I Did(n't Do) It

Chapter 12: The Slap Heard Around The World (2/2)

"Oh! Hi Alex!" Mrs. Johnson, Emily's mother, said, surprised. "And.. Violet." She looked between both Alex and Violet, standing at her front door.

"Hi Mrs. Johnson." Alex said, "Is Emily home?"

"She is..." Her mother said hesitantly. "May I inquire to what this is about?"

"Just friend things." Alex said simply, grabbing Violet's hand and rushing past her and downstairs to Emily's room.

"Thank you Mrs. Johnson!" Violet said behind her as Alex dragged her down the stairs.

"Yes I-" Emily's sentence stopped when she made eye contact with Alex and Violet. "I have to go." She said, hanging up her phone. "How did you get in here?" She asked.

"Your mother." Alex said

"I need to have a talk with her." Emily said to herself. She folded her arms, "Well, what do you want? I'm a busy person."

"Yeah, busy with sabotaging Violet's relationship."

"What do you-"

"Why would you do that to her?" Alex asked, stepping forward.

"I don't know what you're talking about." She said, putting her phone in her pocket, then looked at Violet. "Sunglasses indoors? We're doing that now?"

"We saw the pictures." Alex said, "Why did you send them to Eric? You knew Violet wasn't supposed to see Joe and Jason. You-"

"-are still jealous, aren't you?" Violet interrupted.

Emily stood there, tonguing the inside of her cheek. "No."

Violet studied her face. "I know you are."

Alex started again, "It hurt you to put yourself out there and then get rejected. I know how that feels, too."

Violet looked at Alex, then Emily. "That still doesn't give you the right to do things like that."

"Maybe you shouldn't have been there, any-" Emily looked behind them, her eyes widening. "...ways." She finished.

"What are you..." Violet turned around to see Eric, standing there with a blank expression on his face.

"Oh." He said, looking down.

"Oh." Violet followed his gaze.

Emily walked forward, grabbing the door and holding it open for them. "You shouldn't have come here."

Violet walked past her and stared at Eric. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you?"

"I know you have more pictures."

"I'll be in the car." Alex walked upstairs and out of sight.

"I need to have a talk with my mother." Emily touched Eric's arm. "If you need me," she glared at Violet. "Just ask."

"I know you have more pictures than what you showed me." Violet repeated.

"You're acting crazy." Eric stated.

"You said pictures." She emphasized the 's' at the end, "Plural."

"I said picture. Not pictures. I only showed you one."

"Let me see your phone." Violet said, holding her hand out. "Let me see it. Right now."

"Why?" Eric asked, "You never let me see your phone."

"I let you go through my phone all the time."

"Only because you delete everything!" Eric accused, pointing at her. "You are sneaky."

"Don't even start that with me." The horn of Alex's car rang out, "I have to go." Violet said, brushing past him.

"You never answered my question." Eric said, following her up the stairs. "What were you doing here?"

"I came to talk to Emily."

"You don't like to be the one to start confrontation." Eric stated, "Liar." They both rounded the corner to see Emily's brother coming downstairs.

"Hey, Violet." He said, smiling at her and nodding at Eric.

"Oh." Eric bumped into Violet on his way passed her, glaring at the brother. "I get it now."

Violet walked out after him. "Eric, it isn't like that."

He turned around in the middle of their driveway, forcing Violet to halt to a stop in front of him.

"Then tell me what it is!" He yelled, "Tell me why you were here? Was it NOT for him?!"

"No, Eric-"

"Huh?!" He screamed, his face was turning red as he gestured to the man inside. "I TRUSTED you! I gave you everything and this is how you repay me? By sneaking behind my back with some other guy?!"

"Eric you need to listen-"

"You're vile." Violet stopped, silence took over. Eric took that silence as a sign to continue. "I was wrong to pick you."

No one knew what took over in those mere couple of seconds; maybe it was the way Eric was insinuating things that would never happen, maybe it was how Eric wasn't listening to Violet or how he was shouting. Either way, the sound of skin against skin resonated throughout the quiet neighborhood, some dogs started barking off in the distance.