Chapter 62 — Guilt

Emily's POV

As I walked out of the last class of the day, I saw Nichole and her minions making their way towards me.

Oh, Joy.

I tried my level best to hide behind my hoodie and walk past them without them knowing, but alas, my luck had some personal grudge against me.

"Listen, you!" she snapped her fingers in front of me and I realized that I had been staring at her for a bit too long now.

"Yes?" I subconsciously took a step back and a sinister smile spread across her face before she took a step forward.

"Where's he?"

"Where's who?"

"My boyfriend, you dumbass," she rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing that I wasn't aware of.

"How would I know?" the words tumbled out of my mouth on their own and I regretted as soon as they left.

"I asked you a question. You don't act smart around me, understood?" she took a step dangerously close to me and I found my heartbeat quicken its pace. I nodded but she didn't seem to buy it.

"Understood?" she glared at me.

"Y-yes."

"Good. Now tell me where is Noah?" she took a step back and I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding.

"I-I don't know," I stuttered and mentally cursed myself for being such a coward.

"You are of no use," she shook her head in a pitiful manner before flipping her hair and walking past me, making sure to throw me out of her way in the process.

I closed my eyes and sighed before regaining my composure and walking in the halls of Westwood High like I was the happiest a person could ever be.

I knew I didn't own Noah and I knew I certainly wasn't supposed to feel this way but I couldn't help but feel a pang of hurt and jealousy whenever she called him her boyfriend.

I had a boyfriend 

I reminded myself of the thing that I had been forgetting way too much lately.

***********

"Come on," Aaron took my hand and dragged me all the way to the parking lot.

"What's up with you and dragging everyone around?" I asked in an annoyed tone.

"By everyone do you mean a certain someone?" Aaron looked over his shoulder and winked in a mischievous way.

"Yeah, me," I rolled my eyes and he chuckled.

I hopped in the car and Aaron closed the door before making his way to the driver's seat and climbing in.

"So how was your day? I didn't have time to talk to you earlier," he smiled at me apologetically and my heart swelled with warmth.

He really did care about me.

"It was okay," I smiled and he nodded before starting the car and drifting off to my place.

I hadn't told Aaron about last night. Not about the nightmares. Not about Noah coming over to my place. Not about I almost begging him to stay with me.

I knew Aaron was my boyfriend and I was supposed to tell him everything that bothered me and I was supposed to call him whenever I felt low but at times like last night, all I could think about was someone entirely else.

Someone I shouldn't be thinking about.

But I couldn't help it. The bond that Noah and I shared was really something else...it was something you couldn't put in words.

I didn't know if Noah felt the same way or not but one thing I knew was that it wasn't supposed to be this way.

It was supposed to be the other way around.

Where I should be calling Aaron for security instead of Noah and where Noah should be the one asking me if everything was alright and me telling him the same old lie that 'yeah everything couldn't be better'.

I couldn't help but feel that I was somehow betraying Aaron. I mean sure I wasn't cheating on him or doing something illegal behind his back but I was lying to him.

And lying in a sincere relationship was worse than cheating.

I couldn't bring myself to be as much open to Aaron I was with Noah and it hurt.

It hurt that I wasn't feeling the same way for him but developing feelings for someone el—

I did not just say that.

My mind was playing ridiculous tricks on me and I was getting more and more annoyed each passing second.

"You okay?" my head jerked up to Aaron who was now staring at me.

"Huh?" I looked around and noticed that we were already outside of my house.

"I said are you fine? You have been staring at the dashboard for almost ten minutes now," Aaron cut the distance between us and held both of my hands in his.

"Yeah, yeah I'm...okay," I shrugged it off but Aaron didn't seem to buy it but he nodded nonetheless, letting the topic slide off.

"How long have we been here?" I asked and scratched my neck keeping my gaze low.

"Almost five minutes," he shrugged and I turned red with embarrassment.

Why did I always zone out?

"I'm sorry I just..." I trailed off and Aaron shook his head smiling at me before cupping my cheek and kissing my forehead lightly.

"It's okay. I was just worried about you," he whispered against my forehead and I nodded feeling an emotion of warmth spreading in my body.

He pulled away after a while and stared at me. His gaze fell to my lips but he quickly recovered and brought his eyes back up to my eyes.

How I wished I could give him what he deserved.

"You should go now," he smiled sadly at me and I couldn't help but feel bad for him. All he did was care and show his affection to me and I in return always showed him my back in response.

I leaned in and planted a soft kiss on Aaron's cheek. First, his body tensed up but then a satisfied smile spread across his lips and he grinned at me.

"I told you that you wouldn't be able to resist my charm for very long," he grinned and I rolled my eyes and playfully smacked his arm, making him chuckle.

"Goodnight," I muttered and climbed out of the car making my way to my doorstep.

I sighed and unlocked the door to enter inside. As I walked past mom's room I peeked inside and was met with total darkness.

Mom wasn't home. That only meant that she was at the bar again.

I knew that it was normal for mom to go to bars every week but tonight I couldn't help but get this awful feeling that something was wrong.

Like something terrible was going to happen.

But I didn't know what it was and if you ask me, I honestly didn't even want to know.

As I came out of the bathroom and jumped on the bed, I sighed in content as my sore muscles relaxed on the comfy bed. I hugged a pillow tightly to my chest and was about to drift off to a deep slumber when my phone started ringing and I opened my eyes and groaned.

I decided to ignore it. Whoever it was could wait till morning.

I snuggled further into the sheets when my phone rang again and I huffed and took it from the bedside and freaked out.

I was getting a call from a number I hadn't seen before in my life and it was past midnight.

I was supposed to freak out.

I gulped down the lump in my throat. I was getting nervous and I didn't even know why.

It was just an ordinary number. Maybe some wrong number, perhaps. 

I assured myself and slid my finger to pick the call up.

"Hello?" I squeaked.

"Miss Emily Woods?" a deep masculine voice said my name from the other side and in that very second, I was certain something was wrong.

So wrong.