Summerville: Book 3 of the Saving Summers Series

Chapter 4

"She left town." Emma quickly said. She did not want to take this route but she had to have her boyfriend's back.

The bell rang, indicating it was time for the first class.

"We should get to physics." Emma instructed and then walking off. She was glad she did not have to talk about this anymore. However, she was going to have to persuade Marcus into telling his friends the truth.

*

Lunch time came and Emma decided to have lunch in the cafeteria for the first time in a while. She would obviously have to find a different table to sit at because Liam, Adelaide, Josslyn, Peter, Brock, Maxine and Katie would be sitting together, and Emma could not sit with them anymore.
She was still friends with everyone else at the table except Liam and Adelaide.

Emma walked into the cafeteria and sighed in relief when she saw Ethan at a nearby table alone. The table was right next to the doors of the cafeteria.
"Hey." She chirped as she sat across from him.

Ethan smiled.
"Emma. Hi!" He exclaimed.

"Where's Jay?" Emma asked opening her pack of chips.

"Where do you think? Back at the popular table." Ethan said.

Emma looked in the direction of the popular table that was in the middle of the cafeteria, and there Jay was, laughing with Peter and Brock. Liam, Adelaide and Katie were also at the table.

"Mhm." Emma mumbled. She did not think Jay would be back there. She also noticed Marcus was not there.
"I saw his name was on the sign up sheet for theatre."

"Yeah. He decided he wanted to help with props and the set up." Ethan stated.

Emma gave a small nod and smile. She felt a little weird sitting with Ethan alone because they weren't really friends yet. Jay was usually with them and he was the bridge between Emma and Ethan.
"What play is the school doing anyways?" She asked. She was going to take an interest in his life and try to not be awkward.

"The tale of the tragic king. Macbeth." Ethan said.

Josslyn and Marcus were side by side as they walked into the cafeteria.
They both noticed Emma and joined her at the table.

"Hey guys." She said as they sat.

"Hi." Josslyn and Marcus chirped in unison.

"Josslyn. This is Ethan..." Emma started to introduce.

"I know him." Josslyn laughed. "Same class."

"Oh." Emma said, her mouth in an o shape.
She then focused her attention on Marcus and smiled. He smiled back.

"So you guys won't guess the debate topic I got for extracurricular week." Josslyn started.

"You're on the debate team?" Marcus asked.

"Duh. How else am I going to be a good lawyer if I can't put up a good argument." Josslyn remarked.

"True." Ethan agreed.

"Anyways. The topic is.... should sex work be legalized?" Josslyn announced.

"That is a good one." Ethan pointed out.

"Obviously the answer is no." Marcus said and took a bite from his sandwich.

Josslyn's eyes went into thin slits and in that moment, Emma feared for her boyfriend.

"Why?" Josslyn asked as she leaned back into her chair with arms crossed.

"Come on. It's immoral. Selling your body for money? That ain't it." Marcus said sternly.

"Yeah, but who are we as a society to judge what two consenting adults do and what conditions they have? It's their bodies and their choices." Josslyn argued.

"There are children in this world. What if making prostitutes a norm makes children want to go into that line of work?" Marcus asked.

"Oh God." Josslyn said with an eye roll. "It's not like there will be billboards advertising prostitution. By the way, criminalizing it goes against basic human rights! We cannot restrict humans from activities, especially if they harm no one."

There was a brief silence at the table.

"Look, what I'm saying is... decriminalizing sex work protects sex workers. From a lot of things... they could get killed, assaulted, raped on the streets and they won't be able to report it because of the discrimination against them. Is that really fair?" Josslyn stated and asked.

Emma understood what Josslyn was saying and she had a big point.
Both girls and Ethan were looking at Marcus.
"I guess not." He mumbled in defeat.

Josslyn smirked.

Emma could not help but wonder how Josslyn was coping so well. Just yesterday she was crying in the bathroom over what Connor did.

"Is this gonna become the new popular table or something?" Ethan asked. "We have the head cheerleader and a soccer player here."

Emma let out a chuckle.

"I'm here for Emma. I miss her and she can't sit at the other table because of her ex boyfriend." Josslyn explained.
"I don't know about Marcus."

Emma, Josslyn and Ethan all looked at Marcus, waiting for his explanation.
Emma could not help but smile as she thought about what excuse he could come up with.

"Well... Uhm..." Marcus started but seemed at a loss for words.

"The other guys called him a home wrecker because he ruined Emma and Liam's relationship." Josslyn remarked.
Emma felt uncomfortable all of a sudden. She and Marcus agreed to keep things private yet they were sitting at the same table.
"I didn't ruin the relationship." Marcus defended in a low tone.

"Do you guys legit have feelings for each other?" Josslyn asked.

"No!" Emma and Marcus both exclaimed.

Josslyn and Ethan shared a look.

"You, I believe." Josslyn said pointing at Marcus. She then turned her gaze to Emma.
"And you, at the cabin when Liam asked if you had feelings for Marcus, you didn't say no immediately... and that gave us the impression that you did like Marcus."

Emma could feel a small headache forming. She had to lie her way out of this one.
"I was frazzled about what happened that day. I was not thinking straight so I didn't answer. I think Marcus can confirm that those wedding pictures aren't what everyone thinks they are. We were just acting."

"Yeah." Marcus agreed. "It all got blown out of proportion."

"So if Liam came back, you guys would work things out?" Josslyn asked.

Emma gulped. She knew what to say and even though she would not mean it, she still didn't want to give an answer. She looked at Marcus as if asking for confirmation. He gave a small subtle nod.
"I guess we can." She said.

"Mhm." Josslyn mumbled.
The school bell rang, indicating lunch was over.
The Summerville high seniors emptied their trays and started heading to class.

Emma quickly grabbed Josslyn and pulled her to the side. There was something she needed to ask.

"Hey. Are you okay?" Emma asked in a soft tone. She was genuinely worried and astonished by Josslyn's behavior and lack of sadness. Sadness that oozed out of her yesterday.

"Yeah. Of course." Josslyn said. "Why?"

"The Connor thing... you are different from yesterday." Emma expressed truthfully.

Josslyn smiled.
"Firstly, I never want you to mention that name to me ever again. Secondly, you shouldn't worry about me. I'm tougher than you think." She said and walked off.

Emma wasn't sure what to think of that interaction, all she could do was take Josslyn's word for it.