by Hart, Rebel
“What!?” I bark, but I know he can barely hear me over the echoing crash of pins.
He calmly strolls back to the table as if he didn’t just drop a huge bomb. “Your turn,” he states.
“What is wrong with you? Do you think I’m stupid?” I seethe, not moving from my seat. “You just casually announce that you talked to Theo and then act as if it’s not a big deal? You think we just talk about other things now?” He recoils from my ranting, leaning across his knees to stare at the floor. “Talked to him how!?” I continue. “Phone? In person?”
“Phone,” he replies. “For now.”
I’m too afraid and enraged to keep doing this dance with him. As my anger boils, I fly up from the table towards the door. I can’t just sit there and try to coax the details out of him. I’m not sure I want to hear them at all, much less beg to know what it was all about. I just wish they hadn’t spoken at all, especially not behind my back. The last secret meeting they had resulted in me being taken hostage before Theo shot Emmett’s father to death.
“Ophelia! Wait!” I faintly hear Emmett calling after me as I storm out of the building. I’m halfway across the parking lot by the time he catches up to me, pulling my arm to stop me.
“I’m not playing around, Emmett,” I snap as I whip around to face him. “Either you tell me what you two talked about right now or I’m running home.”
“I’m sorry,” he answers quickly. “I did a horrible job at bringing that up, I know.”
“There is no right way to bring it up! Because you shouldn’t be talking to him at all!” I scream. “Spit it out. What did he want?”
His mouth opens, but nothing comes out at first. “Well…he…actually…he,” he stammers slowly, making me impatient. I spin on my heels to get away from him again. “Okay, okay,” he darts after me, gripping my arm. “He offered me a job.”
My brain freezes with confusion. A job? What kind of job does Theo have to offer anyone, much less my boyfriend who hasn’t even graduated high school yet?
“What?” my face scrunches up. “What the hell do you mean!? A job?”
“I don’t know much about it yet,” he explains. “That’s why he called. To set up a meeting about it.”
My nostrils flare as I glare back in silent anger. I try to speak, but my jaw is locked up. “Yet?” I growl finally through clenched teeth.
“Huh?”
“Yet,” I hiss. “You said you don’t know much about it yet.” He blinks at me with a blank expression. “Implying you actually plan on meeting with him to find out more!?” I let out a shrill groan of exasperation, turning away again. I can’t stand to look at him right now. I’m so angry I’m starting to shake.
“Hey, I didn’t say that,” he defends. “Look, I couldn’t keep it a secret from you. But talking about it makes me nervous, so everything’s coming out wrong.”
I stand in the cold night air with my arms crossed, shaking my head as I stare off at nothing in the distance. I came to know Emmett as a master manipulator. It’s not even his fault. It’s just how he was raised to be. Even after everything that’s happened, I can’t imagine that trait just disappearing overnight. It’s hard not to feel like every word he says and action he takes isn’t carefully calculated with every possible outcome considered.
“All I know is that he wants to start his own company,” he continues. “A new car manufacturing company, but with more energy-efficient models to compete with Jameson. Obviously, I have the qualifications since my entire upbringing was devoted to preparing me for running Jameson Automobiles.”
“Ha, of course,” I scoff, as my throat tightens. “How convenient. He weasels his way back into Jameson and our lives and suddenly he has a passion for cars and the environment?” He shrugs cluelessly as I glare at him. “Get fucking real, Emmett. All Theo cares about is competing with the Hendersons and the new Elites. I knew getting rid of Thomas wouldn’t be enough for him. He’s the greediest person I’ve ever met. He’s not going to stop.”
“I don’t know,” he answers nonchalantly. “Does it really matter what his motives are? All I have going for me is what my dad taught me about running the company. But with none of the actual work experience for it to matter to another car manufacturer. Whatever Theo wants out of it, it’d be the start of a career for me…”
His defense knocks out what little bit of wind I have left in my chest. “Wait…so you are actually considering this!? What the fuck…” I let out a shaky exhale and start to pace in the dark parking lot.
