𝐄𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 ✔︎(Completed)

𝙿𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝙸𝙸𝙸

Before the incident.

"Uh, Ammy?" Emily calls quite reluctantly as we do the finishing touches to our latest written project.

A few days ago, I have been so worried about how pale and gloomy she has been when she went to school last Monday. So I asked her parents if she could sleep over in my house for a special project, and secretly nurse her back to health. And now, thankfully, she's got her color back, although I still have this nagging feeling that she's got something that she's hiding from me. And I think she's just about to open up right now.

"Yeah?" I immediately turned my full attention to her, though to not make her shy away, I pretend to still focus on eyeing our work.

"I...I've got to tell you something." At first she was hesitant, then determined. Now I know that something is wrong. She has never hesitated to tell me anything before. This has got to be big.

"Okay Em, I'm listening", I say as I face her, crawled and seated beside her at the foot of my bed. I showered her with sisterly affection in this moment as I leaned my head on her shoulder and held her left hand, playing with her fingers.

"I...", she stops, and I could feel her breathing stop for several seconds, before starting again heavier and ragged.

"He..H-He-", not even completing a single phrase, her tears started to rain down. She must have kept this all to herself for so long, even from me, that it made her fall apart now.

"Shh... You don't have to tell me now. Just cry it all first. Just cry it all out Em."

A small whimper escaped her lips before she bawls out.
"It's okay to cry. You can't always keep everything hidden beneath your smile. Go on, cry some more. Crying won't make you look weak, it just shows that even the strongest of people feels pain too."

She passed out crying that night, but did not open her lips the morning that followed to tell me why. I didn't try to force her to tell me, or else I'll end up making her lie to me. So I let her tell me on her own pace, which happened yesterday.

"Ammy? About that day when I uh cried out, I'm now ready to tell you about it." She said last night, as we lay on our backs in my bed.

I keep silent, but I squeeze her hand gently to let her know I'm listening.

"He... He almost touched me." she sounded so vulnerable in her shaking voice, though to me, she's so brave to speak up and share her fears with me.

"He tricked me Ammy. He said he needs my help to an assignment in Physics, and since I was the Best in Physics last quarter, he wanted me to be the one to help him. And I... I stupidly said yes."

"At first, I was shocked when he led me to his room when there's a library. But he seemed so relaxed so I just shrugged it off. Then while I was teaching him some formulas, I could feel his fingers, arms, and knees softly graze my skin, though he makes it seem unintentional."

"Then suddenly... he..."

"He closed the book we were using and looked intensely in my eyes. And before I knew it, he was on top of me, taking my silent shock as consent to do whatever he pleases."

"Ammy, I've never been more thankful that you taught me how to kick a man in the crotch, I'm telling you." She says with a little humor as she looks at me with glassy eyes.

"Let's just say he passed out with my heavy kicks."

"I love you Em." I finally say.

"I love you too, Ammy. Why do you got to always know what I need to hear?" She whined with a happy smile.

"Just because."

"What kind of answer is that?"

"My kind." I said with a giggle.

And the night went away as a pair of best of friends share more memories and thoughts with laughter.

But what I did not know until I found her diary, she had much more darker secrets. She suffered sexual abuse from her own father since she hit puberty. She grew up with verbally and physically abusive step-mother. And it was her step-brother who almost touched her. She also had to sell her nude picture to foreigners to earn money because her father doesn't give her any allowance nor time to work for a part-time job, so she had to do it for herself. It wasn't the best option, but it was still an option.

I thought her dad gives her allowance because that is what she had told me whenever she'd treat me. I could only wish I had known that she had this much burden, I could've helped her, damn it! She always seemed so perfectly fine whenever we're in each other's company. I never even knew about the cyber bullying that our classmates have been doing.

And that was what have pushed her to her limit. She had way too much in her plate for a young woman. She haven't even reached adulthood and yet, what she had gone through is enough for a lifetime.

I've never questioned God until now. Why her? Why so cruel? Why let her go through that?

Then immediately I know why. And I knew it all along. She's one of the strongest people to ever exist, even as young as her.

She managed to smile beautifully, even when she's been, and being sexually abused. She trusted me, even when she's hurting. She loves herself, so she had to sell her pictures to have some money for her own, even though she doesn't want to.

Sexually, mentally, physically, and verbally abused. And yet, she managed to love me perfectly, more than a friend, or a sister in blood, we're partners for eternity, forever and always, as we'd say.

If only... fucking damn it!

I wish I was with her when she was in her breaking point! That she was on the verge of jumping from the fifth floor so I could save her from her demons! Damn it! Fuck!

Now, the only thing I can do is seek justice for my best friend.

And I will go through hell and back for her to have it.