unspoken thing » jj maybank

47

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A turtleneck is what she decided to wear. Emelina woke up the next morning with pink and purple bruises on her neck and after a breakdown of trying to cover it up with a concealer that barely worked, she settled on a turtleneck.

She didn't mean to keep it from everybody, but it would only stir the pot more and her friends would probably end up a lot worse than what she got the previous night.

So there she was, sitting on the couch of the Chateau with her eyes straight ahead, mindlessly nodding to Kiara's chattering.

Questions were spinning around in her head. Why did Rafe let her go? What if he hadn't? What if he sees her again and finishes what he started?

"Are you even listening to me, E?"

"Huh?" Emelina turned to look at her, then mentally cursed to herself for not being less obvious.

Kiara was immediately alerted. "Yeah, what's up with you today? I mean, why are wearing a turtleneck? The leaves haven't even turned orange yet."

Emelina brushed her fingers through her long hair. "I think I'm coming down with something... you know, the change in seasons."

Kiara raised an eyebrow, "If you have hickeys, just say it. I don't care."

"It's not that, Kie... I'm just feeling a little under the weather. That's all." she tried to persuade her, but her best friend knows her a little too well to fall for that. Her answer only made Kiara reach over and pull down the turtleneck.

Kiara jumped back in surprise, "What is that?"

Emelina closed her eyes as the memories of last night flooded her mind again. She didn't bother replying. What could she say but the truth?

"Emelina, should I be concerned or is this some kind of kink of y'all's—"

"No! God, no. JJ didn't do this." If she were any smarter, she would've gone on with that lie to save herself, but being out on the spot like that didn't give her much room to think clearly.

"Then who did?"

JJ entered through the porch with wax in his hands, "Who did what?" he asked, coming in just at the right time to intrude on their conversation. Pope followed quickly behind, muttering how much wax JJ was wasting on the surfboards.

"Can you believe he's telling me how to wax my board?" JJ scoffed, pulling out a beer from the refrigerator. "All I'm saying is that you use a lot of wax," Pope remarked.

Emelina hoped the conversation would swing this way and she wouldn't have to mention her neck again, but Kiara's concern for her friend could never be swept under the rug. "JJ, did you know about this?"

"Know 'bout what?" JJ asked while opening his can and taking a large gulp. Emelina stirred uncomfortably, "It's-It's nothing." she said, although she knew she was under the microscope now and there was no escaping.