Journal of the Undead (Book 1): Littleville Uprising (16 page)

“Evan, is Emma okay? She was driving a bit recklessly, don’t you think?” Kate’s voice was thick with concern.

Evan shrugged. He wasn’t about to admit that he’d chased Emma away out of spite. His mom would have been horrified if she’d heard the lies Evan told. Lucy’s eyes welled with tears as she and Kate went back into the house. Overwhelmed with anger and guilt, Evan punched the hood of his car.

“Wow! That could not have gone any worse,” Rachael observed as she exited the garage.

“Yeah, thanks Captain Obvious.”

“Just what did you hope to accomplish? I mean, all night you were whining about how much you miss her and how much you love her. Emma this and Emma that. Then, when you finally have her here without ‘Mr. Roid Rage’ to get in your way, you treat her like dirt. My God, no wonder she wants nothing to do with you. To tell you the truth
,
I feel bad for her. Not to mention your mom’s gonna flip when she finds out that you told Emma she wasn’t welcome here anymore. And you broke Lucy’s heart on her birthday.”

Rachael noticed a bow that had fallen off of one of Lucy’s gifts. Picking it up, she tossed it to Evan.

“You might as well have stuck this on the top of Emma’s head because you’ve practically gift wrapped her for Super Jock.”

“Okay, Miss-know-it-all, what do I do now?”

“Go after her, you idiot! Come on, I’ll drive. You look like you’re about to fall over.”

***

Rachael raced toward the Wexley home, hoping to help her hot-headed cousin get his life back together. They could see Emma’s car weaving all over the before finally reaching her destination. Both Evan and Rachael cringed when she sideswiped the mailbox pulling into her driveway.

Emma could barely see the road through her tears. After clipping the mailbox, she put her head down on the steering wheel and sobbed. By the time Evan and Rachael caught up to her, she was falling into Jake’s waiting arms.

Taking pity on her cousin, Rachael stopped herself from saying,
I told you so
. Instead, they waited until ‘Super-jock’ and Emma left before knocking on the door. Evan hated to admit it but the beating he’d taken had left him stiff and sore; he needed Matt’s help to set up for Lucy’s party.

Matt was outraged when he learned what had happened the night before. He decided it was time to have a talk with Emma and ask her how she could not see that her new boyfriend was a colossal jerk
.

While Evan was busy greeting relatives, Rachael took the opportunity to divulge a few other tidbits in confidence. Only after Matt swore not to breathe a word did she reveal Evan’s true heartache over everything that had happened.

“C’mon, everyone, it’s time for Lucy to blow out her candles,” Kate called out cheerfully to them just as Rachael finished her tale. Evan was certain that as Lucy closed her eyes to make a wish she was wishing for their dad to come home soon.

Matt stayed to help clean up after the party and, as an added bonus, got to spend more time with Rachael. Her personality reminded him of Emma … the old Emma, before Jillian dug her claws in and messed everything up. Just then, Matt realized how much he missed his twin. Inadvertently, he changed the subject and the topic of conversation moved to Emma. The general grumbling about her lousy choice in a boyfriend was unanimous. Hoping to cheer her brooding cousin, Rachael suggested inviting Emma to join them.

“She had a cheer competition,” Matt replied and Evan rolled his eyes. “After that, I think she was going to Tyler’s party.”

“Wait! That’s tonight? Matt, you should probably get over there. Jake said something last night about the party. It was something about how he was tired of putting up with our crap and instead of putting up, Emma was gonna put out.” Evan grimaced and added, “apparently he thinks he’s witty.”

Matt didn’t have to be told twice. He already knew about Jake’s reputation so naturally he was worried about Emma’s. By the time Matt got there, the party was in full swing. Playing bartender, Tyler poured a cup full of beer and offered it to Matt. He waved it off and went in search of Emma. He found her and her new gal pals laughing and dancing around the kitchen. When the song ended the girls collapsed on each other and reached for their drinks.

“Don’t even think about it!” Matt bellowed. “I swear to God, Emma, if you take one more sip, I’m telling Dad!”

