by Lee, S. G.
Matt pushed him toward his car. “Just go home, Evan. I’ll fix it. I promise.”
***
Emma was curled up in a ball on the floor crying when she heard their car coming down the street. Hours had passed and school was over. Unable to face Matt, she locked her bedroom door. He had always been her rock; an anchor while adrift in a sea of cruel taunts by classmates and Jillian. When the other kids made fun of her, calling her a nerd or a geek, Matt had always defended her. He’d always been her best and oftentimes only friend, but now he had finally turned on her. Deep down, she’d always feared he would.
She opened her music library and cranked up the volume. She wouldn’t give Matt the satisfaction of hearing her sob like a little girl. She had determined that Matt and Whitney planned her humiliating scene together and, of course, Evan was in on the scheme. Still, she couldn’t decide who had betrayed her more, Matt or Evan.
“But he said he loved me,” Emma scoffed bitterly. “Yup, sounds just as pathetic when I say it.” She laughed hysterically while fresh tears rolled down her cheeks.
As Matt got out of the car he was greeted with the angry, gravelly voice of the lead singer to one of one of Emma’s favorite bands growling about how much people suck. Matt drew in a sharp breath, realizing she had not chosen the censored version. Scanning the street, he breathed a sigh of relief. Most of the neighbors were still at work so there was no one to complain. He dashed upstairs and crashed into Emma’s door. Groaning, he rubbed his jarred shoulder.
“Since when do you lock your door? C’mon, Em, open up!”
The sound of his voice released a fresh wave of tears and Emma turned the music up even louder. She quickly generated a new playlist to speak for her. Matt hadn’t seen her cry since their mother’s death and Emma wasn’t about to let that change. She cued songs of rage and betrayal to mask her tearful agony.
Not willing to accept defeat, Matt went in search of paper and a pen. He scrawled Emma, please open the door. We need to talk. It’s not what you think on the page and shoved it under the door. Emma snatched up the paper and, without looking at it, tore it to shreds then stuffed it back through the gap.
“Emma, I know you can hear me. Open the door! Please, just listen to me.”
Emma cued her playlist to replay over and over—just in case he missed her meaning the first time.
***
Evan had rushed home. It was risky but he decided to beg his dad for permission to call Emma. He hoped, after explaining what happened at school, he’d get a brief reprieve just to set the record straight. Evan was desperate to mend their budding relationship as soon as possible.
The pained looked on Emma’s face still haunted him as he burst through the front door. Evan found his mother sitting in the kitchen; her eyes red and swollen as if she’d been crying.
“Evan, I’m going to need your help around here. Your father was deployed today,” she said curtly.
“What? Where?” he asked, shocked by the news. He couldn’t remember the last time his dad was actually deployed.
“I don’t know. They told him it was classified. He had an hour to pack and return to the base. They didn’t even give him time to say goodbye to you and Lucy.”
Evan gave his mom a hug then decided to take a gamble. He asked for permission to call Emma but only succeeded in angering his mother.
Before he could explain, she cut him off. “Not another word! Evan, you have chores to do. Go now or I’ll add those six weeks back on.”
Evan let out a heavy sigh and hoped Matt was having better luck than he was.
***
Through tearful eyes, Emma watched the dusk fade into night, then night into daybreak. At the buzz of her father’s alarm clock, her heart filled with dread. She couldn’t bear the thought of going back to school, not now, not ever. With a stroke of brilliance, she softly crept down the hall to her dad’s room.
“Daddy, I don’t feel good,” Emma whined, using her best sick voice and deliberately poor grammar.
Startled, Alan looked up at his daughter with surprise. She never called him daddy anymore and rarely complained of being sick.
“What’s wrong, honey?”
“My stomach feels kind of …”
For extra impact, she paused and made her body lurch forward before dashing into his bathroom. With her back to her father, Emma shoved her finger down her throat and vomited nosily into the toilet. She rinsed her mouth and splashed cool water on her face, hoping to make her skin feel clammy. Alan led her back down the hallway, to her own bedroom, and tucked her back into bed.
