Afterwards (alemma)

Three | Skipping

Emma

As soon as I left Alex's backyard, I felt guilty. I knew it had to be something with his foster parents, because he was acting how he had acted during the whole arcade thing. Shut-out and angry.

And no way was I believing that he got into a fight - it was his first day back, after all. But there's no way that he'd tell me, even if he used or still does has a crush on me.

I'm kinda hoping for the latter.

I mean, he's cute and has a great personality once you get to know him, I hear. I've thanked Mrs. Simmons mentally thousands of times for placing him next to me in homeroom. I could get used to looking at him in every single of my classes. . .

School.

What was I going to do tomorrow? I seriously wanted Alex to go with us, but at the same time, I couldn't let him get in any danger because of it.

The call the school sends to tell your parents that you missed school was the least of my worries, Munch could easily rewire it so it gets sent to my phone.

Detention wasn't that big of a deal, either. I'll just say I was running in the halls or some lame excuse that doesn't even get you detention, and my parents will eat it all up.

So the only thing I was truly worried about. . . was Alex.

I constantly tried to tell myself it was impossible to like Alex Nichols, infamous for his dirty jokes and inability to tell that someone has a crush on him.

God, why are guys so confusing?

----

I sigh as I find myself back in front of Alex's house, not even thirty minutes after I left. I can hear Tuck's voice as well as Alex's, so I try my hardest to not make any noise as I climb up the rope.

"- I can't do anything about it, and I just-" the sentence stops when I hear Alex's voice crack, and I peek into his backyard, to be met with the backs of Tuck and Alex. Alex was shaking, and he was trying his best not to break down.

"Dude, I'm always here if anything escalates. I mean, you might as well tell now-" Tuck is cut off by my sharp intake of breath, and I mentally slap myself as both boy's turn around and see me, and I can see tear stains on Alex's cheeks and shirt.

"Leave!" Tuck snaps, and my eyes widen at how angry he looks, but I don't move. I can't - it's like I'm frozen in place and I can't stop staring at Alex, who's crying.

"I-i, Alex, I didn't, I'm so sorry," I choke out, but anger builds up in Tuck's expression.

"I told you already. You. Need. To. Leave." He hisses, but instead, I take a step forward and feel bad as Alex cowers backwards.

He wipes at his eyes aggressively, not looking at my when I sit down next to him.

"I'm not leaving until you tell me what's wrong!" I exclaim, determination coursing through my body.

"P-please. Just, just g-g-go," Alex whispers, and all the determination I once had is replaced by guilt. I scoot closer towards Alex, only to have him move even further back, and he looks legitimately scared that I would hurt him.

Hurt him. Foster parents. Bruises.

"Oh my God," I whisper, putting the pieces together.

"I'm so sorry," I say, my voice barely loud enough for him to hear. Alex's eyes widen, and Tuck stands in front of him, anger clearly etched into his face.

"Emma, it's best if you leave. Now." He whispers aggressively, and I nod my head slightly, as I hear more crying sounds coming from behind him.

I run back towards the rope, simply jumping down the hill instead of climbing it.

I wasn't supposed to know.

I'm not supposed to know.

I can't know.

But I know.

----

Alex

"She's going to tell the social services isn't she?" I whisper, my eyes meeting Tuck's as more tears fall. I squeeze my eyes shut, trying to stop the flow, but it gets worse.

"She won't. She'll feel too guilty about knowing. There's no way." Tuck assures me, and I bury my face in my hands.

"Look man, I hate to leave you like this, but Marcus just texted me that our parents are coming home from their vacation, and he needs me to clean up from his party." Tuck says, and u can tell that he's genuinely worried about leaving me.

"Just - walk me inside?" I plead, desperation lacing through my voice. Tuck gives me a small smile and nods his head, pulling me up from the ground.

I hated crying.

I hated being weak.

I hated not being able to fight back.

But here I was - all of these things had consumed me, and in front of my best friend and crush, no less.

I take a deep breath as I open the front door, Tuck by my side.

All of the guests that had been here when I got home were gone, nowhere in sight. Lindsey was sitting at the kitchen table, her head in her hands, while Mark was passed out on the couch.

I motion for Tuck that it's ok to leave, and I take a seat across from Lindsey.

"Hey," I say quietly, and she looks up. She looks incredibly worried, but her face brightens the slightest bit at the sight of me.

"Alex, what did Mark do?"