Page 5 of Fixing Emilee

“No, you don’t fucking understand, Vanessa. Do you know how badly you guys fucked things up today? Do you even care that you pushed the sweetest, kindest, and most caring girl I’ve ever met to try to kill herself?” I scream, making Luna turn and give me a worried glance.

“Meet me and let me explain the whole story to you. You only know what she told you, and it’s not the truth. Please?” She begs. She sniffles as if she has been crying. She really should become an actor. I roll my eyes because I don’t believe any emotions she shows.

“Fuck. Fine, meet me at the park near the school.” She sighs. “Vanessa, I’m warning you now, if this is another setup, you will fucking regret it. You saw what I did to Christian, which was me still in control, but I’m at my wit’s end. Just because you’re a fucking girl doesn’t mean you will escape my wrath. All I have to do is make one phone call, and I can find someone who will not think twice before giving you the ass beating you deserve.” I don’t give her time to answer. Hitting the red button, I put my phone back in my pocket.

I head toward the door, not bothering to explain where I’m going because Larry and Luna heard the whole conversation. “Do you think meeting her is the best thing to do tonight?” Luna asks me, walking behind me. “You’ve had an emotional day, and I don’t want you to get hurt anymore.”

“I don’t care about myself. I want to make those two pay for what they did to my butterfly. Since it looks like no one else is going to try to get her the justice she deserves, I guess I have to do it myself. To do that, I need evidence. I have to do something to protect Emilee. I failed her once and won’t make the same mistake again. She’s it for me, Aunt Luna. Don’t you understand that? I will gladly get hurt repeatedly as long as she is safe. I will give my fucking life for her with zero regrets,” I say over my shoulder, slamming the door behind me.

The park I told Vanessa to meet me at is only a five to ten-minute walk, depending on whether you take shortcuts. I try to devise a plan the whole way, but it isn’t until I’m almost there that one forms in my mind. Stopping, I grab my phone and search for the voice memo recorder. Finally finding it, I hit record “testing, testing, testing,” I say out loud, before shutting it off, I play it back. My voice comes through loud and clear. This just might work. Hitting the record button, I gently place it in my hoodie pocket, hoping I don’t hit the screen and turn it off. If I can get Vanessa to admit to anything, this recording will prove it, and she won’t be able to deny it. Rounding the last corner, I see the silhouette of two people in the park. Great, I won’t have to search for Christian afterward, and I can kill two birds with one stone. After we leave this park, there will be no doubt in their minds about my butterfly. I’m going to make it clear that if I catch them so much as looking at her, it will be the last thing they ever do before I bury them six feet under my fucking feet.

Walking up behind them, I watch them jump out of their skin as I say, “You didn’t say anything about dick douche being here.” I laugh at the horror on their faces when they turn around. “What do you want? I have better fucking things to do than stand here with you.”

Vanessa speaks, and I honestly don’t know how I keep from causing her bodily harm. “Is it true what everyone in town is saying? Did she try to kill herself and fail?” She fucking smiles, and all I want to do is wipe it off her smug face.

The rage I’m feeling bleeds into my words. “Isn’t that what you wanted, for her to feel so fucking bad about herself that she ends it all? Isn’t that what you guys have been drilling into her brain?” I growl out. All Vanessa does is roll her eyes. Christian hasn’t looked up from the ground since he spun around and saw me. I notice that he shivers as I question them. I wonder what that’s about, but I don’t trust any emotions he shows either.

As the silence stretches out, I’m about to give up and just walk away when he speaks. “No, we just wanted to embarrass her like she did us.” He looks up, and I swear I see remorse in his eyes.

“Embarrass her?” I laugh. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. You guys tortured her, and you know it. At least have the balls to own up to it. You physically attacked her daily. For shit’s sake, you slapped, hit, and pushed her sometimes, so hard she almost blacked out. Do you know how much damage you could have done to her?” I scream at him, the urge to punch him returns full force. “You told her to kill herself, that no one loved her. You constantly humiliated her by putting stuff in her locker and commenting on her weight. All because of what? She stood up for herself when you were trying to take advantage of her.”

“Dude, you don’t understand everything that happened that night, or what she put us through. She was dragging us down. You know how high school is, Parker. You have to be friends with the right people,” he explains his stupid reason. Vanessa is still standing behind him, looking bored with our conversation.

I roll my eyes at his piss-poor excuse. “I hate to tell you, asshole, but how popular you are in high school doesn’t mean shit to anyone but weak, self-conscious, and insecure people. High school is just a small part of our lives. No one will care if you are popular or a nerd when we graduate.” The look in his eyes says that he doesn’t believe me. It doesn’t look like the way I’m approaching them is working. I need to switch it up.

