Chase's POV
Mr Rudd and I had a showdown in the class.
I could hear the sound of Emma's breath.
She was having a hard time keeping up with reality. And I couldn't blame her.
Many would call what I was doing 'love bombing', and I wished I could make it easier for her, but that was just how it worked for me.
"Sorry about that" I apologized to her as she took her seat again.
"Is this really what you want? You're trying so hard to ruin me, can you stop?" Emma was in tears.
It hurt to hear that that was what she really thought of me.
"Emma, do you really think I saved you a seat to make fun of you?" I asked her. She was pained and I understood that, but she was being irrational too. "That's a bit unfair."
"Unfair is coming to school half scared I could have a baby in my stomach and having to be the clown in my first class. That's what unfair sounds like." She replied.
I didn't want to draw Mr Rudd's attention further, else I risked a more serious confrontation with him.
I put my hand over her shoulder, to which she leaned forward, avoiding me, in response.
"Emma, come on." I said, pissed at the scene we must have been creating for those behind up, including Jessica.
"I just want to live through today." She replied to me.
I took out a piece of paper and wrote 'See you at 4pm' and passed it to her. With that done, I walked out of Mr Rudd's class.
Outside the class, I didn't really know what to do either.
Things were going down for me too, silently.
Grayson was giving me cold shoulders. No one was really on my side anymore. But all that didn't matter so long as Emma was on my side.
I spent the rest of the day in the library, reading up and doing research. I wasn't so keen on being around people I knew.
In one corner of the library, I spent all the rest of the day.
I was so tired I didn't know when I passed out, to be woken up by the librarian at eight pm.
I wished it was only a dream.
I pinched myself hard before glancing from my wristwatch to the wall clock.
"Chase! You're so fuckin dumb!" I screamed at myself.
There was no one else in the library, so the librarian didn't need to issue me a strike.
I packed my stuff and left either way. I had disappointed Emma and given her one last thing to add to her list of reasons to never want to talk to me anymore.
On the walk back home, I gave thought to what we were supposed to be and what we were becoming.
My stepsister was slowly becoming the girl of my dreams. When I saw Emma, I knew I'd always want more.
Being hostile worked for as long as it lasted. Jessica began to irritate me and get on my nerves,that was the moment I decided that I'd be a sad person for the rest of my poor life if I didn't for once, throw caution into the wind.
Jessica didn't see it coming, me too.
She had been busting my phone up since the sex during the school trip.
I badly wanted for her to leave me alone.
I lied to Emma about not sleeping with her, and for the sake of Emma's already broken trust in me and my own sanity, I needed to keep it that way.
Jessica kept sending nudes and voice notes and all sorts of messages we used to exchange until about two months ago.
I used to be the cool kid, hell I still was on the outside, but inside, I felt clueless.
Tables were turning, and rugs were dragged from beneath my feet, but I had to wait for it all to unravel to get to the bottom of it.
It wasn't a long walk home, and in about twenty minutes, I was at my father's house.
Many friends I had invited over never stopped yapping about how grand it was, but all it was to me was really a fancy prison.
I barely had any relationship with Mark, my father.
The only reason I stayed home more was firstly because of Emma, and secondly, because I still needed his money.
The environment was making me a sicko. There was nothing homely about the orgies that took place every single time between domestic staff every single morning my dad stepped out.
I wasn't feeling up to going in, so I went to the swing Emma was always on every single night since before I moved back and all she had been doing was hiding away from me.
The swing overlooked a grade of roses and orchids. The amazing color blend provided the most perfect visual ms for relaxing.
"Why are you here?" Emma asked.
"I was bored. You?" I asked her.
"Nothing. Just relaxing since I have been stood up by my four pm appointment."Emma said with so much venom.
"I'm sure he didn't mean to do that." I apologized, keeping one eye on her while looking as remorseful as I could.
"Oh, I'm sure he did. He's just a nasty little bastard who's been trying to ruin my life." She said, staring me straight in the eye.
She was justified for how eye felt, and I couldn't even deny it.
"Do you want to know something interesting?" Emma asked, smiling a humorless smile. "I didn't want to wait. I knew he would disappoint me. I lied to my best friend about him, and how he keeps paying me back is by dragging my already dead reputation through the mud." Emma was crying, and her voice was cracking.
"I'm sorry, Emma. I went to the library and slept off there." I explained to her.
Emma laughed for a long time after hearing it. It did sound a bit funny.