When she was sure Gia was feeling better, Emma retreated to her own room. There, she closed the door and locked herself in. She changed into her pyjamas for comfort, though sleep was also just around the corner. Before should go to bed, though, she sat down at her desk and opened her laptop.
Her parents leaving her for New York had crushed her. Serena's words about them giving her the bed made her feel better about their decision to leave, but she couldn't get over the abandonment and she doubted she ever would. She had no plans on going to New York to see them – ever – and she wasn't sure when or if they would return to Harwood County.
She didn't know what she wanted from her parents anymore. She didn't know if she wanted them to come back for visits, or if she wanted them to even keep in touch. Gia's parents and Serena insisted her parents did love her, and that they had a weird way of showing it, but Emma wasn't sure that their love was the right kind. She didn't need parents who loved her only enough to give her the things she needed. She wanted parents who cared for her and her successes, helped her through her failures, and who held her. She couldn't remember the last time her mother had given her a proper hug.
That was likely the reason she was so close to Gia. Emma had noticed a couple years back that she would always like to hold Gia, either take her arm, wrap her arm around her, or give her tight hugs. Until recently, Gia had been the only person in her life who would hold her and make her feel special and cared for. She had Jordan now, and she still had Gia, but no one could replace her parents.
Still unsure about what she wanted; Emma decided to go the safe route. She put her email address in the "To…" box and then began to type out what she wanted to tell her parents. She put it all out there, feelings, how her day had gone, issues she had on her mind. She even talked about her responsibilities as a Ranger. She knew they weren't going to read it unless she wanted them to and so all her secrets were safe.
Mrs. Moran – Vanessa, Emma had to get used to calling her by her first name – had suggested this method. Emma would write her parents an email, but send the email back to herself. She could hold on to all her messages for the day she decided to finally talk to her parents, or, if she was too hurt to speak to them, they'd never have to hear from her, and Emma could yell and scream at them all she wanted without the risk of repercussions. It was a good idea, Emma felt, and so she tried to get one email written a night, the length depended on.
Mr. Moran – Joe – had given her another trick. "Never hit backspace", he said to her, and Emma tried her best to follow his advice by never taking back and never deleting anything she said. She didn't have to hide. No one in the house would ever invade her privacy, and no one would receive these emails. They were as private as her thoughts.
She said a few mean things to her parents. Things she was sure would hurt them if they heard, but it made her feel better. Getting all her emotions out made her feel a little lighter. At the end, she signed the email, hit send, and then closed the laptop. She crawled in to bed, turned off the light, and grabbed her bear. Her parents had given the bear to her as a child. It was the last gift they had given her that really meant something. In the last few years, they had forgotten her birthday, or had been on vacation and brought home a cheap souvenir. Her sweet sixteen had almost been a disaster because her parents had been touring Asia and wouldn't be home until the week later. Fortunately, Gia's parents had surprised her with a trip to the zoo. Emma didn't like the animals being kept in captivity for people to stare at them all day, but did appreciate the zoo in Harwood County because it always tried to teach it's guests something useful about the animals and had a huge charity to raise money to help the animals in the wild. Emma had learned a lot from the zoo tour guide, and even got to meet a couple of the animals up close.
Just as she was about to fall asleep, she thought she heard a noise. She dismissed it the first time, but heard it a second time and sat up.
"Gia?" she called softly and remembered she had locked her door to write the email. She threw off the blankets and got up to unlock it, thinking the noise she was hearing was Gia trying to get in. The girls had always had an open door policy with each other.
But as she got up to walk to the door, she heard the noise coming from outside the window. She thought it was just a squirrel and walked to the window to check it out. Before she made it over, her window opened and someone jumped in. Emma, startled, tripped over her own feet as she backed away from the window and landed on the floor. She tried to get up, but was grabbed from behind and a hand was placed over her mouth.
"Alex, c'mon, I got her."
Emma's eyes widened as she recognized that voice. Mick lived right next door to Gia, and his best friend, Alex, was usually always over. There was a fence between their yards, which meant they rarely saw each other, and Gia never usually headed home after school – usually stopping by Ernie's or going out to the woods with Emma. Though they were neighbours, it felt like they were miles apart.
Emma knew Mick and Alex fairly well, though. Before they had hurt Gia, she thought them to be okay guys. They had been a little self-centered and had a little sense of entitlement, but for the most part they kept to themselves and their soccer team.
However, they behaved poorly when their egos were bruised. Mick, once in overtime for a playoff game, missed a shot on goal and ended up screaming at the goalie and then at the ref until he was kicked off the field. Alex got angry once, and grabbed the water cooler from the other team and dumped it out all, leaving them with nothing to drink and more than half the game to go. But until the party night, Emma only saw that behave on the soccer field.
