I was having trouble connecting with Emerson today and it was beginning to grate on my nerves.
During second period, I had started talking to her about just packing up her shit and moving in with me and she cut me off without give the discussion any serious thought. She said that just because she let me deflower her-seriously, she said the word deflower-it didn’t mean she was just going to hand over her free will to me.
My jaw clenched so hard, it’s a wonder I hadn’t cracked a molar. I hadn’t been asking her to surrender her free will. I just wanted the damn girl to move in with me, so I could sleep beside her every night. I didn’t see anything wrong with that and it bothered me that she did.
Never mind the argument we had during sixth period when she casually mentioned that her birth control should be taking effect now. I stood up in class-as if we hadn’t had an audience-and I yelled at her, asking her what the fuck was she doing getting on birth control.
When Mr. Jacobson jumped in and praised us for practicing safe sex, I had gone all unhinged alpha male on him and announced to the entire class that I wanted to get Emerson pregnant.
I was pretty positive that bets were being placed all over school on the over and under of when I was going to finally lose my shit and burn the school down. Hell, maybe even the entire town.
My day had gotten progressively worse after that. And the more I pushed, the more Emerson pushed back, until she snapped at me and told me to back the hell off. I wanted to fuck her into compliance, but she was too unpredictable to challenge. And, now, I was knocking on her front door because she hadn’t been answering my calls.
When the door swung open, Bailey was on the other side and my mood just plummeted even more. “That’s didn’t take long,” she sneered.
I was about to brush past her and head to Emerson’s room, but her comment stopped me. “What didn’t take long?”
“Your little love fest with Emerson,” she taunted. “She’s a fucking whore, Ramsey,” she went on viciously. “You didn’t really think she was going to be faithful, did you?”
“What the fuck are you talking about, Bailey?” I’ve never hit a female before, but I had no problem shaking the shit out of one.
Bailey rolled her eyes and opened the door wider to let me in. I stepped through the doorway and crossing my arms across my chest, stared down at her, as she explained. “Emerson was in such a hurry to leave the house earlier, she forgot her phone. The stupid thing’s been ringing and pinging nonstop.”
“Yeah, I imagine it has been,” I bit out. “I’ve been trying to get a hold of her all afternoon.”
Suddenly, she looked like the cat that ate the canary. “You’re not the only one,” she smirked. I stood in the foyer as she walked further into the house. She returned a few minutes later with a phone in her hand, handing it to me. “What’s this?”
“It’s Emerson’s phone,” she answered. “Go ahead. It’s not locked. See for yourself.”
Every nerve in my body was screaming at me not to go through Emerson’s phone. Nothing good would come out of me invading her privacy. But Bailey’s smug look and my irritation got the better of me and I swiped the screen lock icon and her phone came to life.
I scrolled through the call logs and most of the calls were from me or Roselyn, a couple from her aunt, but I did notice one unprogrammed number showing up on the list. I kept my calm, but that ended when I got to her text messages. The same unprogrammed number had sent her messages to which she responded, and they were all about how they were meeting up tonight.
768-555-4525: Hey pretty girl. Glad u finally decided 2 give me a chance
Me: I sh’ve given u a chance sooner
768-555-4525: 2night?
Me: 4 sure. I just have 2 manage a couple of things
768-555-4525: I got sumthin u can manage
Me: Looking 4ward 2 it.
I stopped reading and hit the phone icon. The call went to voicemail and I saw red.
I turned and grabbed Bailey by her neck, pushing her up against the wall. “Who is he?”
Hey eyes widened, and her hands were pulling at my wrists. “I don’t know,” she gasped out.
“Where the fuck is she, Bailey?” I growled in her face.
I could see the panic written across her face. She was terrified, and she should be. “I don’t know. I swear, I don’t!”
Jesus, I wanted nothing more than to kill this fucking bitch, and then go after whoever the fuck was with Emerson.
Then there was Emerson.
