Emmi's POV:
I had missed a week of rehearsals from being sick the week before so my understudy, Claire, stepped up to make sure everything ran smoothly. Our director and English teacher, Ms. Sommers made it clear to my nemesis that she wasn't replacing me for the whole musical. Of course, when I came back on Monday to see Claire macking on the leading man that was opposite of me, I got a little out of control.
I stormed up on the stage and yanked Claire off of Sean. He stumbled backwards into Olivia and apologized profusely to her. I threw Claire to the wings of the stage and pinned her to the wall. "What the hell, Claire?" I snapped.
She laughed, "I thought you cared so much about Maddox? Should I text him and tell him you want little nerdy Sean instead? I mean, you do kiss him in a couple scenes."
"Maddox knows what happens in the musical. He's seen the movie and knows it's a stage kiss. Quit trying to put a damn wedge between him and I. It's not going to work!"
Ms. Sommers came up to the stage and looked into the wings, clearly hearing us argue. "Is everything okay back there girls?"
"Everything is just fine, Ms. Sommers!" I answered, letting Claire go. I walked back to the stage and sat down with my feet dangling over the edge. "Can you please tell Claire she's done filling in for me? She won't listen to me. And I'm pretty sure she freaked Sean out with that kiss." I glanced over to Sean and Olivia. He was shy and a year older than us, but kind and someone I could definitely see with Olivia. His dark auburn hair always fell into his light honey eyes and I always thought he was cute, but too shy for me to see myself with.
Ms. Sommers groaned, "Yes, I can speak with her. Go make sure Sean is alright and in your places for scene fourteen." She instructed.
"Yes ma'am!" I gave a two finger salute and headed over to Sean and Olivia.
Olivia had a bright smile on her face when she saw me coming over. Sean smiled softly at me and I gave a bright smile back. "Are we doing one of our scenes?" He asked.
I nodded, "Yeah, but I also wanted to make sure you were okay. Claire can be a lot."
"Yeah. Olivia helped me out." He blushed.
I smiled and tucked my hair behind my ear, "We're doing scene fourteen, by the way."
"Sounds good. I'll go grab my hat." He ran down the steps of the stage and I went to the wings to grab my skirt for the dance.
Before I went back out to the stage, Claire grabbed my arm and pinned me to the wall. "You know Maddox went out with Olivia, right?"
"Your point? He's dated almost all of the girls at the damn school." I growled.
"They're still close. Pretty sure if you two didn't start dating, he'd be with her right now."
I glared at her, knowing she was trying to get under my skin. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath and tried to calm myself down from everything Claire was trying to put into my head. Maddox hadn't mentioned his exes much, but I also knew he wouldn't hide anything from me. Would he? Olivia was a sweet girl. I knew she hung out with Claire and her friends, but I never took her as the prissy, bully type of girl.
I opened my eyes, put on a hell of a smile and said, "I'm sure they made a cute couple when they were dating, but Maddox is mine. Olivia knows that and respects that. She's not like you, Clairabelle. She doesn't get hung up on a guy who clearly wants nothing to do with her." I pushed her out of the way and strutted on the stage, ready to do my scene with Sean.
I smiled proudly to myself, impressed I kept my composure and had a handle on my anger. Sean gave me a high five and Olivia hugged me. I wasn't expecting a hug, since her and I weren't close, but I wasn't opposed to it. She let go of me with a grin and went to her spot on stage, but not before she said, "I think I need to set a few things straight with what Claire said. Don't worry, I'm on your side, not hers."
I wasn't sure what I just heard, but I couldn't let it weave it's way into my mind yet. I needed to focus on rehearsal. Ms. Sommers clapped her hands and I jumped, turning to face her. She asked if I was okay and I nodded, knowing I would be at the end of the night. She smiled and let us start the scene.
It was one of the few kissing scenes of the musical, but Sean and I were professional. They were thirty second kisses at most and neither one of us felt anything toward each other. Sean and I went back and forth with our lines, our duet came and we nailed it, and finally the kiss.
I had seen a flash from a phone and Sean and I separated. I looked into the wings to see Claire on her phone, typing away with a smirk on her face. My fists clenched and I wanted to wipe that smug grin off her damn face, but Gigi stopped me.
"Maddox knows it's a stage kiss, Em. Don't get kicked out of this role. We both know that's what Claire wants." Gigi reminded me.
I sighed, relaxing my fists and nodded. "You're right. Thanks, Gi." I hugged her and I felt my phone go off in my pocket. Before I could check it, Ms. Sommers instructed me to leave the stage and take a break. She wanted to do some of the single scenes with Sean, so I went to the dressing room to have some quiet time.
I sat down on one of the couches and checked to see why my phone went off. It was a message from a random number, but the photo and caption I saw made my heart stop and drop into my stomach. I could handle Claire being mean to my face. I could handle her pushing me around. But I sure as hell couldn't handle a false rumor going around the school about Sean and I secretly dating behind Maddox's back.
My phone slipped from my hands as tears fell down my cheeks. What would Maddox think? What would he say? Would he be mad and want to end things? Would Claire finally get what she wanted? My mind kept spinning with questions that I didn't know the answers to and I really didn't want to know those answers. They would be too heart breaking to hear. I watched my phone light up through blurry eyes and saw Maddox's handsome face flash across my screen. He was trying to call me, but I wasn't about to answer him. I couldn't even get any words out to say anything. My phone made my text vibrate and I was scared to read what he sent me. My head told me he was pissed at me for cheating, but my heart told me differently.
I sat in the dressing room for the rest of rehearsal. I heard talking on the other side of the door and they sounded worried. The door clicked open and I didn't bother looking up from my lap. "I found her. Yeah, I can bring her home. She's safe with me, Mad. Promise." I heard Olivia say into her phone.
