Chapter 11: Exposed

The clock ticked five and Ted hadn't heard from Emma. I guess he was gonna have to do this. He saw Kristin sitting in the living room, flipping through a magazine. For a moment he considered running to Emma's room and hiding with her. He didn't want to do this, because he knew that Kristin was gonna get hurt. He had to do it, though. If he didn't Alec or Sutton would and that would be so much worse. He took a deep breath and entered the living room.

"Hey Kristin," Ted said, "can we talk?"

"Is this about last night?"

"Sorta," Ted started, "Look Kristin, this is really hard to say, but I have to do it. It's about what Annie shouted at the party. Do you remember when she asked Alec where Emma was?"

"Yeah," Kristin confirmed, "who is that anyways?"

Ted looked down. He couldn't get himself to say it. He just couldn't say the words that he so desperately needed to say.

"Ted, who is Emma?"

He was about to explain when he heard something from behind him, "I am."

Kristin looked up and Ted turned around. Emma was leaning on her crutches in the passthrough looking terrified, "I'm Emma."

"I'm Emma," Kristin heard Sutton say.

Sutton, or Emma, or whatever she was calling herself didn't move. Maybe she didn't know what she was supposed to do. Kristin's eyes kept darting from Ted to Sutton, or Emma, or whatever, and back to Ted. She stared at both of them dumbfounded. What the hell was going on?

"How...who...what?"

"I just want to start by saying," this girl stated, "I'm so sorry I lied to you. You were so good to me and there were so many times I wanted to tell you, but I just couldn't."

"Can someone please explain to me what exactly is going on?"

"Honey, this is not Sutton. This is Sutton's identical twin sister, Emma."

"Huh?"

Sut-Emma had made her way to the couch and taken a seat next to Ted, "A few weeks ago I got into trouble and the only person I could turn to for help was Sutton. We met at the bus stop in Phoenix where she told me that she wanted to switch places, so that she could follow a lead on our birth mother. She promised it would be two days, but obviously that isn't true."

"So let me get this straight," Kristin started, "the girl that I've come to know over the past few weeks isn't my daughter, it's my daughter's twin. What?"

"I know it sounds crazy," Emma stated, "but that's the truth. My name is Emma Becker. I'm from Las Vegas where I'm supposed to be living with my foster mother, Clarice, and her son, Travis."

"And why aren't you?"

"Because my foster brother set me up for stealing and Clarice called the cops. Then I hit Travis with a tennis racquet and ran out the back door."

"You what?"

"I know that sounds horrible, but I didn't steal the money and Travis was..."

She didn't go any further, but Kristin needed to know. She needed to know all of the details, "Travis what?"

"He tried to blackmail me into getting the charges dropped, he...he..." Emma swallowed like she was trying to prevent the bile from rising any higher. She looked scared and disgusted.

Kristin didn't know what to do. She wanted all of the details, but she had a feeling Emma didn't want to relive those ones. Her gaze was cast downward and her arms wrapped around her body protectively. Whatever this Travis guy tried to do really rattled her. Kristin leaned forward and grabbed her hand, "It's okay. I don't need to know."

Emma nodded, but her eyes still threatened tears, "I'm sorry I lied, I just..."

She couldn't even finish the sentence. Emma choked on her tears and broke into sobs. This whole conversation was killing her. It made Kristin sick to see her this way, to see anyone this way. She took a seat next to Emma and wrapped her arms around her trying to console her, "It's okay. It's okay."

Emma felt Kristin's arms wrap around her and pulled her into her chest. She stroked her hair and told her it was okay. She subtly rocked her back and forth, trying to comfort her. Eventually, she managed to calm her sobs enough that she was able to continue. She pulled away from Kristin and said, "I know you value honesty and it killed me every time I had to lie to you."

The tears came back and she had to take a moment to continue. In that moment, Kristin said to her, "Why did you agree to the situation in the first place?"

"Because I had no where else to go," Emma explained through the tears, "I was on the run. I was scared and Sutton had made you sound decent. After not having a family for so long, it sounded like a pretty good deal to know what it was like even for a few days."

Another sob escaped Emma's throat and she apologized once again. She buried her head in her hands and sobbed. She was so ashamed of what she had done. She was so hurt by her own actions. She didn't think she could stop the tears and then she heard, "Emma! Emma! Emma, look at me."

A finger guided Emma's head up to Kristin's eyes. She expected to see them blazing with anger or glinting with pain, but that wasn't it. They were bright with compassion. Kristin looked at Emma with understanding. That immediately calmed Emma down.

"I am not angry," Kristin explained, "I'm a little hurt that you lied to me, but I can understand why. Emma you are obviously torn up about the situation."

A light seemed to glimmer in Kristin's eyes as if she'd realized something very important.

"That's what you were trying to tell me before the party. That was your big announcement during the party. Wasn't it?"

Emma nodded choking on another sob, "I wanted to tell you so many times. You are the first person in a long time to believe me without fail."

"It's hard for me to believe that," Kristin stated.

"I'm a foster kid, Kristin. That immediately tanks all the credibility you have. It didn't matter that I was a straight A student. It didn't matter that I didn't need the money. Anytime money went missing, I was the thief. I was the one that got suspended for fighting when a group of girls shoved me against my locker, while they got off scot free. It just came with the territory. People were going to assume the worst in me. There was nothing I could do about it."

Emma saw pain flash in Kristin's eyes, but it wasn't because of her. It was for her. For once, someone heard her pleas. Someone heard her pain, her struggle. Someone understood. Kristin pulled Emma into a tight hug, "You don't ever have to worry about that again."

Emma had run out of tears. She wrapped her arms around Kristin and smiled. This hadn't turned out as she expected and that was a good thing. Kristin was hurt, but she wasn't angry. She believed in Emma's story. She believed in Emma. Whatever Sutton said at least they knew Emma's story. At least they knew the truth.