Chapter 19: Emmett's Point of View
I watched her brown hair swishing innocently against her back. It had been blonde, and as much as I was for the natural look, the brunette suited her. Unfortunately, it also suited Andy. He was a sucker for brunettes. I had seen him do this to too many girls and I knew what would come next. I stiffened. I had seen this happen at least fifty times and yet I had never felt this-this-I wasn’t actually sure what this was. But I did know that it made me want to go over and rip Andy from limb to limb. This was ridiculous, I barely knew her. The last time I had danced with her we had ended up fighting for no apparent reason. And yet here I was, wanting to destroy my one of my best friends for doing what he was about to do. It’s probably because she reminds me of Crystal. I thought they were friends so she was like a sister to me. But that didn’t make sense because I didn’t really care what Crystal did. I had seen this happen to her and not really cared. And because Crystal and I weren’t close, I was even less close to her friends. But Sophie was nothing like Crystal. I had been trying to figure out why they were friends in the first place, money and status was probably enough for Crystal, but I didn’t think Sophie was like that. When we danced at my house, I assumed that she must be, and was just putting up an act that she wasn’t, but now, well now I didn’t know what to think. As his hands slipped lower and lower down her back, I snapped. I dropped the hands of the girl I had been dancing with, (Maria maybe?) and rushed over to them. I grabbed his hands off her and stared into his eyes, feeling a deep loathing for him.
“Watch it Andy.” My voice sounded cold, foreboding, surprising even me.
“Hey man,” Andy hesitated, “We’re just dancing.”
“Yeah,” I said sarcastically, “And now you’ve just finished dancing.”
“Leave me alone Emmett.” Her voice sounded furious, and even that made my heart melt. What was wrong with me? I hesitated, not knowing what to respond. “I’m a big girl; I know what I’m doing.” She snapped out at me.
“I don’t think you do,” I added worriedly.
“And I don’t think you know everything about me.” She said, her eyes like flames. “You know what Andy? I am going to take you up on that offer from before.” I panicked. He had already seduced her, they were walking away
“Absolutely.” Andy said smoothly, taking her hand and leading her away from me.
“What offer? What are you doing?” I said, saying anything that might stall her, even a little while, anything to make her think about going off and sleeping with this ape.
“Don’t worry about it Emmett.” She said. “And stop following us.” They walked up to the bar, and it took every fiber of will power in my body to not run after her and drag her away from him. She stayed a few feet back and Andy ordered a few cocktails. He handed her one and my body felt relief and panic in one moment. Relief that they weren’t doing anything serious yet, panic of what could happen to her if she was caught, if she got drunk, if he drugged the drinks. And now it was all panic. She chugged half the drink in one go, making me stare.
“Yeah! Party girl!” Collin called out. Lulu turned suddenly and I saw the eminent panic in her eyes as well, but Sophie ignored us both. Throwing all caution to the winds I rushed forward and took the drink out of her hand. .
“Andy, she’s 18!” I yelled.
“Don’t worry man,” he called back, “I paid off the bartender.” Sophie grabbed the drink back from me and swallowed the rest before I could snatch it back.
“You’re not my father, Emmett!” She shouted to me. I froze. Is that how she saw me old enough to be her father? Nearly I suppose. I was ten years older than her, why should I care what she did. I had done all this and worse by the time I was 18. I vowed to myself I would leave her alone unless something truly bad, that might affect her forever, like Andy and her- I cut myself off. I wouldn’t even say it. She grabbed a shot of something off the nearest server’s tray and after shooting it down nearly threw it back to him. She grabbed Andy’s hand and they danced like every guy in the world dreams of. It reminded me of how she had danced in the club the other day. How she had acted towards Holland. I thanked God he wasn’t here. Pretty soon another bar tender walked around with a tray of shots. Andy grabbed a few for them and those were soon followed by more. I didn’t keep count of how many but every time my muscles clenched and I imagined killing Andy about 50 different ways. She was obviously drunk but the idiot bar tenders didn’t seem to care. They kept giving her more and more. Finally Lulu grabbed my hand and whispered to me,
“Please do something. She is avoiding me and I know she would never do anything like this without provocation. She is going to do something she is going to regret and she is going to hate you even more when she does.” Her eyes were pleading and I realized that this must have been the girl Sophie had been talking about as we danced. It was strange, even now, in the midst of all of this, I still wanted to smile every time I thought about how close we were and her smile, and laugh as we danced. Then it hit me. She hated me. Lulu had just said that Sophie hated me.
“Why me? Why would she hate me for something she and that bastard do?” it came out sharper than I imagined.
“Look, she will never admit to this, she probably doesn’t even know, but it’s obvious to the rest of us.” Lulu began, “She is doing this because you told her not to, and she is doing it to spite you, to prove to herself that she doesn’t like you. She doesn’t want to like you, but she does, and it scares her because you are a connection to her old life, the life that nearly destroyed her.” She stopped suddenly. “Forget I said that.” She added, as if she said something she wasn’t supposed to. I frowned.
“Forget you said what?” I asked, confused at what was so bad in that sentence. She looked down.
“Please, just help me stop her.” I nodded and Lulu and I walked over. Just in time, we reached them. Sophie swayed on the spot and Andy and I grabbed her and gently guided her to the floor.
“I think I’m a little drunk.” She mumbled out.
“No, really, Soph? What has gotten in to you?” Lulu snapped out at her. She mumbled something unintelligible and I picked her up off the ground, ready to walk her out to my car.
“Put me down.” She said weakly. “I need to go get a cab.”
“Yeah right.” I said, more mad than I had realized I was. “You would probably run out in the street and get run over.”
“Put me down!” She said, with even less volume, if that was possible. She tried to roll out of my arms but they were wrapped to strongly around her.
“Oh, no you don’t.” I responded, okay I was a lot more mad than I had thought.
“I can’t see!” She suddenly yelled. Lulu sighed
“Open your eyes.” Rachel added, more calmly. I appreciated her cool thinking in a crisis. I readjusted her in my arms and she suddenly vomited, all over me. Collin, Andy and the other girl (Marissa maybe?), all cringed and stepped away. Rachel and Lulu reached over and helped me hold onto her. “Come on Soph, talk to me.” Rachel said, softly. Sophie mumbled something in reply. “You’ve got to say something.” All of a sudden, one of the bartenders came running over.
“Get her out of here!” he yelled. Sophie groaned at the noise. “I have to clean this all up. Get out! Now!” Michal appeared out of nowhere and handed him a few bills. His mouth dropped open. “Can I get you gentleman and your companions a cab?” he asked, polite again.
“Companions?” Lulu yelled out. “Do you know what you just did to the feminist movement? You have just offended me and I will be blogging about you tonight asshole!” Sophie groaned again.
“Lulu,” I said calmly, “I think Soph will appreciate it if you keep the noise level down.” Her eyes widened.
“Right,” she replied, quieter. “Sorry Soph.” I tightened my grip and carried her out to my car.
“Michal, can you give everyone else a ride home?” he nodded. “Lulu, do you want to come with me?” she nodded and muttered under her breath,
“And kick Sophie’s ass when she’s sober.” I smiled at her letting her know I had heard. She blushed. As we situated Sophie in the front seat of my McLaren F1 , Lulu climbed over my seat into the cramped back. I looked down at my shirt, thanking God I had thought to wear a cotton tank top underneath. I stripped off my ruined shirt and shot it over to a roadside trashcan. I ignored the looks coming from the girls, realizing too late what a mistake I had made. They were all struggling to buy the most basic of clothes; I didn’t want to imagine what they had done to get the money for the dresses tonight. And now I had made them think of me as a rich snob because I had thrown out a tee shirt that had cost more than working for an eight hour shift at minimum wage.
“Nice ride,” Lulu muttered. I smiled. As much as an aversion I had to my parents’ money, I was a sucker for sports cars.
“Sorry it’s so cramped back there.” I called back. Sophie groaned again and muttered something about the noise. “Sorry, Princess.” I said, sarcastically. She lashed out her arm in what I can only assume was meant as a punch. I barely felt it, and Lulu laughed.
“I live on the east side,” Lulu started giving directions stiffly. I shook my head, realizing what me knowing where she lived compromised, and what she was giving up to help her friend.
“We can go to my hotel.” I said. “I understand that you probably won’t want me knowing where you live.” Lulu sighed, and relaxed visibly. I dug my cell out of my pocket as we were sitting at a red light and tossed it to the back. “If you need to call someone about coming home later, like as in tomorrow.” I said, briefly. She smiled, thanked me and proceeded to dial the phone.
