I don't think I can say thank you enough for all the encouragement, folks. All the kind words, and all the snow days I've had recently, are making this story move at a much faster pace than I thought it would. So here's the next installment, hope to have it finished and uploaded by the end of the week.
The Union
From saint to sinner – well, which is it?
"Emma! Hey, Emma!"
Emma slowed to a stop, wondering if she was hearing things. And seeing them, for that matter. Before she could voice her confusion, Paige did it for her.
"Hon, did I fall and hit my head, or is Ellie Nash flagging you down?"
"You see it, too?"
Paige lowered her voice and kept her eye on the approaching redhead. "You sure you didn't leave out any details about Friday night?"
"On my honor," Emma pledged. "I wonder if Sean told her where he was?"
She'd woken up on Saturday morning feeling better than she had in weeks. Unfortunately, she'd also been alone. Sean was gone, a short note left in his place.
Em, he'd scrawled, I didn't want to wake you once you finally got to sleep, but I have to get back. I meant what I said last night – if you need to talk, just call. Sean. P.S. Take these for your head before it rolls off.
'These', it turned out, were Tylenol he'd purchased at the 24 hour convenience store, doubling his walk home to obtain them and leave them on her nightstand. The small gesture had put a smile on her face that had lasted roughly forty eight hours and counting.
She'd fairly floated through the weekend, hovering somewhere between cloud nine and whatever came after that. She'd taken Jack for a stroll through the park so they could smell the flowers and talked to her mom for an hour about cute movie stars and new hair styles. They avoided the serious issues, like Snake's progress and Emma's slow decline, and it felt so much like the old days that Emma could've cried with relief.
Sunday, she and Paige had a girls' day that included some quality time at the mall, manicures and pedicures, facials, eyebrow plucking and leg waxing, a cheesy movie marathon, and a tub of Chunky Monkey ice cream. After such a weekend, Emma felt refreshed and ready to take on the world come Monday morning.
Then Ellie called her name and Emma felt her good mood falter. Why in the world would Ellie Nash be so intent on talking to her unless Sean had confessed his whereabouts to her? The two blonds waited for Ellie to catch up, Paige tapping one foot impatiently.
"Hi, Ellie," Emma said when she reached them, forcing herself to remain calm. "What's up?"
"Actually, uh –" Her eyes darted to Paige. "Could I –"
"Save your breath, hon, I know my cue," Paige interrupted, and turned to Emma. "You, Missy, are meeting me at The Dot after school, correct?"
"I'll be there," Emma nodded. "Later, Paige."
"Ciao, Em." Her eyes flicked over Ellie, giving her an appraising once-over. She smirked. "Nash."
"Whew," Ellie said, watching the queen bee strut down the hall. "Do I look smaller? I feel smaller."
"Paige tends to have that affect on people," Emma said, not unkindly. It wasn't long ago that Paige had barely glanced her way and only done that to make a snide comment about Rainbow Brite's retarded twin trying to save the whales. "So what can I do for you, Ellie?"
"Well, I was wondering … um. Okay. I wanted to – argh! This shouldn't be so hard," Ellie said, almost to herself. "I mean, you're only human."
"And you could take me in a fight," Emma said helpfully, feeling generous enough to put Ellie out of her misery. "Not that that matters, since I'm a pacifist."
Ellie snorted. "Good to know. Listen, I know how pathetic this is gonna sound, trust me. I've been telling myself all weekend to leave well enough alone. But I just feel like … I don't know, now that Sean's back I thought I should –"
"Find out where he and I stand without asking him and looking paranoid," Emma supplied, flashing what could have been a Colgate commercial.
Does she have to be so niceEllie was almost disgusted. This was her boyfriend's ex; his first love, his first heartbreak. She was supposed to be ultra-bitchy, a self-absorbed snob easy for Ellie to hate. And easy for Sean to get over.
"Well, yeah, basically." She forced herself to return the smile. "You think I'm crazy, right?"
"Isn't everyone?" Emma shrugged, the picture of careless grace, and Ellie wished the earth would just open up and swallow her whole. "And have no fear. As far as Sean and I go, it's pretty much status quo. Nothing's really changed since we were all in Wasaga."
