Disclaimer: I do not own the lying game or any of his characters.
Sutton pretends she didn't care during lunch. She took a seat at table full of boys and started flirting randomly. I didn't really care about what she was doing. My plan went just as I wanted too. Everyone at school was talking about me, not her, I had most of the guys attention and I also had actual friends. I can't say that Sutton's friends are just that anymore, because, they are mine too. I went back to class with Mads and char as Laurel left for her own class. The effect of the pain killer was slowly not working anymore so as soon as I got in class, I took my shoes off and just stayed like that. Nobody is going to notice it anyway. I put my elbow on my desk and did my best to focus on the movie they were showing us. Instead of American history, we were having a movie today, about American history. It was really boring. The lights were off and I'm not sure anyone was actually paying any attention to the movie. Somehow, and believe me, it was a first for me, I fell asleep.
I was lying on my back. I could see a sky full of stars above me head and a heavy light around me. It was really warm into the room and I was having a hard time to breathe. Actually, the only thing that was filling me lungs was hot air. I don't know for how long I stood there, unable to move. After a while I wasn't even able to fill my longs with air anymore. I was suffocating.
"Emma! Wake up!" Someone whispered next to me and hit me in my back to wake me up.I opened my eyes to notice I wasn't in the same room anymore. I was back in class again, where that boring movie was coming to an end. I looked at me left where the Mads was sitting, she was the one who hit me. "Finally, sleeping beauty is awake! A good thing nobody noticed it" I took a deep breath and my lungs immediately stopped hurting. I guess I had just stopped breathing, just like in my dreams. But this time, he was different. I knew more than before, it's like if something in my head decided that I should understand that stupid nightmare this time. I wasn't drowning, I was in a room that was on fire. That's why I couldn't breathe, because of the fire. And the last image I had from my dream, was name and a signature on that sky above me. It had been painted on my ceiling, by Annie Hobbs. So Ruth Peterson maybe wasn't our birth mother, but Annie Hobbs could be. We've crossed her names twice already. It has to mean something. I have to call that Ruth Peterson woman. Maybe, maybe she'll be able to tell me something about her.
"I'm awake. I'm wide awake."
End of school. Finally. I reminded Laurel that I had a right so she could just go with Sutton. I'm not sure she was really excited about me riding on Ethan's bike, with Ethan. I wonder what she would say if I actually was riding the bike by myself. I was at the bike before Ethan could get her. I couldn't wait to actually get home. I know that Ruth's phone number is somewhere on, my laptop, damned! I need it just one day after I broke it. Right now, I hate myself.
"I thought I would be the one waiting for you, I wasn't sure you would be able to extract yourself from your girl crowd." Why doesn't he like them? They are really nice people. The girls are nice, Ethan is nice, why can't they be nice together?
"You should start know them, they are really nice." I tell him as I take the helmet he's handing me. "I should decorate this helmet, since I use it so much." I say joking.
"Yeah right, I'm not keeping it if you do anything to it. You'll have to find yourself another ride."
"Fine, I won't do anything to it." I say and take my place behind him on the bike.
He stopped his motor once we got at my place. I was still thinking about what to do for my laptop problem when Kristen got out of the house. Is she checking on my again?
"I think I should go now." Ethan said as he saw Kristen walking towards us. Was he scared of her or what?
"You sure? You don't have too." I'm not sure what he could do here but he doesn't have to leave.
"No, no I have to, I have a job remember. I'll see you tomorrow. Text me if you need a ride again tomorrow. I'll be happy to do so if you need one." He says as he starts his bike again.
"Kristen, this is Ethan. A friend of mine." I tell just before he can leave. She knew he was giving me a ride this morning so I think it's a good thing to just introduce them.
"Nice to meet you, Ethan." Kristen says waving at him. She would probably have shaken his hand if he wasn't holding his motor.
"Nice to meet you too Miss Mercer. I'll see you at school Ems!" He says and leaves. I wonder what he was thinking. I could tell something was on his mind.
"He seems nice." Kristen says as we both get inside the house. Laurel on the couch doing her homework and Sutton was nowhere to be found. Maybe she was planning her second devilish plan. "He is nice." I tell when I know she's about to add something that I'm not going to like. She was playing with her ring on her hand. That's how I knew she would say something I wasn't going to like.