Killing would be too good for her.
I had to hand it to her. She got me.
She motherfucking got me.
Here I thought I was a heartless motherfucker, but she reigned, hands down.
I let go of Bailey’s neck and walked out of the house with Emerson’s phone. I stormed to my car, ready to call Liam and Deke and burn this fucking town to the ground. But, instead, I called the unknown number again. The sonofabitch didn’t answer until the fourth ring.
“Hey, are you almost here?” he answered. “Because, I’ve got to tell you, my dick’s been rock hard waiting for you, pretty girl.”
I have no idea how I was able to form words, but I managed. “Who in the fuck is this?”
“Whoa, wait,” he asked, surprised. “Who is this? Where’s Emerson?”
My rage boiled over at the same exact moment that my heart broke.
Emerson played me. She fucking played me.
And then I was consumed with the sickest feeling. No wonder she let me fuck her like a seasoned whore. Just because her pussy had been virgin didn’t mean her ass was. We had never made it that far for me to find out. And a lot of teenage girls gave up the ass thinking it was okay as long as they preserved their real virginity for the man they loved.
I hung up on the no good cocksucker and felt paralyzed by the turn of events.
After what felt like an eternity, I finally pulled out of Emerson’s driveway and got myself over to Liam’s. One look at me and he called Deke.
Now we were all sitting in Liam’s father’s den drinking up the good stuff. “What are you doing to do, Ram?”
“Kill her,” I answered, clearly and specifically.
“I don’t know, Ram,” Liam chimed in. “I mean, I’m all for killing her if she really did set you up, but I’m having trouble with this.”
I threw her phone at him. “See for yourself,” I sneered.
Deke walked over to stand next to Liam, and together, they read the text exchanges. It took them a couple of minutes, as I imagined they were reading all of them, where as I only read those first few.
When they were done, Liam tossed the phone back to me and said, “Want me to call Roselyn and ask her if she knows where Emerson’s at?”
I huffed. “Yeah, like she’s going to give up Emerson.”
“So, what do you want to do?” Deke asked again.
I sat there trying to combat all the emotions that were threatening to drown me. People have always said it’s a thin line between love and hate, and now I know exactly how that saying came to pass.
This morning I loved Emerson more than my own life. I would have killed for her and died for her. I would have forsaken every other motherfucker on the planet for her. Even Liam and Deke.
But now…
Now, I wanted nothing more to make her suffer so horribly, she’d take a rope to her neck to end her misery. I wanted her to feel as broken as I did. I wanted her to struggle with the mere effort of existing each morning.
“I’m going to make her pay,” I finally say. “As much as I’d love to kill her, killing her would be too easy. I want that fucking cunt to suffer.”
Liam winced, but asked, “How?”
I looked up at the two closest people to me in the world and laid out my plan. Deke looked delighted and Liam looked slightly sick. However, Liam’s reservations did matter. I knew he’d back me no matter what. And tomorrow Emerson Andrews was going to see that loyalty live and
in living color.
Chapter 28
Emerson
I knew Ramsey was going to be pissed, but I hadn’t meant to lose my phone.
Roselyn had gotten the flu and when she had texted me during seventh period that she was so sick she thought she was going to die, I had called her on her theatrics. But when I had stopped by after school to check on her, she really had been horribly sick. So much so that I had rushed home, packed a quick overnight bag and rushed back to her house to sit with her.
She had been a sick, vomiting mess. I had wanted to call her mom or a doctor or someone, but she assured me that no one gave a fuck and she just needed to let it run its course. I was forced to believe her when that jackass stepbrother of hers hadn’t even bothered to ask what was wrong with her.
So, I had spent all afternoon, evening and night taking care of her. I hadn’t minded in the least, but I had started to panic a bit when I realized I couldn’t find my phone. I didn’t have Ramsey’s phone number committed to memory, so I wasn’t able to use Roselyn’s phone to call him. In hindsight, I could have text Liam or Deke from her phone to pass along a message to Ramsey, but after awhile, I put Ramsey on the backburner and concentrated on helping Roselyn.