Liar, liar, liar. She felt incredibly guilty. Ellie was a nice person, a good person. She didn't deserve to be lied to by Emma, of all people.
"Thanks for being cool about this. I've been nothing but an insane, insecure girlfriend since he got back. I'm afraid the next thing I say to him will be in baby talk."
"That'd be attractive," Emma murmured absently. An insane, insecure girlfriend was still a girlfriend. Sean had a girlfriend. She'd forgotten, for a minute, but she wouldn't again. "Listen, Ellie, I have to get going. I'll see you around, okay?"
"'Kay. Bye." Ellie headed to cafeteria to meet Marco and groan about how absolutely stupid she felt for approaching Emma in the first place. He'd understand.
-X-
Sean waited until Ellie was out of sight, then grabbed Emma as she hurried past him blindly. She shrieked and he clapped a hand over her mouth. "Em! It's just me."
He released her, thinking it safe, and immediately regretted it when she landed a punch on his bicep. "What the hell are you doing?" she demanded, her brown eyes flashing fire. "You scared me to death!"
"Sorry, sorry," he said sheepishly. "I saw you and Ellie talking and I just …"
"Thought I was spilling the beans about our sordid little tryst?"
From the arched eyebrow and cooler-than-cool attitude, he would've thought she was Paige. "Of course not," he said, and it was the truth. He had thought Ellie might be giving Emma a hard time. He had refused her any details about his Friday night stunt, and he feared she might put two and two together and start examining the Emma angle. "There's nothing to spill. Nothing happened."
"That's right," she agreed, her tone clipped. "Nothing. And nothing will."
"Of course not," he repeated. "Emma … are you okay?"
She paused, seeming to deliberate with herself. Then she straightened and smiled, a full, beaming smile that would've struck him dead had her eyes been in it. "I'm fine," she answered, injecting an extra shot of cheer into the words. "Everything's great."
Before he could call her bluff, she removed her arm from his grip and walked away.
-X-
He seemed to be spending an awful lot of time staring at Emma Nelson's back, Sean reflected. But he wasn't about to go after her, the school was too small to let that slip under the radar.
He wondered what was bothering her. He'd thought they'd turned a page last Friday, that maybe they could become the friends they'd once been. But it seemed like she still didn't feel comfortable confiding in him.
He had to go meet Ellie for lunch. He needed to not be thinking about Emma when he did. And that was easier said than done, because his arm was stinging like a bitch from her attack and he was pretty sure it would bruise.
She always did know how to make an impression.
-X-
The ravine was still a safe haven for her, even after all that had happened. As Emma trudged through the greenery, she scolded herself for her own stupidity.
What had she even been thinking? There was obviously no chance of Sean and her getting back together. Even if they did, by some miracle of God, they'd last a month, tops. One night of bonding over a shared tragedy didn't erase the fact that Sean had a girlfriend. A very serious, live-in girlfriend.
He was being nice on Friday. That was all. Anyone with half a brain would rescue her from Jay's clutches if they found her drunk and alone with him. Craig would've done the same thing. So would Spinner, for that matter.
She didn't even want to be with Sean, anyway. Or she did, but only for short, delusional periods of time. In sane, sober moments, she knew it was a bad idea. She knew, from past experience, that it would end quickly and messily. One or the other or both of them would screw everything up and she would spend days, weeks, months trying to pick up the pieces.
She didn't have the time for that anymore. Or the patience. One more bad breakup, one more hard blow in life, might actually kill her.
"Thinkin' hard thoughts, Em?"
Jay's voice, overly cheerful and just short of insulting, interrupted her stream of thought. She groaned and buried her face in her hands. If she didn't respond … if she just stayed really still and didn't breathe … he'd go away.
He dropped down to the grass beside her, leaning back on his elbows. "So, the ravine, huh?" His eyebrows moved up and down suggestively. "It's a little early in the day, but I'm game if you are."
"Go away," she pleaded, not looking up. "I'm not in the mood for you today."
"Emma." He feigns injury, clutching his chest like a man suffering a heart attack. "You wound me."
"Not nearly enough."
"Oh-ho, we are in a funk!" he exclaims, rubbing his hands together excitedly. "Well, now, why don't you tell me all about it? It'll make you feel better."
