Fairy Tale

Chapter 38: A Depressing Pep Rally

Emily lay curled in bed, in a blanket. She stared blankly at the wall. Her assesm with Joseph Spint went well. He was impressed with her, he had seen videos of her from the gym, Jorge had sent him videos and paper work from when she used to compete.

The assessment wasn't as long as she expected. He wanted to know her goals and dreams, what she wanted out of this sport, why she liked it. He was impressed with what he saw. He wasn't worried about her financial situation. He knew the reputation of the gym and Alby, and what Jorge was Caple of doing. It was more of a get to know her.

They were done early, and she just didn't feel like sticking around. She thanked Laurence and went back to the Lee's. She took the bus and got home before everyone. She showered, with her hair still dropping wet, she wrapped herself up in a blanket and laid down.

She heard the front door bang open and frantic footsteps. Her door flew open.

"Emily?!"

He flew to the side of the bed and knelt down beside the bed.

"Shuck! Em, you scared me so bad!" He said quietly, she could hear the fear and his voice got caught in his throat.

"Why would I scare you?" She asked quietly.

"Em... I've been so worried about you!" He cried. Leaning forwards he pressed his forehead to hers. He took a long deep breath.

"Shuck! I don't know what's going on with the school...but those notes in your locker...Ben was talking like a slinthead...then you said you left the gym. And with that whole thing with Ava..I was just worried!"

Emily felt her blood run cold. Was it all connected? Ava's weird warning made Emily scrunch her eyebrows together in confusion. Maybe it was all connected. But how or why would Emily being bullied help Ava? It didn't matter.

"Emily? Please...talk to me." Minho pleaded.

"There's not much to say, Minho." She said blankly.

She felt so empty again. It was wild how she could feel good, and happy and safe and then in an instant everything she worked hard for was ripped away and she felt empty raw and exhausted again. She would never be aloud to be fully and truly happy.

Minho knelt and slowly pulled her to sit up, she was so listless she followed, sitting up at the side of the bed. The blanket she hard wrapped around her slipped down, exposing her shoulder, and chest, her hands just sat loosely in her lap, her head hung down.

At this point, Emily didn't even care. Maybe now he would see there wasn't much to to bother with and he could move on to someone who wasn't so much work, who didn't cause so much drama. She felt his warm hand gently pull the blanket back up around her shoulders. His hand went to her cheek, his thumb gently rubbing back and forth.

"Emily...can I lay down and just snuggle with you? Hold you close?" He asked, his eyes pleaded with her.

Emily shrugged one shoulder.

"You still want to hold me when covered me up?" She asked confused.

"Em...I covered you up because we haven't crossed that line together yet. And I'm not gonna do anything right now. I love you and I respect you too much. Just 'cause some jackass says klunk doesn't make it true, and I'm not gonna make it true. I told you already; no one else dictates how far our intimate relationship goes, no one but you and me. And right now...your vaunerable and hurting. I'm not gonna take advantage of that."

His thumb kept rubbing back and forth over her cheekbone, her big sad eyes dropped to look at him. He was kneeling between her knees, looking up at her.