Gated Heart

Chapter 33

Emily ran into the hospital waiting room in a panic. She skidded to a stop when she spotted Mia. She looked like she had recently been crying.

Mia stared at her in shock.

She stared back. Then she broke into tears and ran up to Mia, pulling her into a hug. "I thought something terrible happened to you!" She cried. "I didn't want anything so horrible, I didn't know Chris would take it this far!"

Mia was so surprised that she didn't even know how to react. She stood frozen in Emily's embrace for a moment before she got a grasp on the situation and pushed her off.

Emily stepped back, sniffling as she tried to stop herself from crying.

"How could you do this, Emily?!" Mia asked in disbelief.

Emily wiped her eyes. "I-I'm sorry!" She cried. "I don't know what I was thinking, I was just so angry and hurt!"

Mia put her face in her hands, trying to stop her own eyes from watering. "How am I supposed to respond to this?..."

"I know what I did was awful..." Emily began. "I shouldn't have done it. I don't expect you to forgive me... but you have to know that when Aren made me think you were seriously hurt, I was terrified. I thought you were in real danger and it was all my fault!"

"I was in real danger!" Mia yelled. "And it was all your fault! How could you do this to your own best friend? I trusted you! If Aren hadn't saved me in time, I could've died, Emily!"

Emily started sobbing again. "I'm sorry! When I saw that Jack gave you my hair-tie, I just lost it. That's no excuse, I know, but I was just so heartbroken! I just wanted you to stop getting so much attention from these guys. I never wanted you to get seriously hurt..."

"But you did intend for me to get hurt." Mia shot back. "You asked him to give me an allergic reaction!"

"I know!" Emily replied. "I know... I messed up big time... I'm so sorry. I don't expect you to forgive me, I understand that. I wouldn't if I were you, either. But... just don't hate me..."

Mia took a deep breath. "Why didn't you just tell me you had feelings for Jack?"

"It all just started snowballing from that old lie..." Emily said meekly. "In 8th grade I told you he tried to kiss me even though I resisted... That wasn't true. Honestly... I was the one who tried to kiss him. But I was so embarrassed about it, I asked him not to tell you and I flipped it on him, just in case. After that, I could never admit I liked him or you would realize that I lied about the kiss."

"Why did you even bother telling me that lie in the first place? I never would have found out about the kiss, why did you go and try and convince me he was basically a predator?"

Emily looked at the ground in shame. "Even back then, I had a feeling he liked you... so I tried to keep you away from him by making you think he was a bad person."

Mia groaned. "Agh, you lied to me for years!"

Emily stayed silent. She didn't know what else to say.

Aren put a hand on Mia's shoulder to comfort her.

Mia sighed. "I don't think I'll be able to move past this, Emily. It's all just too much. And more importantly, this mistake of yours caused someone to get seriously injured."

Emily looked up at her. "What? Didn't Aren save you before you got hurt?"

"Not me, I meant Jack." Mia replied. "Why do you think we're at the hospital?"