“Hey, Greg, it’s Lulu. Yeah, I know it’s late. Yeah, I bet I did.” She paused between each sentence, obviously getting an earful. “Will you shut up already? This is important!” Lulu sighed. “It’s about Soph.” The other end must have stopped talking immediately because she started her next sentence almost immediately. “Thank you. Look, Soph got a little upset with some people who were out here with us and is currently, um, well, okay she’s completely trashed. A friend of ours is taking us to their hotel so we can clean her up and get her sober before she comes to the noise at home, okay?” she paused again, “Yeah, she’s going to fine. I know he’s not! Look, tell him or don’t, it’s up to you, but we probably won’t get home until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I just wanted you to know so you don’t wake up and freak. And in case he gets home early.” She paused for nearly a minute and I could hear the voice on the other end pick up volume and intensity. “Yeah, I’ll take care of her. Emmett and I have got this.” She covered her mouth, mortified. I heard a pause on the other end, and then tried to drown the yelling that ensued. “Yes our friend is a guy! Okay? Get over it! No you are not coming to get us! Look, I have mace in my purse were going to be just fine!” she covered her eyes with her hand. “He’s a friend of Sophie’s from home. No Greg, you idiot, her home, as in Laguna Beach! Yes she knows he’s here, we were out with them at diner. No she wasn’t drunk then. Fine, but just to make you feel a little better, Soph did puke on him.” I cringed and was a little indignant when I heard laughter on the other end. “Look, I’ve got to go, Greg, I’ll call you tomorrow morning.” She hung up without another word.
Lulu looked a little embarrassed. After a long and quite awkward pause she said softly, “So that was my brother, Greg.” I nodded. “I figured I should let him know that we were okay in case he woke up tomorrow morning early. My dad’s out of town so I won’t bother him with this until he gets home.” She sounded meek, completely against her character, as far as I had it figured out. I nodded again. We pulled up in front of my hotel and the valet rushed up to take open my door for me. I jumped out, and rushed around to open Sophie’s door as Lulu crawled out mine. I was just in time. As I shut her car door, she vomited again; of course it was all over me. I saw the valet’s disgust and the doorman cringe, knowing he would be helping take her up to my room. He snapped his fingers and a young man rushed to his side, he pointed at the ground at our feet and the man, his shoulders dropping walked inside returning moments later with a bucket and sponge.
“Sorry,” I said briefly.
“Wow, Soph, great stomach for alcohol, huh?” Lulu said, grabbing her friends arm and pulling it out of the way as she let out another splash of the strong smelling liquid. Lulu pulled off her friends shoes, which had somehow avoided all the mess and I scooped Sophie up like a baby. We walked in through the revolving door, Lulu pushing while I followed closely behind. I carried Sophie to the elevators, stepped inside, ignoring the strange looks from those around me. I silently thanked Lulu and Sophie for wearing appropriate clothing. In fact, I realized as I waited for people to finish filing into the elevator, Lulu’s dress looked designer.
“P, please.” I asked the people near the buttons. If they had stared before, it was nothing now. Someone classy enough to stay in the penthouse suite, wearing jeans and a see through tank top, with a drunk, nearly passed out girl in his arms, her vomit still on his shoes, and another girl who appeared in shock from all the glamour around her at his side. We must be quite a sight.
We walked into my suite and Lulu’s mouth dropped open. “Okay Emmett,” she said, “forget Sophie, will you marry me?” I laughed. Sophie made a little noise again and turned in my arms. She was now clinging to my neck in a way that, despite the smell, made my heart beat faster and faster each minute. I laid her out on the master bed and turned to Lulu.
“We need to clean her up a bit. Do you think you could,” I stopped, not wanting to end that sentence. Lulu held up a hand.
“No worries, go,” she stopped, “I don’t know, watch TV, count your gold, whatever someone like you does.” I looked at her disparagingly.
“I’m just like you Lulu,” I tried to convince her.
“Yeah, okay.” She snorted at me. “Now go!” I didn’t need to be told again. I left the room immediately and flipped on the TV. I found a rerun of that day’s basketball game. Normally, I would be hooked, but I found myself pacing, wondering what was going on next door, I wanted to help, but mostly I felt the lack of Sophie’s arms from around my neck. I wanted to rewind time and put them back. I shook my head. What was wrong with me? I was acting like a fool for someone who had insulted me, made me madder than I had been in a long time, and then proceeded to dump the contents of her stomach on me. I thought back to the party that had brought us together in the first place. I thought about how I had thought that she was using everyone in the room for her own gain. The party, after which I had woken up to her screams, screams that chilled me to the very bone. Unable to walk in and wake her up, I had gotten Crystal to do it. I had listened to her lie about what she had seen and done for her friend, listened to her complain the next morning, and I had left the room to get away, and then left the state. I paced some more. Looking at my watch, I sighed. It hadn’t been two minutes. I called Michal as I waited. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey man,” he started out. “Did you get her home okay?”
“I brought her back to my hotel room.” I replied. “They’re both here. Lulu’s cleaning her up right now.”
“Oh.” He said, after a brief pause.
“Oh, what?” I asked.
“Nothing Em, just ‘Oh’,” He laughed. “So, do you mind telling me what’s going on?”
“You were there,” I said, confused, “you saw what happened.”
“Yeah, now do you want to tell me why you were so mad when Andy acted like the asshole he is? Or why the two of you seemed so happy while you told your little story, and then so pissed at each other? Or why you would pick up a drunk and vomiting girl and voluntarily put her in your new sports car and took her back to your hotel and why you’re sounding all protective of her?”
“Don’t talk about her like that! You don’t understand her.” I stuttered out.
“That’s all you got?” he snorted, “I accuse you off all that and all you can do is defend her?”
“I don’t know, Michal, I don’t know why I did all those things and you know what else?” I asked. “It’s scaring the hell out of me.”
“Well, don’t worry bro. The rest of us know what’s going on, and it’s certainly not the end of the world or anything.” I froze.
“What, what do you know?” Even to myself I sounded frantic.
“Chill, Em,” He said, a laugh hanging on the edge of his voice. “You’re in love man.” I was speechless. I must have dropped the phone at some point because as I walked out of the room I saw it on the floor. I looked in on the beautiful girl lying on the bed, and felt a tear open up in the corner of my chest. I saw Lulu look up with a questioning look in her eyes. I just shook my head and walked over to where Sophie lay on the couch and lifted her up, carrying her to the master bed, and tucking her in. I leaned down, as if pulled by an irresistible force and I kissed her forehead. Sophie turned over, and in her sleep, said three words, that changed my life forever.
“Love you Em.” She breathed. As I walked out of the room, I was unable to stop smiling.
“I so called this,” Lulu gloated as I walked by. “You two are such idiots.” I pushed her into the second bedroom.
“Sleep well, Lulu.” I said.
“What? No!” she exclaimed. “You have to tell me what happened! What are you going to do now?” I cut her off by shutting the door in her face.
I slept poorly, replaying her words in my head over and over and over. I thought about how her head felt on my shoulder, how Michal had pointed out what now seemed obvious. I had known this girl for a few weeks, now, and yet this didn’t feel like anything I had felt before. After finally sleeping for a few hours, I woke up to a shrill scream in the room next to me. I jumped up and rushed in to find Lulu pouring cold water all over Sophie’s face.
“Lulu, what the hell are you doing?” she craned her neck around. “Scratch that, Lulu, where the hell are we?”
“We, are in Emmett’s fabulous hotel room, so that YOU could sleep of your drunkenness and probably so that Emmett could make sure that there was no permanent damage to his car before he let us out of his sights!” Lulu practically sung.
“Why are you being so loud Lu, my head is killing me.” She shoved her face into the pillows, causing Lulu to dump even more cold water on her. “LU!” she yelled. “What are you-” she suddenly cut off. “Wait, were WHERE?” she looked up and saw me in the doorway. I saw absolute confusion in her eyes.
“Do you remember anything, from last night?” I asked. She wrinkled her forehead.
“I remember drinking a little.” She trailed off, as Lulu snorted at the adjective. “I remember puking, being really mad at you, not much, someone was really, really upset, and loud,” she wrinkled her brow even further. “There was something else, but I think that was a dream.” She half smiled. I felt sick. I had based my entire happiness on three little words, and not just three words, three words from a drunken person, a sleeping drunk person. I was pathetic. A new emotion I had no words to describe crept up into my chest. I turned around and angrily stomped out of the room. I heard their voices behind me. I was pacing around the room, back and forth. I picked up the remote for the TV and threw it at the wall. As it broke I collapsed into an armchair.
