___
After our talk in my car, I did start to notice differences in Emily. She was more quiet than normal. She was always in her room even when I was over. She usually would hang out with me and bother Grant but she didn't anymore.
Grant told me that his mom offered therapy to Emily but she only got mad. Grant was also confused about it because he said he knew that his mom would not be able to afford therapy for Emily right now. The bill from the ambulance and the cost of the funeral drained his mom's bank account and she wasn't saying anything but he knew it was.
Right now, I was out for lunch with Emily. I offered because I really wanted to get her out of her room and maybe talking a bit with her would cheer her up.
"So, are you excited to start a new semester?" I asked her.
She shrugs, pushing around her food on her fork. "Sure."
I take a sip from my drink, let down on her answer. "Well, how's it going with that one boy?"
Suddenly, she drops her fork onto her plate, causing the fork to make a loud sound and also causing people to look at us. "Did Grant tell you to do this or my mom?"
I give the people staring an apologetic look then look back at her. "Emily, no, neither of them did, I just wanted to hang out with you."
"Why? Cause you thought it would make me feel better. Well, it's not, I just want to be in my room."
I sigh. "Please just--"
"Please just take me back to my room." she begs, her eyes starting to get glossy.
We sit in silence for a minute before I sigh, hesitantly nodding and grabbing my keys.
After the ten minute drive back to her house, I pull into her driveway and before I could put the car in park, she hops out and made a beeline to the front door.
I run my fingers through my hair, sighing and feeling completely bad for Emily. She wasn't handling this well at all. I wish she would just talk to someone.
A few seconds later, Grant comes out the door, making his way to my car.
My car door opens and Grant sits down closing the door behind him. "What happened?"
I sigh. "She didn't want to talk."
He looked upset. "How do we get her to talk? At this point, it's not healthy for her to sit in her room and be sad."
I grabbed his hand, squeezing it in comfort. "Don't worry, we'll find a way to help her."
"I hope so." he whispers.
-
Two weeks have passed again and it's a new year and a new semester but that's not what's important right now.
Kane and I have our competition in an hour and a week and a half ago, we decided to completely change the idea for our dance. Yeah, I know, probably not the smartest choice for us but we did it anyways. We started practicing longer to really sharpen our moves and in my opinion, it's a really good dance.
Kane was driving us down there with Robin, Grant, and Emily in the car. It wasn't easy convincing Emily to come but I told her it's really important for her to be there so, she came.
Our other friends couldn't make it because all of them already had plans or were busy with something else which, was fine.
My parents couldn't make it cause they both had to work and so did Grant's mom but Kane's parents, who I met for the first time, followed us down here.
When we arrived to the crowded building, Kane found a parking spot and we all hopped out and went to the main entrance.
When we walked in, there was a table with a long line with people who had badges on and papers, seeming to be checking people off. So, that's where Kane and I headed while the rest of the group went to find seats in the audience.
We tell them our names and they give us name tags and point us in the direction we need to go. We make it inside this big gym with padding on the floor with other components who seemed to be practicing their routines.
The security guy tells us this is where we need to practice for an hour before it's our time to perform.
We stretch out our muscles for ten minutes so we don't pull anything before we actually start to practice.
Kane grabs my shoulders, slightly shaking me. "Come on, let's get all our nerves out."
I smile. "You nervous?"
He lets out a nervous chuckle. "I mean, yeah, this is my first time in a while performing in front of a crowd."
I grab his shoulders as well as we both start to bounce. "It's okay, you're a great dancer and we both got this, okay?"
He nods. "Yeah, same to you."
And then we practice for the remaining forty minutes. Kane and I's communication was really good when it came to letting each other know what we could improve on and that's why I think we'll do just fine.
After the time is up, a security guard comes up and leads us to a door, that I'm assuming will lead out to the stage, and tells us to wait for the announcer to announce our names.
I could tell Kane's nerves were coming back so, I grab his hand while we wait for our names to be called. He gives me a thankful smile while breathing out and squeezed my hand.
"Up next we have Julianne Banks and Kane Brown!"
The door opens and we walk through with big smiles on our faces. The crowd is huge and it seems like there are thousands of people there but it just creates more excitement in me.
We get in our positions as we wait for the music to start.
The slow beginning of the music starts and we begin.
This is the reason I wanted Emily to come because our dance was for her.
Kane and I dance the hardest we've every danced and I was happy that he was able to complete the ballet moves I've taught him so effortlessly.
When we we're done and the music stops, the audience starts to applaud and surprisingly, we get a standing ovation. Kane and I hug each other and bow to the crowd before we head back through the door.
"Oh my gosh, that was so exciting!" Kane exclaims while attacking me in a hug and spinning me around.
I hug him back, smiling. "I know, we did so good!"
He lets go of me with the biggest smile on his face. "We have to go find the others."
Yes, we definitely did. I really wanted to see what they thought about it, especially Emily.
We had an hour until we needed to be back in the gym so, we went out into the crowd. As we were looking for them, surprisingly, when we were passing people, they kept telling us how good our performance was.
When we finally found them in the huge crowd, we approached them and Emily notices us and before I could say anything to her, she runs up to hug me basically tackling me.
A smile immediately grows on my face as I hug her back. Grant gives me a smile and I blow him a kiss. He knew about the dance idea already, everyone did except Emily. Emily ends up grabbing Kane as well and all three of us group hug.
When she decides to pull away, there are tears in her eyes. "You guys made that dance for me. It was...it was beautiful."
It wasn't a question because she knew but Kane and I nod. I speak. "Thank you and yeah, we just wanted you to know that you have a strong support system around you and if you ever need someone to talk to, any of us will be there."
Her tears end up falling from her eyes but she quickly wiped them away, nodding. "Yeah...okay."
The hour quickly passed by and they gave us a ten minute warning over the intercom for all the participants to head onto the floor.
But my job here was done. I was just hoping that the dance would get through to Emily to where she felt like she could take to someone and it worked. I didn't care about winning as much as Kane did but I did try my best for him. But since we changed our dance last minute, I didn't expect to win.
But surprisingly, we won first place.
Apparently, our dance was the only one to get a standing ovation out of the other twenty dance partners there. Kane was so happy that he cried, saying it would be a big help to his college.
When we got back, I gave my money to Grant's mom because I knew she needed it. She tried to refuse and tell me to do what Kane is doing but I told her my parents already have my college covered and then she cried and finally accepted the money. Grant texted me later that night to tell me that Emily didn't eat dinner in her room like she's been doing since her dad died and she actually ate with Grant and their mom.
Everyone was happy and that's all that mattered.
THE END
A/N:
I'm so sorry this took so long but it's finally here and it's the last chapter :))) I'm extremely grateful for everyone that gave this book a chance and read it all the way through, sincerely. This book has been the craziest journey for me and I'm glad it's over.
But yes, there will be an epilogue!
Anyways, again, thanks everyone so much for the support!