Emma glared at her brother with contempt and disgust. “You hypocrite! I totally bailed you out after Brittany’s party and this is how you repay me? Not that it’s any of your business, but this,” Emma sneered, pointing to her cup, “is Diet Coke and I can drink as much of it as I want.”

“And this is why you don’t date underclassmen,” Jake slurred to his buddies. “Little kids have babysitters.”

“It’s better than needing an A.A. sponsor, you drunk bastard,” Matt shot back angrily. “And you’re gonna need a probation officer if you even think about giving my sister alcohol.”

“Fine, take her home then. Seriously, if it’s not you then it’s Stone, and I’m sick of it!”

Panicking, Emma tried to smooth things over. She needed Jake to stay with her, at least a little longer. The whole Evan fiasco was still fresh in everyone’s mind so the last thing she needed was more drama. Jake had downed most of his bottle and it was not improving his mood.

Emma smiled sweetly, sidled up to Jake, and whispered in his ear, “I don’t have to drink for us to have a good time.”

She’d finally managed to capture Jake’s limited attention.

“She’s hopeless,” Matt muttered as he stormed off, leaving Emma to suffer the consequences.

***

Matt had been pacing the floor waiting for Emma to get in. Finally at two minutes past curfew, Matt stormed upstairs and woke their father.

“Dad, did Emma get permission to stay out past curfew?”

Together, Matt and his father waited downstairs for Emma to return.

When headlights illuminated the driveway, Alan ordered Matt upstairs. Peering through his bedroom window, Matt watched his sister gently close the car door and sprint across their lawn. The front door opened and, without turning on the lights, Emma slipped inside. She tiptoed toward the stairs, holding her breath. When the lights flicked on, Emma knew she was busted.

“Emma Jane Wexley! My office. NOW!”

Dr. Wexley was livid. Matt pressed his ear to the vent, eavesdropping on the conversation downstairs. Emma’s appeals were shot down at every turn. She had crossed the line and their father was not interested in excuses. Within minutes, their argument had escalated and Matt no longer needed the vent to hear; their shouting could be heard through the entire house. Jillian stumbled downstairs to put an end to it.

“I don’t care if you were home early last night. Curfew isn’t like rollover minutes. You’re grounded!” Alan barked.

“But Dad!”

“Would you two keep it down?” Expecting Jillian to take his side, Alan rehashed Emma’s charges. Again, Emma tried to plead her case despite her father’s refusal. In an act of desperation, Emma decided to stack the deck in her favor.

“
Mom
, would you tell Daddy he’s overreacting?”

Alan couldn’t believe his ears. Emma had actually called Jillian Mom. Jillian looked at Emma with new respect. With just one word, Emma had helped to solidify Jillian and Alan’s relationship while forging an ally in the curfew debate.

Yearning for sleep, Jillian settled the disagreement.

“Alan really, it’s not like Emma is always late. In fact, this is the first time ever and it was only fifteen minutes. Tell you what, how about she gets a warning this time and tomorrow she will be home fifteen minutes early.” Jillian’s voice was smooth as silk. Grudgingly, Alan agreed.

Upstairs, Matt was seething.

“Now, Emma, straight to bed,” Jillian ordered with a conspiratorial wink.

Feeling proud that she’d managed to escape punishment, Emma climbed the stairs with a gleeful smile. She stepped into her bedroom and let out a startled gasp. Matt was sitting on her bed glaring at her. With a single stride, Matt crossed the room and slapped Emma’s face.

“Don’t ever call
her
Mom again! I never thought you’d
sink that low. You make me sick!” Matt charged down the hall in a rage.

Still clutching her cheek, Emma chased after him. “Matt, wait. Please!”

Matt stopped for a second. He turned to face Emma and, with a hateful glare, he slammed the door in her face.
Ha! Have a taste of your own medicine
, he gloated.

Emma had never felt as alone as she did at that moment. There seemed to be no hope of reconciling with him now. She crouched outside Matt’s door, afraid to knock but terrified to leave. From the bottom of the stairs, Jillian smiled. Her plan to drive a wedge between the twins had come to fruition.