“Em?” A voice behind me asked timidly. I spun around. My heart melted. Her brown hair lay soft against her skin. “Are you okay?” Yeah, don’t worry about it, I’m just in love with a girl way too young for me, that’s you by the way, oh and you said you loved me last night, and I for some reason believed an unconscious drunk girl and then proceeded to base my entire happiness on that, which by the way crumbled this morning when I found out that you barely remember last night, I’m scared as hell, I am completely confused why you left and came here, I may be crazy for loving you and-” I broke off my mental rampage.
“Not really.” I said, conceding her all.
“You want to talk about it?” her sweet, soft voice sang in my ears like a silk lullaby.
“I guess.” I sank into an armchair. She came and sat on the arm of the chair and rubbed my shoulders. I leaned into her arms, sinking into sweet relief. “I’m just really confused,” trying to figure out what to say.
“About what?” she chirped.
“You.” I felt her tense up.
“What about me? Are you regretting eating out with us and going to the bar and stuff? I feel really bad about what happened and I didn’t mean to make a bad impression, or, or embarrass you or anything. Emmett I am so, so, sorry and I don’t really know what I would do if you didn’t like me because, well I’ve been thinking about you and me a lot and I know we’ve only known each other for a little while and there are SO many complicated things between us and we’ve gone back and forth from hating each other to being friends so many times that its giving me whiplash, but somehow this thing is just, like-” I was so focused on the sound of her voice that I barely heard the words until she said ‘you and me’ but as soon as she did, my breath caught. She loved me. She didn’t love me. I didn’t know for sure. But I did know that her words sounded an awful lot like my train of thought right now. And I knew that I loved her. As unrealistic, crazy, and impulsive as this was, I knew that much. And with that knowledge planted firmly in my brain and my hope to God that I was right about her feelings, I leaned forward, and cut her off with a kiss.
“Watch it Andy.” My voice sounded cold, foreboding, surprising even me.
“Hey man,” Andy hesitated, “We’re just dancing.”
“Yeah,” I said sarcastically, “And now you’ve just finished dancing.”
“Leave me alone Emmett.” Her voice sounded furious, and even that made my heart melt. What was wrong with me? I hesitated, not knowing what to respond. “I’m a big girl; I know what I’m doing.” She snapped out at me.
“I don’t think you do,” I added worriedly.
“And I don’t think you know everything about me.” She said, her eyes like flames. “You know what Andy? I am going to take you up on that offer from before.” I panicked. He had already seduced her, they were walking away
“Absolutely.” Andy said smoothly, taking her hand and leading her away from me.
“What offer? What are you doing?” I said, saying anything that might stall her, even a little while, anything to make her think about going off and sleeping with this ape.
“Don’t worry about it Emmett.” She said. “And stop following us.” They walked up to the bar, and it took every fiber of will power in my body to not run after her and drag her away from him. She stayed a few feet back and Andy ordered a few cocktails. He handed her one and my body felt relief and panic in one moment. Relief that they weren’t doing anything serious yet, panic of what could happen to her if she was caught, if she got drunk, if he drugged the drinks. And now it was all panic. She chugged half the drink in one go, making me stare.
“Yeah! Party girl!” Collin called out. Lulu turned suddenly and I saw the eminent panic in her eyes as well, but Sophie ignored us both. Throwing all caution to the winds I rushed forward and took the drink out of her hand. .
“Andy, she’s 18!” I yelled.
“Don’t worry man,” he called back, “I paid off the bartender.” Sophie grabbed the drink back from me and swallowed the rest before I could snatch it back.
“You’re not my father, Emmett!” She shouted to me. I froze. Is that how she saw me old enough to be her father? Nearly I suppose. I was ten years older than her, why should I care what she did. I had done all this and worse by the time I was 18. I vowed to myself I would leave her alone unless something truly bad, that might affect her forever, like Andy and her- I cut myself off. I wouldn’t even say it. She grabbed a shot of something off the nearest server’s tray and after shooting it down nearly threw it back to him. She grabbed Andy’s hand and they danced like every guy in the world dreams of. It reminded me of how she had danced in the club the other day. How she had acted towards Holland. I thanked God he wasn’t here. Pretty soon another bar tender walked around with a tray of shots. Andy grabbed a few for them and those were soon followed by more. I didn’t keep count of how many but every time my muscles clenched and I imagined killing Andy about 50 different ways. She was obviously drunk but the idiot bar tenders didn’t seem to care. They kept giving her more and more. Finally Lulu grabbed my hand and whispered to me,
“Please do something. She is avoiding me and I know she would never do anything like this without provocation. She is going to do something she is going to regret and she is going to hate you even more when she does.” Her eyes were pleading and I realized that this must have been the girl Sophie had been talking about as we danced. It was strange, even now, in the midst of all of this, I still wanted to smile every time I thought about how close we were and her smile, and laugh as we danced. Then it hit me. She hated me. Lulu had just said that Sophie hated me.
“Why me? Why would she hate me for something she and that bastard do?” it came out sharper than I imagined.
“Look, she will never admit to this, she probably doesn’t even know, but it’s obvious to the rest of us.” Lulu began, “She is doing this because you told her not to, and she is doing it to spite you, to prove to herself that she doesn’t like you. She doesn’t want to like you, but she does, and it scares her because you are a connection to her old life, the life that nearly destroyed her.” She stopped suddenly. “Forget I said that.” She added, as if she said something she wasn’t supposed to. I frowned.
“Forget you said what?” I asked, confused at what was so bad in that sentence. She looked down.
“Please, just help me stop her.” I nodded and Lulu and I walked over. Just in time, we reached them. Sophie swayed on the spot and Andy and I grabbed her and gently guided her to the floor.
“I think I’m a little drunk.” She mumbled out.
“No, really, Soph? What has gotten in to you?” Lulu snapped out at her. She mumbled something unintelligible and I picked her up off the ground, ready to walk her out to my car.
“Put me down.” She said weakly. “I need to go get a cab.”
“Yeah right.” I said, more mad than I had realized I was. “You would probably run out in the street and get run over.”
“Put me down!” She said, with even less volume, if that was possible. She tried to roll out of my arms but they were wrapped to strongly around her.
“Oh, no you don’t.” I responded, okay I was a lot more mad than I had thought.
“I can’t see!” She suddenly yelled. Lulu sighed
“Open your eyes.” Rachel added, more calmly. I appreciated her cool thinking in a crisis. I readjusted her in my arms and she suddenly vomited, all over me. Collin, Andy and the other girl (Marissa maybe?), all cringed and stepped away. Rachel and Lulu reached over and helped me hold onto her. “Come on Soph, talk to me.” Rachel said, softly. Sophie mumbled something in reply. “You’ve got to say something.” All of a sudden, one of the bartenders came running over.
“Get her out of here!” he yelled. Sophie groaned at the noise. “I have to clean this all up. Get out! Now!” Michal appeared out of nowhere and handed him a few bills. His mouth dropped open. “Can I get you gentleman and your companions a cab?” he asked, polite again.
“Companions?” Lulu yelled out. “Do you know what you just did to the feminist movement? You have just offended me and I will be blogging about you tonight asshole!” Sophie groaned again.
“Lulu,” I said calmly, “I think Soph will appreciate it if you keep the noise level down.” Her eyes widened.
“Right,” she replied, quieter. “Sorry Soph.” I tightened my grip and carried her out to my car.
“Michal, can you give everyone else a ride home?” he nodded. “Lulu, do you want to come with me?” she nodded and muttered under her breath,
“And kick Sophie’s ass when she’s sober.” I smiled at her letting her know I had heard. She blushed. As we situated Sophie in the front seat of my McLaren F1 , Lulu climbed over my seat into the cramped back. I looked down at my shirt, thanking God I had thought to wear a cotton tank top underneath. I stripped off my ruined shirt and shot it over to a roadside trashcan. I ignored the looks coming from the girls, realizing too late what a mistake I had made. They were all struggling to buy the most basic of clothes; I didn’t want to imagine what they had done to get the money for the dresses tonight. And now I had made them think of me as a rich snob because I had thrown out a tee shirt that had cost more than working for an eight hour shift at minimum wage.
“Nice ride,” Lulu muttered. I smiled. As much as an aversion I had to my parents’ money, I was a sucker for sports cars.
