Summerville: Book 3 of the Saving Summers Series

Chapter 2

The bell for lunch rang and soon the hallways were filled with hungry Summerville High students.

Emma made her way to the bathroom because she had received a text from Josslyn to meet there. They did not cross paths all morning during their classes.

Emma paced back and forth and bit the nail of her thumb. She could not bring herself to keep Connor's word. Making him look like some crazy villain who blackmailed her made her sick.

The doors to the bathroom opened and Josslyn walked in. She was dressed in her black and grey school cheerleader outfit.
For a few seconds, she just stood there staring at Emma.

"Hi." Emma said in a soft tone.

Josslyn walked over to her and hugged her.
"How could he do this?" She asked as she started to sob. She was referring to Connor.

Emma wanted to say that Connor didn't blackmail her but Josslyn's state made her reconsider.

The hug broke and Josslyn groaned as she wiped her tears.
"I promised myself I would not cry because of that stupid asshole."

"I'm sorry this happened." Emma apologized. She was not even sure what she was apologizing for but it seemed like the appropriate thing to do.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Josslyn said as she walked over to the sink. She splashed water onto her face. She let out a shaky breath.
"Out of all the things he could've framed Jay with, it had to be that? After I told him what I went through? I trusted him."

Emma was probably about to sound like she was protecting Connor with what she was about to say.
"It might not even have been his idea. Ray probably orchestrated this entire thing."

"He still went with it." Josslyn pointed out. "And he blackmailed you. That is just fucked up."

Emma could not take this, guilt was gnawing at her.
"Look, I know you're hurting right now...but maybe.. you can try to talk to him at some point?" She suggested.

Josslyn's head whipped in her direction. Her nostril flaring.
"What the fuck Emma! Are you kidding me? Why aren't you more hurt by this?"

"I am." Emma said with barely any emotion. She could not fake hatred towards Connor. It was absurd.

"Are you sure? Cause it sounds like you're defending him." Josslyn questioned with crossed arms.

Emma felt backed into a corner. She was not doing a great job of making Connor look like the bad guy. She decided to steer the conversation in a different direction.
"After finding out what my mom did to the twins, I just don't have any more emotions in me." She stated. She wanted this to be a lie but deep down, it was true.

Josslyn walked over to her and held her hands.
"We will get through all this shit together. I promise."

Emma nodded and gave her a hug. She felt Josslyn's shoulders shake which meant she was crying again.

In that moment, Emma thought about her own break up with Liam and how it hurt, so she had an idea of what Josslyn was going through.
The only difference was that Emma got over her heartache quickly because though she had feelings for Liam, they slowly diminished as the ones for Marcus grew.
In Josslyn's case, her love for Connor was immense. He was the guy that helped her get over her trauma because she trusted him. That same trust was now broken and sadly, that meant hell for Josslyn.

*

After school, Emma decided to go help out at the deli. Her aunt was picking up Emmett from school and spending the day with him, Damien and his son.