Farm Girl Meets Bad Boy (#1)

Chapter Sixteen

“What do we tell him?”

I rest my elbows on my knees and my chin in my hands. Shrugging, I look down the empty street around us, looking for any sign of Mary’s dad. We’re sitting on the curb, outside or Aura. Mason, the bouncer, is letting late night clubbers through the doors behind us. Every few minutes, the pulsing music becomes loud once the doors open, then is muffled into a plain bass line.

“The truth,” I sigh, pulling my heels off my feet. Mary follows in suit, and starts rubbing her feet.

“Can’t we tell everyone someone else?” Mary drunk was the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen. It’s like she’s done a one eighty. She swears, she lies, and now she’s trying to get out of the heaps of trouble we were in. In my whole life of knowing her, I’ve never seen this side that she’s showing now.

“Mary,” I place my bare feet on my tipped over heels so I don’t have to touch the dirty ground that’s covered in cigarette butts. “You’re dad’s picking us up in front of a club, were obviously underage, you’re obviously drunk, and we have on clubbing outfits. What are we really going to say?”

“Sheesh,” Mary crosses her legs and stares up at the night sky. “Don’t need to be crabby. But you do have a point.”

For a few minutes we sit in silence. I think about the night’s events, and wonder if I regret them. If Emery had never showed up in my barn, I would have never ended up here. Instead, I would probably be watching old movies in my living room with Mary and my parents.

“What’s Emery going to do?” Mary asks, curious. I didn’t want to talk about Emery, but I couldn’t help but wonder too. He had been drinking, has my dad’s truck and therefore the only vehicle in my family until I get my birthday present, and was a criminal. What would he do?

“I have no idea,” I mumble, as headlights turn onto our street.

Mary stands, and grabs her heels off the ground. She waves towards her father, as I try to ignore the feeling of the dirty ground underneath my feet.

We climb into the back seat of the blue car. I knew that if Mary sat in the front seat, the lecture we’re about to get would be ten times worse. Once I close my door, Mary’s father turns around in his seat. His eyes are wide beneath his glasses and his mouth hands open.

“Meredith Rosemary Smith!” I can barely see the balding man in the darkness, but his voice tells me his anger level. He’s furious. “What in god’s name is going on?”

Mary and I sink into our seats as low as we can, as Mr. Smith turns back around. He does a U-turn and soon we’re on our way home. Mary explains the story, starting with Emery. Frankly, I’m glad she ratted him out. He deserves to get into trouble for once.

“River Snow,” Mr. Smith shakes his head in the front seat, and I’m suddenly glad he doesn’t know my middle name. Mary and I can’t stop crying from the constant threat of trouble we’re going to be in. “I am very disappointed in you.” He had already gone into the disappointed speech with Mary, so I bite my tongue and listen the whole ride home.

“Thank you so much for the ride home, Mr. Smith,” my voice is hoarse from the crying I had done. “I’ll make sure I don’t repeat my actions.”

He nods as me as I lean into the backseat car door. “I hope not, River. But if you or Mary ever need a ride again like this, I’m always there.”

I give a quiet thanks and close the door. Taking a deep breath, I trek towards my house. The light is on in the living room, which could only mean that Mr. Smith called my parents and they are right there, waiting for me. Perfect.

“No TV for a month, you’re helping build the loft tomorrow and until it’s finished, which should take about a week,” Dad says, as I sit with my hands in my lap on the living room couch. It’s old fashioned, like everything in my house, and has the theme of flowers, much like the other furniture. Oh, and the carpet underneath my feet that covers most of the old wooden floor. To my right, sits my mother in a matching chair, shaking her head at me. Beside her is the small TV on a wooden stand, if you could even call it that, and beside that, sits an old china cabinet.

“We’re waiting a while to get you a new laptop,” Mom adds in, and I grind my teeth together. If I had a lap top, it would probably only be taken away. Now, thanks to Emery, I couldn’t even get one. “And you’re car.”

My anger swirls as I lean forward. “Mom, no! That’s unfair! This is all Emery’s fault!” She looks to my dad, who’s folding his arms across his chest. “Dad!” I plea, feeling fresh tears stream down my cheeks. “You’ve been letting Emery off so easy! This isn’t my fault, and he has your truck!” All I can think about is not getting my car on my birthday. It was going to be my only source of freedom to go where I wanted to, and get away from my boring life on my family’s farm. But if my life isn’t so boring anymore, do I still want to drive away?

“I’ll deal with Emery tomorrow, if he comes home,” he mutters the last part, and heads towards the stairs. “Now it’s time for all of us to go to bed, and we’ll pick this up in the morning.” Mom stands and brushes off her nightgown, before following my father up the stairs. I’m the last one, taking every step with guilt.

I shouldn’t have lied to my parents, and I should have called them when Emery took us to the club. But it’s too late for regrets now. Instead, it’s time to sleep. Or, at least attempt it.

As I walk past Emery’s mattress, I can’t help but notice his backpack lying half open. I know I shouldn’t, but after all that Emery’s put me through, I could take one little peek.

My hand digs through the clothes as my ears listen for the sound of the front door. Emery finding me looking through his things would make things so much worse. When my hand feels something plastic and paper-like, I carefully pull it out.

In my hands, is a tattered photograph. Judging by the condition it’s in, and the resemblance, I can tell it’s of Emery. He looks about seven, smiling in between who must be his parents. They all look extremely happy, smiling widely at the camera.

Knowing I was already taking a huge risk, I take one last look and put it back where I had found it. Sighing, I climb into bed and close my eyes. It’s weird falling asleep without hearing Emery’s breathing, or having him here. My heart sinks as I wonder where he is right now. Drunk driving with his reckless steering would kill him for sure. But would he even try to come back, or would he leave me here alone?

Two Hours Later:

My eyes fly open as something squeaks near my feet. For a moment, I’m terrified. Then I remember that my floor makes noises when you walk on it. I slowly sit up and pull away the blankets, to watch Emery’s dark figure walk towards me. He reaches out, and gently touches my shoulder.

“River?”

His voice is soft, and calm, unlike anything I’ve heard before.

“Yeah, Emery?”

His grip tightens around my shoulder in the darkness.

“I’m sorry.”