Emberly Emerson world is turned around when she learns her best friend is coming to Beverly. While she is excited about the arrival of her friend being there, others not so much. With these new changes, comes new problems and Emberly has to go throu...
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IT WAS A QUIET NIGHT in Beverly Hills, the kind of stillness that only comes after midnight. Inside the cream-colored walls of her bedroom, Emberly stepped out of the bathroom, freshly showered and dressed in a soft T-shirt and a pair of loose shorts. The faint scent of lavender soap lingered in the air as she walked over to her bed.
She flipped back the covers and slid in, the cool sheets brushing against her legs. Her hand instinctively reached for the textbook on her nightstand, a yellow highlighter sticking out from between the pages. Propping herself up with pillows, she adjusted until she found the perfect spot, then opened the book to where she'd left off.
She didn't need to be studying. Her grades were solid, and she knew the material inside and out. But habits were hard to break, and reviewing gave her peace of mind. If only her insomnia was as easy to handle. Sleep was always elusive on nights like this, and though she didn't mind the quiet solitude, she knew she'd regret it in the morning.
Right as she began to re-read over the last highlighted text her phone had begun to ring from its place on the white wooden nightstand beside her bed. Knowing it could only be one person calling her this late, she moved the textbook off her lap and reached over and pulled her phone off the charger. A small faint smile came to her face, looking at the called ID, seeing the video call come from one of her friends, Spencer.
The stillness was interrupted by the soft buzz of her phone. She glanced at the screen, a small smile tugging at her lips. Spencer. She grabbed the phone off the charger and answered the video call, waiting a second for his face to appear.
"Why aren't you asleep?" she asked, her tone teasing but warm.
Spencer grinned back at her. "Why aren't you asleep? I thought you'd be knocked out by now."
Emberly flipped her camera to show the open textbook beside her before turning it back to herself. "Studying," she said simply, shrugging. "Big test coming up."
On his end, Spencer was lying shirtless against his headboard, the faint glow of streetlights filtering through his curtains. His expression was relaxed, but his tone shifted slightly as he said, "Today was wild."
"Yeah? What happened?" she asked, sitting up straighter.
"Shootout. The usual." Spencer answers.
Her chest tightened. "You're okay, right?"
"I'm fine," Spencer assured her, his voice steady. "Someone else wasn't so lucky, though. They got hit."
Emberly exhaled slowly, her grip tightening on the phone. She shouldn't be surprised—shootings in Crenshaw were all too common—but it didn't make hearing about them any easier.
"Afterward, some coach came up to me," Spencer continued, his tone neutral. "He wanted me to play for him. I said no."
"Why? Did he even say who he coaches for?" she pressed.
