Trapped

You're safe

"Hey, Michael right?" A tall blonde girl asks him.
"Yes, and you?"
"Ashley," she smiles "have you seen Emma?"
"No, but school just started she's probably running late."
She gave him an awkward look, then nods her head "Nice seeing you."
Yeah I'm sure you enjoyed talking to the new freak.

It was a long Monday. At lunch, he still hadn't seen Emma so he texts her asking where she was.
Emma: home.
Michael: you okay?
Emma:not really...
Michael: are you feeling ill, or something?
Emma: not really.
Michael: wanna talk about it?
Emma: not really.
He sighs then finishes his sandwich and walks for bio.

In class, notes are flying around and even though he would never admit it, he was a bit curious. He even wished he was friends with someone other than Emma. Her absence made him realize how anti-social he is.

His phone buzzes, and while Mr Stuart is busy grading the marks, he checks his phone.
Emma: sorry for being mean.
Emma: come over after school?

It wouldn't be the first time he'd go to her. For the past 10 days, they've been always together. It didn't matter what they were doing; when it was homework, she would help him with math because she was good at it and he sucked at it, or talking about celebrities, or watching new movies together while fighting about who's eating more popcorn, or talking about ex-lovers and heartaches. She hadn't told him much about her ex, only his first name which was Jake, and he hadn't asked but he really wanted to know.
Or being completely stupid and reckless like the other day, they were bored so he got his car keys and they both went to buy junk food and drove around.
"Where should we go?" he asked.
"I don't know." she replied.
"It's your town, come on," he said "think of somewhere you wanted to go, but never went."
"Well, there is this place," she teased him.
"What?" He acted like he didn't care.
"There is this lake, a few miles out of town, nice view and all," she said, raising her eyebrow.
"No, don't tell me you want to swim in the middle of winter in a lake."
"Emma," he said, sincerely.
"Michael," she replied in the same tone. "Come on, it'll be fun. A memory to remember."
"We can go there, but no swimming." he said.
"Who said anything about swimming," she said "truly, the view is enough."
So, they drove there.
When they arrived, they stood close to the lake.
It was a small lake, grass around it and the stars shone beautifully.
Emma was wearing a flowery dress, it was Paige and the flowers were black. Her hair was pulled in a pony tail like always. She was wearing her glasses. And she looked absolutely lovely.
And he knew it.
"So, this Jake," he said clearing his throat.
It's been killing me not knowing.
"Yeah,"she said.
"Tell me about him."
"There isn't anything to tell." Her face hardens.
"Do you still see him?"
"Um, would I still see a guy who used me and almost got me into jail." She said, getting angry.
"What happened?" He asked. Not afraid that she was angry. But interested to know what makes her that angry.
"You can tell me, Emma." she looked into his eyes, as if she was trying to find out if she could trust him. Then she shook her head in a 'what the hell' kind of way.
"It was last year, I met this college guy, 5'8, blue eyes, nice hair," she cleared her throat "he um, fit the bell, you know?"
"The bell," he laughs a bit.
"Yeah," she smiled "he had those kind eyes, I guess it's why I got so involved." she was looking at the lake. "Well, I fell for him and I trusted him, so when we started working on programs and hacking for fun it didn't seem suspicious to me." She said.
He nodded.
She didn't look but it seemed like she knew he nodded. So she went on.
"Anyways, he was an IT major but wasn't as smart as me,"
"Confident much," he joked.
She hit his arm and continued. "So, imagine my surprise when I find out, he was using me to help him build a virus," she said coldly. "A really bad one."
"How did you find out?" He asked.
"Well, one day I woke up from my madness, he didn't care much about me anymore, he only was interested when the computer was with us, he didn't laugh at my jokes, and all those random programs he asked me to help him with made sense," she shook her head "they weren't random. It all finally made sense."
"What kind of virus?" He asked.
"I'd rather not say," she said "but it was bad and people would've gotten hurt because of me," Michael could hear the guilt in her voice and it hurt him. "Because I was in love with a guy, people would've gotten hurt or worse." a tear slips through her eyes.
"It's not your fault, Emma."
"Who's it is then?"
"His."
"I made the program."
"Because he manipulated you."
"And that only happens to dumb people."
"Then you're dumb," he said "but it's not you fault."
"Did you just call me dumb?"
"Yes, a cute one," he said while he looked at her. God she is so beautiful.
"I'm serious,Emma" he was. "Don't feel bad."
"Thank you, Michael." she said "I feel much better."
He smiled at her
"Although, there is one thing that would make me happier."
"Anything I can do?" He asked.
She smiles and moves closer to him. And just in a brief moment he thought she was going to kiss him.
But instead, she pushes him straight into the lake.
She bursts out laughing.
"What the hell!!" He shouts once he balances himself.
She had a look of pride on her face.
She was laughing her head out, until Michael pulled her in the freezing water with him.
Michael pulled her closer to him, and he laughed.
The lake wasn't so deep, it came to Emma's chin and Michael's shoulders.
He put his hands around her waist.
"It's fff-rrreeezing," she said.
Michael pulled her even closer, their nose almost touching.
"You started it dummy."
"Only because you called me dumb."
"I know, dummy," he smiled.
He could've kissed her.
I could've
I should've
I would've
But I didn't