Farm Girl Meets Bad Boy (#1)

Chapter Four

I gasp for air, as Emery tightens his grip around my neck. I claw at his hands, much like he had been doing in his sleep. Despite the current situation, I made sense of his dream. He was dreaming of being choked, but by whom?

“Emery!” I yell his name through the air that was running out of my lungs. “It’s...me!”

Suddenly, his grip loosens and he leans over me, staring in shock. He blinks a few times in the darkness, and sits up. But he still doesn’t get off my waist.

I inhale as much air as I can, and hold my neck where his hands had been moments before. He looks down at me like he didn’t understand what happened.

“You really weren’t kidding when you said you’d kill me,” I mutter, after I’ve regained my breath.

“Just shut the fuck up,” he climbs off me and stands up. He walks towards my window, and sits on the seat underneath it. He looks out into the sky, and gazes up at the moon. It reflects down on his face, which looks upset and agonized.

“I was just trying to make light of the situation,” I say quietly, as I step towards him. He doesn’t turn to look at me as I stop beside him, and seat myself down on the cushions. “Are you okay?” Really, he should be the one who was asking me that question, but I push the thought away along with the pain.

“I’m fucking fine,” he snaps, but he still doesn’t meet my eyes. “Go back to sleep.”

Outside, the fields and the forest behind them are all a blurred picture through darkness. I was always scared of being in the corn field at night, because I’ve heard stories of coyotes, wolves, or mountain lions had a tendency to lurk through them.

When I was younger, I had chased King through them when I had let him outside on night. I thought he needed to do his business, but instead he darted into the fields, barking noisily. We both ran into the view of a mountain lion, who charged towards us. If it hadn’t been for my dad who heard the commotion and shot it dead, I would have been attacked.

Luckily it wasn’t corn season yet, but I still looked through the darkness to give me comfort.

“You need to go to sleep, too,” I murmur, suddenly feeling bad for Emery. Maybe there was more to him than just the arrogant, rude exterior. “We have chores to do tomorrow, and you have to learn the ropes if you’re going to be our new farm hand.”

“Just go back to sleep!”

I raise my knees and rest my chin on them as I stare out into the night. If Emery wasn’t sleeping, I wouldn’t be able to either. Especially, after he had just choked me. “Do you want to talk about what happened?” I whisper, trying to be as quiet as possible. I felt that the louder I spoke, the madder Emery would get.

“Just go to fucking bed, River!” It’s the first time I’ve ever heard him say my name before, so I slowly rise, knowing he wasn’t kidding around. I had already said enough to him, so I head to my bed. When I’m under the covers, I turn on my side and watch him gaze out the window. He doesn’t notice me, but after a while my eyes begin to close.

Two Hours Later:

I open my eyes, expecting to see Emery, but he’s not sitting at the window. I sit up in bed, and lean to see the mattress, but he isn’t on it.

I look around, confused, when my eyes stop on the window. Puffs of smoke move across the part of the night sky that I can see. Slowly, I creep towards the open window and stick my head out. Sure enough, to my left, Emery is sitting on the slanted roof, smoking a cigarette.

I had climbed onto my roof many times, but usually they were with my best friend Mary, and we would look for shooting stars.

I feel the familiar pattern of the shingles and hoist myself onto the roof. I crawl carefully until I’m beside Emery, who’s inhaling his cancer stick. He blows the smoke out of his mouth and nose, looking like he was a bull.

“I thought you were sleeping,” he mutters, surprisingly calmer than the usual angry responses I had gotten.

“I can say the same for you.” He shrugs, and inhales deeply. He turns towards me, and smiles. For a moment I smile back. But when I least expect it, he blows the smoke in my face. I cough and blow it away from me while Emery laughs. He looks down on me, like I’m a child. I’m seventeen, and he didn’t look much older.

“Give me one,” I try to sound mature, but I end up mumbling my words.

Emery laughs, and shakes his head no. “You can’t handle it.”

“Yes I can.”

“If you can handle one hit of mine right now, then maybe I’ll consider.” He passes the lit cancer stick, and I know I’m throwing away all my personal opinions on smoking as I raise it to my lips. I inhale too much, and try my hardest not to cough it out.

“You okay?” He smirks, and I know he’s judging me. I nod, and clear my throat to try to push away the need to cough. “You sure?” I nod again, and hold the cancer stick towards him. He shakes his head, and nods towards me. “No, take another drag.”

I debate whether or not to comply, after all, it tasted disgusting and my lungs were burning. But as he waits for me to inhale, I know that if I wanted this awful friendship to work, I had to make an effort. I breathe in the smoke again, and this time it isn’t as bad as the first. I blow it out, and it dances through the night sky, as if I had done this a million times before.

I hand back the cigarette, and for the first time since I’ve met Emery, he smiles a genuine smile. He holds out the pack to me, but I shake my head no. He shrugs, and drops it in his lap.

“Maybe you’re not as horrifying as I thought,” he crawls towards the window, and jumps through, leaving me alone to my thoughts.