“I don’t know! I didn’t say that! I…I just don’t know.”
“What about everything we planned!?” I cry out. “All we’ve talked about the past month is getting the hell out of Jameson. Now not only are you actually considering getting a job here, but you also want to work for my father!? What was the point of everything we’ve been through!? You scheming to have your monster of a father taken out of the picture…hoping you could run a legitimate company with some sense of ethics and morals. I know everything changed when your mom took everything and cut you off, but it was supposed to be a fresh start! Now you’re just going right back to...to...”
“Taking my father out wasn’t just about gaining control over Jameson Automobiles,” he defends with that familiar haunted and wounded look in his eyes. “It was much more than that and you know it.”
A streak of guilt cuts through my rage. I firmly believe there’s little to no difference between Theo and Thomas, but I didn’t have to grow up with Theo. A fact that has probably left me better off. Emmett has suffered horrible abuse at the hands of his father. Killing him wasn’t about money or power. It was about survival and getting rid of a sick and twisted man who did nothing but cause harm to others.
“I know, I’m sorry,” I offer. “But that’s just it. Why put yourself into Theo’s hands? And right back in the same situation you had to go through so much to get out of?”
“Hey, come here,” he demands, intercepting my manic pace to wrap his arms around me. “It’s okay. I’m not really considering working for him, okay? Like I said…I had to tell you, and it felt like there was just no good way to go about it.”
I give into his embrace, still reeling with fear no matter what he says. My chest and arms tremble against him, and I can’t tell if it’s from the cold or lingering anger.
“No matter what happens…I just can’t stand to see you slip back into that life,” I explain gently. “Too much has happened for you to end up working in Jameson with a corrupt company the rest of your life.”
I want him to agree and reassure me, but instead he’s silent as he strokes my hair. I know that look on his face. It’s the same one that everyone’s been giving me lately, especially my mom and stepdad. The look that implies I’m holding too much of a grudge against Theo. But I can understand it from them. They don’t know him like I do. Emmett does though, which is exactly why he should be more adamant about refusing his proposal.
“Let’s get back inside,” he coaxes, nudging me towards the door. “Wherever we move to is sure to have a bowling alley and I want to show up looking like a seasoned pro.”
Referencing our planned move out of here should comfort me, but it feels half-hearted. I can see Emmett’s wheels turning and I’m terrified about just how seriously he’s considering this meeting with Theo. The thought twists in my gut, leaving me nauseous by the time I lay down for bed later that night.
This new bit of information put a dark cloud over the whole evening, prompting me to refuse Emmett’s invitation to his place after the bowling alley. Once again, something has killed our sex drive. I toss and turn on my pillow and get mad all over again. How could he say there was no good way to tell me about Theo’s proposition?
Your dad actually thought I would consider a job offer from him. Can you believe it!? Isn’t that absurd!? Unthinkable!? Completely out of the question!?
Followed by dismissive laughter and then a change in subject because the idea is too ludicrous
to even waste our breath on. That would have been a great way to bring it up. The fact that Emmett can’t see that only worries me more.
Believing that men like Theo and Thomas are the same...is that why it’s so hard for him to see my dad for what he really is? Is that why working for him seems like a logical option? Some of my biggest fears about Emmett come bubbling up to the surface once again. Is he a lost cause? Maybe being raised by that monster left him too damaged and fucked-up to ever really be able to live the kind of life we’ve been dreaming about.
Unable to sleep, Marissa’s diary calls to me once again. I roll over to my nightstand drawer as I flip the lamp switch.
Dear Diary,
As mortified as I was about this whole arrangement with the Jamesons, now I feel like the luckiest girl in the world. My parents were going to dictate who I married regardless. If it had to happen, I can’t believe I ended up liking the guy they picked for me. More than like. I think I am falling in love with him.
