AN: I would like to thank very kindly the people that have read and commented on chapter one. It makes me feel very good that other people enjoy what I do! I would like to give another shout-out to my brilliant cousin Penny (Mrs. Agget) for the time spent beta'ing this. Love ya cuz! In this chapter, I introduce Emmett, another tortured mind!

Enjoy!

(P.S. This chapter was not preread. If anyone would care to preread my chapters, I would most sincerely appreciate it.)

DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own anything Twilight, unless you count the five hundred pics of Edward and Emmett I found online...

A Tortured Mind

Chapter 2 – Sink or Swim

EmPOV

My body was swimming, but inside I was sinking. My trainer Carlisle had suggested we go to the pool and get some water resistance exercises done. I obliged, however, I couldn't escape my own thoughts even in the middle of the gym pool. The pain from the exercise always seemed to go straight to my heart.

All my life, no one ever told me how smart I was. I had plenty of friends, but I never was the one to think up stuff to do. I wasn't that smart. I did alright in school, mainly because my teachers would just tell me what to do and I did it. I made fun of the dorks all the time, partly because it was the cool thing to do but also because it gave me an excuse not to be brainy. As long as I made fun of dorks, I could justify not being like them.

My dad actually understood me better than anyone. One time he told me that not everyone could be a leader, and that being a good follower is just as important. At first, I was angry with him, cause he made me feel as stupid as everyone else did, but when I moved away to college I finally understood what he meant.

My first semester at Thomaston State University was rough, but I met a couple people who helped me through it. This year, I was on my own a lot more, cause my friends were generally taking different classes than I was, and they were getting busier too. I sat in front of the Military Science building, hiding to smoke a cigarette, and wondering if I was going to make it this semester. I was only one month into the semester, and I was already failing math.

I couldn't fail. Everyone said how proud they were of me about going to college, and taking Military Science, but their words got hollow when they began to remark about how smart I was and that they knew I would do well. I appreciated the support and encouragement, but not when it was fake. It wasn't a secret to everyone that I wasn't the brightest bulb in the box, and it felt very condescending when people acted like I was.

There were also other things that people didn't know about me. Things that I couldn't even tell myself without hating myself. I would come home from the gym all sweaty, and my dad would stop me and ask, "son, why didn't you take a shower at the gym?" Every time he asked, I made up a different excuse. The truth was, I was deathly afraid of locker rooms.

And there was a good reason for me to be afraid of locker rooms. One time, in middle school, I was taking a shower after football practice, and a friend of mine from the team began to shower next to me. When I glanced over to see who was there, I happened to involuntarily glance down and noticed a well developed manhood. I quickly jerked my gaze back to the shower head, but I couldn't release the image of what I had just saw. As I began to shampoo my hair, I look down and realized I was already half hard. I couldn't let him know he was giving me a hard on, so I left, right then and there, with a head full of shampoo.

I didn't even try to explain it to anyone, and it was never mentioned again. Needless to say, I never showered in public again. I often thought how ironic it was that in the career I was pursuing I would have to shower naked with other men. I often wondered why I even decided to do this, and I would always remind myself "Your not smart enough to think for yourself. In the military, they just tell you what to do."

I did have one redeeming quality about me though. I never gave up. I often found myself doing the same things over and over again, hoping against hope that if I tried harder the next time, things would turn out differently. Many people called this insanity, I called it Emmett-ism.

"Hi, Emmett," Rose said cheerfully. Rose was the only person I knew from high school that went to this school. She was smarter than me, but she never made me feel bad for it.
"Hey, Rose," I smiled, "what ya doin' today?"
"Nothing much," she said, lighting a cigarette of her own, "just got done talking to my math teacher about something."
"Ugh, math," I sighed and stood up, "if I don't get this math soon, I'm gonna fail the course."
"Well," she said smiling, "my teacher made an appointment for me with one of the math majors to get tutored, but there is no way in hell I'm going." She huffed on the cigarette, "you should take my appointment." She reached into her purse and grabbed out a business card.
"Thanks," I said, unsure of if I wanted it or not, "but why aren't you gonna go?"
"Don't have the time," she replied, looking down at her watch. "Speaking of time, I gotta go, hun." She bent over to peck me on the cheek. I cringed inside. She walked down the hill to the next building. I looked at the card she handed me. "Edward Knight, math tutor" an on the back it said: "Friday, 11 am."

AN: Thanks for reading chapter two! In the next chapter, more problems occur as wires get crossed. Will Edward and Emmett finally meet in chapter three - The Tutoring Dilemma?