"You built a city all in your head. Built high walls so no one could break them down. I'm here to tell you that I'm breaking them down because I love you, Emile."
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After receiving the information she now held in her brain, Emile didn't know what to do. She wasn't sure whether to confront Luke or sympathize with him.
Leah hadn't given her much of how to deal with this sort of thing. It was something her and her moms had to deal with. No matter how much they tried to help him, he only seemed to get worse. They didn't know how to go about it.
What Leah told her, scared Emile. Luke had been accused of murder. It's not some thing you hear everyday. He had serious issues and Emile really wanted to help him get better. She needed him to get better.
----
The day was Monday morning. Another day, another week. Emile would have to face Luke. She was nervous to see him after what Leah had told her.
She was packing her lunch and filling up a water bottle when Reyna came downstairs in her scrubs. She greeted her mother and kissed her cheek.
"How'd you sleep kid?" Kid was a nickname her mother had been calling her since she was an actual kid. The name stuck and had been her nickname ever since.
"Good. Leah came over and had some interesting things to share with me yesterday," Her aunt had left early Monday morning before either of the two had woken up so the house was back to being just the two of them and Emile's puppy.
"What did she say?" Reyna questioned. She was curious because of the look on her daughter's face.
"She told me some scary things about Luke. She said he has some history with anger issues and that he was accused of..."
"Accused of what Em?"
"Murder. She said he was accused of murder," Reyna was shocked. Luke had proved to be a very nice boy that she approved of. Now she didn't know what to think of him.
"What else did she say...?" Reyna wanted her daughter to be safe and smart about Luke. She knew Emile would make the right decisions.
"She told me about this girl he was dating before they moved here. It was in Ann Arbor, I think. She said how the girl ended up dead in a lake and they tried to pin it all on him. Everyone believed he had killed her," Emile's nervous habit was to play with her earrings. Whenever she was worried about something, her fingers would always find an earring to mess with.
She was fiddling with her tragus piercing at the moment.
"Wow, that's some news. Are you okay?" Reyna searched her eyes to find any confusing emotion. She found sadness and a lot of anxiety.
She opened her arms up and Emile walked right into them. Their hug lasted until they were fulfilled.
"I don't know how to go about this situation momma. I've never dealt with anything like this before. I'm kind of scared."
"Approach it with confidence and try to get him to open up to you," She stroked Emile's hair and she laid her head on Reyna's shoulder. The two were the same height so her head fit perfectly.
"I'm gonna try my best to get him to communicate with me."
"Good plan. Alright, time to go. I'll see you when I get home, I love you," She gave her one last loving look before she grabbed her keys and walked out the door, leaving Emile with her thoughts.
'Approach it with confidence and communicate,' She played those words over and over in her head until she got to school and saw the face she had come to adore... and fear.
----
"Hey Em. How was your weekend?" Luke looked the same as any other time she had seen him. Same messy blonde hair, same crystal clear blue eyes, and same lopsided grin. A feature she had come to love about him. It suited him perfectly.
"Two words. Homework overload," She looked up at his face. His eyes looked as if they could hold nothing but happiness. She couldn't picture anything but happiness in them.
"That bad huh?"
"You have no idea. Heard you tried to get ahold of me? Leah came by for you."
"I wanted to see what you were up to. She was already out so I asked her to stop by. I had some things to take care of," The two held their backpacks on opposite shoulders as they walked down the hall to their lockers.
"You gotta stop doing that," He looked down at her with his eyebrows knitted and a small grin played on his lips.
"Stop doing what?" Emile sighed and looked back at him.
"Stop being so secretive. You can tell me what you were doing. I don't want there to be secrets between us. Secrets aren't good for you or your mind," She rambled a bit, trying to find the fitting words.
He pondered what she said. Was he really being that secretive with her?
"I'm sorry. I was catching up with some friends from back home this weekend and I thought of you."
"You mean friends from back in Ann Arbor?" She asked. She shouldn't have.
"How do you know that I lived there?" He was tensing up. He wondered what she knew about his time there. If she knew anything at all.
"Leah told me you lived there."
"Is that all she told you?" He was starting to get a bit angry that Leah had said anything about them living there.
"No. In fact, she told me about your behavior. I didn't know and I was super surprised."
