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Chapter 2- What Are You Doing?
Emily and Jared were sitting at a little nice restaurant, well nice enough for two teenagers on a first date. Emily was nervously tapping her foot to the rhythm of the music, just hoping she wouldn't get caught. There were so many emotions soaring through her mind about Sasha. "What if he catches me here? There will be no second shot, he will not let me go to Nationals." Emily kept thinking to herself. She looked across the table at Jared who was just staring at her and smiling. "What?" she asked him.
"She speaks." He replied with a grim smile. "And nothing. I was just admiring your beauty."
"Ok that line is so old." Emily retorted and grabbed her purse. She was going to just get back to the gym, too much was on the line.
"Wa-wait!" Jared yelled. "It wasn't a line, I promise. It's only the truth."
Emily rolled her eyes and sat back down. "I don't even know why I'm staying."
"Because of my charm." He smirked. Jared noticed the look that came across her face and was quick to apologize. "Hey you remember that one time when I stole your favorite doll and gave it a 'hair cut'?" Jared replied with a laugh.
Emily blankly stared at him. "You think it was funny? Why did I even come after what you did to me when we were kids?"
"Because we're not 7 years old anymore. And plus I did all those things because I liked you."
"Lame excuse." Emily shot back. "Oh and that doll that was so fun to destroy? Yeah it was the last gift I got from my dad before he left me, my brother, and my mom." Emily stated, as she tried to swallow the lump in her throat. She shook her head and started to turn away, but she felt him grab her arm. Emily turned back to face him and yanked her arm free. "Don't touch me."
"Emily I am so sorry, but that was so many years ago, I was young and stupid." Jared tried to make an excuse.
"Is there a problem here?" Emily heard a familiar voice asked.
She turned her head and saw Damon standing there. "Damon?"
"Look, I don't know who you are, but this is between me and the girl." Jared shortly replied.
Damon took a step closer to Jared, to the point there was an inch between their noses. "Emily is my friend, so yes, it concerns me too."
Just after those words, Jared shoved Damon back. "Jared, stop!" Emily yelled. Damon smirked and then punched Jared in the nose. "Damon!" Emily yelled. Before anyone could control it, Jared and Damon broke out into a fight. Emily was yelling trying to break them up. "You guys stop it! This is stupid!" she continued to yell. Emily tried shoving Jared back, in attempt to break up the fight, but got hit on the jaw. She quickly looked up at Jared, who had now stopped fighting Damon.
"Emily, I did not mea…" his sentence trailed just before she turned around and ran out of the restaurant.
Damon shook his head at Jared and took off after Emily. "Emily!" he called out to her.
He looked down and saw blood coming from her lip. "I am so sorry." He told her as he cupped her face in his hands.
"Gosh, how can you be so stupid?!" Emily asked him.
"I don't know. I just came to find you because I really have to tell you something."
"Couldn't it have waited?"
"No, it can't." Damon said and then led her over to a bench. "Emily, I am moving."
Emily jerked her head around and looked at Damon. "What?" she asked.
"I have to."
Emily looked down at the ground and quickly stood up. "I understand. Hopefully you'll keep in touch."
Damon stood up and pulled her into a hug. "If you need anything, just call me." He whispered into her ear.
Emily just nodded and smiled, holding back all the tears. After he was out of site she let them all come pouring out. She couldn't help but think, how another person walked into her life, and just left without an explanation.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Back At The Gym
Payson, Kailey, and Lauren were sitting in silence, well that was until Lauren spoke up. "I wonder how her date is going."
"Better than it's going here." Kailey said, then continued staring at the ceiling.
Payson looked at Kailey, then at Lauren. She couldn't help but start laughing a little. This caught the other two's attention. "What?" Lauren asked.
"I'm sorry. It's just, I realized how stupid I was towards you guys."
Kailey sat up and looked at Payson. "An apology?"
"Yes. I'm sorry."
Kailey leaned over and hugged Payson. "I'm sorry too." She replied with a smile.
Lauren sat there for a minute before giving. "Me too." She told them as she leaned in to join in on the hug.
They heard someone clapping and looked up to see Sasha standing there. All three of them felt their gut sink down to their toes. "Beautiful." Sasha said as he continued clapping. "But do you know what would make it even better?"
"What?" Lauren quietly asked.
"If one of you told me where Kmetko is." Sasha told them as he stopped clapping and folded his arms across his chest.
The three girls exchanged looks. "Her mom needed her. We told her to go, and that we'd cover for her. It's her family."
Sasha looked at the girls. "I'm going to go to her house. If she's not there, or she's not back in the gym by the time I get back. You all can kiss National's goodbye." Sasha informed them, just before leaving.
Payson looked at Kailey and Lauren. "Start calling her now!"
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Emily was walking down the sidewalk, tears pouring down her face. She doesn't know why she was so upset over Damon leaving. She guessed it was just because yet another person left. She stopped walking for a minute and ran her fingers through her hair, trying to calm herself down. Emily took in a deep breath and lightly touched her lip. It was throbbing, but she hadn't noticed til now. "How am I going to explain this one?" she thought to herself.
"Emily?" she heard a voice ask. She knew that voice way too well. She closed her eyes and turned around to see Sasha standing there with his arms folded. She quickly saw his expression change, probably due to the fact she had a busted lip, and he could probably tell she had been crying.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to leave the gym without explaining myself first…" she began to blurt out, but was stopped.
"What happened to you?"
Emily looked down at the ground, trying to think of a cover story. Was there any point in lying? I mean what are the chances of Sasha letting them go to Nationals now?
"Well?" Sasha asked.
"I ran into someone I knew a long time ago. He wanted to go out, but I told him I couldn't." Emily began to explain, and then took in a deep breath to continue. "Lauren and Kailey insisted on me going. When we got back to the gym, you told us about the lockdown and I was going to call and tell him no, but Lauren and Kailey once again insisted. They told me they needed to work something outs between them and Payson, and that I should go. I don't know why I did, but I did it. It's completely against everything I work for."
"That still does not answer my question."
"When we were at the restaurant, a close friend of the family walked in, and they got into a fight. I tried to break it up, but only got in the way."
Sasha slowly nodded.
"I ran out of there, and my friend came to find me. That's when he told me he was moving. No explanation, just a hug goodbye." Emily said as she felt her eyes began to well up again. "When does it stop?" she asked, looking up at Sasha with her eyes beginning to fill up with tears.
"When does what stop?" he asked.
"People I care about walking out of my life?" she asked just before the tears came pouring.
Sasha looked at her and stepped closer to pull her into a hug. "It'll be ok." He told her in a soft tone.
He closed his eyes for a moment. He had not a clue what to say to the young girl. All he could do was hold onto her. She had been through so much, but yet she was so strong.
