Page 7 of Breaking Emilee

While staring into her eyes, I see something on the right side of her face, something I didn’t see in the library because she never fully faced me. Right below her hairline on her beautiful face is a bruise, not a big one but something or someone put it there. My vision takes on a red hue as I feel my anger bubble over. I run my fingers over it as gently as possible, but she pulls her head back instantly.

“Don’t,” she says, pulling her face from my grasp.

“What happened to your head?” I demand, unable to keep my emotions in check anymore. I look closer at her to see if I can see anything else. My eyes stop at her right wrist. It’s wrapped in an ace bandage. “What happened to your wrist Emilee,” I ask, pulling her face back. Mrs. Crawford walks in, but I don’t give a rat’s ass. I want my answers so I can find the person responsible and leave bruises on them.

Emilee sighs, seeing that I’m not letting this go. “I tripped over the dog this weekend,” she tries to lie to me, but I know it’s nothing but bullshit.

“Bullshit, tell me the fucking truth.” I know I need to be gentle with her, but I can’t control my anger right now. She doesn’t have time to reply before Mrs. Crawford calls us all to attention. I lean back in the chair, seething. My body is shaking, and I have to cross my arms and grab my sides with my hands to help me calm down.

I’m sure Emilee would have just lied to me anyways. She looks shocked like she doesn’t understand my concern for her. I can see the mistrust in her eyes before she turns away from me to pay attention. “Today, I’m going to pair you guys and gals up. You will be working on a group project together. The paper I’m passing out has what I expect from your group. You need to agree on a book that has been remade into a movie. I will have to sign off on the book and movie. Once you receive my approval, you will both read the book and watch the movie. Together I want you to make a presentation about how different or similar the movie and book are. You will have to present your findings in front of the class and write a paper.” She says while walking around the room, handing out the paper. I take one and just sit it on the table, not really caring what is written on it. “This will be due on Monday, so you have Wednesday through Friday and the weekend to work on it. I suggest you get started as soon as possible.”

I let her voice become background noise because I can’t find a fuck to give about what she is saying. I’m still pissed about the picture and the look I saw in Emilee’s eyes. I don’t believe that she tripped, and it pisses me off that someone physically hurt her. What pisses me off most is that she is lying to protect them. Why? Is it her parents? I have this overwhelming urge to protect her, but in order to do this, she has to stop lying to me.God damn it!I want to do something but don’t know what to do. I’ve never had to deal with something like this before.

Fuck!Mrs. Crawford cuts into my thoughts when she says she is pairing me with Emilee.Yes!She has to talk to me now. Maybe I can find out what it is about her that makes me unable to think about anything else. This also means that we will have to spend time at each other’s house, and I can see if she’s getting hurt by someone there.

I turn to the right to see Emilee’s reaction to the news that she is my partner. She stares at me like I’m the last person she wants to be paired with.Too bad, sunshine, you are stuck with me.Mrs. Crawford must have finished her speech while I was lost, staring into the eyes of this confusing girl. People around me are picking up their stuff and heading for the door. “Where is everyone going?” Even though I don’t know, I stand up and grab my stuff just like everyone else.

Emilee doesn’t even look at me when she answers, “Mrs. Crawford is giving us till the end of the hour to go to the library and discuss our project.” Following her out of the door, I don’t have to shorten my steps because she is only a couple inches shorter than me. I do, however, walk a few steps behind her so I can stare at her ass. What can I say? It’s a nice ass. I find myself taking in deep breaths so I can smell her because, damn, she smells good. Like she tries extra hard to make sure she doesn’t stink.

“You know I can just do the whole assignment. I can even write your paper for you, so you don’t have to worry about it,” Emilee mumbles to the floor.What the fuck? That’s not happening.How does this girl not run into every wall when all she looks at is the floor? Is her self-esteem really that low that she doesn’t think she can look up? I know the answers to the questions already, yes. My heart physically aches for her because of what she’s going through, but at the same time, it hurts for her to be mine.

“Ah, not going to happen. I’ll pull my weight in this project.” I speed up so I’m right in front of her, facing her, and stop so fast that she runs smack into me. I put my arms out and wrapped them around her waist, so she won’t fall. I put my fingers under her chin for the second time today, raising her face until I can see the eyes that haunt me daily. “I’m not like the rest of the people in this school. I want you to be my partner, Emilee. I see you, and whether you like it or not, I’m not going anywhere.” I state truthfully because I’m not going to give her a chance to tell me no.

“You can’t do that. I can’t be friends with you,” she says, pulling her chin out of my grasp.

“Why the fuck not?” I grab her again.

“Never mind,” she says, trying to go out around me.