“You go back to sleep, baby. You’ll feel better after some rest.”
Placing a kiss on the top of her head, Alan pulled another blanket around his little girl.
“But what about school?” Emma whined to seal the deal.
“Don’t worry about that. Matt can get your assignments for you. It’s not like we have to worry that you’ll fall behind. You could probably teach most of those classes yourself, sweetheart.” With another kiss on the head, Alan added. “Now be a good girl and get lots of rest.”
“If you say so, Daddy.” She carefully hid her sly smile under the blankets.
As her dad’s footsteps moved further down the hall, she jumped up to lock her door. She heard him instructing Matt to collect her assignments and let her teachers know she was sick. Waiting for their dad to go downstairs, Matt dashed down the hall and knocked on Emma’s door.
“Em, are you okay? Open the door.”
“Matt, I just told you she’s sick,” Alan called from the bottom of the staircase. “Now leave her alone. She needs to rest. Besides, I don’t want you to catch it too.”
Matt had a sneaking suspicion that there wasn’t anything to catch, but kept that to himself.
***
Evan sprinted through the parking lot as Matt’s car pulled in, anxious to set things right with Emma.
“Where is she?” he asked when he didn’t see her.
“My dad said she’s sick.”
“What do you mean sick? What wrong with her?”
“I don’t know. She locked herself in her room and wouldn’t speak to me.”
“Wait, you didn’t straighten everything out? Matt, you said you would fix it. Your stupid girlfriend caused this whole mess. I swear to God, I’m gonna to kill her!”
“Relax, would ya? Besides, it was Jessica, not Whitney. Whitney wouldn’t deliberately hurt my sister.” Matt’s voice lacked conviction but he wanted to believe it was true.
Fury burned in Evan’s eyes but he held his tongue and marched off to homeroom while Matt slowly made his way through the parking lot and toward his locker. Lack of sleep teamed with worry impeded his progress. Bright and cheerful as ever, Whitney bounced to his side and planted a kiss on his cheek.
“Wake up, sleepy. It’s a beautiful day.” Matt grunted in reply but when she asked about Emma his half-closed eyes shot open. Evan whipped around, ready to charge, but Matt stepped in between them.
“Whitney, just shut up okay,” Matt told her, too tired for confrontation.
“But what did I do?” Whitney’s simpering voice screeched like nails on a chalkboard.
“Oh, please, you know exactly what you did!” Evan snarled.
“Evan! Whitney! Enough, please!” Matt shouted, holding his pounding head.
“Matt, you’re not really going to take his side are you?”
Matt finally snapped. “No, Whitney I’m not taking either side. I’m taking Emma’s side. What were you thinking? She’s my sister, my twin sister. There’s no way you, or anyone else here, could possibly mean more to me than she does. Did you really think I’d let you treat her like that just because you put out? Stay away from me, and stay away from my sister or you’ll be sorry.”
Matt’s rant could be heard the entire length of the hall. At its conclusion, most of the students applauded. Whitney’s face burned with embarrassment as Matt stormed off to homeroom.
&n
bsp; Evan sneered at her, “Not so funny when the tables are turned huh, Whitney?”
***
Matt sat down in class and rested his head on the desk. Brittany flashed him a sympathetic smile and snuck a small bottle of Ibuprofen into his hand.
“Thanks,” Matt muttered and dry swallowed a few.
It was a long, painful day that grew worse as Matt made his way to the football field. Coach Rollins believed that ditching practice should be punishable by firing squad but, for reasons he couldn’t explain, the school board disagreed. So instead, he forced Matt to run sprints through the entire practice. When he was finally permitted to trudge off the field, Matt showered quickly and rushed home.
Hoping to get a few minutes alone with Emma, he was disappointed to see his father’s car in the driveway. He ran upstairs in time to see his dad tiptoeing from Emma’s room.
“Shhh, she’s sleeping.”