“Sorry it’s so cramped back there.” I called back. Sophie groaned again and muttered something about the noise. “Sorry, Princess.” I said, sarcastically. She lashed out her arm in what I can only assume was meant as a punch. I barely felt it, and Lulu laughed.
“I live on the east side,” Lulu started giving directions stiffly. I shook my head, realizing what me knowing where she lived compromised, and what she was giving up to help her friend.
“We can go to my hotel.” I said. “I understand that you probably won’t want me knowing where you live.” Lulu sighed, and relaxed visibly. I dug my cell out of my pocket as we were sitting at a red light and tossed it to the back. “If you need to call someone about coming home later, like as in tomorrow.” I said, briefly. She smiled, thanked me and proceeded to dial the phone.
“Hey, Greg, it’s Lulu. Yeah, I know it’s late. Yeah, I bet I did.” She paused between each sentence, obviously getting an earful. “Will you shut up already? This is important!” Lulu sighed. “It’s about Soph.” The other end must have stopped talking immediately because she started her next sentence almost immediately. “Thank you. Look, Soph got a little upset with some people who were out here with us and is currently, um, well, okay she’s completely trashed. A friend of ours is taking us to their hotel so we can clean her up and get her sober before she comes to the noise at home, okay?” she paused again, “Yeah, she’s going to fine. I know he’s not! Look, tell him or don’t, it’s up to you, but we probably won’t get home until tomorrow morning at the earliest. I just wanted you to know so you don’t wake up and freak. And in case he gets home early.” She paused for nearly a minute and I could hear the voice on the other end pick up volume and intensity. “Yeah, I’ll take care of her. Emmett and I have got this.” She covered her mouth, mortified. I heard a pause on the other end, and then tried to drown the yelling that ensued. “Yes our friend is a guy! Okay? Get over it! No you are not coming to get us! Look, I have mace in my purse were going to be just fine!” she covered her eyes with her hand. “He’s a friend of Sophie’s from home. No Greg, you idiot, her home, as in Laguna Beach! Yes she knows he’s here, we were out with them at diner. No she wasn’t drunk then. Fine, but just to make you feel a little better, Soph did puke on him.” I cringed and was a little indignant when I heard laughter on the other end. “Look, I’ve got to go, Greg, I’ll call you tomorrow morning.” She hung up without another word.
Lulu looked a little embarrassed. After a long and quite awkward pause she said softly, “So that was my brother, Greg.” I nodded. “I figured I should let him know that we were okay in case he woke up tomorrow morning early. My dad’s out of town so I won’t bother him with this until he gets home.” She sounded meek, completely against her character, as far as I had it figured out. I nodded again. We pulled up in front of my hotel and the valet rushed up to take open my door for me. I jumped out, and rushed around to open Sophie’s door as Lulu crawled out mine. I was just in time. As I shut her car door, she vomited again; of course it was all over me. I saw the valet’s disgust and the doorman cringe, knowing he would be helping take her up to my room. He snapped his fingers and a young man rushed to his side, he pointed at the ground at our feet and the man, his shoulders dropping walked inside returning moments later with a bucket and sponge.
“Sorry,” I said briefly.
“Wow, Soph, great stomach for alcohol, huh?” Lulu said, grabbing her friends arm and pulling it out of the way as she let out another splash of the strong smelling liquid. Lulu pulled off her friends shoes, which had somehow avoided all the mess and I scooped Sophie up like a baby. We walked in through the revolving door, Lulu pushing while I followed closely behind. I carried Sophie to the elevators, stepped inside, ignoring the strange looks from those around me. I silently thanked Lulu and Sophie for wearing appropriate clothing. In fact, I realized as I waited for people to finish filing into the elevator, Lulu’s dress looked designer.
“P, please.” I asked the people near the buttons. If they had stared before, it was nothing now. Someone classy enough to stay in the penthouse suite, wearing jeans and a see through tank top, with a drunk, nearly passed out girl in his arms, her vomit still on his shoes, and another girl who appeared in shock from all the glamour around her at his side. We must be quite a sight.
We walked into my suite and Lulu’s mouth dropped open. “Okay Emmett,” she said, “forget Sophie, will you marry me?” I laughed. Sophie made a little noise again and turned in my arms. She was now clinging to my neck in a way that, despite the smell, made my heart beat faster and faster each minute. I laid her out on the master bed and turned to Lulu.
“We need to clean her up a bit. Do you think you could,” I stopped, not wanting to end that sentence. Lulu held up a hand.
“No worries, go,” she stopped, “I don’t know, watch TV, count your gold, whatever someone like you does.” I looked at her disparagingly.
“I’m just like you Lulu,” I tried to convince her.
“Yeah, okay.” She snorted at me. “Now go!” I didn’t need to be told again. I left the room immediately and flipped on the TV. I found a rerun of that day’s basketball game. Normally, I would be hooked, but I found myself pacing, wondering what was going on next door, I wanted to help, but mostly I felt the lack of Sophie’s arms from around my neck. I wanted to rewind time and put them back. I shook my head. What was wrong with me? I was acting like a fool for someone who had insulted me, made me madder than I had been in a long time, and then proceeded to dump the contents of her stomach on me. I thought back to the party that had brought us together in the first place. I thought about how I had thought that she was using everyone in the room for her own gain. The party, after which I had woken up to her screams, screams that chilled me to the very bone. Unable to walk in and wake her up, I had gotten Crystal to do it. I had listened to her lie about what she had seen and done for her friend, listened to her complain the next morning, and I had left the room to get away, and then left the state. I paced some more. Looking at my watch, I sighed. It hadn’t been two minutes. I called Michal as I waited. He answered on the first ring.
“Hey man,” he started out. “Did you get her home okay?”
“I brought her back to my hotel room.” I replied. “They’re both here. Lulu’s cleaning her up right now.”
“Oh.” He said, after a brief pause.
“Oh, what?” I asked.
“Nothing Em, just ‘Oh’,” He laughed. “So, do you mind telling me what’s going on?”
“You were there,” I said, confused, “you saw what happened.”
“Yeah, now do you want to tell me why you were so mad when Andy acted like the asshole he is? Or why the two of you seemed so happy while you told your little story, and then so pissed at each other? Or why you would pick up a drunk and vomiting girl and voluntarily put her in your new sports car and took her back to your hotel and why you’re sounding all protective of her?”
“Don’t talk about her like that! You don’t understand her.” I stuttered out.
“That’s all you got?” he snorted, “I accuse you off all that and all you can do is defend her?”
“I don’t know, Michal, I don’t know why I did all those things and you know what else?” I asked. “It’s scaring the hell out of me.”
“Well, don’t worry bro. The rest of us know what’s going on, and it’s certainly not the end of the world or anything.” I froze.
“What, what do you know?” Even to myself I sounded frantic.
“Chill, Em,” He said, a laugh hanging on the edge of his voice. “You’re in love man.” I was speechless. I must have dropped the phone at some point because as I walked out of the room I saw it on the floor. I looked in on the beautiful girl lying on the bed, and felt a tear open up in the corner of my chest. I saw Lulu look up with a questioning look in her eyes. I just shook my head and walked over to where Sophie lay on the couch and lifted her up, carrying her to the master bed, and tucking her in. I leaned down, as if pulled by an irresistible force and I kissed her forehead. Sophie turned over, and in her sleep, said three words, that changed my life forever.
“Love you Em.” She breathed. As I walked out of the room, I was unable to stop smiling.
“I so called this,” Lulu gloated as I walked by. “You two are such idiots.” I pushed her into the second bedroom.
“Sleep well, Lulu.” I said.
“What? No!” she exclaimed. “You have to tell me what happened! What are you going to do now?” I cut her off by shutting the door in her face.
I slept poorly, replaying her words in my head over and over and over. I thought about how her head felt on my shoulder, how Michal had pointed out what now seemed obvious. I had known this girl for a few weeks, now, and yet this didn’t feel like anything I had felt before. After finally sleeping for a few hours, I woke up to a shrill scream in the room next to me. I jumped up and rushed in to find Lulu pouring cold water all over Sophie’s face.
“Lulu, what the hell are you doing?” she craned her neck around. “Scratch that, Lulu, where the hell are we?”
“We, are in Emmett’s fabulous hotel room, so that YOU could sleep of your drunkenness and probably so that Emmett could make sure that there was no permanent damage to his car before he let us out of his sights!” Lulu practically sung.