I knew he was going to be pissed, but now that we were a couple, I was sure he’d let me explain and it’d be fine, not like our previous battles.
Ramsey wasn’t waiting for me by his car, but I wasn’t too worried. I was running late, and I still couldn’t find my phone.
I rushed into the school entrance and was immediately brought to a halt.
Students were lined up on both sides of the hallway and Ramsey, Liam and Deke were standing in front of their lockers, arms crossed, looking pissed off to hell.
I did my best to ignore how everyone was looking at me and made my way towards Ramsey. I was five feet away when his voice echoed throughout the hallway. “I’m kind of surprised to see you, Emerson. Doesn’t fucking more than one cock at a time tire you out? I mean, I knew you had stamina when you hadn’t shut your legs for me all weekend, but doesn’t it get tiresome when there’s more than one guy you’re spreading them for?”
I froze. What the fuck??
I could hear several snickers around me, but I didn’t care about that. About them. I was too busy staring at Ramsey in shock.
What the fuck was he talking about? Why would he talk to me like that? How could he talk to me like that?
I finally found my voice. “What are you talking about?” I asked, hoping my voice wasn’t giving anything away. My stomach felt like the bottom had fallen out and I could feel my hands wanting to shake.
“I’m talking about how you can let me use you all weekend long, but it still wasn’t enough,” he mocked. “Even after I fucked you Monday during lunch, you still dropped flat on your back last night for some other dude’s dick. You should have told me you needed dick every day, baby. I would have made sure to deliver. I’m sure Liam and Deke would have stepped in if I was busy,” he said, scathingly. “You should have just said something.”
Anyone who believes having your heart broken is just a figure of speech has clearly never had their heart broken. You can actually feel it, you know. You can actually feel that final thump in your chest before the actual pain starts to set in.
And my heart was breaking inside my chest in front of all these people…in front of Ramsey, and it amazed me that no one could hear or see it.
He was accusing me of cheating on him last night, when I had actually been taking care of Roselyn. Whatever he thought, whatever he heard, whatever he saw or imagined, Ramsey believed that I was the kind of girl to give a boy her virginity on Saturday, spend the entire weekend talking, exploring and falling in love, and then turn around two days later and lay with another guy.
I stood there conflicted on how to respond. Half of me wanted to demand why he was saying all this to me, but the other half of me was insisting that anyone who thought so little of me didn’t deserve any more of my time.
Pride won the battle. For me, pride always wins the battle.
I decided to ignore the trip to my locker and head straight to class, so I went to sidestep him, when his next words kicked off a chain of events that changed the course of my life.
Ramsey snatched my arm up, halting my steps and seethed down at me, “Tell me the truth, Emerson. Did I fuck up Ricky, Roman and Jamie for nothing? Were you spreading your legs for them and panicked when Liam caught you guys together?”
Forget a broken heart.
Mine was shattering. Splintering into a million irreparable pieces.
I yanked my arm from out of his hold and that’s when something hit me. I looked around to see who was throwing things at me, and that’s when I saw Bailey’s face. It was pure calculated venom. And everyone looked just as venomous.
I looked back up at Ramsey and I had noticed he had taken a few steps back. He was now back in line with Deke and Liam.
Before I could speak, I felt something else hit my leg. I looked down and I almost threw up. There were two used condoms at my feet and my right leg was shiny with their contents. And before I could make heads or tails of what was happening, I was suddenly pelted with used condoms from every direction.
I dropped my backpack, and instinctively, covered my face and head as the splattering sounds surrounded me. All emotions fled. All emotions except for one. Fear.
Not fear from being bullied. Not fear from any altercations that might take place. Not, even, fear from Ramsey.