She clenched her teeth. "Jay, I'm warning you, if you don't back off, I'll scream bloody murder."
He laughed. "Idle threat, Nelson. You don't think the whole school knows about us already? You really want 'em to catch us in action?"
"We're not doing anything."
"By the end of the day, the story would be that you were ripping my clothes off and having your wicked way with me." He grinned at the death glare she shot him. "Like you don't wanna."
"Oddly enough, Jay, I don't. I really don't."
"Oh, no." Alarmed, he sat up, staring at her intently. "Are you going to revert to your former, less hot, way more annoying self now that Cameron's back?"
At the mention of Sean, she flinched. Jay saw, of course. He saw everything. "I should've known," he shook his head. "It's always about him. So, what, that's it? He's back, and you're done with all this? You're just gonna go back to protesting and picketing every last thing and pretend you never veered off the beaten track?"
"That's the plan," she said coldly.
"Ha! And what's in it for you, pray tell? Sean's with Ellie now."
"You were with Alex," Emma pointed out.
"Yeah, and she was smart enough to dump me. You were dumb enough to stick around. Luck of the draw on your part, babe."
"I'm sure," she scoffed, and stood to leave.
"Aw, no, wait a minute, Greenpeace." He got to his feet as well, and faced her. "You can't go yet. I'm dying to hear the rest of this master plan of yours. So you go back to being perfect, which if memory serves, I believe you said made you want to lay down and die."
Feeling spiteful, she wrinkled her nose. "I said that? It's so … ineloquent. Did you get me trashed first?"
"Hey, now. I never made you do anything you didn't want to do."
"Yeah, I know," she said grudgingly. She couldn't blame him for the mistakes she'd made.
Satisfied, he nodded. "As long as we're clear on that. So, what happens after?"
"After what?"
"Sean's with Ellie, you get all pretty and pristine again, and? Then what?" Jay searched her face for a reaction. "Sean loves you? You live happily ever after? What?"
"I'm not … I'm not doing anything to get Sean back. I don't want Sean back. I just don't want to do – this – anymore!" She motioned to herself, then to him. "It's easy with you, Jay, but that's all. We're not going anywhere. We're not in love. We can barely stand each other."
"That's what makes it interesting. One minute, we're fighting – like so," he articulated, making the same gesture she had. "And the next, we're doing this."
He kissed her.
-X-
Ellie adored Marco. He was the world's greatest friend. She subjected him to rant-and-rave, bitch-and-moan sessions on an almost daily basis and he never made her feel like she was being petty or selfish. He listened, made all the right comments in all the right places, and always had a few words of wisdom to impart. Plus, he had killer fashion sense.
She told him all this after she'd related to him her embarrassing encounter with Emma and he'd advised her, in no uncertain times, to quit worrying and forget it. Sean's with you, El, he'd said seriously. All the way.
She thanked him for the reality check, then gushed to make up for wasting his time. When she got to the part about the fashion sense, he laughed and winked. "What can I say, it's a gift. You wouldn't have dated me for a year knowing I was gay unless I looked fabulous."
"I probably would have," she admitted. "I was young and stupid."
"Aren't you glad you came to your senses?"
Sean entered the cafeteria and Ellie waved him over. "Extremely," she told Marco before leaning to kiss her boyfriend hello.
"What's up?" Sean sat sideways at the table and jittered one leg nervously. "I thought I saw you talking to Emma a few minutes ago, but …"
He trailed off, letting the question dangle. Ellie and Marco exchanged glances and at his Well, go on look, she sighed and explained. "Yeah, I was asking her … well, actually, I was asking her about you."
"Me? Why?"
"I was just … well, staking my claim, really." Ellie sighed, feeling ridiculously foolish. "I wanted to know if she had any … designs on you now that you're here to stay."
"That's crazy," Sean laughed. "Emma, having designs? She's not the crafty type."
"I know, it was stupid, I just … needed to know. I'm crazy. And insecure."
"You're cute," he pronounced, kissing the top of her head. "And neurotic. But in a cute way."
"Emma's with Jay, now, anyway, isn't she?" Marco broke in, trying to ease his friend's discomfort. "I just saw him following down to the ravine. A little afternoon delight, I'm assuming."
