New Girl || l.t

eight

Louis

The next day of school was living hell. Not that it isn't everyday, but it's one of the worst I've had in a while. I just can't believe that Wes had the nerve to flirt with my sister, start a fight with Harry, and start shit with me. He definitely hasn't changed one bit since the last time I saw him. My phone vibrates and I look at it to see a message from an unknown number.

'Nothing you say will keep me from seeing him, so don't even think of trying to stop me.'

What the hell? It's probably Wes using someone else's phone, trying to make me think he's Emma.

'Who is this?' I reply. Not that I'll get an answer on who it is, but I'm sure I'll get some clues.

'Meet me behind the post office in five minutes, don't be late.'

This person obviously doesn't know how hard it is to sneak out of this school without getting caught. I've done it before, but it's not easy. Grace comes walking down the hallway and towards me. Shit, she'll be pissed if she finds out what I'm doing.

"Ready to go to class?" She asks, smiling up at me.

"I have to do something real quick, I won't miss much. Do you remember your way around?" She nods, looking up at me. I can tell she's worried, it's clear in her eyes. I know I shouldn't be lying, but I can't just come right out and tell her 'I got this message from an unknown number and they want me to meet them, I don't know what they want but I'll find out.'

"Is everything alright? Do you want me to come?"

"We're only a few days in, you shouldn't mess up your attendance, and you're new. I'll be fine, I'll make up all of my missed work." I smile slightly, hoping it will make her feel better about me leaving.

"Oh, okay. I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then." I say and kiss her cheek before making my way to the door quickly. I need to get out of here before the bell rings.

Why the post office though? I know that barely anyone goes behind it, but there's better places to meet up at when you've got something to hide.

I walk behind the small building and don't see anyone at first, but then I see two people. A guy with his arms around a girl. Why did I come here to see this? The closer I get, the more I recognize the people. Wes and Emma. I stand a few feet away, crossing my arms, it seems he has no clue that I'm even here.

"You're late." He says, smirking when he notices me.

"What the hell is wrong with you? You invite me here to see that you're unable to keep your hands off my sister. I told you to stay away." He steps towards me, standing about a foot away.

"Or what? You'll call your mommy? Oh, I'm so scared. From what Emma says, your mom couldn't give two shits about you, that's why you're here living in this little piece of shit town." I stay silent. I know Emma's not the biggest fan of me, but that's no reason to spread my personal life to the biggest asshole in the world.

"That's why you're here in this lot, so you can watch Emma be with the one person she truly wants to be with. She couldn't care less what you think about me, she knows that it's her life and this is how she's deciding to live it, with me." According to the look on her face, what Wes said is the total opposite of her true feelings.

"We've been at this for eight years, give it up, Wes."

"Emma, I think we need to go to my house, maybe we should go up to my room. We can continue what we started." He looks over to her, smirking. Her forced smile smile towards him says okay, but the look on her face shows fear and worry.

"Emma, come here." I say, ignoring Wes' whiny voice trying to get her to say no. She nods slowly and walks over to me. "Did he hurt you?" I ask and my question is answered when I see a few small purplish spots on the side of her neck and her tear stained face, eyes red from crying. She didn't do a very good job of hiding it, if that's what she wanted. I'm sure Wes wanted me to see. "Are these all from him?"

I struggle to keep my voice low enough that he can't hear. She looks at the ground, nodding slowly. More tears slide down her face and she clenches her eyes closed.

"I was at your house, I don't know how but he got inside when the doors were locked. He gave me no choice but to come with him. It's all he's been doing all day. I can't escape, he had me trapped. He's hurting me in every way he can think of. I listened to what you said, I promise I listened." She kept talking but all I could think of was a way he could have gotten into the house and why anyone would want to do that to someone.

"Emma, I need to get you out of here. I'll take you home after and I promise to keep you safe. This won't be easy, but I need you to tell him you're going to the shop across the street, to buy makeup or something to cover the spots that he gave you up, and you want to go alone. If he tells you no, I want you to hit him as hard as possible can and run as fast as you can. I'm going to walk around that corner, meet me there and I'll bring you home. Got it?" I ask and she nods quickly. She wipes the tears off her face with her hands and walks back over to him.

I turn around and walk towards the corner I said I'd be at. There's a big bush, I guess I can hide behind that until she comes.

Grace

It's the end of the schoolday and Louis still isn't back. What could be so important that he's been gone this long? Is he with another girl? I don't think he could do that, although Lexi did warn me about his reputation.

I can't help but worry about what he's doing. I check my phone for any messages when I get to my locker and find one from Louis.

'Sorry I didn't come back today, it's a long story. I'll explain it all once you get to my place.'

I sigh and put my phone in my pocket, closing my locker, and walk outside. Louis drove me to school this morning and his car isn't here, which means I'll have to walk to his house.

It took me about thirty minutes to get there, and it would have been much quicker if we would have met up at my house. I knock on the door and he opens it almost immediately.

"I know what you're thinking and I'm sorry. It was important." He says, closing the door behind me.

"What could be more important than school?" I say sarcastically.

"Everything, especially the one family member that actually cares about me, even if it's just a little bit." I look up at him, confused.

"What do you mean?" I ask.

"I got a text from a number I didn't know, saying to meet them and I'll find out who they were. When I got there, I found Wes and Emma. He's been hurting her all morning and wanted to show her off in front of me.

The only reason I didn't tell you why I really had to leave was that I wanted to keep you safe. I didn't come back to school because once I found Emma, I wanted to make sure she was alright and take her home. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you left to save someone you care about." I smile slightly. "I would have done the same thing."

"You're not mad?"

"No, why would I be mad?"

"Past experiences." He sighs, sitting down on the couch.

"Is Emma okay?"

"Other than being bruised up and scared to leave the house for a while, yeah. She's sleeping right now, after everything that went on she was exhausted. She plans to stay here for a while though, and I plan to protect her. I can't miss school to stay home with her, so she may just come so she knows that she's safe from Wes. Not that I want her to do that because he's there too, but it's the only choice we have. If I could stay home, I would." I sigh heavily.

I continue wondering why someone would use another person the way Wes does, and so many other people do.