Book Three - Fighting For You

Chapter 10

Hi guys, I hope you enjoy the update. Sorry for the delay. With work and moving house, time to write has been very scarce. Not to mention writer's block. Anyway, enjoy! :)

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“Henry?” Nancy asks in disbelief? “That little dweeb from high school?”

“Shhh.” I hold a finger up to my lips and look around to make sure no one else overhears this conversation. When my gaze falls on Jason I incline my head toward the lounge. I don’t want him hearing this either. He looks at me cautiously but does as is told.

“What do you mean you think he did this?” Nancy asks in a low voice once Jason is out of sight. “Tell me everything.”

I sigh and let my shoulders drop. This is it. Even though my intention was to tell Simon everything first, I end up opening my heart to Nancy instead. I’ll tell Simon later but Nancy is here and I really need to offload. I can’t just sit back and do nothing.

“And you ignored it why?” Nancy asks when I’ve finished talking. She looks peeved, which I don’t expect. I thought she would be understanding and sympathetic. Yes I made a mistake but she’s got to realise why.

“What do you mean?” I ask, looking at her in surprise. “I told you everything. It’s Henry, I figured it was an idle threat. What was the point in raking up the past over it? I thought I could deal with him. I did in the past.”

Throwing her hands up in the air, Nancy runs an agitated hand through her hair. When her fingers catch on some tangles in her curls, she rips them out with force making me cringe. How can she not feel that?

Nancy shakes her head. “There’s nothing wrong with raking up the past, Emily. Especially when it’s your family involved. Jeez you’re the most selfish person I know! If I were you I would have gone straight to Jason and told him everything. Then we would have gone to the police and reported him.”

“But—”

“No buts,” Nancy interrupts me. Her fiery glare sends a shiver down my spine. “Look what happened in school. You thought you could ‘handle it’,” she uses her fingers as quotation marks, “but in the end it was Sam who picked up the pieces. Then in Madrid when you cheated on Sam, once again you thought you could handle it by ignoring it but in the end it was Jason and I who picked up the pieces.”

My eyes sting with unshed tears. This isn’t going as well as I had hoped. I open my mouth to respond but Nancy cuts me off yet again.

“This is so bloody typical of you, Emily. You think you can fix everything yourself. You think ignoring it will make it go away. Don’t you get it? Ignoring it won’t change anything! When will you ever learn? Now Sam is in a coma, he could die and all you’re worried about is your stupid reputation.”

Tears drip down my cheeks and through sobs I say, “Will you just stop? I made a mistake, don’t you think I realise that? Do you have any idea how terrible I feel?”

Her eyes blaze as she says, “Everything is a mistake to you Emily, isn’t it? Was marrying Sam a mistake? What about Lachlan? Was he a mistake? Oh wait, I bet you claim your whole life was one big mistake. How right am I?”

I don’t even think. My hand flies up on its own accord and slaps Nancy across the face. Her head jerks to the left from the impact. Her hand comes up to touch the spot I hit and she slowly turns to look at me, a look of shock crossing her features.

“You bitch,” she growls, glaring at me.

“You have no right—”

“Oh I have every right,” she interrupts. “I’m sick of you stuffing up your life and expecting other people to pick up the pieces.”