Ellie screwed up her face. "May I just say – ew."
"Damn it, I almost forgot." They both looked up in mild shock to see Sean on his feet and gathering his tray. "I have to go see Mr. Ehl about a project we have coming up. Sorry, guys. El, I'll see you later, right?"
"Well, since we live together …" She took another forehead kiss, watching as he dumped his trash and hightailed it out of the cafeteria. "Not that it feels like it," she muttered.
"At least you know Emma's out of the question," Marco philosophized. "Dealing with Jay probably takes up way too much energy for her to even look twice at Sean."
-X-
This. Could not. Be happening.
As Sean gaped in utter shock at the scene laid out before him, Emma began to struggle with Jay. Using both hands and all her might, she managed to push him off. "Jay! Were you even listening to a word I said?"
"Sure," he said nonchalantly, as if he hadn't just been completely rejected. "You don't want Sean, and you think whatever you and I have isn't built to last. Well, so what, Nelson? I'm not lookin' for a marriage, here. I like my thrills cheap and you, my dear, happen to be surprisingly talented."
"You're a creep," she growled. "Get your hands off me."
"Jay." Nearly blind with fury, Sean made his presence known. "You might want to listen to her."
"Cameron, could you give us a minute here? We're having what's typically known as a lover's quarrel." Enjoying himself, Jay batted his eyelashes at Emma. "I'll let you know when I need your help."
Sean growled. "Jay, if you don't let go of her and take a step back, I'm not gonna be responsible for what I do."
"Ooh, tough guy, huh? Protecting the honor of the womenfolk?" Jay did release Emma, but only for the purpose of shoving Sean back a few feet. "I'm not impressed."
Emma read the violence in Sean's eyes and immediately began to do damage control. If someone else got hurt because of her, if Sean got hurt because of her, she wouldn't know what to do. "Guys, really, we don't have to do the whole 'mine's bigger than yours' routine. Really. Sean, it's cool, he didn't hurt me or anything."
"Emma, get out of the way."
At Sean's words, she relented. He'd laid her flat on her ass once, albeit accidentally, and she really had no desire to repeat the experience. If they were going to be jackasses and fight about it, then so be it.
"She's like a little robot," Jay admired. "Can you pass along a few training tips, Seany-boy, I seem to be having a little trouble with the obedience aspect of our favorite nature-freak."
"She's not your anything."
Jay smirked and shoved him again. "Ditto."
Sean snapped. Later, when Emma described it to Paige over the phone, she'd say that was the only word she could think of. He went off, firing punch after punch, and Jay fought back with just as much force. Emma screamed, breaking Sean's concentration and allowing Jay's fist to connect solidly with his eye.
"Shit!" Sean rerouted his attention, and poured every ounce of anger he had into his next few swings. There was a reason he'd made fighting a hobby growing up. It was therapeutic. But now that he was older and wiser, he knew when to stop. He twisted Jay into a headlock. "Are we about done here?"
"Just say the word," Jay retorted, spitting out what could possibly be a tooth. He hoped not. He really liked his smile the way it was. "You want Greenpeace so bad, you can have her."
Sean sneered. "Thanks, buddy. A word of advice: If I were you? I'd watch what you say and do involving Emma. You may have had some sort of arrangement while I was gone, but I'm back now. Got it?"
"Yeah, sure, man. Whatever." Jay backed slowly out of the ravine, bruised and bleeding. "I just hope word doesn't get back to Ellie about you marking your territory like this. If you know what I mean."
"I dare you," Sean threatened.
Once Jay was gone, Emma rushed to Sean's side. "What were you doing, fighting Jay like that?" Her small hands ran over his body, checking for injuries. "That was really stupid, Sean, one of you could've gotten hurt. Or expelled for fighting on school grounds!"
He almost grinned. She sounded like herself again. If his eye hadn't felt like it was about to pop out of his socket, he would've said the fight was worth it. As it was … "Emma, can you save the lecture for a later date? I'm more than a little pissed right now, and I really just need a ride home."
She stopped. Then, taking his hand, she replied softly, "Well, I do owe you one."
Hand in hand, they left the ravine.