Whore.
The word echoed in my mind for a long moment as I stood there, frozen. She hadn't even known me a full sixty seconds, and she already seemed to loathe me. To really loathe me. I hadn't seen disdain like that in someones eyes in a long time.
I took a deep breath, trying to pick out which emotion stood out the most.
Anger.
This lady didn't even know me. She knew nothing about me besides my age and the fact that I was pregnant with Emmett's child. I looked down at my belly, which was poking out enough for someone to wonder if I had some chub or if there was a baby in there. I heard footsteps behind me, and I tried to control the shaking of my hands.
"Charlotte?"
I turned around and was faced with someone much more friendly than Nicole. Rebecca stood about five feet away, confused as to why I was standing by the open door.
"Is something wrong?" She asked, eyes full of concern. Was the emotion showing that much on my face? I didn't want anyone to know. This was the first time that I was meeting any of his family besides Brooke, and I wasn't about to start any drama.
"Uh, no ma'am. Someone just came in the door."
I closed the door, and turned back to her with a smile on my face.
"It was Nicole and Evan, wasn't it?" She asked. I nodded.
She looked back over her shoulder, as if to make sure no one was in the room with us. She turned back to me with a sympathetic smile on her face.
"She said something nasty to you, didn't she?"
I raised my eyebrows at Rebecca, a little taken aback.
"How..How did you know that?" I asked.
"My sister and I don't get along. We never have. I don't exclude her in anything - my mother would have a fit if I did. But she's a piece of work, that one. What did she say to you?"
I contemplated lying for a moment, making up something. But something about Rebecca told me to tell the truth. That I could really trust her.
"She called me a whore," I said quietly. "I barely got two words out to her."
"She said that to you?" Rebecca exclaimed, aghast and angry. I nodded again.
"Charlotte, don't take what she says to heart. She's a vindictive woman, that one. She acts like an angel around our parents, God bless their hearts. You're not a whore. You're a good girl, I can already see that. I do my best to ignore her. That's the advice that I would give to you, too. If you don't show that she affects you, that will bother her more than anything. She's just trying to get under your skin, for whatever reason. She's nothing but a bully."
I took in her words, feeling better about what just happened. I decided to take Rebecca's advice - not to let it affect me. She wasn't worth it.
"Can we...Can we keep this between us?" I asked.
"Of course, honey. Let's go back out to the party," She said, winking at me and walking back towards the backyard. I followed her. Shaking my head, I thanked my lucky stars that only two of Emmett's family members seemed to hate me.
"Made you a plate," Emmett said, handing it to me as we reached the picnic tables.
I sat down next to him and across from his parents.
Suddenly, I realized just how hungry I was. Emmett had piled the food on my plate. I eyed it before I dug in.
"My mama thinks we need to fatten you up," Emmett said quietly into my ear.
I laughed a little bit.
"Do you think so?" I asked.
"Just a little bit," He said, winking.
I finished the food easily enough, wishing that Brooke had been able to make it to the party. I wanted to talk to her...apologize that I'd had to keep what was going on a secret from her. Even if Emmett claimed she wasn't upset.
Aunt Lauren showed up right as I was grabbing some desert, and I was relieved to see a familiar face. It was just getting dark when I pulled her aside to tell her about Nicole.
"That woman has a nasty personality, Charlotte. Don't pay attention to her."
"That's what Emmett's mom said," I said, nodding.
"She's not worth anybody's time. I swear she thrives off of drama, especially when it involves her. She's selfish and self centered."
I looked over my shoulder at where she sat with her husband. I had sensed her sending me some dirty looks since she'd arrived. I turned back to my aunt.
"What can you do?" I asked, shrugging. "Not everyone is going to like you."
"That's my girl," Aunt Lauren said proudly. "Just ignore it."
"Only thing I really can do. I've got more crap to worry about than caring about what she thinks."
"That's a good attitude to have."
The rest of the evening went smoothly. I avoided Nicole and her husband, although I felt no shortage of dirty looks coming from her. I was pretty sure it bothered her I was paying her no mind, which made me happier.
The party went until about ten p.m. We lit off some fireworks, and then people started to clear out.
I started to clean up, but Emmett quickly stopped me.
"Oh no. You're not doing any cleaning up," He said, shaking his head.
"Why not?" I asked.
"You did so much to help set it up. Nope, not going to happen. It looks like you need to get some sleep."
"Alright, alright," I said, putting my hands up in surrender. I was pretty tired. "I'm going to head back with my Aunt Lauren, then."
I said goodbye to his parents, who were the only people who were left. Emmett walked Aunt Lauren and I to her vehicle, and he hugged me goodbye.
We drove home, and I was glad the evening had turned out well.
"I'm going to head to bed. I'm pretty beat," I said, bidding my Aunt goodnight and heading up to my room. I changed into pajamas and took my make up, then crawled into my bed.
But I couldn't sleep right away.
What did Emmett think of me? Did he see this going anywhere? Did he even like me enough to be in a relationship? We really hadn't spent that much time together - it wouldn't be fair to just assume he wanted to be with me.
Did I want to be with him? How much did I like him?
The questions swarmed around in my mind.
I tossed and turned, falling into a restless sleep.