Farm Girl Meets Bad Boy (#1)

Chapter Twenty-One

Ocean runs ahead of me, towards the far end of the field where the forest is. There’s no sign of King in the field, so he must be near there. “River! I see him!” She jogs towards him, her relived happiness echoing through her voice. “King!” She calls, and I see his eyes glow from the flash of light that surrounds us.

I have no time to brace myself, as I’m thrown onto my back. I watch in horror, as King’s eyes glow in the woods. A loud, sickening crack fills my ears as the lightning strikes Ocean, dead on. In only a second, it’s dark again. Time slows down, as Ocean’s hair blows forwards, as her body falls backwards. Her lifeless body makes a sickening thump as it hits the cold, wet ground.

I rush to my sister, who lies crumpled on her back. King runs over, and begins to lick her cheek as if this is a wound he can heal. I can’t stop my hands from shaking as I pick up Ocean’s cold, unmoving hand and place it in between mine.

I sob into the night, as I stare down at my dead twin sister. Everything can change in a second, but I didn’t realize that I could lose the person I’m closest to in an instant. Her eyes stare up at the sky, as rain pours down on us, when I hear another crack of lightning.

My scream pierces through the whole house. It’s the only sound other than the thunder as rain pours outside. I keep my eyes closed, and pay attention to my breathing. I needed to calm down before the shaking starts.

When I open my eyes, I flinch back and smash the back of my head off the wall. On the end of my bed sits Emery cross-legged, watching me.

“Do you know how creepy that is?” I snap, rubbing the back of my head. When I see Emery’s worried eyes, everything comes rushing back to me. The nightmares, the choking, me blacking out. My neck hurts, and I know there will be a mark, but I refuse to touch it for Emery’s sake. He exhales noisily, but doesn’t say anything for a long time.

I listen to the sound of rain hitting the roof, as I try to stop shaking. The dream is still fresh in my mind as I do everything to try not to remember it.

“I’m so sorry, River.” I blink myself back into reality and wait for my eyes to readjust in the darkness. Emery’s leaning forward, with his head in his hands. His shoulders shake as much as mine do, but it’s for a different reason. His voice is gentle, but extremely upset.

As we both shake the bed, I crawl over until I’m right in front of him. I sit on my feet and watch the broken, tattered boy before me. Every day brought something new with him; at least to me it’s new. I have a feeling that this is the real Emery behind the angry, badass wall he has created for himself.

“I’m no better than him,” he spits, as I reach out and take his hand. I know he’s talking about his father, but I don’t press into the subject. I remove both of his hands from his face and place them in mine. Once he meets my eyes, I stop shaking.

“Emery,” I say gently. “You are so much better than him.” He shakes his head no, and looks away. I leave his hand and grab his chin so he’s forced to look at me. “I’m not making this up.” He shakes his head so my hand falls into my lap. I know that no matter what I say, it won’t change anything. Some people only care about others think, and other people, like Emery, know it only matters what you think about yourself.

“What am I going to do? He asks, but not particularly to me. He takes his hands back and watches them shake in front of him.

“Nothing,” I tell him, twisting my bed sheets between my fingers. “Let my dad handle it.”

“No,” Emery shakes his head fiercely. When he meets my eyes, I see that his are filled with fear. “You don’t understand. Doing nothing,” he takes a deep breath, thinking about memories. “Will make everything worse. You don’t know my dad.”

I think about this, as I stare out my window, watching the lightning illuminate the sky. “Emery, I think it’s about time you tell me about your dad, and why you have your nightmares,” I whisper, still expecting an angry response. Even in his time of need, I still expected to get yelled at whenever I spoke to him.

“No,” he says, turning to the window. I watch his eyes glow every time the lightning is reflected into them. “Not tonight.”

Sighing, I let my body fall backwards until I land flat on my back. The mattress bounces a few times before settling. “Then when?”

Emery crawls over, and lies down beside me. Both of our heads rest on my pillows as we stare up at the ceiling. Everything had changed so fast. One minute, Emery Hastings hated me more than anything. Then, he becomes a train wreck and allows me into his life again. This boy is unpredictable.

“Tomorrow,” he murmurs, and I watch as he closes his eyes. Without questioning it, I sit up and grab the blankets to pull them over us. Once were safe beneath their warmth, I turn onto my side.

“Promise?” I ask, but Emery doesn’t open his eyes.

“Promises are just lies in disguise,” he mutters. His eyes suddenly fly open, and make direct contact with mine. “But yes, I’ll tell you tomorrow.”

I close my eyes and snuggle deep into my pillow. I had no idea whether or not he’s going to actually tell me tomorrow, but it is better not to worry about it now. I just hope that I do get to peer into his life for once, after he’s been constantly hearing about mine.

“Do you mind if I…?” He doesn’t finish his sentence as I feel a strong, warm arm wrap around my waist. Emery rests his chin on the top of my head, and snuggles into me. I lean my forehead against his chest, and feel his heartbeat. “I just…” He murmurs, his voice trailing off from being upset. “I can’t handle the dreams right now.”

“Its fine,” I mumble into his shirt, as I wrap my arm around his torso to get comfortable. “Just don’t wake me up.” Even though he can’t see, I raise my eyebrows, to see if he remembers the joke.

“I’d rather kill you in your sleep,” he laughs quietly, and I can’t help but smile. The first time he said it, I was scared because he was acting like he was serious. Now, it’s something to laugh at rather than worry about. “River?”

“Yes?” I murmur, feeling myself start to drift off.

“Don’t get attached.” The light tone he had talked with before is gone. Now, it’s completely flat. His words make my heart sink, because I know he’s telling me not to fall for him, or get used to him being around.

I had missed this for the past month, even missed being yelled at by him, despite how hurtful his words were. Having him around made life so much more interesting for me, and I can’t help but wonder when he will leave for good.

“I think it’s too late, Emery,” I whisper.

“Me too,” he murmurs back, and I don’t ask if he means too late for me, or himself.