Page 9 of Breaking Emilee

“Emilee, I’ll tell you, again and again, every day if you need to hear it. I’m not going anywhere. I’m not the bad guy. Fuck, I want to be your friend!” He shouts at me. I pull the phone away from my ear because, damn, that was loud.

I can’t help but smile. I say, “Okay.” I want to bring up the no girlfriend comment. Could Vanessa have been lying when she said he was her boyfriend? I don’t know, but I need to quickly decide who I’ll believe.

“So, you need to speak to my mom, huh?” He asks after a few minutes of silence.

“Well, I don’t, but my grandpa does.”

“Okay, I’ll go get her.” I can hear a door shut on his end of the phone. “So, is this your cellphone? Or is it still broken?” At the library today, he asked to see my phone, so he could program his number. I didn’t want to tell him I didn’t have one, so I lied then and now.

“No, it’s not. This is our house phone. Remember I said they do things old school.”

“It’s cool. I’ll get your number soon. So how are we going to do this?” I roll my eyes even though he can’t see me.

“Just put your mom on the phone, Parker.” I hear him laugh before a woman’s voice comes through the line. I explain to his mom what’s going on, and she quickly agrees to talk to my Papa. Walking into the living room, I clear my throat, hoping I’m not disturbing him too much.

“Sir, I have Parker’s mom on the phone, is now a good time for you to speak with her?” I ask while covering the mic. He holds out his hand without replying to me, but at least he looks at me instead of the tv. Handing him the phone, I turn walking back to my room. I feel like I’ll collapse soon if I don’t sit down. I know he’ll take his time deciding if I can go to Parker’s house. I want him to say yes and no at the same time. I’m scared and confused by Parker.

Vanessa said he was hers, but he said he wasn’t seeing anyone. It’s possible that she was just lying to me to hurt me. But that was her voice I heard, and she called him baby. My head says I can’t trust him, but my heart says I can, and that bitch wants Parker. I want to know everything about this mysterious man who wants to know me. My heart tells me that I can trust him and that he won’t hurt me.

Sitting down on my bed, I pull my math book toward me, trying to focus on the problems due tomorrow. It isn’t much longer until my Papa pops his head into the room to let me know I can go to Parkers. I, of course, have to be home by seven and am told again to not let my duties slack. “Thank you, sir. I promise I won’t,” I say as he walks out of my bedroom. I’m so tired that I know I need some caffeine if I’m going to get these problems done. Heading to the kitchen, I settle on making myself a huge cup of black coffee.

As the coffee finishes and I fill a mug, Carly comes in through the front door with Adam. I take one look at her and have the answer to my cell phone problem. I just have to get her to go along with it. Only one way to find out, “Hey, Carly, I have a question that I need help with. Think you can take a look, please?” Adam groans, but she slaps him on the chest and follows me. Ever since that night, she’s always trying to get me to talk to her, but I can never bring myself to do it. I always just tell her I’m fine. I don’t think she buys it, but she leaves it alone. She always makes sure I know she’s there if I need anything.

Walking into my room, I sit down on the bed. She hasn’t even made it into the room when she notices my math book. “Girl, I don’t know anything about math.” She says, laughing. I just shut my book and let out a giggle. She’s one of the few people who can get that kind of reaction from me.

“No, not homework problem but boy problem,” I say, the last part so low I’m unsure if she hears me. Her eyes get huge, so I know she did. Quietly she shuts my door and sits down on my bed.

“Tell me everything,” she says, grabbing my hands.

I tell her everything about Parker and how we got paired to work together in English as quickly as possible. I tell her how he makes me feel and how he seems interested in getting to know me. I do, however, leave out everything about Vanessa and how I’m unsure if I can trust him. I can’t tell her that without everything coming out. She just listens and never says a word.

“I lied about having a cell phone when he asked for my number. You know how my grandparents are. They don’t want me to have one, but I want to be able to talk to him whenever I want.” I get up walking to my dresser, where I pull out my top drawer. I’ve hidden all the money I’ve been saving to help me get out of here one day. “I’m wondering if you don’t mind taking this.” I hand her the money.

“And buy whatever cheap phone the dollar store has.” I know I can’t afford a popular style, but how the phone looks don’t matter to me. I just need a way to talk to Parker. If I’m honest with myself, I just want to feel normal. Sitting beside her, I tell her, “There should be enough there to get a cheap one and at least a month’s worth of minutes.” I’ll have to find a way to pay for more minutes at the end of the month, but I’ll worry about that later.

I’m just about to ask her to drop it off at the window later when she abruptly stands up from my bed. “Grab your purse, girl,” she says, walking out the door. She doesn’t stop, but I grab my purse, unaware of what’s happening. Walking out the door, I hear her talking to my Papa, “Hey Papa, I need to go to the store. I started my period and need to get some tampons. I asked Emilee if she wanted to ride. We won’t be gone long, just long enough to go to town and right back. I promise.” I stop dead in my tracks, a sweat breaking out at the nape of my neck. Holy hell, she told a bald-faced lie right to his face. I have a feeling he won’t believe her and will find some way to blame me. But for the second time tonight, I’m wrong.

“Sure, sweetie. Be safe.” He says. Carly turns around, smiling at me, then walks out the door while I stand frozen.

I can’t believe that worked. I’m actually going to town to get a phone and, for the first time, blatantly going against my grandparents’ rules. It’s beyond pathetic that I’m the only seventeen-year-old that doesn’t have one. My brothers have had them for years, and Levi is younger than me. The whole way to town, she asks me questions about Parker and how excited I am to spend time with him. I admit how nervous it makes me to be doing something like this, not just spending time with Parker but lying to my grandparents.

“Emilee, you know I love your grandparents, but the rules they give you are absurd. It’s okay to live your life for you, babe.” She tells me right as we pull into the parking lot. I hope Adam knows how lucky he is to have her.

“My brother better never fuck up and lose you.”

* * *

“Carly, not that phone. It’s too expensive,” I say, trying to pull the smartphone from her hand and put it back on the shelf. Shaking her head, she just grabs two phone cards and heads to the counter. “Carly, stop. You can’t do this. I have the money for it.” I say, running to try to stop her. She ignores me and swipes her card to pay for the phone and the two months’ worth of minutes. Finally, after we leave the store, she speaks to me.

“Shut up and take the phone. You deserve the best the store has, and that’s it. Save your money for something else, maybe something cute to wear on one of your study dates.” I can’t help the tears streaming down my face as I pull her into a hug.

We sit there long enough for her to show me how to set it up. Even though I’m nervous about taking too long, she assures me I won’t get in trouble. She helps me set up a password so no one can get into it, and she also puts her number in there so we can talk. “Send me a message, then text your man,” she says, pulling out of the parking lot while calling Adam to tell him we are on our way back.

“He isn’t my man,” I say, blushing because I wish he was.

My nerves get the best of me. “What do I say, Carly?” I have to wipe my hands on my pants because they are wet from sweating. How come this is so nerve-racking? He said he wanted me to use his number, right? I know this is the edge of the cliff. If I text him, I’ll follow my heart and trust him. I’ll follow my head and keep my distance from him if I don’t.

Carly just giggles, “Keep it light and just say hey.”

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