"Emma, is he related to that police guy Alec often works with? Dan Whitehorse?" Why does she have to know that?
"Yes, they are brothers. Why?" And why did she add that he was working with Alec? It's normal that the two of them work together. Alec being the district attorney and Dan a cop.
"It's just. I've heard some things about Ethan, apparently he has had some troubles with the law…" Oh, so I was right, she just doesn't like him. Why do people always have to judge others on their bad actions? Yes, he had some problems, but to me, he did way more better actions than he did bad ones. After all, he has been one of the persons helping me ever since I got here. Well, we did fight, but nothing really awful.
"So?" I asked as I putted my bag down.
"Are you sure it's a good idea to spend time with him? Maybe you'll get back together with Thayer?" Oh, so she's just afraid of me dating Ethan. Well, that isn't going to happen. Ethan and I are just friends. No way I'm letting anyone as close as Thayer again. I've learned my lesson.
"Ethan is a really nice guy. Besides, if we started judging people on their reputation, you guys shouldn't go to Vegas. Ever. And I don't think I'll get back with Thayer." No, I'm sure I won't get back with him. Without any doubt.
"I didn't want to upset you Emma. I'm just worried. It's what moms do. They get worry for nothing." Oh, now I feel bad because I feel like I could tell her otherwise.
"I know. I'm not upset. It's just people have been telling me that all day. Ethan has only been kind to me since I got here. I don't know what he did in the past, and I don't want to know. All I see is that he's a nice guy and a good friend."
"So, any chance you get back with Thayer?" She asks me not letting go that idea. I think she already saw us getting married and that way the Ryback's would kind of be a part of their family too. But no way that's going to happen.
"He cheated on her mom. I don't think she wants to be with him anymore." Laurel said as she putted down her books. "I don't even want they be dating again after what he did." I wasn't even sure I should tell Kristen, but Laurel kind of made that choose for me.
"He did what? Oh, poor girl!" It's not like if I could have expect better. I'm the poor one from Vegas, Sutton is the rich one from Phoenix. Choose is easy to make. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Besides, I have a family now, so why would I ask for more? "It's not like if I was in love or anything." I lied, well kind of. A couple more days and I would be madly in love and my heart would not only be broken, but probably lying on the ground in a million of little pieces. "So, I have some homework to do, I'll be in my bedroom. Do you want me to cook tonight? Or, I can help you cook! Yes, I'm going to do that. Cook and then homework." I say and I was already heading towards the kitchen. Sure, why not start cooking two or three hours before dinner time? Think, Emma, think!
"Go do your homework sweetie. I cook, I always did. I don't make Laurel or Sutton cooks and I'm not planning on making you cook either." Kristen adds before I actually can get in the kitchen. "Now, get back to your homework Laurel and go start yours Emma. And where is Sutton? If she w ants to get into a good college she better starts working seriously." Sutton? Yeah, I don't think so. I read her last paper, and I don't think it's such a surprise that she only had a D. But, Kristen is right. If she would take things seriously, she would have A's.
"Yes, homework. I'm on it." I took back my bag and headed towards my bedroom. I put it on my desk chair and pick up the laptop that was still on the ground. I little prayer hoping he would still work and I tried making him work. But, I was right, letting him fall like that wasn't such a great idea after all. I need Ruth Peterson's number. Maybe Sutton didn't ask her the right questions. I need to make sure of it. So, I have three options in front of me. The first one, is asking Sutton if she stills has her number, but that's not going to happen. Not until she apologize. The second one is to look it up on the internet. But since we spend hours and hours to find only her address, I'm not sure I'll find her number on it either. The only way we got her phone number was because we had sent her e-mails over and over again. I saved that e-mail with her phone number on that laptop and deleted it of my mailbox. So there's still that third option, but I'm not really excited about it, at all. I took my cellphone and dialed his number. I should have deleted it, so I wouldn't have this option anymore. Of course that wouldn't have changed anything. Nope, I would have had to go to his place without even announcing myself.
"Emma?!" Thayer said as he picked up his phone. "I can't believe you finally answered my call. No wait, I can't believe you called me!" Focus Emma, don't let him get in.
