He was possibly the mildest mannered person she had ever met. The only times she had seen him angry were when she pried into his business and when Brandon had abandoned her so she had to take the bus.

He didn't laugh or smile very often but when he did it was so soft and sweet that she wanted to smile too. He was her friend the human puppy dog. The human puppy dog that apparently, when under pressure, had a maniacal laugh that put comic book super villains to shame.

She didn't know why she was so affected by what happened. He had been embarrassed plenty of times before. Why was she so worried this time? Because he was hurt? He had been hurt more seriously before. She was worried then but somehow it felt different this time. Maybe it was because their relationship had changed.

Last time, Emily thought he was in a relationship with someone else. They weren't much more than acquaintances. This time he had gone out of his way to comfort her without even knowing what was wrong when her world was falling apart. He invited her to Thanksgiving with his family so she wouldn't have to be alone with her thoughts.

Justin had always been kind to her but she had never felt as keenly cared for as she had since the day he brought her to his apartment and warmed her up. He hadn't just warmed her freezing face and hands, he had warmed her heart.

Emily broke the silence that permeated the car. "The next few weeks are going to be pretty hectic. After finals do you want to do something to celebrate before we each go home for Christmas?"

He turned to her in confusion. "You want to celebrate finals being over with me?"

"Why not? We're friends, aren't we?"

"No, it's fine," he said quickly. "I was just surprised. I'd love to. What should we do?"

"Have you heard about that place that serves nothing but different types of macaroni and cheese downtown?" she asked. She had always been curious about it but Brandon didn't like mac and cheese.

Justin's eyes widened. "That sounds amazing. Alright, it's a date!"

A date? Before Emily could even say anything, he jumped in to clarify.

"Not a real date, it's just an expression, like the date on a calendar…setting the date for getting together…that kind of date. I'll just shut up now."

She couldn't help but smile at his awkwardness. "It's fine, I know what you meant."

He seemed so anxious about clarifying that it wasn't a date. He wasn't dating Sam, obviously, but was there someone he liked? Someone he didn't want to misunderstand him?

"Justin, do you like anyone?" Emily asked before she could stop the words from spewing forth.

Hadn't she just told herself not to ask anything personal? What was wrong with her? Was it because he was so insistent that hanging out with her wasn't a date?

He paused for a moment before returning her question with a question. "Uh, why do you ask?"

"I was just curious. You don't have to answer if you don't want," she tacked on the end, thinking he might be upset at the invasion of privacy.

"I do like someone. But you don't know her."

"What's she like?" Emily wanted to know what kind of girl could strike someone as sweet as Justin's fancy.

"Hmm…she's strong, fiercely independent, funny, beautiful, passionate, talented…she's everything I could ever want."

Wow. Such a sentimental statement from him would have surprised her a few weeks ago. Now that she had seen Justin's more emotional side, she wasn't really surprised at all.

"What does she look like?"

He fumbled over his words, sounding oddly nervous. "Kind of tall, turquoise hair, very fashionable."

Turquoise hair? Where had she seen someone with turquoise hair? She could've sworn there was a girl she passed frequently in the arts building with that color.

"Does she go to our school?"

"Yes."

Emily got excited. It definitely had to be the girl she saw. "Can I meet her?"

"No!" Justin said vehemently before backtracking at her wounded facial expression. "I'd have to ask her. She's…kind of shy."

"Does she know you like her?"

"No. In fact, if she knew, she'd probably hit me," Justin said darkly.

"So you're just friends? How did you meet?"

She continued pestering him with questions as if she was talking to Amy. But she wasn't talking to Amy. She was talking to a guy and guys didn't hash things out the way girls did.

"I'm sorry," she said lamely. "I got carried away."

"It's fine," he said with a hint of shakiness in his voice. His hands gripped the steering wheel tighter. Was he embarrassed again? "We are friends and we met working on a joint project."