Before Me, Him

Chapter 6

     I go down the stairs to find Emily looking extremely upset. She walks towards me grabbing me by my arm, ignoring both her parents, while going back to her room. She opens the door and I see the whole room, its ceiling was white but all the walls had a light pink tone. She had a wooden desk, a very big light wooden closet, and several shelves made from a slight darker wood. All her shelves were filled with plushies and her bed was covered with dark pink sheets. Her pillows were pearl white matching her curtains. This room reminded me of cotton candy, a sweet flavor that you can only taste for a glimpse of a second.

     Ever since we were young Emily always had a particular taste for pink or even cute stuff. I guess that hasn't changed even though, nowadays, her room is a lot more cleaner. Back in the day, I remember she had a really bright pink on the walls and an abnormal amount of plushies all over the place. I guess she really did change, at least a little bit.

     Emily closes the door behind me with extremely big strength and lays herself down on her bed hugging a pillow. I start hearing her sob, she was starting to cry. I walk towards the bed and sit next to her, laying my back on the light pink cotton candy wall.

     - What happened Emily? – I say while I start petting her head. – Do you want to tell me what happened?

     - It's Dean, he is a jerk. – she manages to find the courage within herself to tell me these words as she sobbed – I managed to tell him my feelings and he ignored me! Who does that?

     I stay quiet for a little bit. For some reason, I actually thought that from that specific group, the only person she would actually like would be Jacob due to the similarities to my brother. William was Emily's crush for the longest time. I'm happy she managed to get over him.

     - Do you know if he feels the same way towards you? – I question.

     - Well, no. He's always messing around with other girls but I was always different. – she turns around and looks at me – He was always kind to me so I thought...

     - Have you considered the idea that he sees you as a little sister? – I stare at Emily – You do act a lot like a kid so I wouldn't blame him if he only saw you that way.

     I could see that Emily wanted to talk and start nagging me due to me calling her a kid but the truth is that she knew that I was right. So instead she cleans up her tears and contains them while sitting up straight. Emily replies:

     - How do I make him see me otherwise?

     - You have to show him you are not a kid but a woman. – I get up and start walking towards the door. – I already told you how you can start growing right? – I give her a smile and open the door. Emily smiles at me and that's when I was able to realize she had understood what I meant. I truly hope she will start taking me seriously this time since she has something to gain from it.

     - June, also I forgot to ask but did you happen to see Jacob while coming home?

     For a couple of seconds, I froze and no words were coming out of my mouth. I wonder if I should tell her, maybe it would be better to keep it hidden from her. Why did I have this feeling? Very strange.

     - No, I didn't. Why do you ask though?

     - Well he left a couple of minutes after you, saying he had an errand to run so I thought you might have crossed paths or something. – Emily lays down on the bed and laughs – I was just curious, nothing more, don't worry!

     I give Emily a slight smile and close the door. I go to my room and lay down on the bed as I arrived. I start thinking about the afternoon, if Jacob left right after me then how did he find me so late? Most likely he still saw me walking towards the rock. Did he follow me? Did he stay there all those hours?

    I turn around and bury my face on the pillow. I'm so confused. Maybe he just went on his errand and then happened to go to the reef, mere coincidence. Maybe he didn't follow me at all and I'm just overthinking things. But why is my heart so uneasy with this?

     I was never the type of girl to feel uneasy with her life, I had my goals and my ambitions well-focused so I never worried too much about the extras life has to offer. I would just live my life at my own pace, without caring for anyone else besides myself and my family. Maybe that changed? No matter how hard I think about it I cannot reach a conclusion. While Jacob was a pertinent thought I remembered about Dean and Philip.

     How did they meet Emily? I understand that Emily likes Dean, they are very similar looks wise so it would make sense that they would end up being attracted to each other in any way but where does Philip join this story? What type of guys are they? Who is Jacob? Who is Dean? Who is Philip? And what do they want from Emily? I need to figure that out for myself before she gets hurt. I won't let that happen again.

    I let out a small sight and, within all my different worries dinner time arrives followed by the sweet melody of angels, making me fall asleep until morning.

     - June!

     Slowly I open up my eyes to see Emily with a bright smile filled with energy. "How can this girl be so energetic in the morning?"

     - Good morning Emily. Did you sleep well? – I say while sitting down in my bed. I look at the clock that marked nine a.m.

     - Yes I did sleep very well! So I was thinking, do you want to go to the beach again today? – I frown. Emily likes the beach, she always has, but she didn't use to go to the beach two days in a row.

     - Sure, if that will make you happy. – I end up forgetting about it.

     As we get ready to go to the beach I receive a text message on my phone from Luke. He was asking where I was and what I was doing. "Are you ok?" He asked. I delete the message and leave the phone at home. I don't want to deal with him right now.