what goes on in the dark?

chapter 7- confessions

6 years ago

It's been a long day. The final bell rings out for the day. I pack up my school stuff and get up from my seat. I leave the building and start to walk home. I get to turning into my street and see Emma come running up and turn left. She doesn't see me but I hear Daniel shouting her name. I see him run up to the top of the street. He watches as she runs down the street before looking the other way and seeing me. "ALEX" he shouts and rushes over to me. "Ok what the fuck is going on" i say when hes stood in front of me. "You remember Cindy right?" he asks me. I look at him and laugh "no. fucking.way" i say in disbelief. He nods his head "so you've shagged your childhood best friend's cousin and expect her to be cool with that" i ask him. His face drops "welllllllll when you put it like that it sounds a lot worse." he says. I look at him dumbfounded. Everyone knew Emma had a crush on him but no one I had spoken to actually knew we just sort of assumed. "You fucking moron. I'll talk to her but if she doesn't slap you into next week then i will" i say to him. He nods his head "that's fair but appreciate it" i pass him my school bag "seeing as im saving your arse you can take my school bag inside for me" i say he takes it and thanks me again and rushes off.

I rush off in the direction Emma ran in. I know where she'll run to. She'll run to the barn. She used to do it all the time when her mum and dad were nearly gonna divorce i'd see her leave her house and I'd run after her. Just to be there for her. I carry on running till I get to the barn. I can see the door is cracked open.

I head inside "EMMA" i shout "YOU IN HERE" i get a slight whimper as a response. I can hear her crying in the upper part of the barn. I climb up the ladder and sure enough there she is. Her glasses are on the floor next to her and she has her knees pressed to her forehead curled up like a ball. "Hey Emma, it's me," i say quietly. She looks up. "F-fuck o-off" she says between breaths. I look at her "hell no. If you don't wanna talk right now that's ok. But I'm gonna sit here till you do, ''I say. I sit down next to her and that's when she cracks. She starts crying into my shoulder. I wrap my arm around her and hug her. Eventually she regains her composure enough to talk to me. "H-he f-fucked m-my c-cousin" she says. "I know," I say. She looks at me and shakes her head. "I-i h-hate h-him" she says. I look at her and say "no you don't you're lying" i say to her. She shakes her head again "n-no i-i'm not i hate him" she trembles. "See here's the thing Emma. I don't believe you cus if you hated him as much as you're saying you do then you'd be in that house kicking his arse and i'd be supporting you doing that. However here you are balling your eyes out cus secretly you have a crush on him. Am I right?" I said to her, Her eyes darted to the floor and then she whispered "y-y-yes" I hugged her again.

"It's okay." I whispered to her. She starts to cry again. "No its not alex hes gone and fucked my cousin and theres nothing i can do about it. The man i love is fucking my cousin and not me" she says before going back to sobbing. "See Emma, here's the thing. this whole thing is basically my department. I have a bit of a crush on someone who likes someone else entirely and here's the thing. It'll be okay. Wanna know how I know this?" I asked her. She nods her head. Trying her best to hold back tears her eyes are all red and there's a teardrop rolling down her cheek. I wipe it off her face and say "here's why you'll be okay emma. Your cute, hot, smart, brilliant and so many other adjectives that I couldn't even fathom right now. You're 1 in a million and if I'm being honest jokes on my brother. He's missing out on the coolest person I know and here's the thing Emma, there's millions of fish in the sea. Just cus Alex isn't one of them doesn't mean the worlds gonna end tomorrow for you. It'll suck a minute especially cus cindy's your cousin but you shouldn't let alex and cindy fuck up your day, your night or your year" i watch as a small smile crosses her face. She dries her eyes "holy shit. No one's ever said that to me" she says "your right alex. God you're so right. Thank you" she hugs me. She gets up off the barn floor putting her glasses back on as she goes and then she dusts her leggings off and says to me "wanna watch me kick your brother's arse." I laugh and say "I thought you'd never ask"

We walk back through the field and return to our street. I get to the door and knock on the door "Alex open the door" he opens the door and looks at me and emma. He blinks and looks again "oh shit" he whispers and tries to run off. I grab him and pull him back. I hear the slap before I see it. CRACK. I let go of Daniel and he drops to the floor and scrambles back. "Ok the fuck" he says.

"Thats for fucking my cousin" emma says. I hear someone on the stairs and look up and see Cindy standing on the landing. "What the fuck" she says. I look at Emma and see a fire in her eyes. "Ok Emma, I think i should take you home" i say i grab hold of her and carry her out of the house. I close the door after us and carry her home while she tries to wrestle free of my grip. I hold her with one hand and knock on her door. Her mum opens the door "Alex, hi, um what's going on?" she says looking between me and Emma who's still trying to wrestle out of my arms. "Oh well...... her cousin kinda has a thing going on with my brother" i say. Her mum shakes her head "which cousin?" she asked me. I feel like she knows but wants to double check "Cindy" i say. She nods her head. "Right ok then well thank you for bringing her back" she says i let go of emma and she begrudgingly steps inside.