Emily blasted music throughout her house as we baked cookies in her large kitchen. I wasn't fully there though, my mind was somewhere else. Emily was dancing around the kitchen, trying to get me to do the same, but it wasn't working. Those words Eli said hurt. And whether I wanted to believe it or not, I knew he was right.
This wasn't my life, or my family. I was just a messed up kid living a fairytale. In a year, I would be out of this house and on my own in the world. I didn't know what would happen to me, considering the fact that I had no one. no family. no Eli.
I sat down at Emily's kitchen table and buried my face in my arms. I could hear her feet shuffle as she moved across the kitchen and turned the radio off. Then she sat down in the chair beside me. I didn't look up at her. Emily and Eli and Keegan were the closest id ever felt to real friends. They showed me in only a few weeks the meaning of friendship and how to be truly happy.
"he didn't mean it Chlo" Emily said softly. Her voice was calm, but I knew she wasn't use to these girl talks. Like myself, Emily was new at this. I guess she was so use to being close with the guys, she'd never really had a girl friend.
When we got to her house she gave me some clothes to change into and made tea for the both of us and let me tell her everything. It felt good that for once I could finally get everything off my chest. I'd never had someone to go to when I had a problem, but now I had Emily.
"You weren’t there" I told her "you didn't hear the sincerity in his voice Em"
She sighed and looked me directly in the eyes.
"Listen Chloe" she said to me, "I know Eli better than anyone, and I know he didn't mean it. He says these things all the time. To everyone. He use to take out his anger on me, especially when his parents fought, telling me I didn't understand because my parents are divorced. He never really considered the fact that they use to fight. He says them to make himself feel better, not realizing he's hurting others. He's been getting better though, but sometimes he goes back into that dark hole he dug for himself. It kills me to watch him do this to himself, but he'll be okay"
"I don’t know Em" I told her "he meant it. I could tell"
But before she could respond, the doorbell rang. Emily stood up and peaked into the hallway to check who it was.
"If he really meant it" she started "then why is he standing outside my door with roses?"
I stood up and walked over to the front door where I saw Eli standing at the door, shuffling side to side while looking at his feet. In his hand was a bouquet of white roses. I looked at him before opening the glass door a bit
"Do I look like the type of girl who would want roses?" I said to him, not being able to hold back the smile that was growing on my face. The whole argument that had happened earlier suddenly erased from my memory.
"No" he said "that’s why I got white instead of red."
I smiled at him. Though I was mad at him, what Emily said had helped. I’m sure he didn't really mean anything he said. The past year has been difficult on him. I opened the door more and slipped outside, shutting Emily's door behind me.
"I’m sorry Chloe" he said, looking into my eyes "I’m really sorry. I...I was just mad at my parents fighting and I took it out on you. I never meant that I swear. I didn't think- I wasn't thinking. I-I never meant to hurt you. I'd never hurt you Chloe. I’m sorry. I really am. I-"
"Eli" I interrupted, he looked up at me "it’s alright. I mean, it hurt, I’m not going to lie but I understand. You were mad at your parents. But next time, please don’t take it out on me, because I might not forgive you. Understand?"
"I wouldn't want it any other way Chloe" he said smiling "I promise baby, I will never hurt you again."
I stood up onto my tiptoes and kissed his soft lips, before turned towards the door.
"Not inviting me in?" He smirked
"No" I replied "I was planning on sleeping over here and I don't plan on breaking my promise"
"Maybe I can sleep over too" he smiled. My face turned red thinking of having a sleepover with Eli.
"Girls only Ellie" Emily said to him through the window, using Hailey’s nickname for him. Obviously someone had been eavesdropping on our conversation.
"Now that I have finally have a girl best friend, I can finally have sleepovers with someone other than you two goons"
"We'll if Keegan was here you wouldn't get much sleeping done" he muttered, but obviously Emily heard him because in a moment the front door opened and she hit him on the arm. If anyone saw Emily and Eli together, they would think they were brother and sister the way the fight.
"Not another word from you" Emily snapped at him, though her red face wore a huge smile.
"Bye Eli" I smiled, shutting the door after he said bye to us. . I smiled to myself at how sweet he was. Though what he said hurt a lot, he had proven how sorry he was. I turned around to see Emily smirking, staring at me with a cocked eyebrow.
“What?” I asked her, looking down at the roses Eli had given me, smiling. Emily laughed.
“You know what” she said “and I have to admit, that was pretty cute. I didn't think Eli had it in him to do something like that. Then again, these boys never seem to stop surprising me. Just look at me and Keegan”
I laughed, but it was true. Eli never seemed to fail to impress me. He was always thinking of these clever things to help me gain back the childhood I never had. Maybe that was the reason I fell for him in the first place. His charm is irresistible.
"Alright" Emily said after I shut the door "no boys tonight. I haven't had a girlfriend ever, so I tend to take advantage of it. And we need to put those flowers into some water before they die before we eat all of the cookies."
I followed Emily back into her kitchen, where Taylor Swift was still blasting through her house, and the cookie batter needed to be mixed. I wondered if Emily did these kinds of things with her mother. Maybe somewhere, my mother was teaching another daughter of hers how to bake cookies, not even giving a second thought to where her children are today.
I pushed the thought of my mother aside and smiled. I didn't need her, I was happy living with Susan, Garrett and my cousins. Happier than I’d ever been. My mother wasn’t the person I needed to be with. I was meant to be here learning to bake with Emily’s help. And I couldn’t have had it any other way.
"Didn't I tell you these were the best cookies ever?" Emily smiled as she dunked her cookie into a tall glass of milk and bit into it, chocolate oozing out of her mouth. I laughed as she whipped the chocolate off of her chin.
