Emma was alone in her apartment, looking at pictures on Instagram. As she scrolled down the pictures, she saw a new picture Mila uploaded a few hours ago. It was a picture of her with the guy she saw him with a couple of times before. The guy had his arm around her neck and he was kissing her cheek while Mila had a wide smile on her face; it was a genuine smile Emma could recognize from a thousand miles away. She liked the picture and set her phone beside her on the couch. She was thankful that Mila did not block her on social media; she needed to check on her from time to time even if the only available way was checking her social media accounts.
Emma was happy for her best friend, she was more than happy for her. Yes, she still considered Mila her best friend. The guy, who she learnt his name was Blake, was Mila's first boyfriend and she was hoping he was treating her right. She could not help but think, what if he was just like Cole? Cole was all nice and loving, but it tu
Halloween came rather quickly, it was as if the semester was flying by. Too many things happened in the span of a month and a half. Mila, Blake, Julie, Leila, and Hannah were all going to the same party. It was a party thrown at one of Blake's friends’ house. Ashton, Blake's friend, had a thing for Leila and he wanted to get to know her more, so he asked Blake to suggest going to his party in front of the girls, and luckily, they agreed. However, only Mila knew about Ashton's crush over Leila and knew about the reason behind the suggestion."Are you going to match with Blake?" Hannah asked Mila, who was putting on make-up. Mila was extremely excited about her first Halloween party with Blake."Yes! I am, as you can see, Daisy and he is going to be Mr. Gatsby." Mila sounded ecstatic as she spoke. This was all new to her. She was not used to having a boyfriend, going on dates, having somebody to pamper her, and all of those beautiful things."He makes you ha
Emma stared at her reflection in the mirror, her eyes brimmed with tears and her fingers traced the fingerprints on her neck. It’s been two days and they did not fade, they were getting darker. She took a thin scarf and wrapped it around her neck to hide the marks Cole left on her. She made sure that her long sleeves were long enough to cover the bruises on her arms. Emma mastered the art of covering her bruises on her face with make-up. She was dead from the inside and looked lifeless on the outside. How did Cole manage to turn her into somebody she never thought she would be? How did he manage to suck life out of her? How did she allow him to have control over her in that way? Emma looked away and moved to her bed, taking her backpack then left her room. She walked to the living room and went to the kitchen to make herself something to eat and to drink her coffee. She was about to make herself some French toast, but she quickly put everything back in the fridge, rememberin
I was at the college library trying to finish the assignment that was due next week, but I could not write anything down, I could not think straight. My mind was drifting to different places and by different places, I meant horrendous thoughts and scenarios. I kept thinking about Emma. I was worried about her, she did not look good at all. There was something bad going on in her life and she refused to talk about it with anyone, especially with me. Why did she feel the need to keep me out of her life? She was being abused, I was sure of that. I had a feeling she wasn’t attacked, but I had no proof. I knew I told her that I would not be there for her again after what she had done to me, but that was all some angry talk. I would never forgive myself if she got hurt and I knew that she needed me at that time, yet I was not there to help her. Nobody knew her like I did and during our whole friendship, I have not seen her that broken before, I have never seen her looking that dull
"Wh-when... when you said you'd hurt Mila if I talked to her again, what did you have in mind for her?" Emma stuttered a little as she talked. She had trouble talking whenever she was near Cole."Let's see... if I ever saw you talking to her, I could easily get my friends to bully her, hit her, have some fun with her, or even better, I can do all of that myself." He smirked, making her gulp in fear."What do y-you me-mean by have s-some fun with h-her?" She already knew the answer, but she wanted to make sure that she knew how evil he was."I mean we can easily touch her inappropriately, or even better, take it to another level," he said, shrugging as if it was nothing. Emma's eyes went wide and she quickly looked away, understanding his dirty intentions."I'll stay away from her... you don't need to do any of that," she stammered, having some trouble breathing.Emma was with Cole on campus, she was with him, Ariana, and his two best pals, Justin a
When Emma heard Hannah's voice, she got more nervous than she already was. It took her a lot of time to build up her courage to visit Mila after the phone call with Julie. Emma looked down for a moment then looked back up at the two girls. If looks could kill, Hannah's glare could have killed Emma. "I... I want to s-see her," Emma mumbled, her heart beating fast. She did not dare to look at Julie, how could she possibly face her after what Cole forced her to do? "Never in a million years," Hannah said with a stern voice. "You don't h-have the right t-to do that!" Emma exclaimed in a quiet voice. "Actually I do, do I need to remind you of what you said on the phone?" Hannah raised her eyebrows at Emma and folded her arms. Emma went silent and did not know what to say. She wished her life could have been easier in any way. "Please, let m-me see her," Emma pleaded. "Are you here to show off your money or something? What? Do you think you
"Mum, I swear I'm all good, nothing is wrong with me," Mila assured her mum, Jennifer, for the millionth time. She was sitting on the chair beside Mila's bed. Mila resembled her mum a lot, they shared the same eye colour, the same type of hair, but Mila was more tanned than her mum."You look like you've lost weight, actually you two look like you’ve lost weight," Jennifer said, pointing at Mila and Emma. She has always been protective over the two of them."My weight is the same, but I agree with you, Emma did really lose weight," Mila told her mum, noticing how Emma looked skinnier. Everybody saw that but Emma."I'm all g-good, don't w-worry." Emma smiled at Jennifer. Jennifer noticed Emma's stutter when she first saw her and talked to her. Emma looked lost when Jennifer asked her about it, but Mila quickly stepped in and told her that it was due to stress and it was only temporary."I'm kind of worried about Blake," Mila said in a humorous way. H
The next morning, Mila woke up and found Blake already in the room and Emma was nowhere to be seen. She kept looking around, making sure that Emma was not in the room. To be honest, she was disappointed when she found her gone, but she tried to conceal that feeling."Good morning," she mumbled in a croaked voice. He looked at her when he heard her voice and instantly smiled."Good morning, baby girl," he said and pecked her lips.Mila scrunched her nose when he kissed her lips. "My morning breath is horrible." She giggled. "Can you help me get to the bathroom?"He nodded and carefully removed the hospital blanket then helped her stand up. It took her a couple of seconds to get adjusted to the pain then slowly walked to the bathroom with Blake's help."You can go home today," Blake informed Mila."Good, I hate hospitals," she said as she stood by the sink to wash her face and brush her teeth. "I think you need to get out now." she laughed a l
I did not know how long I had been in the closet, I did not have a watch, a mobile phone, or anything. I was hot, tired, thirsty, and hungry. I wanted to get out so bad, but Cole locked me inside and I did not know how to get out. I hated dark and closed places and now I was being kept in a small dark area. I felt like I was being suffocated, out of breath, and about to die.Other than what I have done to Mila, I was clueless about what I did wrong in my life to deserve all of that. Was karma serving me what I deserved for what I had done to Mila? I could not find any logical explanation for all that I went through in my life but that.I was dead, emotionally dead. I was just a walking body on this Earth, a walking body that only got abused and belittled every single day. I missed feeling safe, I missed feeling happy, I missed my old life. I ruined everything with my own hands, I pushed away true friends and chose snakes over them. I had the opportunity to be friends w