The tension that surrounded the events of June 10th, the night Danny found his best friend and his lover lip locked in (thankfully) Abby's bed rose like wildfire.
Danny and Chase were not talking. Emma was torn to pieces over somehow managing to kiss Chase full on and still keep her crush on him in the dark. Danny's devastation sparked major concern in all his friends and for days, and Emma couldn't perfect the act that nothing was going on. But somehow, no one caught on.
Until the night of June 16th 2018.
The situation between Danny and Chase hadn't gotten any better. And Emma felt both the pressure and the part of Danny that was still struggling to forgive her.
On June 16th, Danny wasn't there.
We were playing the wii and Danny refused to be anywhere Chase was.
As for Chase, he was consumed with an incredible amount of guilt. He regretted kissing Emma because of what it did to Danny. He was being selfish, destroying the one thing that mattered most to Danny. Emma.
We all agreed this wasn't something that was just gonna pass. We collectively decided that it would be best to hash it out in a group setting. Danny wouldn't be there, but Chase and Emma would be.
Abby, Holly, Cooper and Avery were all collectively pissed off at Chase for what happened with Emma. They were 100% on Danny's side. Chase was the bad guy in their eyes. And I honestly can't say the rest of us disagreed.
However, our group had Emma to consider. At that point, the only person she admitted her crush on Chase To was Cameron. I didn't even know at this point. And I wish I had.
The group hashing out session was to be held in my bedroom; Danny and Emma's favorite place. The only other option that was somewhat secluded was Abby's room. Everyone said we chose mine because hers was too bright and mine was significantly darker, but mostly everyone knew it was because that was where 'the crime' took place.
Everyone was changing from their wii clothes into their pajamas, getting ready and going into big time discussion mode. We all had that in us.
Right before we were to begin, Chase peaked his head in the door where my friends were all already settled. Emma was stressing out to the bone, unsure of whether she could come to terms with her feelings for Chase in public. As far as she was concerned, he didn't know about her crush on him. But little did she know, him, Holly and Abby had all already caught on.
"Jackie, can I talk to you for a minute?"
Yeah hi, that's me, I'm Jackie. Since I haven't mentioned it before.... I'm kind of irrelevant in this right now.
"Me Jackie?" I asked, alarmed and confused.
"No the other Jackie" Cameron scoffed. Emma tried to laugh. Tried.
I followed Chase into the hallway and asked him what was wrong.
Okay, fun part of this story I have yet to mention. Chase and I were not friends for a long time. Actually, I hated him. Only three days earlier, he personally attacked me by belittling my personal issues he had no knowledge of and it set everyone off. And if that isn't enough for you, that was the third time he got personal against me. First time was him justifying Danny belittling the fact that being called a whore and a slut after experiencing something traumatic through the use of those words. He acted as if I was invalid, like Danny's feelings mattered more than my trauma. Second time was him attacking me for being upset and worried about Emma possibly exploding when her and Danny's relationship was going downhill due to more communication issues before any of this ever happened. He attacked me because I cared. Lol totally nuts. And third, which was only three days before where we currently are with the story, was him belittling my eating disorder and battle with addiction.
Don't hate him yet, because only the second time he didn't really make a genuine apology. We hashed it out on June 13th, and after that we became really good friends. It had been three days since we made up. Before, we were just civil around each other, barely even speaking. Now, we had developed a trusting bond. And I was happy to be there for him. He needed it more than I knew at the time.
Now back to the night of June 16.
He wrapped his arms around my neck and pulled me into a hug. I held him for a moment before letting go and looking him straight in the eye, my white blanket wrapped around the both of us.
"Don't worry, I'm on your side, Cameron and Emma are on your side. We got you" I assured him.
"But what about Abby? She hates me."
"Don't worry, she doesn't hate you. She's just disappointed. She's worried about Danny. It'll be okay, you've got us fighting on your side at least. We can handle Abby" I insisted.
And we joined the group.
Chase was given the chance to explain his side of the story. He outted to the group what happened that night with Emma and why he did it. Emma's story was almost the same with only a few minor discrepancies.
We managed to make this tense and scary for some discussion somewhat fun. We turned it into a court battle, disregarding 99% of the legal rules.
Abby and I were both appointed as judges. Cameron was appointed to represent Emma, and Chase was either represented by Holly or himself. I can't fully remember to be honest.
We continued to question them and try and piece together the two different sides of the same story and how each of them felt. Cameron objected to any questions about Emma's feelings and told her she didn't have to answer. He was defending something I had no idea about at the time.
Oh, and just to be clear, I know Chase and Holly we're dating but a few days before he kissed Emma, Chase broke it off with her because he wasn't ready for a serious relationship and it seemed to him that that's what she wanted.
Anyway, to be continued.
Abby had acute myeloid leukemia. And she needed to get some air, she needed a break from the crowded, tense room. She stepped out for a minute and that's when all hell broke lose.
Emma was getting panicked and shaken up because her feelings for Chase were so delicate and it was hard for her to put that all on trial. Chase was zoning out. He was barely present and needed constant support. He continued to lean on Holly who was less than enthusiastic about having to act like his mother.
Abby didn't return, and the conversation began to die down. Everyone was getting rather tired.
I saw how shaken up Chase was and I moved to get close enough to talk to him. I thought it was just all the stress and guilt over what he did to Danny, but I couldn't have been more wrong.
I laid across the bed on my stomach to check in with Chase. He sat upright in front of me, emotionally distressed.
I tried to reassure him, tell him it was going to be okay, that Danny would forgive him, that he didn't need to worry, that we couldn't take it back, just move forward with it, fix it.
It wasn't helping. Nothing I said had any impact on his emotional state, almost as if it wasn't why he was so distressed to begin with.
I moved to adjust my position and my hand accidentally grazed Chase's stomach. He winced in pain, hiding something I didn't know was there.
"What is it? What's wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing, I just have a really bad knife cut there" he said, pointing to his abdomen.
"What happened?" I asked worriedly.
"I was being an idiot. I was asking for it. I got knifed."
Chase started to break down again, and I hated myself for making him talk about something he probably didn't want to think about, something as traumatic as knife violence.
I sat upright and turned on my side, pulling him into an embrace. I felt him cry into the crevice of my neck. I gently placed my hand on where the cut was and softly touched it, trying so hard to show him that it was okay.
And so it began. It was no longer the beginning of the end. It was the end.
