The next morning, there were lingering touches everywhere. Felix kept hugging Ramsay or ruffling his morning hair, while Emmie simply didn’t step away from him. She would hold onto his hand the whole time, even while eating, and even as they had to change clothes.
She was clingy, she knew that. As did Ramsay. But neither of them minded.
While eating breakfast, Ramsay had given his girl his left hand to hold and was quietly chewing on the best food he’d have in quite some time, while watching Emmie entertain herself by playing with his fingers. She was obviously not hungry, and neither of the men made her eat that morning.
They had the same sick feeling in their stomachs as she did.
In the car, on their way to the school and to the airport, the two teenagers both sat in the back, Ramsay in the middle seat, and Emmie in the left one. The radio wasn’t playing and nobody was saying anything as Felix drove them toward their separate destinations.
E
Emmie took a shaky breath as she walked on the dark yet full streets of New Field, her head constantly turning toward every erupting firework. She was jittery and sweated way too much for the happy environment as she made her way toward the only 24/7 pharmacy open in town.Felix had fallen asleep on the couch even before the clock struck twelve, and Emmie threw a small blanket over him with a tiny smile before slipping on her shoes and grabbing her jacket.She had made her way through the whole town on foot, constantly having to face young couples kissing, and then directing her gaze onto the ground while passing them. She didn’t want to think about Ramsay. She just couldn’t.It had been the worst year of her life. While also, simultaneously, being the best. The girl hadn’t thought anything could be worse than someone selling her to a sadistic human trafficker while someone else tried to kill her boyfriend, which was why she had had to say good
New Field. A small town like so many others. Passing it without noticing would be incredibly easy if only the presence of a diner, Carl’s Diner, didn’t cause all the cars to pull over. The town with so many differences yet a bag full of similarities between the residents. With an excessive amount of coffee shops, exactly six parks (four small, two big), and a huge mall, it didn’t look much strange to anyone. If they had only known... The town’s two sides had been forced into a rivalry from the early generations. The civil war between the two had made the residents hate each other, even now, hundreds of years later. After the North of the town won the fight, it got divided in two: the Northside and the Southside. The development and the manner the citizens acted were greatly influenced by the side they lived on. The Northside was a place with the perfect white picket fence around every two-story family home that had a beautiful garden
Making her way out of the last class of the school year, the blonde girl smiled in joy. It wasn’t that she hated school (she actually enjoyed it) but moving on from the junior year of high school with good SAT scores, a potential boyfriend, and perfect grades, felt amazing.Their lockers would still be theirs the next year, so after smiling at the pictures of her friends in hers, Emmie closed the door and walked out of the school and down the stairs.A hand with perfectly manicured nails was placed on her upper arm a few moments later and the girl smiled, immediately knowing who it was.“V,” she mused.“Em,” Victoria squealed and threw her arms around the blonde’s neck. “I can’t believe we did it.”She chuckled, rolling her eyes and pushing her best friend off of her. “You’re perky today,” she mentioned with a smile on her face.“Well, yeah,” the raven-haired
Reading books was like an escape from the world for Ramsay. He could just lie on his pullout couch, ankles crossed, and get lost in somewhere else, with someone else, as somebody else. There wasn’t anything better than that.“Boy!” his father’s voice called. Ramsay jerked and sat up, pushing the book under his pillow and quickly lighting a cigarette next to him. BT walked into the trailer that exact moment and Ramsay took a deep breath, releasing the smoke afterward.“I told you not to do it in the trailer,” the man grumbled.Ramsay rolled his eyes and stood from the couch, wondering that if he already lit it for a show, he could just as well finish it. Bumping into his dad’s shoulder, he left the trailer, shutting the door behind him with a small thud, and sat on the few steps outside.Releasing another steam of smoke with a growl on his face, Ramsay looked at the homeless dog who was always wandering around the
Her eyes met her mother’s tight smile and while squeezing the fisted hand even harder in her pocket, Emmie placed the box of cereals back onto the counter. The older woman walked over to her youngest daughter and took the cereals, lifting them onto the shelf.“You shouldn’t be eating that,” she told her.“I don’t have time to make eggs and cut tomatoes right now, mom,” Emmie murmured, stomach growling.“Well, that is your own fault.”Emmie gulped quietly and gave her a nod before opening the fridge. She grabbed a yogurt that had absolutely no taste and opened the small cup, placing some chia seeds on it and looking at her mother for approval.The woman smiled warmly this time and nodded, kissing the girl’s head before walking out of the kitchen. Emmie sighed and blinking back her tears, consumed the yogurt rapidly, wishing to vomit.She had always been in love with food. Any food, f
Ramsay woke at two male voices shouting at each other somewhere in the distance. He blinked his eyes open, glaring at the dirty ceiling above him, and with a groan sat up on the pull-out couch. Understanding the voices were coming from the trailer park, outside somewhere, he stood tiredly and tugged sweatpants over his boxers, leaving them to loosely rest over his hips as he tiredly made his way to the front door. It was unlocked, signifying his father was gone already. Ramsay hoped it was for work and not to go to the Nest with other Vipers. With his eyes adjusting to the bright light outside, he thanked the Lord for school holidays and blinked twice more before his pupils focused on the two men screaming at one another, both wearing leather, about to knock each other’s heads open. “Jones,” Ani murmured, suddenly appearing next to his doorstep. “Do something before they kill each other.” And just like that, she walked back to her trailer where her grandfathe
It wasn’t until a bit more than a week later that she noticed him watching her. The Monday started like every other day she was working; cleaning up a bit, getting her trays of desserts baking, and serving the old couple that was always awake the earliest, and usually her first customers of the day. But then, as the clock ticked and the sun started moving from the center of the sky to back down again, Jones made his entrance into the diner, as almost every day. He nodded at her in greeting, Emmie smiling back, and then took a seat in his regular booth; one a bit away from the public eye, but still clearly seeable from her position behind the counter. She served him, almost digging up the courage to ask for his name—the real one, not the family name—but then failing when his eyes moved to his regular cup of coffee, away from her. Emmie told him to call her if anything more was needed, and he nodded, as usual, letting her return to her job. The diner wasn’t bus
Ramsay watched the blonde exiting the bathroom, and frowned to himself, seeing the way her nose and cheeks were pinkish, eyes glinting red in the light. She didn’t pay any attention to him or the other customers as she made her way back to the counter. Jessy briefly touched her shoulder, and Emmie managed a small smile for her before visibly sniffling and going back to work. The boy didn’t have much time left till his shift in the bar on the Southside, and as Ani had left while the girl was in the bathroom, he tried to stop himself from falling into conclusions or deep into his thoughts. Emmie’s mother had basically told her she was fat. And not only was that untrue, but it was also mean and stupid. Especially as a mother. The problem was that Ramsay wasn’t sure if it was the first time, or it had happened before. Maybe Emmie was just sensitive and that’s why she had cried? Or maybe, it happened often. He didn’t know. But he did know his shif