“Why are you being so loud Lu, my head is killing me.” She shoved her face into the pillows, causing Lulu to dump even more cold water on her. “LU!” she yelled. “What are you-” she suddenly cut off. “Wait, were WHERE?” she looked up and saw me in the doorway. I saw absolute confusion in her eyes.
“Do you remember anything, from last night?” I asked. She wrinkled her forehead.
“I remember drinking a little.” She trailed off, as Lulu snorted at the adjective. “I remember puking, being really mad at you, not much, someone was really, really upset, and loud,” she wrinkled her brow even further. “There was something else, but I think that was a dream.” She half smiled. I felt sick. I had based my entire happiness on three little words, and not just three words, three words from a drunken person, a sleeping drunk person. I was pathetic. A new emotion I had no words to describe crept up into my chest. I turned around and angrily stomped out of the room. I heard their voices behind me. I was pacing around the room, back and forth. I picked up the remote for the TV and threw it at the wall. As it broke I collapsed into an armchair.
“Em?” A voice behind me asked timidly. I spun around. My heart melted. Her brown hair lay soft against her skin. “Are you okay?” Yeah, don’t worry about it, I’m just in love with a girl way too young for me, that’s you by the way, oh and you said you loved me last night, and I for some reason believed an unconscious drunk girl and then proceeded to base my entire happiness on that, which by the way crumbled this morning when I found out that you barely remember last night, I’m scared as hell, I am completely confused why you left and came here, I may be crazy for loving you and-” I broke off my mental rampage.
“Not really.” I said, conceding her all.
“You want to talk about it?” her sweet, soft voice sang in my ears like a silk lullaby.
“I guess.” I sank into an armchair. She came and sat on the arm of the chair and rubbed my shoulders. I leaned into her arms, sinking into sweet relief. “I’m just really confused,” trying to figure out what to say.
“About what?” she chirped.
“You.” I felt her tense up.
“What about me? Are you regretting eating out with us and going to the bar and stuff? I feel really bad about what happened and I didn’t mean to make a bad impression, or, or embarrass you or anything. Emmett I am so, so, sorry and I don’t really know what I would do if you didn’t like me because, well I’ve been thinking about you and me a lot and I know we’ve only known each other for a little while and there are SO many complicated things between us and we’ve gone back and forth from hating each other to being friends so many times that its giving me whiplash, but somehow this thing is just, like-” I was so focused on the sound of her voice that I barely heard the words until she said ‘you and me’ but as soon as she did, my breath caught. She loved me. She didn’t love me. I didn’t know for sure. But I did know that her words sounded an awful lot like my train of thought right now. And I knew that I loved her. As unrealistic, crazy, and impulsive as this was, I knew that much. And with that knowledge planted firmly in my brain and my hope to God that I was right about her feelings, I leaned forward, and cut her off with a kiss.
Chapter 20: Sophie's Point of View
My fear disappeared, completely absorbed by his soft lips. I leaned forward, not wanting this to end and soon found myself pulled forward off the chair’s arm and onto his lap. I heard the door close and I silently thanked Lulu for this gift of a moment alone. We were silent, my last rampage having said enough for a very, very long time. Finally he pulled away. “I love you, too Sophie.” My heart melted, and I felt a tear open up in the corner of my heart.
“I love you.” I responded, our conversation in backwards order. Our lips were occupied for a while but when he pulled away again. He smiled.
“Will you go out with me?” he asked. I rolled my eyes.
“Really? Was that not a given from our past conversation?” I asked laughing.
“Sorry, so you don’t want me to ask you out?” he asked.
“Of course I do, but boyfriend seems like a bit of a light word, particularly given that the last guy who held that title was Luke Commings!” he shuddered.
“Oh. We may have to think of a better definition of our relationship.” I nodded. We laughed, talked and kissed all afternoon and finally, as the sun began to set on the horizon, he grabbed my hand and walked me out to his car, to drive me home.”
We sat in his car in the parking lot of the apartment and tried to say goodbye. I felt like I had known him forever and like we had been dating for years. He kissed me goodbye but every time we actually got to goodbye more kissing ensued and we had to start all over. Finally, after what felt like hours, we heard excessive honking behind us. Ignoring it at first we finally tore apart and looked. A very mad looking Greg had parked his car in the open spot behind us and was showing us just how unhappy he was with our new relationship. Emmett smiled, waved and turned back to me. As soon as the kissing started up again, so did the honking. Finally I kicked open my car door.
“GREG!” I screamed back, making sure he didn’t miss a word. “SHUT UP! I AM GOING TO COME BACK THERE AND KICK YOUR BUTT SO IF THAT’S WORTH IT TO YOU KEEP IT UP.” I shut the door again and we started back up. The honking didn’t-for a few seconds, but then it, too, was back. I groaned. Emmett grabbed my hand.
“Let me try something.” He opened his door and leaned his head out. “Hey, it’s Greg, right?” Greg nodded curtly. “Hi, I’m Emmett, I don’t know if you’ve met my new girlfriend. This is Sophie, anyway were a little busy but we’d love to talk to you later if you want!” he smiled waved and ducked his head back into the door. We continued and finally I heard my door being yanked open and I felt Greg’s hand grab my arm. He pulled me out of the car and I only just had time to grab my shoes and purse off the floor of the car before I was being pulled towards the building. Emmett jumped out of the car.
“Bye Baby!” I called back.
“Bye Sophie! Love you! Love you, too Greg!” he called up.
“Shut up rich boy!” Greg called over his shoulder. Emmett’s parting laugh rang in my ears like music for nearly an hour after words. I was in a cloud all afternoon. Walking around the apartment doing my chores, humming singing and randomly laughing. I was turning into Malia. One of the only things I missed from home, Malia was always falling in love and falling hard. I could always tell when her dates had gone well. Unfortunately for Malia, most of the guys in our town wanted a girl to screw with, not to start a relationship with. She was my true best friend back home even though I rarely saw her. She was smart enough to be in all the advanced classes that I was and she was in a few, but because her mother and father were all for her doing whatever she wanted to do, she also took a lot of painting classes. She was really, really good. She was probably as good as Lulu. It also didn’t help that her dad traveled for work, like, constantly and her mom didn’t want that to stress the family out so they usually went with him. If I could talk to one person from LA it would be her. It killed me to know that she was worrying about me. I desperately wanted to let her know I was okay. Finally, I thought of it. I ran into Lulu’s room and opened my duffle bag. At the bottom was my old phone. I had turned it off after listening to a message from my mother that basically told me not to come home until I apologized for all the hell I had caused her. I turned it on hoping it was still charged. I had no idea what I had done with the charger. It was, barely. I had over 500 new text messages and my inbox for both that and voicemail was full. It took a full two and a half minutes before my phone stopped buzzing to tell me this. I opened my texts first. I had received most of them from Crystal, Luke and the rest of the gang, a bunch from my mom and dad letting me know that my credit cards were still working so I could use them if I needed and they hoped I would because then they’d know I was safe. And where I was, I thought to myself. A couple texts were from teachers or other well-wishers that I’d know hoping I was okay. There were none from Malia. I listened to the voicemails. I had a few from prospective colleges, a ton from my parents and as I reached the end of them I worried that I wouldn’t have any from Malia at all. Finally I got to the last message. When I heard Malia’s quiet voice I sighed in relief.
“Hey Sophie, it’s me. But you knew that already. Um, I guess I just wanted to hear your voice, you know, on the machine. But I figured as long as I was here I should leave you a message. I don’t think you got kidnapped, like your mom does. She’s convinced my dad that you have but my mom says your disappearance reminds her to much of when she ran away from home. I figure that if you have been kidnapped that you’re not coming back at this point. You’re smart enough to get out of where ever fast enough. At first I kind of had this idea that you went to live with your friend, Lulu, from that dance camp, I really hope that that’s what happened because then I know you’ll be happy. But it’s been a long, long time since anyone’s heard from you and I’m starting to think that maybe, you didn’t get out. I love you Sophie. I miss you so, so much. I hope you’re okay, and I hope that if you ever get this, you’ll send me some sort of message that you’re okay. I don’t know, send me something with the word,” Malia paused, “Orchid, in it. Um, I guess that’s it. I hope you’re okay. Love you.” I heard a click and I realized I was crying. All the other messages had no effect on me but maybe to make me a little angry, but this one moved me to tears. I dialed her number and then shut the phone. I couldn’t call her. What if her mom or dad or brother answered the phone? They all knew my voice well enough that they’d know who I was and call my parents. Orchid, huh Malia? Of course, you would pick the word Orchid. I thought for a moment and ran to the computer. I quickly typed in Yellow Pages to Google. I typed a few words into it and dialed the phone number from my new phone that Corey had gotten for me.