Matt nodded and headed to his own room, listening for his dad’s footsteps to retreat. Once the coast was clear, he darted down the hall to Emma’s room. The doorknob turned freely so he entered. “Emma, are you okay?”
Emma’s eyes were swollen and red, both from crying and lack of sleep. Matt’s heart broke for her and at that moment he hated Whitney more than anyone—even Jillian.
“Get. Out.” Emma’s voice was raw and feeble.
“Please, just let me explain.”
Refusing to listen, Emma shook her head wildly and pointed toward the hallway.
“C’mon, you know I’d never hurt you. I even broke up with Whitney. Just talk to me, please.”
Exhaustion had taken its toll and Matt could barely keep his eyes open. When Emma stepped tentatively toward him, Matt held out his arms for a hug. Finally, he thought. Before he could react, Emma shoved him into the hallway with all of her strength, slammed the door shut, and snapped the lock into place. Bewildered, he stared blankly at her door.
***
Gnawed flesh, bloody and oozing, hung from the face of Interim Chief Scott Raines. As he rose from the grimy carpet of Kepler’s apartment, he did not notice his gore-covered clothing had been ripped to shreds or that his left eye dangled out of its socket. What he did notice was that he was hungry. He could smell food and that alone was his driving force.
He staggered toward the open door, seeking only to assuage the craving, and tumbled down the stairs to land on top of his partner. The shell of Travis Kepler continued to shovel the entrails of his landlady into his mouth voraciously, oblivious to the arrival of his only friend in Collegeville.
When Raines reached out to join the feast, Kepler snarled but it did not stop Raines from tearing bloody handfuls of flesh from her ravaged body. When there was nothing left to feed their hunger, they rose from the mangled corpse and followed their noses to find another meal.
***
The next morning, Emma waited patiently for her father to check on her. Like clockwork, Alan tapped on the door and peeked inside.
“Sweetie, how are you feeling today?” Alan asked, touching her forehead, “Hmm, you’re a little warm.”
“I think I should try to go to school today, Daddy,” Emma lied as she feebly attempted to sit up. “What if I miss a test?”
“No, I think you need to stay in bed. Just focus on getting better. You won’t have any trouble making up the work.”
Alan’s worry was growing by the minute. The newspaper had been filled with articles about a spreading flu in nearby counties. Just because Emma had always been a healthy child didn’t mean she couldn’t contract a highly contagious flu strain. Missing school was unheard of for her so he instructed Jillian to take Emma to the doctor.
Jillian was furious that she had to cancel an appointment with her personal trainer to haul Alan’s little brat to the doctor’s office. She was just about to call Family Medicine when the phone rang. The voice on the other line explained that she was the nurse at Lincoln High.
“I just wanted to check on Emma, Mrs. Wexley. It’s school policy to call after two days and … I’m concerned. It seems that Emma didn’t show up to her last few classes on Monday.”
“I picked her up myself,” Jillian lied smoothly. “She had an appointment. Don’t tell me she forgot to turn in the note I sent in? Teenagers, they’d forget their heads if they weren’t attached, right? Don’t worry; Emma will be back in class tomorrow. Thank you for calling.”
Hanging up the phone, Jillian’s cruel smile broadened. I’ve got her now, she thought as she stormed upstairs.
“Emma! You can cut the act. You’re in deep trouble, girl.”
Startled, Emma spun around. Her dirty hair was sticking up in all directions and her bloodshot eyes were puffy and raw against a pale, tear-streaked face. Shocked by Emma’s appearance, Jillian stood there gawking. Not once in her six-year marriage had she seen Emma cry.
“Oh my God! Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital?”
With fresh tears spilling down her cheeks, Emma shook her head no. Completely forgetting that she had planned to punish Emma, Jillian was dumbfounded.
“Wha-What’s wrong?”
Emma opened her mouth but only a whimper escaped through her trembling jaw; her entire body shook as she sobbed. In an effort to soothe her, Jillian wrapped her arms around Emma. With a little coaxing, Emma spilled the entire story.
“You don’t understand … they set me up. They humiliated me in front of the entire school.”