"I have to admit" I told her, as a smirk started to appear on my face "I didn't think you could cook."
"Please Chloe" she said, exaggerating the expression on my name. "Not to be modest or anything, but I think my cookies win the prize. In fact, they’ve one every prize in the contest."
"Yah, Way to not be modest" I said sarcastically. She hit my arm playfully, and I flinched.
Emily must have noticed because the smile vanished from her face. I tried not to show the fear in my face, but Emily could see it. The last time I was hit was by my father, and all the memories of my terrible childhood started to rush back to me.
"I'm sorry Chloe" she said softly "I forgot. I'm such an idiot"
"Its okay" I said to her, forcing a smile onto my face. "Really, I'm fine now"
Emily gave me a small smile back, but I knew she still felt bad. I had to admit, it did shake me up a bit, but I had to remember that I was safe now. My father, my brother and their friends couldn’t hurt me anymore. I was alright, and I was always going to be alright from now on.
"Movie time?" I asked Emily, changing the subject. Her eyes lit up as soon as I said that. I pushed aside all those dark memories and focused on what was happening right now. A sleepover with my best friend.
"I'll make the popcorn!" She piped, running over to the cupboard to take out a package of microwaveable popcorn. I laughed at her excitement. She ripped the plastic wrapper off using her teeth and threw the bag into the microwave.
"Haven't we had enough junk for one evening?" I joked with her as she watched the bag jump in the microwave.
"Chlo" she said seriously "there are two things you can never do. 1. Watch a movie without popcorn and 2. Have too much junk food. Ever"
I laughed as she took the popped popcorn out of the microwave and put it into a metal bowl. We then walked over to the family room. Her house was cute; every room had a calm, homey feel to it, like Susan’s. It was somewhere where you could see large family gatherings at Christmas and everyone’s birthdays.
"What do you want to watch?" Emily said, placing the bowl on the table and plopping herself onto the couch.
“Doesn't matter" I said smiling. I hadn't seen very many movies, only ones that were on TV, that was when my dad had remembered to pay the bills on time and we had TV. And the only movies I could see where the ones that were constantly played on the same channels since our cable was so basic.
"Have you seen Mean Girls?" She asked me. I shook my head honestly.
"It's like the classic chick flick" she said smiling, not judging me for not seeing it or anything, which was one of the reasons I liked Emily. She was so honest and didn't judge anyone.
She put the movie in and curled up on the couch opposite to the one I was sitting on, occasionally reaching over to the coffee table and grabbing a handful of popcorn.
We watched as the credits came on the screen and Emily let out a large yawn. I looked over the clock, realizing that it was already past midnight. Time seemed to fly during the movie, though we didn't really pay attention, between Emily’s story and the popcorn fight we had halfway through the movie, I could barely even tell what the main characters name was.
"Someone's tired" I said laughing. She nodded, pulling one of the blankets that she'd gotten earlier overtop of herself.
“I say it’s time we hit the hay” she said sleepily
“I agree”
"Night Chloe" she said, her eyes were closed, yet she was smiling.
"Good night Em" I curled up on the couch, grabbing one of the blankets and throwing them over myself. Today had been a long day. I couldn't even believe all that stuff with Eli had happened today. It felt as if it all happened yesterday. I closed my eyes and tried to sleep, but my thoughts kept me awake.
"Chloe?" Emily whispered sleepily. I looked over in the darkness to see her lying down peacefully. If she hadn’t said anything I would’ve believed she was asleep.
"Yeah?" I replied back softly. I was so exhausted, but I didn't mind if Emily wanted to talk for a few more minutes.
"Are you happy here?' She asked. I smiled to myself.
"Happier than I’ve ever been in my life Em"
I could faintly make out a smile crossing her face. I was truly happy here. Happier than I’d ever been in my life. Living here made me realize how much I was missing out on before, but it also made me realize that there were so many people in the world who loved me, even before I met them.
"Good" she said happily "night Chlo"
"Night Emily" I whispered back, and fell asleep.
The next morning I woke up the next morning to the smell of cooking warming the entire house. I looked over to the couch that Emily was sleeping on to see she was no longer there. I walked into the kitchen to find Emily cooking pancakes on the stovetop.
“Morning sleepy head” she said smiling. She was fully dressed already, reminding me we had to go to work today. I groaned.
“Whoa” she said defensively “someone’s not a morning person”
“Sorry” I said slowly. I looked over at the clock to see it was just after eight. We were meant to be at work at nine, as usual.
“I threw some clothes onto my bed that you can wear today” she said smiling “unless u want to wear that dress you wore yesterday.”
I smiled “I’ll take the clothes”
Emily smiled back and continued cooking as I walked towards her room to find the jeans and shirt she’d left for me. I quickly threw them on and bushed my hair with her brush and my teeth with the spare toothbrush shed given me last night. I looked at myself in the mirror to see a happy girl that looked so different from myself.
Without giving myself time to think about my past, I shut the light and walked back into the kitchen. I grabbed some forks and knives and set place settings for Emily and I and we sat down. The pancakes Emily made were delicious, giving her more of a reason to gloat about how good of a cook she is.
“Ready to go to work?” she asked. I nodded, as Emily grabbed her keys and we walked into the car, ready for the day to begin.
okay, i am so so so so so so sorry for not updating in so long. like really sorry. and i know this chapter is kind of suckish too, but yeah. hopefully you guys will forgive me and hopefully i can get another update up soon!!
and also, if you like this story, please check out my other three stories that i've posted :)
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