I glanced up to see my friends standing behind Olivia, waiting to burst through the door to comfort me. She moved aside and my girls ran to me, wrapping me in hugs and I looked at Olivia with worried eyes. "Is he mad at me?" I croaked.
"No. He's not mad at you, Emmi. He's pissed at Claire. I'm pissed at Claire and I'm the one who calls her a friend." Olivia chuckled softly. "Emmi, he loves you. He just wanted to know if you were okay."
"Just like us, Em." Nikki said as she pulled away. "We know how scared you can get when things could turn into a fight with Maddox. You don't want to get hurt again."
I shook my head and sniffled, "I really don't."
Olivia knelt down in front of me with a warm smile, "I promise you, Maddox would never hurt you or any woman for that matter. He was the best fake boyfriend I had. We ended things because we didn't feel anything between us romantically. We are more like siblings, even now."
"Why did you two fake date in the first place?" Cassie asked.
"I wanted to make my ex jealous. Looking back at it, it was stupid. He got jealous, but he was too dumb to try and get me back. Though, he wasn't right for me anyway. I haven't dated much since then and that was a couple years ago. I love Maddox, but as an older brother and it will always be that way."
Lilly side-eyed her, "How can we trust your telling us the truth?"
Olivia laughed, "Because I have wanted to be out of Claire's clique for a long time. Plus, a little revenge to the one who is trying to sabotage a relationship I one hundred and ten percent am rooting for is always fun."
"Now you're talking my language, Liv." Gigi gave an evil grin. "Whatcha got up your sleeve?"
"I'll explain everything tomorrow after rehearsal. I promised Maddox I'd get Emmi home. He's waiting for her at her house." Olivia said.
I gulped hard, trying not to have a panic attack. Jamie came in the room with my things with a smile and handed me a paper bag. I thanked her with my eyes and breathed into the bag, praying everything was going to be okay between the bad boy and I.
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The car ride was quiet. Olivia had her phone hooked up to the radio for directions to my house and my heart was still racing. I really didn't want to be heartbroken after several months again. But, I didn't blame him if he wanted to see other people. I was a lot and with all this stupid drama going on, I figured he didn't want to be apart of it. Not many guys did.
I ran my palms up and down my jeans, and Olivia must have noticed my nerves because she pulled into my driveway and grabbed the hand closest to her. "Emmi, stop worrying. Maddox cares so much about you. He told me in Math last semester that no matter how much stupid drama there was, or how much distance there would be between you two when he goes off to college, that he'd always love the hell out of you."
I looked at her through watery eyes, "You sure?" I croaked. I shut my eyes tightly and calmed my breathing. I didn't need to be constantly crying and worrying over things I couldn't control. That's what Zach would tell me all the time when my emotions came out.
"I'm positive, Em." She gently turned my head with her free hand, so she could see into my eyes. "And Emmi, there is nothing and I mean nothing wrong with worrying over something you cannot control. If crying is how you let your feelings out, cry as much as you need."
I looked at her in utter shock, "H--how did you...?" I trailed off, unsure how to even finish my question.
Olivia smiled softly, "I'm observant, Em. I noticed you around last year. Happy, laughing, running through the halls in excitement whenever someone you knew got an achievement. Beginning of this year, you were a shell of that person. It was almost like you were coasting. Always covered up, but still looked presentable. When Zach was around you, you looked scared for your life even if you tried to hide it from everyone else. I saw that. Maddox didn't, but I did. I knew something wasn't right and when you weren't at school for a week because of an illness, I knew that was a lie."
"Wait...were you the one who sent me flowers every day that week?" I asked, trying to make sense of everything. She nodded and I almost burst into tears again. "Olivia..."
"I'm sorry you had to endure do much pain from Zach for four months. I want you to know, I tried to make him get caught sooner for the safety of you and Jamie."
"You sent Nikki that photo?"
"I did. Maddox would never admit it, but he has always cared about you. Since he first laid eyes on you in History last year."
I scrubbed my face with my sweatshirt sleeves and took a few deep breaths. "You saved my life! Why would you do that for someone who would end up dating your ex?" I looked at her.
She chuckled softly, "I told you already. Maddox and I never had feelings for each other. I wanted to make my dumbass ex jealous and he didn't want to be persude by other girls who only wanted one thing."
"Sex." I mumbled.
Olivia laughed, "Yes, sex. So, he and I made a deal. We'd fake date for a couple weeks and then it'd be a mutual end. I never wanted the end goal of sex with him. I just wanted a simple, innocent relationship. When we dated and you came into the picture, I could tell just from one look at you, he was smitten. I wasn't mad about it. In fact, we actually talked about it when we hung out at the park."
My cheeks heated and I picked at my sweatshirt sleeves, "Really? He was always interested in me?"
"Yes, Emmi. That's why he stopped dating all together middle of last year. I was his last relationship and I was happy about that. I know he is too. No one else interested him after you caught his eye."
My hands flew up to my face in embarrassment, "Can we go inside now? I need to stop my heart from jumping out of my chest." I chuckled softly.
"Yes, we can go inside. Just remember, no one is upset with you. You did nothing wrong in this situation. Okay?"
I nodded and got out of the car. I walked in the front door and smelt one of my moms delicious casseroles. She looked at me with worried eyes and I heard the tv in the den, knowing my dad was in there watching a random show. I gave my mom a hug and turned to face the den, anticipating to just see my dad and brother, but on the love seat was Maddox. His devilish hair was a mess and he looked worried as hell. I was feeling better, but as soon as I saw him my emotions got the better of me and the worry I had pushed down bubbled up from my gut. "Maddox?" I cried softly.