Jillian was certain there had been a misunderstanding. Matt was as protective of his twin as a grizzly bear with its cub and she’d seen the way Evan looked at Emma. She had no doubts the boy had real feelings for her but she had no intention of relaying that to Emma. A prime opportunity had dropped in her lap and she was going to seize it with both hands. Divide and conquer. With Emma and Matt at odds, they couldn’t unite against her.
For years the twin terrors had been sabotaging her relationship with Alan. At every turn, they tried to drive a wedge between her and her husband. Now Jillian could return the favor. Playing her role, she assured Emma that everything would be okay. Bawling, Emma swore that she was never going back to school again.
“Yes, Emma, you will … tomorrow.”
Emma’s eyes grew wide. Shaking her head, she sobbed, “I can’t.”
“Your first mistake was walking out in the middle of the day; the second was not coming to me immediately. You’re a very intelligent girl, Emma, but you lack street smarts. I can help you there and I guarantee no one will ever hurt you like this again.”
“You knew I cut class?”
“The school calls when you do stuff like that, cupcake, but I told them I picked you up for an appointment so it won’t go on your record. I think we should keep this from your father; he has enough to worry about right now.”
Speechless, Emma nodded in agreement.
“We have a lot of work ahead of us to get you ready for school tomorrow. Go get a shower and meet me in the car in twenty minutes.”
In no time, she and Jillian were headed out of town to a posh salon. While the stylist and Jillian discussed highlights, words like ‘cinnamon,’ ‘mocha,’ and ‘caramel’ made Emma’s stomach rumble.
“Emma, make sure you pay attention. You’ll need to straighten your hair just like she’s doing.”
Next, it was off to makeup and Emma was taught how to create her new look. She caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror and didn’t recognize the girl looking back.
After the salon, Jillian explained the rest of her plan as they drove to her favorite boutiques.
“You desperately need clothes, Emma.” Jillian’s condescension was palpable. “Especially if this plan is going to work. The most important thing though, no matter what, you do not speak to Evan. Don’t let him anywhere near you if you can help it.”
“How am I gonna do that? He’s my lab partner.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll take care of that … Now, you’ll need to pretend that you knew all about the bets and Ma
tt’s bribe. Tell everyone that Evan gave you half the money. Next, and maybe more importantly, you’ll need to elevate your social status if you’re ever going to recover from this mess. It just so happens my friend is a member of the school board. They’ve lost two cheerleaders this year. Tomorrow they’re having open tryouts to replace them. Don’t look at me like that! You took gymnastics for ten years, Emma. Now that you’ve had a makeover, there’s no reason you wouldn’t make the team.”
“No way! Why can’t I just transfer to a boarding school or maybe I could go live with Aunt Jenny?”
“Emma, grow up! You can’t run away from this; besides, there’s no way your father would agree to send you away. So forget it.” Jillian knew all too well that Alan would never split up his family. She had tried many times to convince him to ship the brats off to boarding school.
Emma felt like she was trapped in a horrible dream and couldn’t wake up.
“Jillian, there’s no way I’d make the team, even if I wanted to. Whitney and Jessica are cheerleaders. They’ve got the whole team on their side.”
“Listen to me. You’re smart, pretty, and a talented gymnast. The coach wants her team to win at competition and you could help them do it—the fact that she’s my friend won’t hurt either.”
Emma wasn’t convinced but she had no other option. Jillian was the only one with a plan that didn’t involve leaving the state. Staring listlessly out the window, Emma tried not to think about Evan. Her mind drifted to his eyes, his smile, and worst of all, his kiss. Just then, a distraction stumbled into her line of sight.
From the state of his attire, Emma assumed the strange-looking man was homeless. Stiff and clumsy, he walked so strangely that she couldn’t help staring. Jillian droned on about the upcoming tryouts while Emma watched out the window with curious fascination. The homeless man staggered toward another man in a business suit. Probably asking for spare change, Emma thought, until the homeless man grabbed Mr. Business Suit and attacked him.