Page 38 of Echoes of Us

Seriously. What in the hell am I doing?

Chapter 41

Teagan

This was the weirdest weekend of my entire life. Saturday morning, I woke up early and confused where I was. It took me a few minutes to not only realize I was in Emmaline’s room, but that she was asleep behind me with her arm slung over my waist. Why is she spooning me? I don’t really remember falling asleep last night. I think we fell asleep facing each other. Whatever. I need to get out of here. She must be a really hard sleeper because I moved out of bed without her waking up.

I made sure to leave ibuprofen and Gatorade to leave next to her bed before I went to lunch with Sean. I received a ‘thank you’ text later that day, but that was all I heard from her the rest of the weekend. Eve told EJ and I that Em wasn’t feeling well Saturday night, and again all day yesterday. I assumed she was feeling the hangover. Or more likely, she wanted to avoid Devan at church.

I woke up this morning excited to see her. I have been worried about her, but any attempt to knock on her door was ignored. EJ and I have been downstairs eating breakfast and waiting for her for over thirty minutes. After checking her watch, Eve yells, “Emmaline, you’re going to make everyone late if you don’t hurry up!”

A few minutes later, she finally comes down. Woah. She looks horrible. She has dark bags under her eyes, and they are swollen from, I assume, crying all weekend. Her hair is not perfect like it normally is, and she is not wearing any makeup. I really don’t like seeing her so… not her.

The car ride goes how I would have expected. The minute the engine come to life, she cranks up the music so EJ and I can’t speak to her. Even when she drops EJ off, she doesn’t turn it down to say goodbye to him.

I turn down the music as we drive to the senior parking lot. “Emmaline, is this about Devan? I know you’re upset but you are acting super weird,” I remark.

“It’s everything. I’ll get over it,” she replies flatly.

Before I can respond, Emmaline groans, “Great…I did not want to deal with this today.”

I look up to see Devan leaning against his car. He is parked in the spot next to her assigned parking spot. “Please don’t say anything. Let’s just go inside and ignore him,” she demands. She takes a deep breath before exiting.

“Em, please talk to me. Just let me explain what happened,” Devan immediately begins to beg.

“No, Devan. It’s done. Go away,” Emmaline replies trying to walk past him.

He steps in front of her. “Just give me two minutes, please. You owe me that,” he continues.

“I owe you?” she bristles, “Fuck. Off. Devan.” She pushes his arm to go around him.

“You are going to give me two minutes Emmaline,” he demands, grabbing her by the elbow and jerking her back toward him, his face twisted with rage.

Normally, I would have let them deal with this on their own. When he put his hands on her, all bets were off.

“Let her go, asshole!” I push between them and shove his hand off of her. I move her behind me.

His eyes are aflame with anger as he looks between us. Before I can react, he grabs my shoulders and shoves me to the ground sideways. I feel an intense stinging as my hands and my elbows hit the concrete. Gasps and startled voices fill the air around us.

“Devan! What are you doing?” Emmaline screams, bending down and grabbing my hands. She turns them over to see the scrapes already bleeding.

“What the hell, Devan?” Mills yells as she runs up to us. “Do you feel powerful throwing a girl on the ground? Does that make you feel like a real man?”

“Stay out of this, Mills. This is between me, Emmaline, and this pile of trash!” he shouts, pointing at me.

Before she can say anything, he looks around, noticing the crowd gathering. He smiles down at me, “Emmaline told me about your faggot best friend. Now I see why you two are getting along so well all of the sudden.” He motions between Emmaline and me. “You must be just like him. Is that what it is, Teagan? You want Emmaline?” He stares at Emmaline. “You want a dyke instead of me? By all means, babe.”

Emmaline immediately releases my hands, crawling away from me. My stomach drops at his words, her immediate recoil, and at that word. She doesn’t know about me, but after that reaction I know what she will think. I look at her to find some trace of empathy, but all I see is that emotionless look from a few weeks ago. The look I couldn’t get out of my head each time she hurt me. I stand and walk away. Everyone around me laughing and whispering ‘dyke’.

Emmaline keeps showing me who she is; I need to start believing it.

Chapter 42

Emmaline

Shit. Shit. Shit. I snap out of my panic too late. Teagan has gone into the building and the parking lot is a roar of laughter. I look at Devan in disbelief. He shrugs, “You should thank me. I bet that will get her to leave.” He steps toward me, softening his face. “You know I was just kidding about you wanting her. I just wanted to see her reaction and it was so worth it.”

I slap him across the face and start toward the building. I have to find Teagan. She isn’t in the halls or bathroom, so I decide to check her first period class. Not there.

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