WE’RE NOT EVEN HALF A MILE AWAY FROM MY HOUSE when Aiden stops the truck.
“Emma,” he says angrily, “get out.”
“What?” I ask as I look toward him, “What are you doing?”
“Aiden?” Anna asks, “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. Emma, get out. Now.”
For a second, I think he’s pissed at me, that he wants to leave me here. I don’t really blame him if he’s tired of the bullshit, of me moping around but acting as if nothing’s wrong.
I am too.
My thought changes when his eyes show concern, sympathy. Now I know what he’s thinking. I climb out of the truck as he does the same, walks around toward my side. When he approaches me, he glares straight into my eyes.
“Tell me what the hell is going on with you,” he says.
“I’m go—”
“No, I’m so fucking tired of you saying the same bullshit every time I ask you, alright? You don’t get to do that anymore, so you better start talking.”
“Aiden, I can’t tell you right now.”
“Bullshit.”
I snicker nervously, looking around to see exactly where I am. Two minutes away from my house. Jeremy could be here, could interrupt if he wanted. Aiden’s eyes narrow.
“Aiden—”
“No, listen to me.” He pulls closer, his lips so close to my ear I can barely move.
“I see that something’s going on… I see that Jeremy has something to do with it. I see… that he did something to you, and God knows I’m praying it’s not true… But I need to know, so I’m not quitting until you tell me.”
The tears fall as I respond to him. “You’ve known exactly what’s been going on this entire time?”
“No, I just have a thought. I’m asking you to tell me exactly what’s going on.”
I turn my head, stare straight at Anna’s silhouette. She’s looking back at me. I can’t see her facial expression, but I could only imagine that she’s confused about what’s going on. I watch her, remember what Jeremy told me.
I have a lot of other girls I could do this with.
Then all of the reasons why the truth should come out, every good thing in my life that I’d forgotten, that had been destroyed… everything starts to come back. I remember my mother, telling me if anything happened to me to tell someone. Don’t listen to what they have to say, there’s nothing worth more than your safety. I remember the day Aiden gave me the bracelet, told me whenever my mother came to mind, it’d remind me of something good in my life, something that shows me that happiness can still exist after tragedy. I remember music, dancing…
I start to remember what I see when I look at myself. Nothing, emptiness, a hollow heart that refused to stop beating. But what does he see?
He just said he sees me.
“He… raped me.”
The word comes out, forms itself, and from that point on the words pour out like water. And for some reason, I just can’t stop them.
“Last summer… for the past month. Every chance he could get, he’d do something to me, and he’d tell me that if I wouldn’t let him… he’d do the same thing to Anna or Michelle…” I hesitate when I turn toward him, see his expression. It’s indescribable, but I see something horrible in his eyes. It’s as if every good part of him died out, and what’s left isn’t pretty. He stares at me, angry eyes and pained eyes, all watching me.
“Do you believe me?” I ask.
He opens his mouth to say something, but nothing comes out.
“Do you?”
He still doesn’t respond, so I try to pull away from him. He puts his arm up, blocks me from walking past him.
“I didn’t say that,” he says, his voice dense, cracked. He pulls back slightly, opens the door for me. “Get in the truck, okay? I’ll be there in a second.”
I nod, climb into the passenger seat as he slams the door. Then I watch him as he walks away from the door, freezes and looks up. He keeps staring, as if he’s trying to find something, something beyond the stars that watched me earlier, that are watching me suffer now.
He’s not going to find anything.
He then pulls out his cellphone, talks for several minutes. I’m silent, wondering exactly who he called, what he’s saying. When he hangs up, he walks back to the driver’s side, climbs into the truck.
“I’m taking you home,” he says, “You need to get your shit together, alright?”
My eyes widen. It’s worse than I thought, his voice broken up, distant. The truck pulls away from the curb, turns around.
“What’s going on?” Anna asks. Aiden fixes his mouth to try to form the word, but nothing comes out. Instead, he just stares at the road, his eyes wandering as if he’s still trying to figure out what to do.
I sit back, imagine what’s going to happen when we walk through the front door.
I honestly don’t want to think about it.
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This is the ORIGINAL way she told him, merged a little with the story i already posted :/ i couldnt find this so thats why i rewrote... but i did... and :D i love this way a lot more but... u kno... :p
As for the video, this is what i wrote this to (unedited, which is why its as good as it could be). Tell me what you think.