***

The next morning, Emma felt empty and alone. She didn’t bother fixing her hair or applying makeup after her shower. In her heart, Emma knew she deserved to be grounded.

She was sprawled on the sofa reading a book when she heard the doorbell. Peering out the window, Emma saw Jake’s car in the driveway. She had to control the overwhelming urge to slap the smug smile from his face as she opened the door.

“Hiya, baby.”

Emma stood frozen and unresponsive to Jake’s touch.

“What’s wrong, babe?” Jake asked, affronted by her indifference. Trying to be clever, he scooped up a handful of her curls and asked, “Bad hair day?”

“You’re such a jerk.”

“Aw, come on. You know I’m just playing,” Jake laughingly replied as he pulled Emma close and nuzzled her neck. “You look cute.”

“You got me into a lot of trouble last night.”

“What do you mean?” Jake was genuinely confused. He remembered very little from the previous night, but he was under the impression that he and Emma had had some fun.

“I was late for curfew because you passed out and I had no way home.”

Jake tried to concentrate through his pounding headache but he just couldn’t remember anything. “I passed out? Maybe you just wore me out, babe.”

“You wish! Like I said, you passed out.
Nothing
happened!”

Matt had been listening from the top of the stairs and breathed a sigh of relief. At least Emma hadn’t made a mistake she would regret for the rest of her life.

“Really, nothing happened?”

“Nothing. And thanks to you, I’m grounded. You’d better go before my dad gets home.”

Still listening from upstairs, Matt wondered why Emma lied about being grounded. To him it was a weak, spineless way to avoid dumping the jerk. He added it to his growing list of reasons to ignore his sister.

***

Monday morning ushered in rumors and gossip about the previous weekend. The halls of Lincoln High were buzzing, particularly about Jake and Emma. Evan overheard Jake’s friends rehashing their ambush from Friday night as if they had done something heroic.

“Yeah, I’ll bet that’s why Emma couldn’t keep her hands off him,” a faceless voice echoed down the hall.

“I heard they disappeared into the bedroom and didn’t come out until the next morning,” another added.

With fists clenched to restrain his rage, Evan stormed off to his locker. As he haphazardly tossed books into his locker, he noticed Emma chatting with a pack of uniforms. After her party, Lucy had written a thank you note to Emma and asked Evan to deliver it. At the time, agreeing to play postman seemed like a good excuse to talk with her. After learning she’d spent the night with Jake, Evan couldn’t bear the thought of talking to Emma. Ignoring the bile rising in his throat, Evan navigated through the crowds toward her.

“Here,” Evan said, thrusting Lucy’s pink envelope in Emma’s face. “Not that you deserve it. Lucy doesn’t owe you anything … especially not a thank you.”

Emma reached out to take the envelope but Evan snatched it back.

“I’m not done yet.” He grabbed her arm brusquely.

Yanking her arm back, Emma glared at Evan. “Get your hands off of me or else.”

Evan’s eyebrows rose in amusement. “Or else what?”

“Or else … I’ll have Jake kick your ass!”

“Again,” Tiffany chimed in cattily.

Evan stormed down the hall, knocking over a freshman as he left.

“Nice one. You showed him!” Tiffany giggled.

Emma felt the blood drain from her face as she looked around to see if Jake had seen her talking to Evan.

“Hey, Tiff, what did you mean
again
?”

With great enthusiasm, Tiffany relayed the events of Friday night’s beating. Emma’s legs felt like rubber. For the first time, Evan’s abrasive behavior made sense. Suddenly, Emma realized what Evan meant when he said Lucy had been terrified.
Oh my God, poor Lucy
…
and poor Evan.

“Hey, I forgot something in my locker. I’ll catch up with you guys later.”

Ducking though the hallway, she rushed off in search of Evan. Her heart pounded and she had no idea how to put into words how badly she felt. She wished she’d just kept her big mouth shut but it was too late for that. When she spotted Evan outside his classroom talking with Matt, she froze. The bruise on his cheek had faded into a muted purple with yellowing blotches.