“Man, she loved you. She did everything she had to so she could be friends with you. She told me she sat with you for hours while you struggled with your sexuality. She always supported you and wanted the best for you. She trusted you with her deepest secrets; you couldn’t care less. As soon asshecame here.” I point to Vanessa as she shoots me a look that says she wants to kill me.

“So fucking what she cared about him. Boo, fucking Hoo. I care about him way more than she ever did. I want the best for him, and all Emilee did was bring him down with her stupid rules and lame-ass family that refuse to live in the modern world. With me by his side, he can rule this school and be someone in this town. Emilee was nothing but dead weight, and we both did the right thing by cutting her off.” The look on her face says she really believes the shit coming out of her mouth. Groaning, I run my hands down my face. God, they are ridiculous.

“It’s obvious that nothing I say will get you to see how wrong you are, Vanessa. What was the point in begging me to meet you here? You want an update on her?” Vanessa shrugs her shoulders. “Here is the only update you will get from me. You didn’t win. Your plan failed. Emilee is alive, and now the truth will come out. She will get help and come back stronger than before because she now has an army behind her. One that includes me, So do me a favor, lose my fucking number and never speak to me again.” I stomp away, more aggravated than before because I shouldn’t be here arguing with them. I should be at the hospital arguing with her.

Turning around, I ask the question burning a hole in my mind. “How did you get the messages, Vanessa? Larry told me the school knows you printed and posted them, but I don’t understand how you got them.”

She just smiles, and I know she will never tell me. “What are you talking about, love? Did you forget? You sent them to me.”

Is she fucking serious? “Are you fucking insane, Vanessa? Seriously, is there something mentally wrong with you that you actually believe I would help you someone I can fucking stand in any way to destroy someone that means the world to me?”

“I warned you both, Parker. You and that fat cow should have listened to me. What part of you are mine and leave her alone did you not understand?” She screams at me.

“What part of I don’t want you don’t you understand, Vanessa? Even if I had never met Emilee, I would never want to be with you. Yes, I almost slept with you the night of the party. I was drunk that night, but as soon as your real personality showed through, I was stone-cold sober and couldn’t stand you. Emilee is the total opposite of you, and I can’t stay away from her. I’m in love with her, and no matter what you do or say, nothing is going to change that. I will get her back and spend the rest of my life making up for my mistakes, but as for you. Well, you never had a shot with me.” I scream back at her, hoping it gets through her thick head. I turn around because I’m done with the whole thing. Before I can take one step away from them, Christian speaks up, stopping me.

“When Vanessa was over at your house Sunday night, she went into your room and through your phone. She saw the messages and sent screenshots of them to herself.”

“Shut the fuck up, Christian,” Vanessa says, getting into his face, but to his credit, he ignores her.

“She made sure to delete the messages from your phone and the screenshots from your picture roll. She then sent them to me, saying we should print them and hand them out. I still have the messages.” Before he has time to react, she smacks him across the face.

For the first time since meeting him, I move to protect him. Stepping in between them, I push Vanessa back with my body. Christian stands up with tears in his eyes and looks like he’s about to leave. Reaching out, I stop him. “She won’t do that again. You are doing the right thing, and she knows that. What about the fake messages? Who made those?”

“I did. I got my mom’s phone and changed her name to yours in my contacts. I sent the messages between the two phones and sent the screenshots to Vanessa.” He says, staring at the ground again.

“For shit’s sake, Christian! Why are you telling him all of this?” Vanessa screams and runs away.

“Thank you, Christian. I really appreciate you telling me. But let me make something clear to you. Just because you told me the truth, does not make up for what you have done. I can’t stand you and will not hesitate to beat your ass a second time. Your terrorizing of Emilee stops tonight. The stunt at school was your last stand. Do you understand me? If I ever see or hear about you looking, talking, or standing near Emilee, I will do more than break your nose. One thing you should know about me is that I’m an easy, fun, nice guy until you fuck with someone I love. When someone does that, they are signing their own death warrant. I will kill over what is mine, and Emilee is mine. Don’t underestimate me. Make sure you pass my message on to your bitchy sidekick,” I growl, leaving no room for him to misunderstand a word I say.

I got the information I needed. Now time to figure out how to get my girl to listen to it. Stopping outside my house, I sit down on the porch steps, not wanting to go back in there just yet. Pulling my phone out, I saw it was recording the whole time. Thank god. I push the stop button and play it back. You can hear everything clearly, which makes me sigh. Finally, I have a way to get Emilee the justice she deserves, and I have a fighting chance of getting her back. I know I should take this win and not push my luck, but I can’t help but message her.

Me: Baby girl, I didn’t give her the messages. I would never do that to you or to us. Your words are precious to me, and I could never share them. The other messages were all fake. I have never played you, I promise. Also, that kiss was staged, she kissed me. I know I should have stood up to her before it got this far, so I apologize. You will never know how sorry I am. I know you told me you were dead to me, but that is far from the truth. Please, baby, listen to these two songs. Please!

---