“I love you.” I responded, our conversation in backwards order. Our lips were occupied for a while but when he pulled away again. He smiled.
“Will you go out with me?” he asked. I rolled my eyes.
“Really? Was that not a given from our past conversation?” I asked laughing.
“Sorry, so you don’t want me to ask you out?” he asked.
“Of course I do, but boyfriend seems like a bit of a light word, particularly given that the last guy who held that title was Luke Commings!” he shuddered.
“Oh. We may have to think of a better definition of our relationship.” I nodded. We laughed, talked and kissed all afternoon and finally, as the sun began to set on the horizon, he grabbed my hand and walked me out to his car, to drive me home.”
We sat in his car in the parking lot of the apartment and tried to say goodbye. I felt like I had known him forever and like we had been dating for years. He kissed me goodbye but every time we actually got to goodbye more kissing ensued and we had to start all over. Finally, after what felt like hours, we heard excessive honking behind us. Ignoring it at first we finally tore apart and looked. A very mad looking Greg had parked his car in the open spot behind us and was showing us just how unhappy he was with our new relationship. Emmett smiled, waved and turned back to me. As soon as the kissing started up again, so did the honking. Finally I kicked open my car door.
“GREG!” I screamed back, making sure he didn’t miss a word. “SHUT UP! I AM GOING TO COME BACK THERE AND KICK YOUR BUTT SO IF THAT’S WORTH IT TO YOU KEEP IT UP.” I shut the door again and we started back up. The honking didn’t-for a few seconds, but then it, too, was back. I groaned. Emmett grabbed my hand.
“Let me try something.” He opened his door and leaned his head out. “Hey, it’s Greg, right?” Greg nodded curtly. “Hi, I’m Emmett, I don’t know if you’ve met my new girlfriend. This is Sophie, anyway were a little busy but we’d love to talk to you later if you want!” he smiled waved and ducked his head back into the door. We continued and finally I heard my door being yanked open and I felt Greg’s hand grab my arm. He pulled me out of the car and I only just had time to grab my shoes and purse off the floor of the car before I was being pulled towards the building. Emmett jumped out of the car.
“Bye Baby!” I called back.
“Bye Sophie! Love you! Love you, too Greg!” he called up.
“Shut up rich boy!” Greg called over his shoulder. Emmett’s parting laugh rang in my ears like music for nearly an hour after words. I was in a cloud all afternoon. Walking around the apartment doing my chores, humming singing and randomly laughing. I was turning into Malia. One of the only things I missed from home, Malia was always falling in love and falling hard. I could always tell when her dates had gone well. Unfortunately for Malia, most of the guys in our town wanted a girl to screw with, not to start a relationship with. She was my true best friend back home even though I rarely saw her. She was smart enough to be in all the advanced classes that I was and she was in a few, but because her mother and father were all for her doing whatever she wanted to do, she also took a lot of painting classes. She was really, really good. She was probably as good as Lulu. It also didn’t help that her dad traveled for work, like, constantly and her mom didn’t want that to stress the family out so they usually went with him. If I could talk to one person from LA it would be her. It killed me to know that she was worrying about me. I desperately wanted to let her know I was okay. Finally, I thought of it. I ran into Lulu’s room and opened my duffle bag. At the bottom was my old phone. I had turned it off after listening to a message from my mother that basically told me not to come home until I apologized for all the hell I had caused her. I turned it on hoping it was still charged. I had no idea what I had done with the charger. It was, barely. I had over 500 new text messages and my inbox for both that and voicemail was full. It took a full two and a half minutes before my phone stopped buzzing to tell me this. I opened my texts first. I had received most of them from Crystal, Luke and the rest of the gang, a bunch from my mom and dad letting me know that my credit cards were still working so I could use them if I needed and they hoped I would because then they’d know I was safe. And where I was, I thought to myself. A couple texts were from teachers or other well-wishers that I’d know hoping I was okay. There were none from Malia. I listened to the voicemails. I had a few from prospective colleges, a ton from my parents and as I reached the end of them I worried that I wouldn’t have any from Malia at all. Finally I got to the last message. When I heard Malia’s quiet voice I sighed in relief.
“Hey Sophie, it’s me. But you knew that already. Um, I guess I just wanted to hear your voice, you know, on the machine. But I figured as long as I was here I should leave you a message. I don’t think you got kidnapped, like your mom does. She’s convinced my dad that you have but my mom says your disappearance reminds her to much of when she ran away from home. I figure that if you have been kidnapped that you’re not coming back at this point. You’re smart enough to get out of where ever fast enough. At first I kind of had this idea that you went to live with your friend, Lulu, from that dance camp, I really hope that that’s what happened because then I know you’ll be happy. But it’s been a long, long time since anyone’s heard from you and I’m starting to think that maybe, you didn’t get out. I love you Sophie. I miss you so, so much. I hope you’re okay, and I hope that if you ever get this, you’ll send me some sort of message that you’re okay. I don’t know, send me something with the word,” Malia paused, “Orchid, in it. Um, I guess that’s it. I hope you’re okay. Love you.” I heard a click and I realized I was crying. All the other messages had no effect on me but maybe to make me a little angry, but this one moved me to tears. I dialed her number and then shut the phone. I couldn’t call her. What if her mom or dad or brother answered the phone? They all knew my voice well enough that they’d know who I was and call my parents. Orchid, huh Malia? Of course, you would pick the word Orchid. I thought for a moment and ran to the computer. I quickly typed in Yellow Pages to Google. I typed a few words into it and dialed the phone number from my new phone that Corey had gotten for me.
Chapter 21: Malia's Point of View
“MALIA!” Cam’s voice came yelling up at me from the entryway. He was home on summer vacation and even though I was thrilled, he was already starting to annoy me.
“WHAT?” I yelled back.
“THERE’S A DELIVERY DOWN HERE FOR YOU!” he shouted back.
“WOULD YOU ALL STOP YELLING?” Dad called out to us.
“MALIA, HURRY UP! I WANT TO KNOW WHO SENT YOU THESE!” mom screamed. I laughed, my family was a little crazy but I loved them. I ran downstairs and I saw the most beautiful bouquet of orchids on the kitchen table. My family crowded around it, fighting over whether or not to read the card. I solved their problem by grabbing it out of my mother’s hand. I walked over to the counter and ripped open the envelope.
Orchids-so there, I love you too Malia, your very, very, smart. You got it-but please, please-please don’t tell anyone. I will find a way to tell you what happened, but trust me, I can’t come back. Destroy this. And enjoy your flowers!
I looked at the card in wonder. What? Had I gotten something meant for someone else? Then all of a sudden I realized who had sent these. Sophie. She had gotten my message! What did it mean that I am very, very smart? That I had guessed right? Oh my gosh! She was with Lulu! The weight that had been on my chest lifted immediately. Sophie was okay! She really was fine! And I was the only one who knew this. Destroy this? Destroy the only tie I had to her. I whipped out my cell and took a picture of the words. Then I threw the small cardstock into the blender my dad was making smoothies in and pressed the on button.
“MALIA!” he yelled out. My mother shrieked and Cam started laughing hysterically. I turned around and emailed the photo to myself. Then I deleted it from my phone. My mom caught up to me.
“So? Who were they from?” she said excitedly.
“Just a friend,” I said as nonchalantly as I could. “You know, from that art camp I went to. We were talking on Facebook last week and I said I wanted some more still life subjects and she must have remembered I liked orchids.” I made up. “Hmm,” I thought to myself, “that’s not that bad of a story.” My mom nodded, believing me even if she was annoyed that there weren’t any more romantic details. Suddenly an idea hit me.
“Mom?” I asked. “When I’m done I want to give it to her. She lives in Hollywood. Is there any way I could go visit her for a weekend?” My mom looked up, shocked.
“You want to go to Hollywood? By yourself for a weekend?” she asked. I smiled weakly.
“We’ll talk about it when you’re done with the painting.” She said, dryly. I sighed, already knowing the answer.
“WHAT?” I yelled back.
“THERE’S A DELIVERY DOWN HERE FOR YOU!” he shouted back.
“WOULD YOU ALL STOP YELLING?” Dad called out to us.