We spent the day with our parents going to lunch and then a show. But Thomas was so smooth and charming, he convinced them to let us sneak away afterward. We walked through the park hand in hand while he talked about all of his big plans for Jameson Automobiles. It was all so fascinating and Thomas knows when he takes over, he will do an even better job with it than his father.
His ideas are interesting, but his dreams for life are even better. The Jameson Manor is stunning and impressive, and Thomas talks about how he imagines raising a family there. Such a big beautiful house with all the finest foods and clothes. Not to mention vacations around the world. I always thought that the kind of life my parents envisioned for me would dull, but something about picturing it with Thomas by my side makes it incredible. Suddenly, I want it more than anything.
Just before we turned around to walk back home, Thomas pulled me off under some trees. He passionately pinned me to one of the trunks and kissed me. I have never felt anything like it. I melted into him completely and would have done absolutely anything he asked. I would have given myself over to him right then and there. But like a true gentleman, he pulled away and walked me home.
I can still taste him on my lips and smell the faintest trace of his scent lingering around my neck. It’s intoxicating. After our first couple of dates, I couldn’t stop daydreaming about prom. But now prom seems like a footnote. Now I spend all day fantasizing about being Mrs. Thomas Jameson. I’ve practically planned our whole wedding already and have even started picking out baby names.
Can I really be this lucky? Will this really be my life?
- Marissa
13
Chapter Thirteen
I race into my house with my hands full of mail, flinging my backpack to the corner of the room as I begin frantically shuffling through the envelopes. I’ve been watching the mailbox like a guard dog on high alert for the past week, knowing that acceptance letters and scholarship offers would soon arrive. They have finally started trickling in day by day.
I flip through each piece of mail, tossing bills and other things for my mom and Brendan onto our table by the front door. Once I have weeded out a total of five letters from colleges addressed to me, I run up the stairs to my room and lock the door.
I sit on the edge of the bed with my hands shaking as I run my thumbs across the envelopes, feeling the current of excitement surging through my veins. It’s possible that none of them have accepted me at all, much less extended a scholarship offer. But Coach Granger and even his new assistant, Jada, have assured me that’s unlikely.
Unable to stand it anymore, I start tearing into the first one at random. The first one I open is from the campus a couple of hours from here. The one where Theo had to rush in and save my ass with a copy of my birth certificate at the interview. It’s Coach Granger’s top pick, but it’s not as far away from Jameson as I would prefer. And it’s definitely too close to Theo.
The thought of distance makes me stop. I suddenly have an idea. I line the envelopes up across the bed, arranging them according to how far away from Jameson they are. I imagine them being like a map. A line across the country, each acceptance a pin signifying just how far away I can get.
I finish opening the first one with the nearest campus. Accepted. Full ride track scholarship. I pound my feet on the carpet in a little dance and squeal as I read the words. Placing it back down on the bed, I think: Okay. There it is. I know I can get at least two hours out of Jameson.
The next school in line is several states away down south and is the most prestigious institution I’ve applied to. I rip the envelope open and see another acceptance. I dance and squeal again, but quickly notice the letter doesn’t include any mention of a scholarship. It doesn’t mean one could not come later, but for now that pretty much rules it out. That’s okay. At least I know I got in, I think as I place the envelope back in line.
I reach for the next envelope, my heart already swelling with pride and accomplishment. This one is several more states away and even further down south. I read over the letter, now too impatient to take in each word as carefully as I did with the first two. Once again, accepted. Partial track scholarship. And this one is nearly 800 miles away.
The next letter offers another acceptance and scholarship, and it’s over 1,000 miles away. A full twenty-four hour’s drive. Then I come to the final envelope. The furthest campus all the way in Southern California. 3,000 miles from Jameson. My hands still shake as I rip it open, knowing it is my top pick, no matter how impractical it may be for me to dream of moving to the other side of the country.
