Forever

Chapter 6

"Emily, that smile is so fake. Are you gonna tell me what happened?" he asked.

"Same as usual," I lie, "guess I can't get out of it." I laugh to cover it up, but start crying instead.

He stops pulls into a spot at school and stops the car. Then, he gets out of the car, and walks around to open the door. He sits next to me on the seat and pulls me into a hug.

"Come on, Emily. You can tell me," he soothes.

Then it just falls out of my mouth, "My dad molested me." He doesn't act surprised at all, but hugs me, and let's me cry on his shoulder. "Why aren't you mad?" I ask.

"I am, but right now, me screaming and getting angry isn't going to help you." I smile through my tears. Justin is just an amazing friend, and I don't know how I would've gotten through this without him. "Do you want to ditch school today? You can show that place you were coming back from the other day." he asks me.

"That actually sounds great right now." I answer him, my voice still thick from crying. He backs out of the parking spot and starts the car, heading towards where he saw me yesterday, getting lost a few times, but I redirect him.

He parks on the side of the street, and I lead him to the alley and through the gate. Next, I maneuver us through the woods and we end up in the clearing.

"Wow. Just, wow," Justin says in awe.

"I know, it's gorgeous," I answer him, "but you can't tell anyone about this. I've never told anyone about this."

"Then I must be pretty special," he jokes, smiling cockily. I roll my eyes and walk towards the tree, climbing up as high as I can get.

"You know, I probably weigh 100 pounds more than you, so I can't go up there," he yells a little while later after struggling up the tree a lot slower than I did. I will give him props, though. I have had a lot of practice.

"Alright, alright. I'm coming down, but at least try to climb a little higher, okay?" I compromise. When he agrees, I start my way down.

Finally, I reach him, and we sit on a thick branch together, out backs leaning against the trunk. The silence between us isn't awkward, in fact, it's actually quite nice. Around us, a gentle breeze blows my hair back, and the leaves whisper around us.

"Thanks, Justin," I say to him.

"What for?" he asks me, his eyes still wandering around the clearing in awe.

"Taking me here today, and calming me down, just everything."

"It was nothing," he smiles, and his eyes land on me, "Thanks for showing me this place, though."

"No problem," I answer him, smiling for the first time in a while. His arm snakes around my back, pulling me into a warm hug. We just sit there, our backs against the tree, his arm over my shoulder, thinking. I guess you could say that life, at that moment, was perfect. And I have never been able to say that before.

For the next few hours we sit there, sometimes talking, and others, just sitting. Then, he surprises me with a question.

"Do you want to explore a little?" he asks me, "Maybe we'll find another clearing, or something."