“MALIA, HURRY UP! I WANT TO KNOW WHO SENT YOU THESE!” mom screamed. I laughed, my family was a little crazy but I loved them. I ran downstairs and I saw the most beautiful bouquet of orchids on the kitchen table. My family crowded around it, fighting over whether or not to read the card. I solved their problem by grabbing it out of my mother’s hand. I walked over to the counter and ripped open the envelope.
Orchids-so there, I love you too Malia, your very, very, smart. You got it-but please, please-please don’t tell anyone. I will find a way to tell you what happened, but trust me, I can’t come back. Destroy this. And enjoy your flowers!
I looked at the card in wonder. What? Had I gotten something meant for someone else? Then all of a sudden I realized who had sent these. Sophie. She had gotten my message! What did it mean that I am very, very smart? That I had guessed right? Oh my gosh! She was with Lulu! The weight that had been on my chest lifted immediately. Sophie was okay! She really was fine! And I was the only one who knew this. Destroy this? Destroy the only tie I had to her. I whipped out my cell and took a picture of the words. Then I threw the small cardstock into the blender my dad was making smoothies in and pressed the on button.
“MALIA!” he yelled out. My mother shrieked and Cam started laughing hysterically. I turned around and emailed the photo to myself. Then I deleted it from my phone. My mom caught up to me.
“So? Who were they from?” she said excitedly.
“Just a friend,” I said as nonchalantly as I could. “You know, from that art camp I went to. We were talking on Facebook last week and I said I wanted some more still life subjects and she must have remembered I liked orchids.” I made up. “Hmm,” I thought to myself, “that’s not that bad of a story.” My mom nodded, believing me even if she was annoyed that there weren’t any more romantic details. Suddenly an idea hit me.
“Mom?” I asked. “When I’m done I want to give it to her. She lives in Hollywood. Is there any way I could go visit her for a weekend?” My mom looked up, shocked.
“You want to go to Hollywood? By yourself for a weekend?” she asked. I smiled weakly.
“We’ll talk about it when you’re done with the painting.” She said, dryly. I sighed, already knowing the answer.
Chapter 22: Sophie's Point of View
I stood at the back door, waiting for Emmett’s car to pull around the corner. He said he would be here any minute, about fifteen minutes ago. Lulu had already left for the night and Rachel was really just keeping the club open for the late nighters. I looked about hurriedly, the evening chill started to settle in the air, well as much of an evening chill as ever came in Southern California. I shivered a little, and glanced around again. Finally a car pulled around the corner. In the dark lights I could just see the headlights. I stepped aside to let Emmett pull up next to me but when the car stopped I noticed that it wasn’t Emmett’s car. I stepped back, embarrassed, when a man got out of the car. I smiled in his direction and was about to apologies when I saw his face. I gasped. I took a step back. I needed desperately to get back inside the club, back to safety. How had he found me? How was this possible? It was Ed.
“Well, well, well, I see we got our hair dyed, no?” I nodded, still inching to the door. “I see I gave you an itch, now that you’re working here.” I flinched. He suddenly stepped in front of the door. “I don’t think so sweetheart.” I flinched. He reached for my arm and grabbed it. I opened my mouth to scream, but he punched my throat, effectively cutting off my voice. He shoved me into the ground and all the air was knocked out off my lungs. I felt a sharp jab piercing in between my ribs. I closed my mouth and tried to go back to the senselessness I nearly achieved during Ed’s last attack. I felt nothing but pain. I couldn’t speak, my voice box still throbbing. I could barely breathe, my lungs felt like they couldn’t fill up. “Your mamma had to stop seeing me, wouldn’t pay me or give me anything. All because you ran off and your dad was home all the time. Your dad started investigating everything, he almost found out about us, had I not paid off a few of the servants. I had to leave, without the big payoff. All your fault, and now, you are going to die.” I nearly whimpered, but I held it in. I felt a sting on my cheek as his fist found it again. Then I felt pressure on my lungs, like a great weight was trying to squeeze the very air out of them. I started to see black, my vision clouding over, I had ringing in my ears and my limbs were tingling. This was it. I was about to die.
The weight suddenly lifted and I smiled. Here it was, that sudden relief before death. “I love you Emmett.” I whispered. Then I closed my eyes, and died.
“Well, well, well, I see we got our hair dyed, no?” I nodded, still inching to the door. “I see I gave you an itch, now that you’re working here.” I flinched. He suddenly stepped in front of the door. “I don’t think so sweetheart.” I flinched. He reached for my arm and grabbed it. I opened my mouth to scream, but he punched my throat, effectively cutting off my voice. He shoved me into the ground and all the air was knocked out off my lungs. I felt a sharp jab piercing in between my ribs. I closed my mouth and tried to go back to the senselessness I nearly achieved during Ed’s last attack. I felt nothing but pain. I couldn’t speak, my voice box still throbbing. I could barely breathe, my lungs felt like they couldn’t fill up. “Your mamma had to stop seeing me, wouldn’t pay me or give me anything. All because you ran off and your dad was home all the time. Your dad started investigating everything, he almost found out about us, had I not paid off a few of the servants. I had to leave, without the big payoff. All your fault, and now, you are going to die.” I nearly whimpered, but I held it in. I felt a sting on my cheek as his fist found it again. Then I felt pressure on my lungs, like a great weight was trying to squeeze the very air out of them. I started to see black, my vision clouding over, I had ringing in my ears and my limbs were tingling. This was it. I was about to die.
The weight suddenly lifted and I smiled. Here it was, that sudden relief before death. “I love you Emmett.” I whispered. Then I closed my eyes, and died.
Chapter 23
White. Pure White. I was on a white bed, with white curtains, and white walls. The counter in the corner was white. There was a sink. Surprise, surprise, it was silver. I looked around. Heaven is different than I thought it would be. A woman with short hair walked into the room, also in white. She glanced over at me, looking surprised.
“Good, you’re up. Someone’s here to see you.” Was I not dead? Was Emmett there? I perked up as the door opened, ready to jump up and hug him.
“Really, are you sure you couldn’t have given her a room with a window. We’re paying for her to have the best treatment and that means location too!” my mother said. I sat, confused until that registered, my mother? No I didn’t live, I died, and now I was in my own personal super-hell.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I growled.
“Is that anyway to great your mother?” she started.
“Lisa, she’s been through a lot.” My father poked his head in.
“Dad.” I said monotone. “Now seriously, what the hell are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Some anonymous person called and said you were in the hospital here. We rushed here yesterday and the nurses said you’d already been here for a few days!”
“A few days? What day is it?” I asked, shocked.
“It’s Friday, you’ve been here for five days and you finally opened your eyes and I am so excited!” Lulu chirped rushing in. Greg, Corey, Rachel, Marissa and half the girls from the club squeezed in after her. The nurse squawked her disapproval but I burst into tears and tried to hug them all from my bed. They all started talking at once.
“I feel so responsible, the whole thing happening outside my club. I should have been looking for him more carefully!” Rachel yelled over the din. She went on and Marissa was just crying holding my hand. Greg ran over and kissed me on the lips much to my shock and he began going on and on about how he thought I was going to die and he was so worried. Corey even had tears in his eyes as he handed me a get well daisy. I thanked him.
“It’s beautiful Corey.” He smiled back. All of a sudden a doctor forced his way into the crowded room.
“Excuse me,” he said. About twenty heads turned around and looked at him expectantly. “Um only five visitors at a time.” The people all looked at each other for a moment. Then they were all talking, explaining why they should be the ones to stay. The doctor held up his hands again. “Okay, anyone not family, out.” He said. The group collectively sighed and began arguing and grumbling as they filed out, yelling out well wishes to me as they left. Finally only my parents, Lulu, Corey and Greg remained. My mother looked at them exasperated.
“Didn’t you hear? Family only.” I gasped.
“They’re more family than you are.” I said immediately. Lulu put her hands on her hips and smiled, her dark brown curls bouncing defiantly.
“Fine, fine, whatever.” My dad said.
“No, not fine.” My mother shot back. “This is the girl who kidnapped out daughter!”
“What?!?!” Lulu, Greg, Corey, and I all yelled out at once. We all began yelling and apparently my heart rate got a little high in the argument because soon enough the doctor was back saying they all had to leave because they were upsetting me. I hugged Lulu goodbye as they all filled out arguing with the doctor on the way. In the silence I took in what had happened to me. I had a pretty impressive cast on my leg but according to the nurse checking my vital signs, I had only fractured it slightly and it would heel within a few weeks. I had some more bruising and a cut across my lip. A black eye and slightly bent nose finished my exterior maladies. But my chest, oh my lungs still hurt, feeling the oxygen deprivation far too much. The nurse finally left and now I was completely alone. I wanted Emmett. Had someone told him I was here? I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling.
