The Secrets That Tore Us Apart

4

"Do you want to watch the new Lion King movie with me and Nathan?" Hannah asked when she approached Emma by her locker.

"And be the third wheel. No thank you" Emma said.

"Would I ever let you be the third wheel?" Hannah asked. She had a point. "If there is someone that should worry about being the third wheel, it's Nathan" 

That got a smile out of Emma. "Sure, I'll go with you"

It had been a week of school and it certainly did not get any easier. Ever since Jack had approached Emma on the stairs, he had tried to call her once, text her three times and write to her when she was online on Facebook a few times. Every time asking if she could meet up to talk. She had mostly been offline after that. Emma's parents had asked a few times why Emma and Jack where not together anymore, and Emma had tried to change the topic of the conversation the same amount of times. She did not want to talk about it.

On the evening when Emma was going to see The Lion King with Hannah and Nathan, she felt like dressing up. She figured she would feel a bit better if she did. She went through her closet and found a pair of black skinny jeans, that she hadn't worn since the time when her and Jack went to watch a hockey game together. He had told her that her ass looked hot in those pants and she had blushed and felt confident. 

She reached into her closet again and grabbed a white blouse with a soft flounce by the neck of it. She decided against it when she remembered that she had worn it when her and Jack had been to a very fancy restaurant for her 17th birthday. They had ended that evening by sitting in the trunk of his car, by the beach, watching the sun set over the ocean. It had been magical.

She instead grabbed a dark blue t-shirt, with the brand's logo written in golden on the front of it. Memories came back once again. This was the shirt she had worn on the party on the day when she had first met Jack. When she had gotten her first kiss.

Did she have any clothes that she had not worn when with him?

She found a worn out pink-ish t-shirt with a teddy bear on the front of it. It was her
today-I-don't-care-how-I-look-shirt and she definitely had not worn it when with Jack. She always wanted to look good when she was with him.

And she was not wearing that shirt tonight to the movies. 

Emma found a black blouse that she knew she had worn at some point with Jack, but she didn't connect a certain memory to it. This one will have to do, she thought. She matched the whole outfit by putting on a pair of black heeled boots.

Emma curled her hair and decided on some golden jewelry, one bracelet of which she had gotten from Jack, when he had been in London with his family and he had seen that very bracelet in a store and thought of her.

Gosh, it seemed like everything Emma owned reminded her of Jack. 

"Woah girl. You cleaned up nicely. You know it's just the movies, right?" Hannah joked. 

Hannah herself wore the simple blue jeans, white t-shirt and white sneakers-look. That combination always worked. Emma laughed at her comment had threw her phone, keys and chopstick into a small, black purse.

Nathan had had basketball practice, so he was meeting Hannah and Emma by the movies. Emma and Hannah talked during the whole ride there. And when they parked the car Emma had a hard time controlling her laughter after Hannah had told her how Nathan had came eye to eye with a huge ray-fish when they were diving in Italy. Apparently he had never been more scared in his life and Hannah had to cuddle him all night and convince him that ray-fish don't eat humans.

Emma and Hannah were still laughing when they rounded the corner to the movie theater. Emma stopped laughing immediately when she saw who Nathan was standing next to.

No.

Hannah stopped laughing too and must've given Nathan a very deadly look, because he raised his hands as if surrendering and asked "What? He asked if he could come." 

That made Jack turn around and his eyes landed on Emma. Emma looked down, because she couldn't bare to look at him.  She regretted having dressed up so much and wanted to go back home and change. 

Hannah turned to Emma asking if she was okay, or if she wanted to go home. But Emma wanted to see this movie. And she wanted to hang with her friends, even if that meant that Jack would be there too. But she would not talk to Jack. She told Hannah that she was fine and then all four of them walked inside.

Nathan and Jack walked in front of Hannah and Emma. Jack sat down first. Next to him sat Nathan. Hannah was next to him. And Emma sat down at the end of the row. Nathan and Hannah were holding hands as Jack and Nathan were having a conversation. Emma kept her eyes at the phone, scrolling through Instagram. She felt Jack's eyes on her but she didn't once look in his direction. 

Emma put her phone down once the lights dimmed and she felt a reassuring squeeze on her hand from Hannah. She looked over at Hannah and smiled in the darkness.

When the movie had ended Emma was feeling good. That was until she remembered that Jack was closer to her than she wanted him to be and that he probably would try to talk to her after.

The four of them went to the hall outside the cinema. Hannah and Nathan needed to go to the bathrooms so they left Emma and Jack standing alone. Emma braced herself for what Jack would say, but he kept quiet. And so did Emma.