Lion Den

Part 6

When Andrei kissed her goodbye, just a small peck on the tip of her nose, Emma finally felt like things were looking up for her. She wasn't afraid of anything anymore. She texted Marisol.

Hey, why haven't you been returning my calls?

Emma wasn't expecting a reply, but she got one.

Marisol

Sorry, been busy with work and school.

Her best friend was being very distant, and Emma was hurt.

We need to talk about this.

Marisol

Nothing to talk about. Gotta go. See you tomorrow.

I miss you

Emma didn't get a reply. She was extremely worried that her friendship was ruined forever, and she didn't know how to cope. Marisol and Emma had been friends since elementary school. She didn't know how not to be friends with her. But apparently, Marisol knew.

Emma finished up her English essay just before 11 pm. She knew that it wasn't her best work, but she didn't care. At least it was done.She'd barely touched her math homework, doing only about half the problems before she finally gave up. She doubted it would be too much of an issue. She wasn't planning on being a mathematician.

When Emma woke up to her soul-shattering alarm, still on her desk with her head on her math book, she realized that it was the first night in a long time that she slept completely through. No nightmares, no waking up in the middle of the night. She felt well rested and very energized, even though her neck was hurting from the awkward sleeping position.

She smiled as she quickly donned a pair of jeans and a pink tank top. She couldn't wait to see Marisol. She was also excited to see Jewel later in the day, but she had to focus on one problem at a time. Restoring her friendship was more important than her burgeoning relationship.

When Emma pulled up to Marisol's house early and honked the horn, she saw the curtain in her friend's window twitch slightly. When she got in, Emma handed her a cup of coffee that she'd hurriedly made and poured into a giant thermos. Marisol gratefully took the drink,and Emma smiled. She hoped that the two could just pretend that everything was normal, that the kiss had never happened.

"Hey, thanks for the lift. I hate riding the bus." Marisol made a face between disgust and envy. Emma didn't have much, but she had her dad's old car. She meticulously cared for it, remembering how well he had treated the vehicle.

"Yeah, why don't we just forget that this past week has happened?" Marisol smiled.

"I'd like that." Emma smiled too. That was easy, she thought. She was sure it would've been harder to convince Marisol to be friends with her again, but she trusted her.

"What've you been up to?" Emma carefully asked the question, hoping that her chatterbox friend would prattle on about this or that. Marisol was up to date with the best information from the rumor mill. In fact, by the time they pulled up to the school, she was in the middle of a story.

"Anyway, Jenny is pregnant with Seth's baby but she told Randall that he was the father. Rumor has it that they double teamed her after the track meet." Emma frowned.

"Wait, but then how is she so sure which one is the father?" Marisol stared at Emma for three seconds before simply saying,

"Good point". In reality, Emma didn't give a fuck about any gossip around the school. She sure as hell hoped that no one was still talking about her recent breakup with Tony and his broken jaw. She was sure that he was telling everyone that she cheated on him with a gangster.