A moment later there was a quiet knock on the door. “Come in.” I said warily hoping it was not my mother. Emmett came in and smiled at me. My eyes lit up and I wanted to rush into his arms. Unfortunately as I tried to get up I realized why I was lying in bed. I let out a small groan and Emmett was immediately at my side. He covered my face in soft kisses and comforted me until I quieted. “Em, you came.”
“Came? Of course I came. I’ve been practically living at this hospital. Of course you would pick the first time I was gone for more than an hour to wake up.” He teased. I smiled apologetically.
“Emmett, my parents-” she shook his head, cutting me off.
“I’ve been avoiding them and they don’t know I’m here. It wasn’t too hard, they’ve only actually come in to visit you a total of two times and your mother dragged your dad out after about ten minutes both time because she was board.” I grinned.
“Well that’s convenient.” I said, smiling. He nodded.
“Even when I called them I told them I was a doctor here and that they should come, not who I was or anything.” I froze. He began to say something but then stopped at my expression. “What?”
“You called them? You? Emmett I told you I never wanted to see them again! I told you that I hated them and that I would be perfectly content if they thought I had died and stopped looking for me!”
“Sophie you were dying I had to do something! What if you needed some transplant and they were a match? What if they knew you were allergic to something? We didn’t have your medical records! We only got you in hear without them by telling them what we knew about you and paying them a big fat bonus!”
“I told you I would rather die than see them again Emmett! And you paid them? Fine, how much do I owe you?”
“Soph, you don’t owe me anything.”
“You paid them to let me in! How much do I owe you?” I screamed in his face. He flinched.
“Soph,” he leaned in to kiss my forehead. I shoved him away with all my might, which unfortunately, after being feed by an IV for nearly a week was not much.
“Go away Emmett!” he looked at me shocked. “We’re done.”
“Soph, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What did you think Emmett? That this was some sort of fairy tale? That I was some princess locked away and you were my prince, coming to rescue me? That’s not real life! I wish it were, but it’s not, so no, I’m not kidding you.”
“I’m not your prince, huh, because I couldn’t rescue you from this? We needed the medical records and your father, Sophie your father deserved to know the truth.”
“Know the truth? He knows the lies my mother has feed him and nothing more. She won’t let him be alone with me or anyone who know the truth. We are tied together by my mother and she is burning us both along with her. Emmett I will always hate you for putting me back in this horrible trap I escaped from.”
“Soph, you don’t mean-”
“Hell yeah I mean that! I hate you Emmett! Get out! Right now!” he let out a cry that sounded like a wounded animal and nearly ran out of the room. I turned to my pillow and sobbed.
“Good, you’re up. Someone’s here to see you.” Was I not dead? Was Emmett there? I perked up as the door opened, ready to jump up and hug him.
“Really, are you sure you couldn’t have given her a room with a window. We’re paying for her to have the best treatment and that means location too!” my mother said. I sat, confused until that registered, my mother? No I didn’t live, I died, and now I was in my own personal super-hell.
“What the hell are you doing here?” I growled.
“Is that anyway to great your mother?” she started.
“Lisa, she’s been through a lot.” My father poked his head in.
“Dad.” I said monotone. “Now seriously, what the hell are you doing here? How did you find me?”
“Some anonymous person called and said you were in the hospital here. We rushed here yesterday and the nurses said you’d already been here for a few days!”
“A few days? What day is it?” I asked, shocked.
“It’s Friday, you’ve been here for five days and you finally opened your eyes and I am so excited!” Lulu chirped rushing in. Greg, Corey, Rachel, Marissa and half the girls from the club squeezed in after her. The nurse squawked her disapproval but I burst into tears and tried to hug them all from my bed. They all started talking at once.
“I feel so responsible, the whole thing happening outside my club. I should have been looking for him more carefully!” Rachel yelled over the din. She went on and Marissa was just crying holding my hand. Greg ran over and kissed me on the lips much to my shock and he began going on and on about how he thought I was going to die and he was so worried. Corey even had tears in his eyes as he handed me a get well daisy. I thanked him.
“It’s beautiful Corey.” He smiled back. All of a sudden a doctor forced his way into the crowded room.
“Excuse me,” he said. About twenty heads turned around and looked at him expectantly. “Um only five visitors at a time.” The people all looked at each other for a moment. Then they were all talking, explaining why they should be the ones to stay. The doctor held up his hands again. “Okay, anyone not family, out.” He said. The group collectively sighed and began arguing and grumbling as they filed out, yelling out well wishes to me as they left. Finally only my parents, Lulu, Corey and Greg remained. My mother looked at them exasperated.
“Didn’t you hear? Family only.” I gasped.
“They’re more family than you are.” I said immediately. Lulu put her hands on her hips and smiled, her dark brown curls bouncing defiantly.
“Fine, fine, whatever.” My dad said.
“No, not fine.” My mother shot back. “This is the girl who kidnapped out daughter!”
“What?!?!” Lulu, Greg, Corey, and I all yelled out at once. We all began yelling and apparently my heart rate got a little high in the argument because soon enough the doctor was back saying they all had to leave because they were upsetting me. I hugged Lulu goodbye as they all filled out arguing with the doctor on the way. In the silence I took in what had happened to me. I had a pretty impressive cast on my leg but according to the nurse checking my vital signs, I had only fractured it slightly and it would heel within a few weeks. I had some more bruising and a cut across my lip. A black eye and slightly bent nose finished my exterior maladies. But my chest, oh my lungs still hurt, feeling the oxygen deprivation far too much. The nurse finally left and now I was completely alone. I wanted Emmett. Had someone told him I was here? I leaned my head back and stared at the ceiling.
A moment later there was a quiet knock on the door. “Come in.” I said warily hoping it was not my mother. Emmett came in and smiled at me. My eyes lit up and I wanted to rush into his arms. Unfortunately as I tried to get up I realized why I was lying in bed. I let out a small groan and Emmett was immediately at my side. He covered my face in soft kisses and comforted me until I quieted. “Em, you came.”
“Came? Of course I came. I’ve been practically living at this hospital. Of course you would pick the first time I was gone for more than an hour to wake up.” He teased. I smiled apologetically.
“Emmett, my parents-” she shook his head, cutting me off.
“I’ve been avoiding them and they don’t know I’m here. It wasn’t too hard, they’ve only actually come in to visit you a total of two times and your mother dragged your dad out after about ten minutes both time because she was board.” I grinned.
“Well that’s convenient.” I said, smiling. He nodded.
“Even when I called them I told them I was a doctor here and that they should come, not who I was or anything.” I froze. He began to say something but then stopped at my expression. “What?”
“You called them? You? Emmett I told you I never wanted to see them again! I told you that I hated them and that I would be perfectly content if they thought I had died and stopped looking for me!”
“Sophie you were dying I had to do something! What if you needed some transplant and they were a match? What if they knew you were allergic to something? We didn’t have your medical records! We only got you in hear without them by telling them what we knew about you and paying them a big fat bonus!”
“I told you I would rather die than see them again Emmett! And you paid them? Fine, how much do I owe you?”
“Soph, you don’t owe me anything.”
“You paid them to let me in! How much do I owe you?” I screamed in his face. He flinched.
“Soph,” he leaned in to kiss my forehead. I shoved him away with all my might, which unfortunately, after being feed by an IV for nearly a week was not much.
“Go away Emmett!” he looked at me shocked. “We’re done.”
“Soph, you’ve got to be kidding me.”
“What did you think Emmett? That this was some sort of fairy tale? That I was some princess locked away and you were my prince, coming to rescue me? That’s not real life! I wish it were, but it’s not, so no, I’m not kidding you.”
“I’m not your prince, huh, because I couldn’t rescue you from this? We needed the medical records and your father, Sophie your father deserved to know the truth.”
“Know the truth? He knows the lies my mother has feed him and nothing more. She won’t let him be alone with me or anyone who know the truth. We are tied together by my mother and she is burning us both along with her. Emmett I will always hate you for putting me back in this horrible trap I escaped from.”
“Soph, you don’t mean-”
“Hell yeah I mean that! I hate you Emmett! Get out! Right now!” he let out a cry that sounded like a wounded animal and nearly ran out of the room. I turned to my pillow and sobbed.