My body was quickly becoming covered with human bodily fluids of origins unknown. There were random mixtures of semen coating my skin, covering my hair and saturating my clothing and I had no idea if any of it was disease ridden or not.
I couldn’t stop myself. I removed my hands from my face, hunched over and started vomiting everywhere. My ears rang with the cruel laughter, the taunting, the name calling…but, mostly, they rang with Ramsey’s sinister glee.
When I finished retching, I wasn’t quick enough with my hands, and more condoms came flying at me, only this time a couple of them hit my face. I cupped my hands over my face, not caring about the vomit dribbling on my chin, and did my best to limit the mess on my face.
After a few brutal minutes, everyone ran out of condoms to throw at me, and I was able to lower my hands. Even though my hands were covered in slimy film, I still tried to wipe my face off.
The effort came to a stop when Ramsey’s voice froze everything inside me. “Oh, come on, Emerson. I know for a fact you like cum all over that pretty face of yours,” he sneered.
The hallway erupted in laughter as Ramsey raised his chin in challenge. My eyes darted past him to Deke and his face was completely impassive, while Liam’s eyes were looking down.
I stood there, covered in disgust, looking at Ramsey and my mind wandered to my backpack. I mentally recounted everything that was in my bag and then my locker. It was all stuff that could be left behind and that was important somehow.
I was covered in filth and I was going to have to walk back down this hallway, past all these people, to its entrance. But somehow being able to do that without having to grab my backpack and sift through my locker was an important victory.
I didn’t bother trying to wipe the chaos from my face anymore, nor did I didn’t try to shake loose the condoms that were stuck on my body.
Instead I turned my back on Ramsey, Deke and Liam and walked back through the hallway with my head held high and my spine straight as an arrow. I slipped a couple of times, and some students laughed, but I didn’t fall.
When I reached the schools front entrance, I stopped, and with my back to everyone, I removed my uniform shirt and skirt while kicking off my white sandals. Once I was in my bra and panties only, I pushed open the front doors and walked across the lawn to the parking lot. My gaze was focused on the safety of my parked car and it never wavered.
I didn’t look around to see if anyone was watching me, and I sure as fuck never looked
back to see if anyone had followed me.
Once I got to my car, I got in, grabbed the keys from under the seat, and with shaky hands turned the ignition and then twisted my body so I could see behind me as I backed up, all the while never looking up back towards the school.
I drove home and took a shower so hot, the water left burn patches on my skin. I packed everything that meant anything to me and drove to Roselyn’s. I told her what happened, and she held me for hours as I cried and cried. The night had been a mixture of my tears and Roselyn’s need to run Ramsey over with her car. Her outrage was the only thing holding me together.
It took brute honesty to finally calm her down. I knew Ramsey Reed was no good and I went there anyways. This was all my fault. While I didn’t deserve what those people did to me. I had to own the fact that I got in bed with the devil, willingly, knowing he’d ruin me eventually.
The next morning, I woke up, hugged Roselyn goodbye and drove out of Sands Cove.
After all, today was my 18th birthday…no one could stop me now.
Chapter 29
Ramsey
I was sitting on one of the sports benches that were hidden behind the Ag-Science building, trying not to lose what little left of my sanity I had. No one ever came back here because almost nobody studied Ag-Science, so it was a good place to try to collect yourself.
Try as I may, I haven’t been able to get Wednesday morning out of my head. Even though I had set it all up, I never imagined the scene was going to be as brutal as it had been, and that was fucking with me.
Emerson was a no good cheating whore, but I couldn’t shake the devastation I felt watching her throw up everywhere. I shouldn’t have felt anything other than triumph that I had gotten my revenge for her betrayal, but I was feeling a lot of things two days later and none of them were triumphant.
Deke has remained quiet about the entire thing, giving me time to sort through the aftermath of Emerson fucking destroying me, and I wouldn’t expect anything else from him. But Liam…Liam’s been avoiding me, and it was becoming concerning.
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