Golden Boy's Game

│08│

WHEN CALEB AND I entered the church, it was obvious that something had gone wrong. My eyes immediately darted over to the corner where Emmett had been standing. There was no sign of him. Worse, there was no sign of Amanda, either.

Eloise was hurrying towards us, her expression somber and tense. I felt myself tense up as she neared us. Caleb squeezed my hand reassuringly.

"Hey," I said breathlessly as she neared us. "What happened? Is everything okay?"

A shadow of relief crossed her face. She reached out to give my other hand a squeeze. "Em, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. I just needed to get out of there," I replied distractedly. "Where's Amanda? Where's Emmett? What happened?"

"Well," Eloise began reluctantly and fiddled with her dress. "I guess... Caleb was right. Emmett just fessed up and left. He really did use Amanda. And about her... she's been in the bathroom for a while."

"Shit." I made a sharp movement to walk towards the bathroom, but she quickly stepped in my way.

"I - I don't think she wants to see you right now, Em."

I felt tears welling up in my eyes. The guilt was making my knees shake ever so slightly. If I'd just realized earlier that Emmett had feelings for me, this wouldn't have happened. If I'd just told Amanda about Emmett possibly using her, this wouldn't have happened. 

Caleb wrapped an around my waist, pulling me closer, almost as if he was trying to share my fear and help me shoulder the burden of carrying it. "Where did Emmett go?"

"Just ran out. Amanda may have... well she slapped him and he just snapped. Dashed out of here. He said he was searching for Emeraude."

"Can I just say that Emmett is the embodiment of bullshit?"

"I agree," Eloise replied smoothly. "That asshole is definitely in for it when he comes back from wherever he ran off to. Anyways, they're starting the ceremony in a few minutes. We should go take our seats."

Caleb didn't say anything in response and simply steered me over to the doors that led from the lobby to the inner chapel. Eloise followed in tow, casting worried glances back at the bathroom.

"I'm going to check up on Amanda," she murmured worriedly. Her expression faltered slightly. "Or not."

I glanced over my shoulder to look at what Eloise was staring at. To my surprise, Amanda was standing outside of the bathroom looking absolutely broken. To say she looked torn apart was an understatement. Her face seemed to be molded into an unhappy frown and her blue eyes were downcast and puffy. Suddenly, she didn't seem as confident and brave as I'd always sought her to be. Instead, she walked towards us as if there was a weight on her shoulders. 

"Amanda - " I began, but she walked past me and straight to Eloise, who threw me an apologetic glance, before leading Amanda inside.

"Give her some time," Caleb suggested softly as he led me inside the chapel behind Eloise and Amanda. "She'll come around."

I bit my lip and forced a nod as we took our seats. There wasn't even a seating arrangement, considering how rushed this wedding was. Taking a deep breath, I surveyed the small crowd of guests. I spotted Amanda making her way over to her parents in the third row. Most of Delia's friends were scattered around in their respective groups. A surprisingly large amount of Ryder's friends were sitting towards the back.

"Em," Caleb whispered as we took a seat in the front pew. "Hey. It'll be okay."

A thought struck me at random. "Look. I know I was really upset earlier and stuff about Delia and Ryder getting married - but it'll be okay, Caleb. I'll pull through. Who knows? They might end up together."