hidden | ethma

forty four

"emma?"

i groan and roll over in bed, my gaze fixing on my closed door. my mother has been knocking on my door for a few minutes now. she's still as persistent as she has always been.

i drag myself out of bed and unlock the door, clenching my jaw at her.

"it's eleven thirty, get up," she says simply. "you're going with your sister to the market to get food for tonight. your grandparents are coming over for dinner."

i cross my arms over my chest. "why would they want to come and have dinner with their daughter and her soon to be ex-husband?"

"that's enough, emma. now get dressed and meet elizabeth in the lobby."

i grimace at her and shut the door. i step into the shower quickly and run the straightener through my hair before changing into a light turquoise blouse and jeans. i grab my phone and emerge from my room.

"elizabeth is waiting in the car," my mother says from the kitchen.

this was a mistake, coming home. a huge mistake.

i slide into the passenger seat of elizabeth's grey car, avoiding her eye contact. she sniffs slightly and pulls away from the curb.

awkward silence descends into the car. elizabeth makes a point not to make eye contact with me and i finally snap.

"you know, i'm not happy about this either," i say and she glares at me. "shouldn't we be in this together?"

she laughs without humor. "in what together?"

"the divorce. we're both unhappy about it, shouldn't we at least have each other?"

"you should have thought about that a year ago," she snaps.

"mom and dad weren't divorcing a year ago," i rebut.

"look, you're the one who fucked up, so don't come crying to me now. i'm only doing in this because mom's been an emotional wreck since they first went to court for the divorce and you've been too busy living in fucking portland to care."

my jaw drops. "i left because of you!" i shout.

elizabeth rolls her eyes. "don't give me that shit. you left because you're a goddamn whore!"

"i didn't do it!"

"oh, please. you know i loved him!"

i bite my lip to keep from crying. elizabeth runs a hand through her hair and pulls into a space at the grocery store.

"let's get this over with," she snaps before getting out of the car.

my chest aches from our fight. we used to be so close, like best friends. what happened to that? oh, right. she thinks i did something i didn't do. how could i forget.

elizabeth's heels click on the sidewalk as we enter the grocery store.

i follow her around, pushing the cart like her entourage as she tosses different items into it. i sigh, wishing i had never got on that plane to california.

"go get a jar of raspberry preserves," elizabeth commands me. "they're in the next aisle over. i'm going to pick out chips."

without another word, she pushes the cart from me and walks off.

alone, i walk into the next aisle. i skim the shelves for raspberry preserves, bringing my bottom lip between my teeth in concentration.

i finally pull a jar of red jam off the shelf, reading the label in my hands. i hear someone walk up next to me and step to the side, briefly looking up to acknowledge the person.

my blood goes cold and i drop the jar of jam onto the floor, glass shattering everywhere.