But they did have it in them to be rough, aggressive, and mean, and had been known for taking matters into their own hands. Emma could only assume that because Jake had punched Mick in the face in Gia's honour, they were getting back at him by going after Gia. They had no reason to attack Emma. No one in school outside Jordan and the Rangers knew Emma had moved in with Gia and her parents.
"Watch the door," Mick said to Alex as he dragged Emma on the bed and Alex ran across the room. He turned the doorknob but found it was locked. He smirked to himself.
"We're good. Door's locked. As long as she shuts up…"
Emma remembered she wasn't home alone. Gia was in the room next her hers, and Mr. and Mrs. Moran were just down the hall. If she could get Mick's hand away from her mouth and scream, they'd come running. She kicked her legs. Alex came over and pinned them down. She struggled to move her arms. Mick made the mistake of moving his hand away from her mouth to hold her down. Emma let out a piercing cry for help.
"Dude!" Alex cried to Mick when Emma finished screaming. Suddenly, there was a slam on the door, then the boys and Emma heard someone working on unlocking the door.
"Move!" a voice from the other side shouted. It was strong, and had Mick and Alex shaking in their boots as they scrambled to get out as quickly as they could. The door came open and Mr. Moran rushed in. He saw two boys in Emma's room and his instincts kicked in. As Mick tried to get out the window, Mr. Moran grabbed him by the belt and pulled him back in the room. Alex tried to run, but Mr. Moran grabbed him as well. Mrs. Moran rushed over and closed the window. She stood in front of it, in case the boys tried anything.
Gia stood at the bedroom door and turned on the lights to get a better look. She saw Mick and Alex, and then the horrified look on Emma's face. Gia growled and looked straight at her mother.
"They had a party about a month ago," she said, "Emma and I went, they spiked my drink, and while I was drunk, they had sex with me."
"What?" her mother cried. Her father pulled the boys' pants a little higher, giving them a painful wedgie, but letting them know he wasn't at all happy with what he had heard.
"You were asking for it," Alex said.
"Gia, stay with Emma," Mr. Moran started to walk out of the room but his grip was still tight on the boys' pants. "I'll be calling Mick's parents, then the cops."
"The cops? What'd we do?"
"You've always been funny, Michael," Mr. Moran was obviously not amused as he dragged the boys downstairs. Mrs. Moran walked over to Emma and held the frightened girl gently.
"Are you okay?"
Emma nodded her head, accepted the hug, and tried to breathe deeply to calm herself down. Mrs. Moran let go, promised to be back soon, and then left to deal with the boys downstairs. Gia walked over to the bed and pulled her best friend in her arms.
"What did they want with you?"
"You," Emma whispered. She looked up, "I thought you weren't going to bother with them. You said there was no proof."
"At least now we can catch them on something, right?" Gia said, "Maybe something will happen to them, or maybe they'll get off with a warning, but they're in our house and no one invited them in."
"Did your dad break the door down?"
"Kicked it," Gia nodded. "We heard you screaming. Dad's got this father instinct that turns him into the Hulk."
"I was scared," Emma whispered. Gia gave her a little squeeze.
"I know. It's done now."
Just then, the girls heard someone screaming Mick's and Alex's name from downstairs. They got up from the bed and look down the stairs. Mick's parents had come into the house and were obviously very disappointed in the boys. The disappointment only grew when Mrs. Moran told them where they caught the boys, and when Mr. Moran added the quick detail of the party.
Based on the shrills from Mick's mother, the party had happened without her knowledge, and that was the least of her concerns.
"You did what?!"
Emma chuckled and nudged Gia gently as Mick and Alex cowered under Mick's parents' statures.
"Feel better?"
"They want to call the cops, mom," Mick pleaded with his mother, but she shook her head.
"And they should!"
"I guess I'll be giving another statement to the police," Gia muttered and turned to Emma, "At this rate, I'll know the whole force by name."
"Last time, I promise," Emma said and took Gia's hand, "And I'll be there with you. They broke into my room and I was at that party. I took you home. We might win this one, Gia."
"What do you mean?"
Emma gestured down to the scene happening at the bottom of the stairs, "This is a victory if I've ever seen one. You stood up to them. You stood up for yourself without batting an eyelash. You're fearless."
"They attacked you. They aren't getting away with it."
Emma smiled and wrapped her arms around Gia, "I don't know if you know it, Gia, but you're coming back."
Gia gave a little smile and looked down the stairs, "You know, it feels really good."
