Page 70 of Searching for Beautiful
I put my arm around her, but Emery pulls away. Pushes to her feet. “I don’t need you to baby me, okay? I can handle this myself. I can handle Max. ”
The flip in her personality feels like a slap. Standing, I turn to face her. “He hit you, Emery. ”
“I know that. You think I don’t know that? This is his fault. Not mine. Don’t try to blame me. ”
I let her words run through my head. Repeat them. Dissect them. I don’t want to blame her. This is his fault, I know that. “I wasn’t trying to say it was your fault. ”
“Or maybe it is. I’m the one who gave him another chance, right? I thought he loved me. He’s the father of my baby, Brynn. ” She sits back down. “I just wanted someone to love me. ”
Her words sound eerily familiar. They could be mine. They are mine.
“He promised he wouldn’t do it again. He’s been so sweet. I thought he changed, but now I see it was a lie. It’s always a lie. They’re nice in the beginning, aren’t they?”
If red wasn’t my favorite color before, it definitely is now.
Red hair…red dress, and now red cheeks. I never knew blushing could be so damn sexy…
Ah. There it is. Love that blush.
My beautiful.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
All Jason’s words in the beginning. All lies.
“Jason lied to me, too. ” My words are soft, weak.
“I’m so tired of it. Tired of being taken advantage of. I’m never going to trust anyone again, and I can promise you I’m not letting Max anywhere near me. God, what’s wrong with me? I can’t believe I let a guy hit me. ”
“What are you going to do?” I ask her.
Emery tosses her hands in the air. “What can I do? I’m just going to stay away from him. Seriously this time. ”
Her words make me pull back slightly. She’s said this before. She’s promised to stay away from him, yet she’s sitting here with her eye angry and purple. Jason bruised my insides. Max is doing the same to her, both inside and out. “That’s what you said last time, and now you’re sitting here with a black eye. Even if you really do plan to stay away from him, he was outside today. That doesn’t mean he’ll stay away from you. ”
“What do you mean if I really do plan to stay away? I just said I would, didn’t I?”
“You said that before, too!” My voice is too loud and I try to lower it. “I know it’s hard—”
“Yeah, I know you do. When did you tell your dad about your ex’s call? Or that you saw him?”
I close my eyes, knowing she has me there.
“That’s what I thought. ”
“Emery…” I don’t know what to say. “I just want to help. I’m worried about you. ”
She sighs and some of the anger seems to seep out of her. She stands. “I know I’m kind of being a bitch right now. I’m just… I have a lot on my mind. If you want to help, just be my friend. Trust me and be my friend and keep your promise not to tell. I can’t depend on my parents or Max, so just let me be able to count on you. ”
She walks out. I fall into the chair she just left, totally lost on what to do.
…
My hands are shaking when I pull into the driveway at home. Instead of memories of Jason haunting me, I have pictures of Emery’s eye. The knowledge that her ex has hit her and I know about it. I know and no one else does.
