Saving Emery Clarke

E M E R Y · 1 7

E D I T E D : J U L Y  3 1 ,  2 0 1 7

•°•°•

"Why is everyone staring?" I ask, frozen in my seat of Seth's truck. We just pulled into the school parking lot, into an empty space. Everyone is staring at me.

I mean, it's probably because I'm in their King's truck, but a girl can hope it's not.

Seth looks around, and finally seems to notice. "Oh, them?"

"Um, yeah."

He shakes his head and waves it off. "Its probably just because you're so pretty."

I turn more towards him and raise an eyebrow. "Really? That's why?"

"Okay, so maybe not because of that reason. I mean, you really are pretty, but they're just jealous that you're in my truck and they're not. They'll get over it," Seth assures me, shrugging.

I nod slowly. "Uh huh."

"Come on, don't want to be late to Algebra!"

•°•°•

"Do you want me to wait for you?" Seth asks. "Because I will."

I smile slightly. "Seth, I just have to pee. I'll catch up in a minute."

"Okay. Cool. I'll go to the cafeteria," he says, nodding. He crosses his arms, trying the look calm and cool.

"Seth?"

"Yeah?"

"Aren't you going to the cafeteria?" I ask, tilting my head.

Seth's eyes widen and he turns a light shade of red. "Oh, yeah. Totally."

He turns around and walks quickly to the cafeteria doors, scratching the back of his blush-dusted neck.

I roll my eyes at him and enter the bathroom. As soon as the door shuts, Stephanie Hanover and her cronies Melissa Carver and Natalie Richmond step out of a stall each. I try not to think anything of it and walk to one of the now empty stalls.

"Are you Emery Clarke?" Natalie's snobby and squeaky voice asks.

"Um, yeah. Why?" I ask.

Stephanie suddenly shoves me into a wall, and holds me there with her perfectly manicured fingertips. "Listen here and listen close, bitch. Seth Finley is my man and a stupid slut like you isn't going to ruin our relationship. Got it?" She hisses. I flinch at her words.

"I'm not trying to ruin your-uh, relationship-"

"Look, Emery Clarke. You need to stay away from Seth. He doesn't want you. Why would he when I'm perfectly available? And let's face it, you're not even pretty. So just stay away from him," Stephanie says, her face inches from mine. "Understood?"

I swallow thickly, trying not to let her words get to me. Seth likes me. Maybe not in the way I would like, but he likes me as a friend. He says I'm pretty all the time. But...

Maybe he doesn't actually think so.

Maybe all he sees is an stupid little girl who can't defend herself and has an abusive mother she couldn't take care of and a dead brother and father. A little charity case.

"I think she need a little more convincing, don't you think girls?" Stephanie asks, looking over her shoulder. Her lackeys nod quickly.

She turns back to me. Her voice drops low and she whispers into my ear. "I know your mother's an abusive drunk. I know your dad and your brother are dead. I know you were raped."

I suck in a breath. "I know all your little secrets. One little word from me, and the whole school knows. Then imagine this: police catch the rumors, investigate your abusive mother, and then...bam. Your mother's in jail, you're in foster care because you're not eighteen, and then the whole town knows. We wouldn't want that."

I look down, and then raise my eyes. "What have I done to you? And why would Seth want me out of the both if us? We're just friends," I tell her, trying not to wince. I hate saying we were just friends, because I want more. But I can't have more, because I'm a screwed up seventeen year old girl who was raped and beaten constantly. Not exactly girlfriend material.

Melissa and Natalie still stand behind Stephanie, tapping on their phones. Stephanie turns around. "Girls, leave."

Without a word, they leave through the door, still engaged in their phones. She turns back to me.

"What have you do to me? Don't you remember kindergarten? You slapped me and cut my hair because I tried to kiss your brother at recess. And your brother laughed with you, as you guys hung off the monkey bars."

I squint my eyes and think back, swallowing the lump in my throat that formed at the mention of Everest. I vaguely remember it. "I'm really sorry, Stephanie. I was just always really protective of my brother. I...kind of didn't want someone to steal him away back then. He was my only friend. I didn't have anyone else, unlike you," I say truthfully.

Stephanie seems to ignore me. "And why does Seth want you out of the both of us? Because apparently I'm the bad guy! What if he knew about the horrible shit you did to me?"

"Look, I'm sorry for what I did in kindergarten, but you can't hold onto something that happened that long ago because it's the only thing I've ever done to you. And I'm not going to stay away from Seth because you asked me too," I say, pursing my lips. "Sorry."

Stephanie narrows her eyes, then changes her expression to a sickly sweet smile. "Okay. Sure. But you should be ready for what's about to happen to you. You're going to be living in hell."

"Been there, done that," I say, smiling sarcastically. Stephanie leaves with a flip of her bleach-blonde hair.

I brace myself against the sink, letting out a breath. Where did I get that burst of courage from? Must've been the adrenaline.

I can't help but think that my life is about to get a lot harder, very soon.

•°•°•

And there it is, the last of the premade chapters. That's why I haven't really been writing authors notes btw.

I'll try to whip up the next chapters whenever I can, so be on the lookout!

I'm going to dedicate chapter 16 to GlitchGaming001  in a few minutes for being my first reader! Thank you :)

I'm dedicating this chapter (17) to down_inthe_forest  for being my second reader and always having quirky and inspiring comments on this story and some of my other :)

I love you guys! All of you!

-Taylor