Changing the Player

Chapter 32- Epilogue 5

1 year later

I was sitting on the couch waiting for Emory to get home from school. She's usually back by now but she hasn't came in yet. Since she's started the medicine she's gotten a little better but her appetite and mood has changed a lot. She's stopped eating as much and has became happier. She still stays home a lot and hardly ever goes out unless Blake and I are with her. We go to the gym that's in our apartment building weekly and work out. The gym has a floor mat and I have been helping her with gymnastics.

Suddenly the door swings open and slams shut. Emory goes running through the living room and into her room where she slams her door shut. I can hear sobbing coming from her room so I immediately jump up and go in there. She's laying face down on bed and sobbing into her blanket.

"Sweetie what's wrong?" I ask as I rub her back.

"I can't do it anymore!" She chokes out as she sits up a little bit. I see that she has a black eye thats a little swollen. I pull her into my arms as she cries into my shirt.

"What happened? What can't you do?" I ask.

"I can't go back to that school momma. I've tried for the last five years to find a way to like this place. I don't! I can't keep trying. I thought about what it would be like to die again today momma. I don't want to be thinking about it but I can't stop it." She sobs and my heart breaks. I didn't know she wasn't happy here. I thought she was or else we would have went back.

"Oh honey. We thought you loved it here." I tell her as she starts to calm down.

"I get bullied at school everyday. I stay in the bathroom anytime I don't have class. The second I leave the stall, all the girls are right back on me." She says. I had no idea.

"Sweetie you should have told us that. We would have figured something out. Did they do that to your eye?" I asked her and she nodded. "You are not going back there. We need to talk to your dad and we will figure out what to do. We love you and are here for you. You know that right?"

"I do. Thank you momma." She sighs against me. I hear the front door open and then close. It must be Blake coming in from work.

"Blake, come to Emorys room." I yell to him. I hear his footsteps and then he enters the room.

"What happened?" He says and he goes straight to us and wraps his arms around us.

"Emory, can you tell him?" I ask her and she shakes her head. "She's been getting bullied at school. She didn't want to tell us and make us worry. She came home crying and had a black eye."

"How long has this been happening?" Blake asks her.

"Since we moved here." She muttered.

"Baby, I'm so sorry." Blake says and kisses the top of her head. "Me and your mom need to talk, you going to be okay?" She nods her head as he pulls away and looks at me. I give her one last hug before standing up and following him out the door.

"Blake, she said she thought about dying again. She hates it here and has only been trying for us." I tell him with tears in my eyes. "Why didn't we see that?"

"I don't know, I really thought she was getting better. I hate that we didn't know." He says and shakes his head.

"She's not going back to that school. We have to figure something else out." I tell him and he nods.

"What if we move back? You were talking last month about how much you miss it there. Emory would be able to have Colton along with Sara and Mike. I can work at Mikes garage. He's offered me that job since he started the business. You could even go back and help Sara with the boutique." Blake suggests.

"You think she would be up for that? She hasn't talked to Colton since she was 12." I state.

"We could ask her." Blake says with a shrug.

"What about her schooling?" I ask him.

"We can transfer back to the highschool near our house. There's only a month left until summer so it would basically be testing. She already tested here so she wouldn't have to do much." Blake says. She's a junior and was able to take her testing last week to give her the last month of school with a bunch of free periods.

"Lets go talk to her then." I say and he nods. We walk back into her room to see her lying on the bed. "We discussed options and decided that no matter what, you will not be going back to that school. We won't do that to you."

"So what can I do? Homeschool?" She asks being confused.

"Well we was thinking of something else. Would you want to move back to Tennessee? We still own our old house. You would have your huge room with a closet and bath attached." Blake asks her. She stays quiet thinking about it.

"Would I go back to the school there?" She asks and we nod.

"It would only be for the last few weeks of school. We could get Colton to show you around if you want. Since you have already tested it will basically be just free periods to do whatever you want." Blake tells her.

"I know it will be hard to be around all the people there but the school is smaller than the one you're at now and you knew all the kids back in elementary school." I say.

"When would we move?" She asks.

"Few days to a week?" I ask Blake and he nods.

"I'm okay with it. I know you guys have been wanting to move back. I'm just scared to see everyone again." She says.

"Don't do it for us, if you don't want to go back then we won't." Blake tells her. "As for being scared, you have no reason to be."

"Okay, let's do it." She says and we both hug her. We tell her that we are going to call Sara and Mike real quick and leave her room. We go to the kitchen and I dial Sara's number.

"Hey Liv!" Sara greets on the phone.

"Hey. We actually have some news." I tell her. "We are moving back!" I hear her squeal on the other end and yell for Mike.

"That's awesome!" Mike says once he knows whats happening.

"It is. Do you still have an opening?" Blake asks him and Mike chuckles.

"I always have an opening for you." He says. We talk for a while longer about when we would be coming back. It will be within the week since we have to get Emory enrolled into school up there.

The next day Blake goes into his job and quits. Luckily him and his boss were close so he let him go without staying for two weeks. Em and I packed up all of our things and loaded the truck with them. By the time Blake got home, we were all packed up and ready to start the journey back home.

So there's the last chapter guys:(
I'm so sad that this book is over but then I'm happier to think of what's coming next. There will be another full story in Emorys Pov. I hope you all liked this story and the sequel will be out tomorrow!

Edited April 29, 2021