But the moment I see the words of acceptance followed by yet another full-ride scholarship offer, something in my heart swells in a way it didn’t with the others. Almost as if I intuitively know this is the one I will choose even before I’ve had time to seriously consider it. The track team has an outstanding record, and like the school that’s two hours away, it has turned out a handful of Olympians. The campus and area around it are beautiful from what I’ve seen in photos. Beyond school, I can imagine weekend trips to the beach or trail running in the mountains. Shopping in the city and maybe even a local coaching gig when my own running career is no longer my main focus in life.
I sit on the edge of the bed and look at the line of envelopes leading away from me. Away from Jameson. A tinge of sadness hits me as Lily’s face flashes before my eyes. I can remember sitting across from her in her family’s restaurant sipping on cocktails. We talked about this very thing. We counted down the days to our escape from Jameson, but now it seems like she may never make it out of here.
First, the Elites destroyed her chances at getting in anywhere. Emmett eventually fixed that, but her obsession with him landed her in the looney bin. She may have done terrible things, but I still wish she could have had the chance to know what I am feeling right now. Without Jameson, she may have been able to move on and live a normal life. Vivian sure seems to have found that.
I let out a big sigh, suddenly feeling anxious about the threat of the Elites. Why haven’t they ruined my chances of getting into college like the old Elites did with Lily? Maybe Bridgett was right and ultimately, they have bigger things to worry about. Or maybe they still see Theo as a threat and want me out of Jameson just as bad as I do.
“Ophelia?” my mom calls out from behind my bedroom door with a light tap.
“Come in!” I answer, scrambling to collect the line of letters. My eyes start to tear up as I prepare myself to tell her all the good news.
“Hey sweetie, you left your backpack in the middle of the floor,” she scolds as she comes in and hangs it on my closet door. She turns back to me with a look of disappointment, but she perks up when she sees me standing there with watery eyes. “What do you have there?” She points to the papers in my hands.
“Acceptance letters,” I reply, my voice cracking with happy tears.
Her eyes grow wide and also start to well up, but she quickly snaps out of it and rushes over to give me a big hug. “Accep
tances!?” she beams. “Where did you get in!?”
We plop down on my bed as I hand them all over, letting her inspect them for herself. “Everywhere so far,” I tell her with a deep and shaky exhale. “With scholarship offers at almost all of them.”
She skims over each one, shaking her head with overwhelming emotion. “This is amazing,” she murmurs as she reads. “Ophelia, I am so, so proud of you.” She sweeps her arms around me again, squeezing tight. “We have to celebrate! Dinner anywhere you want tonight. You pick the restaurant. Brendan can join us when he gets off work and you can invite Emmett.”
“Uh, let’s just keep it down to you, me, and Brendan,” I suggest, awkwardly rubbing my arms. “We hardly ever have time with just the three of us anymore.”
She looks down at the letters more thoughtfully. “I guess you’ll be leaving us soon,” she says sadly, trying to hide her dismay with a smile. “We should get in as much quality time as we can.”
I lunge forward to hug her again. “Don’t worry,” I assure her. “We will.”
“So…which one do you think you’ll pick?” she asks, wiping her eyes. “Or do you know yet?”
“I don’t know yet,” I shake my head with wide eyes, still stuck in some disbelief.
“Whichever one you choose, we’ll find a way to make it work,” she insists. I know she’s thinking back on our conversation about accepting Theo’s financial help, but I’m not ready to broach that topic again.
“Well…I do have a favorite,” I explain hesitantly. “I haven’t made up my mind, but there is one in particular…”
“Which one!?” she asks excitedly. I pull out one of the envelopes from her hand and hold it up as if I’m too afraid or nervous to say it out loud. “It’s in Southern California,” she whispers to herself. “That’s so far away!” The sadness in her eyes shows through again, followed by a panicked look. But she’s quick to swallow it all down for my sake. “Tell me about it. Why is it your top pick?”