"We need to talk." I simply say. Yes, in this case, talking isn't really what I need from him.
"Sure! Want me to come over at your place? I'll be there in a less than ten minutes!" He said and I could here he was already taking his car keys.
"Nooo!" I don't want him to come here. "And I don't really need to talk either. I just need someone who's good with computers, and you're the only person I know."
"I'm your man." Bad choices of words Thayer. Really, you could have just said OKAY. Would have been much better.
"Meet me at the club? At six?" I say thinking how that's just a bad idea.
"Do you want me to pick you up?" I did say that we were meeting at the club, not at my place.
"Just be at the club at six." I say and hung up. I think I was quiet polite considering the whole thing. I could have been much ruder. I throw my cellphone on my bed and just started to my homework.
"Why are you going at the club again?" Ted asked me during diner. "Tennis maybe?" Nope, asking a favor to the guy that cheated on me to find out if maybe the woman I thought could be my birth mother can answer a question about some other woman who probably IS my birth mother.
"Yes, I felt like training a bit. We have this big game next week and I just want to be ready for it." I told him. It's not like if I'm lying, well kind of, but not on the whole part. We do have this big game next week.
"You know you don't have to train Emma, you're a great player. You could easily take anyone place in our team." Sutton says. She wasn't really talking about tennis. I don't care what her motives were, she did something awful and she'll have to apologize. I do not ask for much, after what she did that's the least she can do.
"I'm not sure you should participate Emma. Not till your feet are healed." Not an option. If I want a scholarship, I have to play.
"I'll be just fine. I'm not planning on training long. Just for one hour or something like that." I said as I putted my plate in the sink.
"I'll bring you if you want. I wanted to go to the club anyway." Kristen offered.
"Sure, thanks. I'm just going to pack my things." I say and leave the kitchen.
After putting the laptop into a sport bag along with some sport clothes Kristen and I left for the club. We had eaten early because Kristen needed to talk to some women at the club about a dance. I didn't really understood what it was, something about father daughter or something. Can't say it for sure. As we arrived at the club I saw Ethan at the stairs waiting for a car to arrive that he would have to park. I had forgotten he was actually working here. I knew that he was working here, it just didn't come on my mind that I would see him here. Which is really stupid actually.
"Isn't that your friend? Ethan is it?" Kristen asked me as she stopped at the stairs.
"Yes, yes it is." I say and get out of the car. "Hey Ethan!" I say when Kristen hands him her car keys. I wished I could just have parked the car myself.
"Emma, wasn't expecting to see you here." He said.
"Well, I'll be inside. Let me know when you're ready to go back home sweetie. I'll be waiting inside. Nice to see you again Ethan." She said and got inside.
"I think you should know this before you get inside, Thayer is here too." He warned me.
"I know, I ask him to meet me here." I told him as I stood next to him.
"You sure that's a good idea? Why do you even want to talk to him?" Because I need his help for something.
"Remember that laptop I pushed off my bed? There's actually some important things on it and I need them. And he's the only person I know that can get them back for me." I explain him as I look around me to see if anybody was eyes dropping.
"Need some homework back? Like if you couldn't just write it again. Besides, even if you would bring your homework late in, you would still have an A." Does that mean he thinks I'm kind of a smartpant?
"I need Ruth Peterson's phone number. So I have to options, asking Sutton for it, or Thayer. And I rather ask him." Someone was arriving and Ethan would have to go park Kristen's car.
"You know what, let's talk about it that after my shift. If it's okay. I sense there's more to that story than just a phone number" And you sure are right. But he must know I wouldn't just go talk to Thayer if it wasn't important. So he left with Kristen's car and I walked inside. Thayer was sitting at a table in a corner. Probably the only table where nobody can see you, except when you walk in. I headed towards his table holding my sport bag close to me and went to see him. Remember to keep calm Emma. Just keep calm. You aren't here to talk to him, just ask him to do that and leave right after he did.
"Thayer." I say as I sit in front of him.
Yes, I'm going to end this chapter here. You are probably all going to wonder what's going to happen in the next chapter now. I thought it was a good place to end this chapter. So, what do you think of this chapter? Don't forget to review!
