Chapter 10: Waiting

Sutton paced the living room of the Ryback home, trying to figure out what she was going to do. When she'd heard her own father talk about Emma the way he had, she was hurt. What made Emma so much better than her? She'd lied just as much as Sutton. She'd hurt just as many people. What made her so good and Sutton so bad?

"Eh-hem," Sutton heard Alec clear his throat, "Are you hungry? I could make you something."

"No thanks," Sutton answered, continuing to pace.

"Is there anything I can do for you?"

"You can take me home," she answered, "so I can get my life back."

"Not yet, Sutton."

"So you're just gonna hold me hostage while Emma continues to ruin my life."

Alec chuckled, "You'll get your chance to explain. You just need to be patient."

"Patient," Sutton repeated, "I got sent to jail thanks to Emma's own messed up life. I spent a week in Las Vegas, trying to get enough money to get back here. Then, when I finally get back my own godfather holds me hostage. I have waited a long time to get back here. Don't tell me to be patient."

Alec slipped out of the room without another word.

"Where are you going?"

Alec didn't turn back and Sutton felt immediately frustrated. Now Alec wouldn't even talk to her. What was she supposed to do now? She paced back and forth thinking of what she was going to say to her parents when she saw them. She tried to come up with what she was going to do to Emma. Her whole family was turning against her. Emma was gonna pay for that if it was the last thing she did.

Emma smiled as Laurel recounted what she'd missed after she left school, "Oh the tennis team missed you today. They even made you this."

Laurel pulled an envelope out from behind her back.

"This is why I was coming to your door. I know it's written to Sutton, but I figure you'll appreciate it more, and you are the one that's actually hurt. The whole tennis team signed it, even Nisha."

Emma pulled a card out of the envelope. It was a get well soon card and it was signed by the whole tennis team. She smiled at all of the nice comments people had written, even Nisha's was kind of sweet.

You better be ready for next year, because I'm taking you down.

-Nisha

Emma laughed, "This was really sweet. Too bad I'll probably never get to thank them."

"What do you think's gonna happen when my mom finds out?"

"I don't know," Emma stated, "my guess is she'll probably be really hurt. I came to Kristin for advice so many times. She put her faith in me on countless occasions, and none of that was actually real. She was putting her faith in Sutton, not me."

"When I was thirteen, I snuck out for the first time. Sutton and her friends had been talking about a party they were going to that night and I really wanted to go. I told my mom that I was going to a friend's house and then went to the address I'd heard Sutton say. It ended up being a practical joke on me and after Sutton got her laughs she just left me there, with no way to get home. So I called my mom.

"When she picked me up she didn't say anything. I just got in the car and felt absolutely ashamed. I thought we were just going to drive home and she would leave me to my dad, but the car didn't move. I finally asked her, 'Mom, am I in trouble?' Do you know what she said?"

Emma shook her head.

"She said, 'Laurel, if you think I'm going to punish you for coming to me for help you're crazy.' She then went on about how I shouldn't lie to her again, because I don't have to and all of that motherly stuff, but she didn't even tell my dad. She just said I'd gotten sick and that's why she picked me up. She didn't care about the lies. She was glad that I was safe and that I'd come to her. Emma, she loves you."

"She loves Sutton."

"You know I can pin the first moment I saw you. It was when you came in and started offering to do everything Sutton would never do. That means you saw the pain that Sutton had caused my parents with this search. Emma, my mom may love Sutton as her daughter, but it kills her to see the person she's become. Everything she's said to you in the past few weeks was directed at you, your character, not Sutton's. She might be hurt at first, but she'll get over it. You have to trust me."