“Fuck that,” I growl, stopping her. I grab her hand and pull her the rest of the way into the library, trying to ignore how her hand in mine makes every nerve end sing. Also, how my dick is half hard from this slight contact. I haven’t had to worry about him acting on his own accord in years. What the hell is this girl doing to me, and why can’t she be my friend? It doesn’t matter why because she will be my friend and then she will become more than that, she will be mine. Even if it’s the hardest thing I do. I will be someone she can trust. I will fix her world completely. I feel deep in my gut that this girl is meant to be in my life, and my gut has never steered me wrong yet.

CHAPTERSIX

Sitting at the dining room table, I’m so nervous I can’t stop my hands from shaking. To some, asking permission to go to someone’s house to work on homework isn’t a big deal, but for me, it is. Since September, I haven’t asked my grandparents for anything, not to go anywhere or have anyone over. They don’t say anything to me if they notice, but I don’t think they have. My hands are shaking so badly that I have to put my fork down or risk dropping it. Adam and Papa are talking about the job they are working on. My grandfather owns his own construction company, and Adam works as a foreman on the crew. Seeing my opening when they both take a bite of food, I look at my Papa and just spit it out, not stopping to breathe. “Papa, today in English class Mrs. Crawford assigned a group project due on Monday. She grouped us up in pairs with another student to work together. We have to choose a book that has been adapted into a movie and compare them to each other.”

I pull the paper out of my pocket and hand it to him, hoping he can’t see it shaking. Taking the paper from me, he scans it. All I want to do is word vomit, but I control myself enough that I don’t. He finally places the paper in front of him and looks at me. “Have you figured out what book you want to work on?” His reaction shocks me because he never asks questions about my schoolwork as long as I have good grades.

“Um. No, we haven’t. There wasn’t enough time to discuss it in school. However, I told my partner I had to talk to you before agreeing to anything.” I say, knowing that the fact that I’m asking for permission first will win me brownie points. At least, I think so, but when he looks at me like my admission confuses him, I fear that I have fucked this up already. “What I mean is that I know that money is tight and that we’ll have to pick a movie I already own or one that can be found online.” He nods his head and continues to eat without saying anything to me

I should keep my mouth quiet, but I just continue talking. “It will be easier to watch the movie online, but since we can’t do that here, I’ll have to go to their house,” I say, trying to keep my voice steady and strong.

“I see.” This is the only response I get from him as he continues to eat dinner. I try to take a bite of the food I prepared, but my mouth feels like I ate handfuls of sand. So instead, I take a small sip of my water.

“This project is a big part of our final grade this quarter, and I want to get a good grade. So, I’m letting him make the final decision on the book. Since he’s not that big into reading, and I am. I’m afraid that if I….” I stop mid-sentence because what I just said registers with my brain. Everyone at the table turns to me, staring.Fuck, Fuck!I just told him my partner is a guy, the one rule they have gotten tougher on. My plan that I worked on all afternoon crumbles.

Papa stops with his fork halfway to his mouth. “Him,” that word comes out of his mouth full of venom. I know how this will go. There’s no way he’ll allow me to work with Parker. Leaning back in my chair, I look at my lap,

“Yes, sir, my partner is a guy in my class Parker. He’s new in town, and since he sits next to me in class, he’s paired with me.” This afternoon I tried to get out of this pairing with Parker and Mrs. Crawford. She told me no, just like Parker did. If I don’t work with him, my grade will drop, and I’m at risk of never getting out of here.

I can always tell when a lecture is coming my way by how they look at me. The exact look I’m getting from him now. “Emilee, you know our rules damn it. Why do you always have to push them?” He says as he slams his fist down on the table.

Our dishes rattle, and everyone stares at me like I’m the worst thing there. I know their rules by heart. I don’t understand why I have these strict rules. I can’t hold back the sigh that slips from my mouth before answering him.

Pain radiates through me as my Nana smacks me. “Girl, don’t you be popping an attitude.” I can feel my eyes sting as I try hard not to cry.

“Yes, ma’am. I apologize. Yes, sir, I do know the rules. The problem is I can’t switch partners, and it would be unfair of me to make him do all the work. I offered to do all the work myself but was told no.” I reply to the table. I’m too afraid to lift my eyes from my plate of food. I don’t even bother to hide the emotions in my voice. “I know there must be an adult or someone with me for me to go anywhere.” As I say the last bit, I look up at my brothers, hoping they can see how much this means to me and, for once, do something nice for me. They aren’t even looking at me. What the fuck did I do to deserve this?

I can’t just back down. I have too much riding on this grade to not try one more time. “What if Parkers’ mom is there every time I need to go over there? It should only be once or twice. I will ensure this doesn’t interrupt my responsibilities here at home.” I already anticipated that my responsibilities would be brought up. As soon I stepped off the bus this afternoon, I started doing extra chores. I mopped and swept the whole trailer, even though I did that yesterday. All the laundry was caught up, folded, and hung up for everyone. I even deep cleaned the kitchen while making dinner. I’m bone tired and still have to do the dinner dishes, plus my homework. I know it will be hard to keep this all up, but it’s only for a couple of days.

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